Hockey is back. Sort of.
On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers prospects played the Washington Capitals prospects in a game that was the closest thing we're going to get to real hockey for a few more weeks. Sure, it's not the same caliber of play one usually expects to see when watching NHL hockey, but according to the Washington Post, it sure didn't lack entertainment value, especially for diehard fans no doubt salivating over seeing the potential of young players working their way through the farm system and up the organizational ladder.
There were numerous fights in the first period, two of which came within 27 seconds of one another.
Flyers prospects Petr Straka and Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored goals, separated by less than a minute, in the second.
And everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief that hockey was back and a new season had begun.
"It's been a long summer," Washington goaltender Pheonix Copley said.
Hershey Coach Troy Mann was impressed by the play of his team, especially his goalies, Copley and Vitek Vanacek. "I thought both goalies were our best players," he said. "I thought Cops was outstanding in that first half. Vitek, it was a breakaway dangle on the breakaway goal. The second was a bit of a back door, we thought it might have been off a guy's skate, but overall I thought he looked solid as well."
Former Flyers first round pick and defensive prospect Samuel Morin "body slammed" Capitals center Liam O'Brien into the ice during a fight late in the first period. And Washington's Michael "Big Mike" Cajkovsky defended a teammate by going after forward Austin Fyten.
Prospects on both sides seemed to take the game in stride. For Washington, it's two days off, then right back at it for training camp.
"I think it's definitely going to be good," said defenseman Madison Bowey. "I know it's definitely been a busy week and a lot of our bodies are sore. It's taken a toll on all of us. I think two days will be really good for us. The real business starts in a few days. After that, it's going to be a lot of fun."
