MONDAY QUICK HITS

* Nicolas Aube-Kubel, the Flyers second-round pick in the 2014 Draft, is off to a roaring start in the QMJHL preseason. One night after notching a hat trick in the Val-d’Or exhibition opener, Aube-Kubel scored a pair of power play goals and added an assist in his club’s 5-2 win over Blainville-Boisbriand. He has five goals and one assist in two games.

* Fifth-round 2014 dra

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QUICK START IMPORTANT FOR VORACEK

Flyers right winger Jakub Voracek is unquestionably one of the most skilled players on the team. He has averaged 0.83 points per game over the last two seasons and has compiled 52 goals, 71 assists and 123 points over his last 145 regular season games (0.85 points per game) dating back to the stretch drive of the 2011-12 season.

Off the ice, the 25-year-old

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FLYERS PILGRIMAGES: REXY’S RESTAURANT AND BAR, MT. EPHRAIM, NJ

No discussion of the Broad Street Bully era Flyers is complete without mentioning their favorite postgame and off-night hangout, Rexy’s Restaurant and Bar in Mt. Ephraim. From the time of the team’s creation in 1967 until the 1980s, but especially in the mid-1970s, virtually the entire team hung out together at Rexy’s whenever they

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IS SCHENN HEADED FOR A BREAKOUT SEASON?

Flyers forward Brayden Schenn celebrates his 23rd birthday today. With a new two-season bridge deal contract in hand, Schenn is about to enter his fourth season in the NHL. It is not an exaggeration to say that the 2014-15 season will be a critical one in his development.

Schenn has made progress over the course of his three NHL seasons to date. It ha

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INJURIES DERAILED RENBERG’S PATH TO STARDOM

In November, two-thirds of the Legion of Doom line will be inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame as Eric Lindros and John LeClair take their place among the top players in franchise history. The third original member of the line, Mikael Renberg, will probably never earn the honor.

Renberg’s NHL career accomplishments — after a brillia

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STREIT NEEDS TO EXCEL IN SECOND SEASON

If the Philadelphia Flyers are to make the playoffs again in 2014-15, veteran defenseman Mark Streit will need to stay healthy and have a highly productive season. With Kimmo Timonen likely unavailable for much or all of the season, the 36-year-old Streit will assume much of Timonen’s on-ice and off-ice leadership mantle.

The off-ice part should not di

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GOALTENDER OUELLETTE SIGNED TO AHL CONTRACT

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have signed 22-year-old goaltender Martin Ouellette to an AHL contract for the 2014-15 season. Originally a seventh-round pick (184th overall) of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2010 NHL Draft, the graduated University of Maine netminder became an unrestricted free agent this weekend after the Blue Jackets declined to offer

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TIMONEN IN GOOD SPIRITS, BUT STILL NOT CLEARED FOR TRAVEL

After being treated at Kuopio University Hospital in Finland, Kimmo Timonen continues to recover from blood clots in his lungs and leg. He is still not medically cleared to travel, however, so medical examination by Flyers team doctors will have to wait a little longer.

The player was initially told he’d have to wait at least three w

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FLYERS HEAD-TO-HEAD: KERR VS. LECLAIR

When I was growing up, I always enjoyed reading the “Who’s Better?” feature in Hockey Digest, in which two NHL stars would be compared in various aspects of their games and the writer would come to a final conclusion as to which player was the superior all-around player. I didn’t always agree with the verdict, but it was entertaining reading.

For years,

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QUICK HITS: AUGUST 16, 2014

* Former Chicago Blackhawks first-round pick Kevin Hayes is now an unrestricted free agent after failing to come to terms with the team on an entry-level contract.

Drafted by Chicago in the first round of the 2010 Draft, the 6-foot-3, 205 pound Hayes is coming off a spectacular senior season at Boston College. Riding shotgun to Johnny Gaudreau (now with the Calga

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