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Weekend Preview: Flyers at Hitmen

January 27, 2017
4:19 PM EST

By Doug Mark

Fresh off a weekend sweep of the Okanagan Eagles, the Philadelphia Flyers Junior Hockey Team will be travelling up to North Jersey and the Ice Vault Arena this weekend for two games against their archrival, the Jersey Hitmen.  The Flyers come in to the weekend with an 11-19-6 record, just four points out of 8th Place in the Premier Division, and the right to host a home play-in game at the end of the season.  A big showing this weekend could put them even closer to that important spot in the standings.

 

Last weekend in Voorhees, the Flyers used a comeback in both games against the Eagles to sweep the weekend on home ice, taking Saturday’s game by a final of 3-2, and Sunday’s tilt by a final of 6-4.  Vadim Vasjonkin earned himself a five point weekend, and Sam Nardicchio tallied three goals and an assist for a four point weekend.  Tristan Ramage had a spectacular weekend on the back end, earning home USPHL Premier Division Defensive Player of the Week honors.  Ramage becomes just the second Flyer to earn Player of the Week honors by the USPHL, as a former Flyer earned the offensive honor twice earlier this season.  The team was backstopped in goal by Matt Beck who got the start and wins in both games.  The Flyers will need another big weekend from everyone in order to earn much needed points against the Hitmen.

 

Jersey comes into the weekend 26-8-2, good for 2nd Place in the division.  Last weekend, the team hosted the Syracuse Stars for two games at the Ice Vault.  The Hitmen were able to win both games, Saturday 6-2, and Sunday 4-2.  The team is led in points so far on the year by Oscar Skiold who has 49 points on the year, trailed by future West Point forward Tucker DeYoung who has 48 points on the year.  Vermont recruit Tyler Harmon has seen a large amount of action in goal so far on the year, and boasts a 2.24 GAA. 

 

So far this season, the two teams have faced each other just twice, both games taking place back in October in Voorhees.  Both games were won by the Hitmen, a 5-1 final on October 22nd, and a thrilling game on October 23rd that saw the Hitmen come away with a 4-3 shootout win.  The teams will face each other twice this weekend, then a final showdown on February 8th in Voorhees, the Flyers final home game of the season.

 

 

 

 

 

Players to Watch:

 

For the Flyers, they were talked about a lot last weekend, so let’s stick with them…the line of Sam Nardicchio, Reid Bibb, and Vadim Vasjonkin were absolutely on fire last weekend, accounting for more than half of the Flyers goals scored over the weekend.  If they come away with a big weekend again this week, run out to your nearest retailer and put down 11, 15 and 21 as part of your Pick 6 numbers.

 

For Jersey, since we mentioned DeYoung the last time these two teams met, let’s go with Skiold for this weekend.  He’s managed to be a workhorse on offense for the team, and his 49 points and 35 assists on the year are good for third in the league in both categories.  Also keep an eye on Harmon in goal, if he gets the start in one or both games going up against Matt Beck in goal for the Flyers, it will be fun to watch two future teammates at Vermont face each other.