Flyers Daily: Soccer Legend Makes Pro Hockey Debut, Bryan Rust Back?

Today’s Philadelphia Flyers notebook is cancelled, because there’s no practice on Monday. Due to the holiday and the travel, head coach John Tortorella felt it would be better to have extra rest heading into the Carolina Hurricanes game on Tuesday.

The Flyers are scheduled to practice Wednesday, though they play against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Per Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Tortorella also said that Egor Zamula has been “wildly inconsistent” and that he and the Flyers make decisions on the defense “daily”. That sheds some light onto why Rasmus Ristolainen relegated Zamula to the bench with immediacy.

Philadelphia Flyers

Even with Ristolainen back, the Philadelphia Flyers are sticking with Travis Sanheim on the right side. Louie Belpedio is still an option, but for now, it appears that he’s behind Zamula, Ristolainen, and Marc Staal in the pecking order.

Outside of Belpedio, the Flyers don’t have an extra right-shot defenseman. For that reason alone, he’s likely to stick around for a while.

Around the NHL, and Globe

New York Rangers

As it relates to defenseman, it looks like New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox is ready to roll.

The 25-year-old was a full participant in practice Monday, and he’s eligibile to return on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings. Fox has been on LTIR since getting injured in a collision with Sebastian Aho on Nov. 2.

With Fox likely back in the fold by the end of the week, the Rangers are just waiting on Filip Chytil to return before they’re back to full strength.

Chelsea FC

Over the weekend, the hockey world welcomed a football (or soccer) legend to the ice.

Petr Cech, a Chelsea FC legend who is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the sport, made his professional hockey debut on Saturday.

The 41-year-old plies his new trade with the Belfast Giants of the EIHL, and made one save in injury relief duty during their 5-1 win over the Glasgow Clan.

During his storied football career, Cech won the Premier League four times, the FA Cup five times, the Champions League, and the Europa League. Although best known for his time with Chelsea, Cech finished his playing career with Arsenal.

Now playing in a sport moving closer and closer towards player safety, Cech is regarded as one of the pioneers of player safety measures in football. In 2006, the Czech shot-stopper suffered a life-threatening skull fracture. Upon making his return, Cech wore a rugby scrum cap to protect his head for the rest of his playing days.

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Hockey Now: The Colorado Avalanche are also on the receiving end of good injury news. Forward Artturi Lehkonen is out of his neck brace, which indicates a step in the right direction for his recovery.

Calgary Flames

Calgary Hockey Now: Maybe the Calgary Flames aren’t so bad after all? They’re 6-4-2 in November and making up for their poor start. But in the long run, might that be a bad thing?

Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Hockey Now: There’s still no word on any rhyme or reason for Corey Perry’s absence from the Chicago Blackhawks. In the meantime, the club has continued to be maddeningly inconsistent on the ice – something that has come to be expected during this rebuild.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Surely the Philadelphia Flyers will love to hear that another Metropolitan Division rival is getting healthy. The Pittsburgh Penguins welcomed Bryan Rust back to practice Monday, and worked on the team’s first power play unit. The power play has been one of the Penguins‘ greater struggles this season, so having their full suite of options available will make that a little bit easier.

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