Artem Anisimov had a positive impact on the Philadelphia Flyers organization

It was garbage time on Daily Faceoff Live to wrap up the show, and Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna took the opportunity to tell us a great Artem Anisimov story this season.

Franc Seravalli: Artem Anisimov has really made a dent in the Philadelphia Flyers organization in a good way. I think that hasn’t been talked about enough, so I wanted to shed some light on that and give him some love, but he came to Flyers camp earlier this year on a PTO, and ended up by breaking his foot in a preseason game, took a foot shot. And that just sealed his chances of making the team. He lived in Chicago, played in Russia last year, and everyone assumed he would go home to Russia or go to Chicago and continue his life outside of hockey.

Instead, he left for a few weeks, but made the decision to come back because he really wanted to try playing in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to see if he could be a mentor this season for their team. . He had a great year statistically, but the Flyers were much more impressed with what he did off the ice trying to mentor some of their young guys.

I think it’s just a nice little story about a guy who made a few bucks in his career, played 775 NHL games, and decided to go back to the AHL. If that’s not love of the game, I don’t know what is.

Mike McKenna: Yes, he’s having fun, that’s what it’s all about. We played together in Columbus, and I’m not surprised at all. It’s a special relationship he had with Egor Zamula, a defender of this franchise, and I think he really solidified it.

It’s great to see, I’m not surprised here. There’s not a lot of pressure in the American Hockey League, so if you still like it, if you still don’t mind earning a few bucks less, why not? He likes living in America, I understand that aspect, so good on Artem.

Frank Seravalli: Yeah, I just like to see it. I wonder what that means for the next part of his career, whether it’s player development or scouting involvement or whatever, the Flyers will work to find a place in the organization for a guy like he goes a long way.

You can watch the full episode here…