A record 72 players from 21 different U.S. states and Canadian provinces flocked to Philadelphia for the 10th edition of annual Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp. There were 12 Flyers Alumni participating as the coaches of the four teams, as follows:
Team Results Guaranteed (white jerseys): Danny Briere, Brad Marsh, Dave Poulin
Team Toyota (green jerseys): Andre Dupont, John LeClair, Patrick Sharp
Team Neumann (black jerseys): Ian Laperriere, Keith Jones, Joe Watson
Team River Rock (orange jerseys): Mark Howe, Mark Recchi, Paul Holmgren
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2024
Tonight was the opening reception, held at The Study Hotel near the Class of 1923 Arena on the University of Pennsyvania campus. All players and coaches were introduced by legendary Flyers public address announcer Lou Nolan. This was followed by Steve Coates emceeing a Q&A panel discussion with Bob “the Hound” Kelly, Dupont and Joe Watson. The three speakers, of course, focused on being part of the Flyers’ championship-winning teams of 1973-74 and 1974-75.
In Dupont’s case, the player was acquired by the Flyers from the St. Louis Blues (for Pierre Plante and Brent Hughes) midway through the 1972-73 season. What made the trade unusual was that the trade went down on the same day that the Blues played a home against the Flyers. The three players literally switched locker rooms not long before they had to suit up for warmups.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2024
The first full day of camp started with each of the four participating teams holding an on-ice practice session with their respective coaches. The practice group ice times were as follows.
9:30 a.m. EDT to 10:15 a.m. EDT: Team Toyota
10:30 a.m. EDT to 11:15 a.m. EDT: Team Results Guaranteed
11:30 a.m. EDT to 12:15 p.m. EDT: Team River Rock
12:30 p.m. EDT vs. 1:15 p.m. EDT: Team Neumann
After the final practice session, the teams played the first two games of this year’s camp. Team Toyota opposed Team Results Guaranteed in a 1:30 p.m. EDT match before Team River Rock played Team Neumann at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
TEAM TOYOTA (GREEN) 4 – TEAM RESULTS GUARANTEED (WHITE) 3
This game was a seesaw affair, with Team Results Guaranteed recovering from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to forge a 3-3 deadlock in the third period. Finally, with 2:12 remaining in regulation, Team Toyota defenseman Tim Dunton put his team ahead to stay. Goalie Conor McElwain went the distance in net for Team Toyota and earned the win.
First Period
Starting goalies: RG Phil Brady, TT Conor McElwain
Toyota 1-0: Jack McElwain 1st (unassisted) 4:05
Toyota 2-0: Sean Moir 1st (Glenn Moir) 10:15
Results Guaranteed 2-1: Steve Demchyk 1st (William Thorington) 13:14
Results Guaranteed 2-2: Zach Stahl 1st (unassisted) 14:33
Penalties
None (Demchyk goal scored on a delayed TT penalty).
Second Period
Goalie change: TT Amit Patel in for Brady at 4:28
Penalties
Results Guaranteed: William Thorington (tripping) 0:32
Toyota: Glenn Moir (high sticking) 4:45
Toyota: Nick Santoro (holding) 13:55
THIRD PERIOD
Toyota 3-2: Jack McElwain 2nd (unassisted) 1:07 PPG
Results Guaranteed 3-3: Greg Stahl 1st (unassisted) 11:43
Toyota 4-3: Tim Dunton 1st (Geoff Patterson) 12:48
Penalties
None
TEAM RIVER ROCK (ORANGE) 7 – TEAM NEUMANN (BLACK) 2
The game was scoreless through much of the first period until Brian George poked home a shot that barely got past Team Neumann starting goalie Dan Rieber. Once Team River Rock forged ahead, they never looked back. Two more goals followed in the latter minutes of the opening period, and Team River Rock opened a commanding 3-0 lead on the way to a 7-2 victory. Defenseman Matt Steinberg tallied two goals for Team Neumann.
