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Coming off an impressive weekend where the team earned five of a possible six points at the IHC Showcase, the Philadelphia Flyers Junior Hockey team once again travels to Massachusetts this weekend to face a familiar foe in the Springfield Pics.  Saturday the teams will faceoff at 6:20pm, and Sunday at 12:40pm. 

This past weekend at Merrimack College, the Flyers faired very well, going 2-0-1 on the weekend.  They dropped their first game to the Islanders HC in overtime by a score of 4-3, a very close game with the top ranked team in the Premier Division.  On Friday night they defeated Okanagan 3-2 in overtime, in a come from behind effort that saw the Flyers trailing 2-0 heading into the third period.  Late goals by Nick Polsinelli and JR Barone would tie the game, then in the final minute of overtime, Tristan Ramage would score to win the game.  To cap off the weekend, the Flyers offense took off against the South Shore Kings on Saturday, winning by a final of 6-1.  South Shore scored the first goal of the game, but six unanswered goals would propel the Flyers to the victory.

This weekend will mark the fourth and fifth times the teams meet this season.  The Pics hold the advantage so far, winning two of the three games.  On September 26th, Springfield won in a 5-4 final, and on October 9th won in a 6-2 final.  The Flyers got the best of Springfield in the most recent tilt, winning 4-3 in a shootout back on October 29th.  These two games this weekend will be the final time the teams face each other this season.

The Flyers come into the weekend with a 7-12-3 record, good for 17 points.  Springfield comes in at 8-12-3 with 19 points and just ahead of the Flyers in the USPHL Premier standings.  This will be a crucial weekend for the Flyers to earn some points and jump up a place (or possibly two) in the standings.

Players to Watch:

For the Flyers, Nick Polsinelli has had a solid return to the lineup, earning himself at least one point in each game this past weekend.  It may have taken him awhile to get back in a rhythm after being sidelined for a few weeks, but he seems to have returned to form in recent games.  Vadim Vasjonkin has also propelled himself up in the Flyers stats since joining the team. Newcomer Connor Tierney has already been contributing.  He played in two games this weekend, and notched a goal and an assist in the South Shore game.  Keep an eye on him to see if he continues to contribute and find his role in the lineup.

For the Pics, Hayden Smith leads the team in points with 22.  Trailing just behind him is Scott Swanson.  Watch those two as they are clearly the muscle on the front end contributing to the scoring for Springfield.  In the crease, the team has dressed five goaltenders already this season, and all five have already had a piece of the action, each with at least one win.  Watch to see who Springfield goes with in net, as they seem to have a big question mark in the blue paint.