AHL: Philadelphia Prospects

The dismal 2006-07 season that has seen the Philadelphia Flyers fall to the bottom of the standings has allowed management to take a closer look at the organizations depth. Several players from the Philadelphia Phantoms have received the call and given the chance to show they belong in the NHL. McKeen's had the opportunity to see the Phantoms recently and review several Philadelphia prospects.

Stefan Ruzicka (Phi), RW, Philadelphia

Swift skater with astute offensive awareness .. reaches top speed quickly on offense, but was not showing the same pace on the backcheck .. demonstrated great hand-eye coordination by corralling a puck from mid-air, batting it down and gathering control without breaking stride.. his size (5-11, 200) does not allow for a physical edge, but does not shy away from physical activity along the boards .. crafty as he hangs around scrums along the boards fishing for loose pucks and starting the play for a scoring chance .. picked up a loose puck in heavy traffic down low and snapped a rising shot into the top right corner for one of the prettier goals of the game .. takes a regular shift and used in all situations including time on the power play and penalty kill.

Ryan Potulny (Phi), C, Philadelphia

Played nearly the entire third period trailing by two goals and looking for a spark .. great hands and clearly the Phantoms biggest offensive threat .. received penalties in the first and second periods due to aggressive defensive efforts, but prevented legitimate scoring chances .. battles along the boards as a true physical force, using his six-foot frame effectively finding loose pucks and generating scoring chances off the cycle.. plays with many different linemates, works the power play and kills penalties .. had an extended look by the Flyers at the NHL level in a few occasions during the first half of the season, but returned to the Phantoms late January.

Darren Reid (Phi), RW, Philadelphia

Scored a highlight reel goal after creating a turnover at the point and broke in alone down the left wing .. right-handed shooter slid the puck to his backhand and roofed it, knocking the water bottle of the net .. made a spin-o-rama move on the fourth goal before Stefan Ruzicka picked up the loose puck and snapped it in .. began 2006-07 season in style with his first professional hat trick and scoring seven goals in six games .. showed the ability to bounce back quickly from injury by scoring three goals in his next four games.

Martin Houle (Phi), G, Philadelphia

Allowed three goals (two that were stoppable) on eight shots in the first period .. looked bad on a play where he came out to play the puck but got crossed up and failed to stop the pass that led to a goal into the wide-open net .. pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 10 shots.

Nikos Dimitrakos (Phi), RW, Philadelphia

Plays on a line with Darren Reid and on the first power play unit .. was not a factor through two periods as an apparent injury might have led to limited minutes .. returned midway through the third period and was a perimeter-safe player during his three shifts .. was a scratch in three of the last seven games.