FIRST PERIOD
Starting Goalies: RR Jim Flanagan, TN Dan Rieber
River Rock 1-0: Brian George 1st (Robert Boergerhausen, Douglas Nutton) 11:43
River Rock 2-0: John Romano 1st (Alex Pelletier) 12:23
River Rock 3-0: Lupo Dion 1st (John Romano, Jack Diamond) 14:30 PPG
Penalties
Neumann: Alex Monti (holding) 13:34
SECOND PERIOD
River Rock 4-0: Alex Pelletier 1st (Brett Cole, John Donnelly) 12:52
Goalie changes: TN Chris Schultz in for for Rieber, RR Brendan Flanagan in for Jim Flanagan at 7:59
Penalties
Neumann: Matt Steinberg (high sticking) 13:55
THIRD PERIOD
River Rock 5-0: John Romano 2nd (Alex Pelletier,Brian Archer) 0:43 PPG
River Rock 6-0: Brian George 2nd (Douglas Nutton) 2:02
Neumann 6-1: Matt Steinberg 1st (John Baumgartner) 5:00
River Rock 7-1: John Romano 2nd (Marc Wiczkowski) 6:59
Neumann 7-2: Matt Steinberg 2nd (unassisted) 11:15
Penalties
None
SATURDAY NIGHT OUTING: BOATHOUSE ROW
This year’s Saturday evening “mystery” outing took the camp attendees to a rowing club along Boathouse Row in Philadelphia. We ate, drank and mingled together for several hours before returning to the camp hotel at roughly 9:30 in the evening. Bacio Kitchen and Catering, who also cater our Friday Night Fights event event, provided the food service. All attendees on Saturday received a customized Flyers Alumni beer mug.
SUNDAY, AUG 18, 2024
7:30 AM EDT
There are four games on tap today at the Class of 1923 Arena. At 9:30 a.m,, Team Toyota (1-0-0) plays against Team Neumann (0-1-0). At 11:00 a.m, Team Results Guaranteed (0-1-0) will take on the powerhouse Team River Rock (1-0-0) squad. After a midday break, games commence again at 3:00 p.m. with Team Results Guaranteed right back in action to play Team Neumann. The final game, at 4:30 p.m. will put Team River Rock against Team Toyota. Scoring leaders through the first day of the tourney:
Goals: John Romano (River Rock) 3, Brian George (River Rock) 2, Matt Steinberg (Neumann) 2, Jack MacElwain (Toyota) 2.
Assists: Alex Pelletier (River Rock) 2, many players with 1 apiece.
Points: John Romano 4, several with two.
TEAM NEUMANN 6 – TEAM TOYOTA 7
This was the most heated and emotional game of the three played thus far. Team Neumann repeatedly faced deficits, but battled back every time. were also three disallowed goals (two for Team Toyota), including an apparent go-ahead goal for Toyota with 10:33 left in regulation. Coach Dupont and his Toyota players were very unhappy about the call. Ultimately, the game came down to three consecutive faceoffs in the Toyota zone, including a Matt Steinberg point shot that goalie Conor McElwain stopped. John Hughes tallied what proved to be the game-winning goal for Team Toyota. The three Jaffe brothers combined for five points on the Neumann side.
FIRST PERIOD
Starting goalies: TN: Dan Rieber, Team Toyota: Conor McElwain
Toyota 1-0: Glenn Moir 1st (Jack McElwain) 6:36
Toyota 2-0: Tim Dunton 2nd (unassisted) 13:48 PPG
Penalties
Toyota: Nick Santoro (tripping) 7:21
Toyota: Tim Dunton (holding) 9:40
Toyota: Fred Jaffe (rouging) 12:55
Toyota: Nick Santoro (cross-checking) 14:15
SECOND PERIOD
Goalie change for TT at 7:49: Chris Schultz in for Rieber.
