The 24 teams fighting for the Stanley Cup started training camp at their facilities July 13. They are then to head to their designated hub cities on Sunday, with the Stanley Cup Qualifiers set to begin Aug. 1. Here is the latest on what going on during training camp:
Philadelphia Flyers
Carter Hart is back to training with the Flyers as of Saturday after missing two days and a scrimmage Thursday due to an undisclosed issue.
“I feel good,” Hart said Saturday. “Just taking things a little bit more precautionary the last couple days. Been ramping it up the last two days. Feel really good right now. The plan is to be good to go for Tuesday.”
After the scrimmage on Thursday, the 21-year-old goalie was instead shot on individually on a different rink at Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone.
“The reason we didn’t put him in practice … was because it was a scrimmage and he hadn’t skated for the last two days,” coach Alain Vigneault said Thursday. “We felt it was smarter … to put him out on his own and let him take a good number of shots and see how he feels. He came out and he feels real good.”
Carolina Hurricanes
Brett Pesce, 25, probably won’t be back on the ice until late August, he is part of the Hurricanes’ roster for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the New York Rangers. Pesce, still in rehabilitation after undergoing a shoulder operation, did not partake in any training camp and will not travel with Carolina to Toronto on Sunday.
“[Pesce] will not fly with us. He’s not here yet. Not quite up to the task, ”said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We definitely put it on [the Qualifiers roster]. I hope we will see it at some point. If we are talking about Brett Pesce, things are going in the right direction. ”
In other news for Carolina, defender Dougie Hamilton, 27, and forward Martin Necas, 21, were unable to participate in training on Saturday. Hamilton, who hadn’t played the last 21 games of the regular season, left the ice in pain on Wednesday during practice. Since then Hamilton has not trained. Hamilton had been recovering from a fractured left fibula but was in great shape when training camp first started. According to Brind’Amour Necas “did something” while skating on Saturday, but said he didn’t think it was anything serious.
Washington Capitals
Ilya Samsonov, 23, will not be participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs due to an undisclosed injury. The Russian goaltender was unfit to play prior to the start of training camp. Samsonov will not be traveling to Toronto with the Capitals and will stay in Washington during his recovery. There is no indication that he will be unfit to play during the 2020-21 season. The NHL’s Return To Play Plan does not permit a team to share the details of a player’s injury or illness.
“It’s disappointing for the player, disappointing for us,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. “He’s a guy that’s a really good young prospect for us, so to not have him with us is disappointing. I thought he’s made some strides and put together a pretty good run this year, so to be without him is certainly disappointing, but the right thing to do is to leave him here and allow him to get treatment, so that he is ready to go next year when we have that opportunity to start playing hockey again.”
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