As Flyers Deal With Injuries, Bump, Knuble Return With Some Momentum

As Flyers deal with injuries, Bump, Knuble return with some momentum originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It didn’t take too long for Alex Bump and Cole Knuble to make their way back to the Flyers.

Bump was sent to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley after three games with the big club. Knuble went down when he was among some of the final cuts in training camp.

With the Flyers getting hit hard by injuries, Bump, Knuble, Jacob Gaucher and Hunter McDonald were called up. Rick Tocchet said there’s a “good possibility” Bump and Knuble play Monday when the Flyers host the Avalanche at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP). It’s uncertain if Gaucher or McDonald will play.

For Knuble, it would be his NHL debut. And a pretty cool one. He’ll be playing for the team he grew up watching. His father Mike Knuble played 338 career regular-season games for the Flyers over two stints with the club.

“I’ve been a fan of this team my whole life,” Knuble said Monday after morning skate, “so I think it’s extra special.”

Some of his childhood was spent at this arena.

“I probably remember the family lounge more and playing mini sticks with my brother,” Knuble said. “But I remember little things — Peco power play was around, so all of that stuff.”

Knuble has been a riser in the Flyers’ system. The 22-year-old forward had a strong camp and preseason. With the Phantoms, he had a goal, three assists and 19 shots in six games.

“I’m going to bring energy and compete,” Knuble said. “I’m going to be moving every shift.”

Bump scored a blistering seven goals (two of them empty-netters) in five games with Lehigh Valley. He also collected an assist and fired 27 shots.

“Try to make it hard on them to keep me down there,” Bump said.

The 22-year-old winger was scoreless with four shots for the Flyers.

“Building the confidence again,” Bump said. “I think I kind of got away from my game up here, so I think it was good for me to go back down and just kind of find it and play freely.”

On the Flyers’ injury front, Travis Konecny (lower body), Owen Tippett (upper body), Rasmus Ristolainen (left hand) and Cam York (upper body) have been ruled out against Colorado.

Sean Couturier and Tyson Foerster are game-time decisions. Both missed practice Sunday, but they tested things out on the ice at Monday’s optional skate. Couturier is banged up but could be good to go. Foerster, though, did not look real comfortable testing out his right hand.

The 24-year-old winger blocked a shot in the Flyers’ 3-1 win Saturday night over the Senators. At one point Monday, he left morning skate, but he then returned for some more work.

The Flyers (1-6-3) have a tall order against the Avalanche (5-2-1), a high-powered team that’s scoring 4.50 goals per game.

“The best way against that team is you’ve got to protect the middle of the ice and you’ve got to be aggressive,” Tocchet said. “You play Colorado or these teams, you don’t back up. It’s the opposite, you want to be aggressive, you want to squash a play.”