Neumann 2-1: Adam Berg 1st (unassisted) 1:44
Neumann 2-2: Fran Walmsley 1st (unassisted) 2:01
Toyota 3-2: Jack MacElwain 3rd (unassisted) 6:06
Neumann 3-3: Mark Jaffe 1st (John Baumgartner) 8:27
Toyota 4-3: Artie Ford 1st (Tim Dunton, Ben Wylie) 14:01
Penalties: None
THIRD PERIOD
Neumann 4-4: Howard Jaffe 1st (Mark Jaffe) 2:04
Toyota 5-4: Jacob Jackson 1st (Geoff Patterson) 7:42
Toyota 6-4: Brian McElwain 1st (Tim Dunton, Ben Wylie) 6:08
Neumann 6-5: John Baumgartner 1st (Fred Jaffe) 9:03
Toyota 7-5: John Hughes 1st (Nick Santoro) 10:51
Neumann 7-6: Fran Walmsley 2nd (Mark Jaffe) 13:30
Penalties
Toyota: Brian McElwain (roughing) 6:08
Neumann: Fran Walmsley (roughing) 6:08
TEAM RESULTS GUARANTEED (white) 4 – TEAM RIVER ROCK (orange) 7
This was another closely played game, albeit of a much lower scoring variety for two-plus periods than the Toyota vs.Neumann match. Results Guaranteed took a 2-0 edge to the first intermission before River Rock struck back in the second stanza. Greg Stahl had a breakaway opportunity for Results Guaranteed in the closing moments of the second period, but the game went to the final stanza tied. That set the stage for a dramatic third period. Results Guaranteed sniper Zach Stahl had a three-point game but tournament top scorer John Romano did even better for River Rock (four goals in the third period), including three in a row to forge ahead to stay. Romano’s breakaway goal at 12:14 of the third period was the game winner.
FIRST PERIOD
Starting Goalies: RG Amit Patel , RR Jim Flanagan
Results Guaranteed 1-0: Brad MacQuarrie 1st (Zach Stahl) 11:27
Results Guaranteed 2-0: Zach Stahl 2nd (Dominic Koltenback) 13:04
Penalties
River Rock: Brian George (tripping) 7:24
Results Guaranteed:Dave Rosenthal (tripping) 14:54
SECOND PERIOD
Change in goal for River Rock at 8:26: Brendan Flanagan in for Jim Flanagan.
River Rock 2-1: Lupo Dion 2nd (Brian George) 8:42
River Rock 2-2: Olivier Pelletier 1st (Alex, Pelletier, Brian Archer) 13:10
Penalties: None
THIRD PERIOD
Results Guaranteed 3-2: Zach Stahl 3rd (unassisted) 7:00 PPG
River Rock 3-3: John Romano (Jack Diamond) 10:17
River Rock 4-3: Brian Archer (Alex Pelletier) 11:17
Results Guaranteed 4-4: 72 (Zach Stahl, Dave Street) 11:39
River Rock 5-4: John Romano (unassisted) 12:14
River Rock 6-4: John Roman 6th (unassisted) 13:06
River Rock 7-4: John Roman 7th (unassisted) 14:22 SHG, ENG
Penalties
River Rock: Robert Boegershausen (holding) 5:57
River Rock: 20 (tripping) 13:56
TEAM NEUMANN (black) 5 – TEAM RESULTS GUARANTEED (white) 11
A barrage of five unanswered goals in the second period by Team Results Guaranteed — a hat trick by Jim Grohol and two tallies by Zach Staal — broke the game open after Team Neumann took a 2-1 lead the the second period through the game’s first 15 minutes. Grohol added a fourth goal in the final stanza, while Stahl completed a hat trick. Fran Walmsley scored three goals for Team Neumann in a losing cause.
FIRST PERIOD
Starting goalies: TN Dan Rieber, RG Phil Brady
Results Guaranteed 1-0 William Thorrington 1st (Steve Olson) 4:06
Neumann 1-1: John Baumgartner 2nd (Howard Jaffe) 4:57
Neumann 2-1: Fran Walmsley 3rd (Edward Meerbrey) 5:25
Neumann 3-1: Fran Walmsley 4th (unassisted) 5:48
Penalties
Neumann: Denis Rougeau (holding) 14:02
SECOND PERIOD
Goalie change for Neumann at 7:44: Chris Schultz in for Rieber.
