Heikki Ruohonen's eyes immediately lit up.
When asked about skating with fellow Finnish player Sami Kapanen, the USA Hockey League-bound center couldn't contain his excitement. “It's been great,” Ruohonen replied, then added with a big smile: “[We] I spoke a little Finnish.”
Kapanen, who works in player development in the Flyers front office and is also a pro scout, was impressed with his fellow player.
“He's a hard-working center who can play two-way,” Kapanen told the Inquirer. “He's reliable defensively and has shown great ability offensively. [U18 World Championship] For tournaments and for me, his skating is very powerful. [player] He plays hard, so I like that he has a well-rounded game, and that's probably his greatest strength. As a coach, I feel comfortable using him no matter what the game situation is.”
Ruohonen models his playing style after Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, which isn't a bad choice, as the 2024 Stanley Cup winner just won his second career Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. In the fall, Ruohonen will head to Dubuque, Iowa, to play for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the National Hockey League, the team that fifth-round pick Noah Powell played for last season, and the two have spoken a bit and share the same stall in Voorhees. After that, Ruohonen will head to Boston to play for Harvard in 2025-26.
“I've always dreamed of coming to North America. My dream as a kid was to play in the NHL,” Ruohonen said. “The rinks are smaller and the style of hockey in North America is a little different, so I wanted to get used to it as quickly as possible.”
“I always did well in school, so I was somewhere between the Canadian Hockey League and going to university. School was pretty easy for me, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.”
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One of the reasons Kapanen is impressed with Ruohonen is that he's Harvard educated and prepared for life — he's obviously hoping the Finnish native makes it to the NHL — but first there are some things he needs to work on beyond the faceoff dots.
“Heikki skates well,” Kapanen said. “I think he's able to slow down at times and when he's playing offensively, he's able to not rush in certain situations. He doesn't have to rush, he doesn't have to be any faster than he needs to be. And I think that that helps him develop patience and composure with the puck. And with more practice and more people pointing that out and paying attention to that, those kinds of little things will come out already within the week.”
Molly's 4th Camp
Flyers development camps are becoming a regular occurrence for Kara Morey. Now in her fourth year attending the camp, the Princeton women's hockey coach enjoys watching her players grow and improve. She's quick to point out how much blue lineman Hunter McDonald and forward Owen McLaughlin have advanced their games.
“It's really cool because you learn so much while you're there,” said Morey, 45. “But what's really interesting is that a lot of these players are the same age as the guys I coach. You forget that when you come to Flyers camp, you think they're all adults, but they're really all the same. The questions my players ask are the same as they ask. So it's really interesting to realize that hockey is really the same and they're at the same developmental level, on and off the ice, as the guys I coach with every day.”
Jessica Campbell was named assistant coach of the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, paving the way for more women to coach on the bench in the NHL. Morey has been bench boss and assistant coach at Princeton since 2011 and is very happy there, but she knows how important it will be for Campbell to break the glass ceiling.
“It's really great to see more doors opening up for us, because in my profession it was mostly college hockey in the U.S., but it's grown a little bit and there's now money being paid for college hockey in Canada. Now there's a professional league, it's probably going to open up a lot more doors.” [opened]”For me it just means our profession is expanding and where before there were only 36 jobs nationwide, now there are so many more doors opening up. It's growing. It's great,” Morey said.
Paging Jack
It was a dream come true for Jack Paige. The West Chester native was invited to Flyers camp on Saturday by general manager Danny Briere because the team needed an extra defenseman.
Paige, the son of former Wells Fargo Center president John Paige, has blended in pretty well with the Flyers' prospects. The 6-foot-4, 194-pound blue lineman appeared in five games over two seasons at Boston College. Though he hasn't played many games, he's looking to learn everything he can in Voorhees and bring it back to Beantown.
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“We've been working on two-on-ones today, just the little things with stick use and stuff like that,” Paige said. “Reads, changing hands, different aspects of that.”
Paige, who is often compared to Travis Sanheim for his skating skills, grew up a fan of former Flyers player Mike Richards and often attended games as a child.
“My best memory is definitely [Boston] “The Bruins series with the Flyers down 3-0 and that winning streak in 2010. I'll never forget that year,” Paige said. “The saddest day of my life, unfortunately. [Patrick] Kane scored the goal but it wasn't much fun to watch.”
Breakaway
J.R. Avon showed off his speed and accuracy on Friday. Avon played last season at Lehigh Valley. … Lee Parks showed off his strength on Friday. The 19-year-old recorded 58 points (30 goals, 28 assists) in 62 games last season with the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League. He has been invited to training camp. … Players will sign autographs from 4-5 p.m. Saturday before scrimmaging at 6 p.m. at the Flyers Training Center.
