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Flyers loan Michael Raffl to Villacher SV in Austria

When you can’t do that hockey in American, go do that hockey in Austria, mate.

By Mike Dusak
New York Islanders v Philadelphia Flyers - Game Two
No no no, Austria — you’re thinking of Australia, Jake.
Photo by Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images

We’ve got a Saturday morning news dump for you, as the Flyers announced via Twitter today that they’ve loaned forward Michael Raffl to Villacher SV of the ICE Hockey League, which we’re told is in Austria.

Raffl, who turns 32 on December 1, played in 58 games for the Flyers during the unique confines of the 2019-20 season and chipped in eight goals and 12 assists while playing mostly a fourth-line role for coach Alain Vigneault.

As for what this means for the Flyers, it’s not likely to mean that much, as Raffl is likely just heading to play some meaningful hockey for the next month or so while the NHL figures out just when the 2020-21 season will start. Friend of the program Charlie O’Connor of the Athletic noted on Twitter that the contract loan will presumably end for the start of NHL training camps.

We wish Raffl the best of success during his return to his native Austria for the immediate future, though it will always lag behind Claude Giroux’s loan to German squad Eisbaren Berlin in terms of coolest historical team loan arrangements.

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