Results Guaranteed 3-2: Jim Grohol 1st (Curtis Peddle) 1:35
Results Guaranteed 3-3 : Zach Stahl 4th (unassisted) 8:01
Results Guaranteed 4-3: Jim Grohol 2nd (Dave Street) 9:28
Results Guaranteed 5-3 :Jim Grohol 3rd (William Thorington) 13:03
Results Guaranteed 6-3: Zach Stahl 5th (unassisted) 14:05
Penalties
Results Guaranteed: Dave Street (slashing) 13:28
THIRD PERIOD
Team Neumann change in goal at 8:31: Rieber in for Schultz.
Neumann 6-4: Fran Walmsley 5th (unassisted) 4:37
Results Guaranteed 7-4: Denis Rougeau 1st (Zach Stahl) 4:52
Results Guaranteed 8-4: Zach Stahl 6th (Tommy Neugebauer) 5:36
Results Guaranteed 9-4 Denis Rougeau 2nd (Zach Stahl) 8:31
Results Guaranteed 10-4: Tom Gates 1st (Jim Grohol) 10:25
Neumann 10-5: Edward Meerbrey 1st (Alex Monti) 11:31
Results Guaranteed 11-5: Denis Rougeau 3rd (Dave Street) 13:26
Penalties
Results Guaranteed: Tom Gates (tripping) 7:58
TEAM TOYOTA (green) 5 – TEAM RIVER ROCK (orange) 5
With both sides already having clinched spots in the championship game, this match was a preview of Monday’s clash for the Fantasy Cup. The rules were slightly altered due to time constraints. Only the final five minutes were played with a stop clock. By pregame agreement from both teams, the game ended in a tie.
FIRST PERIOD
Starting Goalies: TT: Glenn Moir, RR:Jim Flanagan
Toyota 1-0: Nick Santoro 1st (Jim Maenner) 3:35
River Rock 1-1: John Romano 8th (John Donnolly) 6:25
River Rock 2-1: Paul Kelley 1st (Marc Wiczkowski, Lupo Dion) 7:28
Toyota 2-2: 17 Jacob Jackson 2nd (Dutton) 13:25
Penalties
River Rock: Brett Cole (tripping) 13:04
SECOND PERIOD
Goalie change for River Rock at 8:49: Brendan Flanagan in for Jim Flanagan
River Rock 3-2: Alex Pelletier 2nd (unassisted) 13:38
Penalties: None
THIRD PERIOD
River Rock 4-2: Brett Cole 1st (Alex Pelletier) 3:22
Toyota 4-3: Tim Dunton 3rd (Jacob Jackson) 4:17
Toyota 4-4: Jacob Jackson 3rd (Tim Dunton) 7:32
Toyota 5-4: Ben Wylie 1st (unassisted) 8:50
River Rock 5-5: Lupo Dion 3rd (unassisted) 12:39
Penalties
Toyota: Richard Chaput (holding) 11:28
FANTASY CAMP 10th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
On Sunday evening — the last night of camp before the Fantasy Cup championship and consolation games at the Class of 1923 Arena — the whole group boarded buses and headed to the Wells Fargo Center for a special 10th anniversary celebration of Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp.
Attendees came into the Wells Fargo Center through the orange-illuminated event floor entrance way that Flyers players use during the National Hockey League season. From there, attendees were escorted up to the exclusive Adrian restaurant. There, we had a spectacular dinner and an open bar. Emcee Steve Coates commenced a Hot Stove Q&A session with panelists Patrick Sharp, Paul Holmgren, John LeClair and Mark Recchi.
Another highlight: a silent auction with dozens of Alumni jerseys, Cooperall-style hockey pants, and other unique items available. All proceeds benefit the Flyers Alumni’s programs such as Twelve Days of Christmas.
Monday August 19, 2024 (8 a.m. EDT)
Today is Fantasy Cup championship day. After the morning’s consolation game between Team Results Guaranteed (1-2-0) and Team Neumann (0-3-0), the undefeated Team River Rock (2-0-1) will rematch with Team Toyota (2-0-1) for this year’s championship.
Heading into the final day, Team River Rock’s John Romano leads all goal scorers with eight tallies among his nine points in three games. Results Guaranteed’s Zach Stahl is the overall points leader with 10 (6g, 4a). Neumann’s Fran Walmsley has racked up five goals thus far.
