Friday Forecheck: Giant Strides for Andrae

Twenty-two-year-old defenseman Emil Andrae has come a long way over the last calendar year. He made the Flyers' opening night roster to start the 2023-24 season. After appearing in four early-season games, he was loaned to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the remainder of the season.

The Flyers always knew that Andrae had the upside to appear on the power play at any level, including the National Hockey League. It was not a surprise when the young Swedish blueliner led all Phantoms defensemen with 32 points (five goals. 27 assists) in 61 games and ran the first unit power play point for a club that ranked in the top half of the league.

The organization also knew that Andrae had good feet and a fearless competitive streak. With a 5-foot-9 frame, he has a low center of gravity and has always been sturdy on his feet. Andrae is not afraid to take the body, as he exhibited with a clean hip check along the boards in the first period of Sunday's game against the Canadiens.

Andrae does not shy away from engaging in scrums. He'll give right back whatever is dished out to him. That was the case in Swedish and international hockey and displayed, too, in the American Hockey League. He lacks nothing for grit or guts.

The biggest things that have changed with Andrae since last October are his muscular conditioning and the growth of his off-puck effectiveness in the North American game. He had a very strong offseason from a training standpoint, adding leaner muscle to his frame. Andrae was drafted at 190 pounds but it took a few years to ideally reproportion his weight with more muscle mass and reduced body fat.

In terms of his all-around game, having a year of experience under his belt and increased confidence in making the quick decisions needed to play defense in the NHL stood out positively in the preseason and his first few regular season games since being recalled from the Phantoms.

On Tuesday, in the Flyers' 2-0 shutout road win against the Boston Bruins, Andrae made a nice play along the side boards to feed Tyson Foerster for what proved to be the game-winning goal. It was Andrae's first career NHL point.

“It’s nice to get that, of course, in a game like this when we’re struggling a little bit,” Andrae said to NHL.com after the game. “So it was nice to put a goal up there and for the guys, and it’s a great shot by [Foerster] too, so it felt good.”

The injury to Flyers defenseman Cam York in last Wednesday's game in Washington -- he will be out for at least two weeks with an upper-body injury -- created an opportunity for Andrae to get into the NHL starting lineup. So far, he's been making the most of his chance.

Mothers Trip

Most NHL teams nowadays do a fathers trip in which players' dads travel together at club expense to take in a couple of games together and be part of the pregame locker room dynamic. After the game, the dads spend time with their sons and fellow hockey fathers.

A select few clubs now do a similar trip for their team's hockey mothers. The Flyers are one of the teams that do both. One season, there's a dad's trip. The following year, it's the moms' turn.

This week, a group of 15 of the Flyers players' mothers accompanied the team and one another to Tuesday's road game in Boston. Two nights later, they took in the home game against the St. Louis Blues.

The Flyers moms on the trip: Peggy Johnson (Erik Johnson), Tina Drysdale (Jamie Drysdale), Kristin Marie Poehling (Ryan Poehling), Tracey Tippett (Owen Tippett), Jennifer Lynn Cates (Noah Cates), Isabelle Morrier (Sean Couturier), Shelly Sanheim (Travis Sanheim), Sheri Dawn Foerster (Tyson Foerster), Holly Rennee Brink (Bobby Brink), Bonnie Laughton (Scott Laughton), Dana Frost (Morgan Frost), Teresa Marie York (Cam York), Pamela Farabee (Joel Farabee), Kristin Marie Seeler (Nick Seeler), Suellen I. Cameron (Garnet Hathaway).

"It’s been great meeting all the other moms," Shelly Sanheim said.

"They are all so amazing and it’s been a real treat to experience a day in the life of our son’s with all of them. Getting the win in Boston was just icing on the cake. We can’t thank the team and organization enough for granting us this wonderful opportunity."

Prior to the game in Boston, Flyers captain Couturier's mom, Isabelle, was given the special honor of announcing the Flyers' starting lineup in the locker room.

Last year, before a road game in Toronto, Frost's dad, Andy, was tabbed to announce the Philly starting lineup in the visiting locker room. Andy Frost was the long-time public address announcer for the Maple Leafs,

Hits for Hath's Heroes

Over the last couple seasons, Flyers Charities has worked side-by-side with Flyers players to support charitable and community initiatives that are of personal importance to the players. Flyers checking winger Garnet Hathaway has always held a special place in his heart for supporting the people who serve their communities as first responders.

At birth, Hathaway was named in honor of his great grandfather Garnet; a firefighter in Winnipeg, Manitoba. While a member of the Washington Capitals in 2019, Hathaway founded "Hath's Heroes" in order to provide support for local first responders beyond their line of work.

When Hathaway joined the Flyers last season, he brought "Hath's Heroes" along with him to Philadelphia. He hosted 20 first responders for home games at Wells Fargo Center, supplying complimentary tickets and doing postgame meet-and-greets to show his appreciation for their life-saving work.

This season, There's a new component. Garnet, wife Lindsay, and Flyers Charities launched "Hits for Hath's Heroes" as a fundraising nod to Hathway's aggressively physical style of play (he was 2nd in the NHL in credited hits in 2023-24).

This season, each hit credited to a Flyers player -- 30 so far for Hathaway in 10 games -- produces a direct donation to the program. Flyers fans can also help out by donating at FlyersCharities.com. One hundred percent of the proceeds from both the Hathaways and fan donations will go directly to funding initiatives and programming for local first responders in the local Philadelphia region.

“Lindsay and I are thrilled to launch Hits for Hath’s Heroes,” Hathaway said in a statement.

“Through Hath’s Heroes, we’ve met many selfless men and women who work tirelessly to serve our communities. I hope fans will join us in giving back to show our local heroes how much we appreciate them. Every hit counts!”

Phantoms Focus

Coming off a 2-1 victory on Wednesday against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2-3-2 in October) have 12 games on their November schedule: six home and six road.

The gauntlet begins on Saturday evening with a road match against the Springfield Thunderbirds. From there, the Phantoms play a home-and-home set next Wednesday (away) and Friday (home at PPL Center) against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Last week, the Baby Pens beat the Phantoms in back-to-back games in Wilkes-Barre and Allentown.

Through the first seven games of the regular season, Anthony Richard (3g, 3a) and second-year pro Samu Tuomaala (2g, 4a) share the Phantoms team lead with six points apiece. The Phantoms' five-on-five play needs improvement but the power play has started out at a robust 25 percent success rate (6-for-24).