The Flyers flew yesterday from Philadelphia to Vancouver to allow themselves maximum time to adjust to the three-hour time difference and prep time for Friday's regular season opener against the Canucks.

Flyers assistant coach Brad Shaw met with the media at the FTC in Voorhees shortly prior to the team's departure for the airport. Shaw said that defenseman Nick Seeler was still feeling numbness in his leg from a puck he took off the knee in Boston last Tuesday. Shaw acknowledged that the issue has lingered longer than expected but said the player is still on a day-to-day basis.

Seeler missed the team's last four practices, apart from a very brief appearance last Friday when he attempted to give in a go but quickly exited the ice and returned to the locker room.

The Flyers have a team-wide day off in Vancouver today. On Thursday, the team will hold practice. Although it's still possible that head coach John Tortorella will say that Seeler is "game-day decision" whether he practices or not, the odds of Seeler suiting up for the opener on Friday will greatly depend on how he feels tomorrow.

If the shot-blocking physical defenseman is unavailable, defense pairings will have to be juggled around with veteran Erik Johnson dressing for the opener. There are different combinations possible (Thursday's practice will likely be a tell despite the typical coach speak of no decisions being made). If it were my decision, in lieu of Seeler being available, I would arrange the pairing this way for Friday:

Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York - Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula - Johnson

Alternatively, Tortorella and Shaw could opt for Sanheim-Drysdale, York-Ristolainen and Zamula-Johnson.

In terms of the Flyers goaltending rotation, due to the upcoming travel and back-to-back/ three-in-four game scheduling, a rough road map for the team's October starting goalie projection can be drawn with only a game or two that could vary from the following:

@ VAN Samuel Ersson
@ CGY Ivan Fedotov
@ EDM Ersson
@ SEA Fedotov
vs VAN Ersson
vs WSH Ersson
@ WSH Fedotov
vs MIN Ersson
vs. MTL Fedtotov
@ BOS Ersson
vs STL Ersson

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