Consolation Game: TEAM RESULTS GUARANTEED (white) 10 – TEAM NEUMANN (black) 3
A monstrous seven-point game (5g, 2a) by Zach “Gunner” Stahl increased his final tournament scoring total to 17 points (11g, 6a) in four games played. John Baumgartner compiled a hat trick for Team Neumann. Results Guaranteed finished with a 2-2-0 record. Team Neumann went 0-4-0 but a couple of their losses were in close game.
FIRST PERIOD
Starting goalies: RG: Amit Patel, TN: Dan Rieber
Neumann 1-0: John Baumgartner 3rd (unassisted) 8:24
Results Guaranteed 1-1:Zach Stahl 7th (Curtis Peddle) 14:27
Penalties
Results Guaranteed: Steve Olson (tripping) 10:59
SECOND PERIOD
Results Guaranteed 2-1: Zach Stahl 8th (Dominic Koltenback) 0:53
Results Guaranteed 3-1: Denis Rougeau 4th (Tommy Neugebauer, Steve Olson) 2:55
Results Guaranteed 4-1: Greg Stahl 2nd (Zach Stahl) 4:31
Neumann 4-2: John Baumgartner 4th (Mark Jaffe) 5:53
Results Guaranteed 5-2: Zach Stahl 9th (Brad MacQuarrie) 11:38
Penalties: None
THIRD PERIOD
Goalie change: TN Chris Schultz in for Rieber, RG Phil Brady in for Patel at 0:00
Results Guaranteed 6-2: Zach Stahl 10th (Scott Radman, Greg Stahl) 0:58
Neumann 6-3: John Baumgartner 5th (Mark Jaffe) 1:42
Results Guaranteed 7-3: Scott Radman 1st (Brad MacQuarrie) 5:16
Results Guaranteed 8-3: Zach Stahl 11th (Steve Olson) 5:33 SHG
Results Guaranteed 9-3: Greg Stahl 3rd (Dominic Koltenback) 10:31 PPG
Results Guaranteed 10-3: Denis Rougeau 5th (Dave Rosenthal) 14:07
Penalties
Results Guaranteed: Denis Rougeau (tripping) 4:30
Neumann: Jordan Yuter (tripping) 8:37
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: TEAM RIVER ROCK (orange) 7 – TEAM TOYOTA (green) 1
Team River Rock has captured another Fantasy Cup championship at Flyers Fantasy Camp! In the championship game, River Rock grabbed a quick lead in the opening period and never looked back. Team leading scorer John Romano collected three points (1g, 2a) in the game first two periods as his side jumped out to a 21-9 shot lead through two periods in support of goalies Jim and Brendan Flanagan.
FIRST PERIOD
Starting goalies; RR Jim Flanagan, TT Conor McElwain
River Rock 1-0 Mark Wiczkowski 1st (unassisted) 0:31
RIver Rock 2-0 Alex Pelletier 3rd (Brian Archer, John Romano) 1:51 PPG
River Rock 3-0: Lupo Dion 4th (unassisted) 8:23
River Rock 4-0: Brett Cole 1st (John Romano) 14:48
Penalties
Toyota: Richard Chaput (hooking) 1:24
River Rock 48 (holding) 4:48
SECOND PERIOD
Goalie change:RR Brendan Flanagan in for Jim Flanagan 7:57
River Rock 5-0: John Romano 9th (John Donnolly, Brett Cole) 1:25 PPG
Penalties
Toyota: NIck Santoro (cross-checking) 0:26
River Rock: Robert Boergerhausen (roughing) 12:27
THIRD PERIOD
Goalie change:: TT Glenn Moir in for Conor McElwain.
Toyota 5-1: Brian McElwain 2nd (unassisted) 1:14
River Rock 6-1: Alex Pelletier 4th (unassisted) 8:05 SHG
River Rock 7-1: Ron DeBrigida 1st (Steve Capoferri) 13:10
Penalties
River Rock: Lupo Dion (hooking) 4:34
River Rock: Alex Pelletier (holding) 5:08
River Rock: John Romano (kneeing) 6:32
Toyota: bench minor (too many men) 9:35