By Ryan Shute

After a hiatus of nearly one full month, the Philadelphia Flyers Junior Hockey Team will return for some home cooking at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees for a two game weekend series on Saturday 12/3 at 7PM and Sunday 12/4 at 1:30PM with the Syracuse Stars.

The Flyers did not produce the outcomes that they truly wanted before entering the Thanksgiving break, but they did manage one point in their last series, going 0-1-1 against the Springfield Pics at Olympia Ice Center.

In the first leg, the Flyers would score three goals three different ways. Vadim Vasjonkin would open up the Flyers scoring with a goal on the power play from Nick Polsinelli, newcomer Reid Bibb would get an even strength tally with assists coming from JR Barone and Brandon Altman, and Polsinelli would get on the scoresheet again recording a short handed goal.

Even with the goaltending efforts of Adam Mercer’s 38 save performance, Springfield would squeak out the win in overtime.

The back end of the set would be all Pics, as the Flyers would fall by a score of 4-1. The Flyers got another solid effort in net, as Matt Beck was able to fight off 36 of the 39 shots he faced, but it was Pics goaltender Dominic Tmej that was difficult for the Flyers skaters to solve.

Polsinelli would score the lone goal on a power play, recording his third point of the weekend very late in the third period. Polsinelli’s goal would be assisted by Tristan Ramage at 19:01.

The Flyers are coming into the Syracuse series with a record of 7-13-4 with 18 points, while the Stars enter at 12-8-5 with 29 points. In spite of the discrepancy in the standings, the two had a very competitive series to open up the season, as they split the set with each side earning a one goal win (Game 1 Flyers 4-3, Game 2 Stars 5-4). Although some names and faces have changed since the beginning of the season, we should all expect to see another great competitive series between the squads.

Players to Watch:

For the Flyers there must always be a set of eyes on forward Nick Polsinelli. The second year player has recorded 15 points in 12 games during this season and has a career total of 61 points in 50 games. Also look out for the newly acquired forward Reid Bibb who comes to the Flyers from the South Shore Kings. With South Shore, Bibb tallied 16 points and has 5 multi point game performances. Bibb also scored his first goal as a Flyer, which puts his season point total at 17, ranking him second on the team in scoring behind forward JR Barone’s 21.

For the Stars you must be aware of the twin magic provided by forwards Kyle and Ryan Lynch. The two are toward the top of the Syracuse scoring leaders as Kyle’s 8 goals 11 assists for 19 points ranks him tied for second on the team and Ryan’s 11 goals 6 assists for 17 points places him second in goals and fourth in points. These two are big time threats when Syracuse goes on the man advantage, as they have combined for 7 power play points making up nearly 20 percent of their total point production.