No too long before being taken 45th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Flyers, Anthony Stolarz came to the NHL Combine in a position not many other prospects were in.

PhiladelphiaFlyers.com caught up with Stolarz who gives us his take from the event nearly five years ago…

WHAT'S GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND THE NIGHT BEFORE YOUR NHL COMBINE?

"I was a little nervous. It was my first experience with any of those players invited because I played in the North American Hockey League. I think I was the only player invited, so it was a little overwhelming at first. You walk in and see the testing set up and then you get your interview list. I think I interviewed with 23 or 24 teams. You're going non-stop every day."

WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECTS OF THE TESTING PHASE FOR YOU?

"It was the VO2 and the Wingate tests. You do them back-to-back and you get about a half-hour break. One is a long distance type of test and you go until you can't go anymore. I think I lasted about 8 or 9 minutes. Then the other is 30 seconds as hard as you can. There's a room set up right afterwards and there's garbage bags everywhere and a lot of guys were throwing up, so that was definitely the hardest part for me."

DID YOU KNOW ABOUT OR PREPARE FOR THAT TEST GOING IN?

"No, I didn't know it was going to be that intense. I trained for it after my season ended in April so I had two months to prepare for it, but it was more intense than I expected."

Jordan Weal is seven years removed from his NHL Combine, but some memories last forever. PhiladelphiaFlyers.com caught up with Weal to look back at his experience and thoughts now and then as he prepared to be drafted into the NHL.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NHL COMBINE EXPERIENCE LOOKING BACK ON IT NOW?

"Looking back on it now. Honestly, it was kind of a whirlwind. You arrive there and see a bunch of guys that you played with and know from all over [at the hotel], then you just kind of go to bed. The next day is interview after interview - you're pretty nervous and they're asking you pretty intense questions.

Then the next day you go right into fitness testing for what felt like a whole day straight. It's a cool experience, but at the same time, I don't want to say it's overwhelming, there's just a lot going on."

With this year's NHL Combine scheduled to take place in the next week, the Flyers staff will prepare to get a look at this year's top prospects. Having already gone through an NHL Combine, Flyers rookie Travis Konecny spoke to PhiladelphiaFlyers.com looking back on his experience at the annual event that precedes the Entry Draft.

Q: LOOKING BACK TO 2015, WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE AT THE NHL COMBINE LIKE? 

"I actually had a great experience. From what I remember, the NHL, they do their homework and they put you with someone that you're close with. I was put with my best buddy, Lawson Crouse, and I remember a couple other guys being roomed with their best buddy. So the NHL gives you the best opportunity to be relaxed and enjoy the week that you're there."

Q: WHAT WERE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF ALL THE TESTING STATIONS, ALL THE TEAMS AND ALL PROSPECTS THERE AT ONCE?

"I remember it being very organized. You're nervous about all your interviews and meetings and things like that. I remember it being really fun actually and having the opportunity to meet new people and challenge yourself. You know you're all being judged in the same draft, so it's cool to meet all the guys you're competing against."

In one of the most memorable finishes to a World Championship gold-medal game, it was Sweden who took a 2-1 shootout victory over Canada on Sunday to win their first title since 2013.

As a result, five Flyers on Team Canada: Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds all add silver medals to their international resume.

The Swedes held off a Canada rally in the third period in the win. Tampa defenseman, Victor Hedman got Sweden on the board first with a shorthanded goal in the second period, but Buffalo's Ryan O'Reilly scored the equalizer early in the third period to force overtime and the eventual shootout.

Nicklas Backstrom and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the shootout, while Henrik Lundqvist stopped all four Canadian shooters to take gold. Lundqvist stopped 42 of 43 shots in the win, while Canadian goaltender, Calvin Pickard, made 40 saves in the loss.

Of the five Flyers, Giroux led with 21:55 of ice time, while Sean Couturier had 21:04 followed by rookie Travis Konecny with 16:57.

Giroux, who served as captain of Canada, ends the tournament with six points (2g-4a) and a +6 rating having appeared in all 10 games. He now adds a silver medal to go along with his gold medal in 2015 at World Championships.

Konecny recorded eight points, all assists, to go along with a +6 rating in his first World Championships. His eight assists tied for second on Team Canada and tied for fifth among all players in the tournament.

Couturier (1g-1a) and Simmonds (2a) each had two points, while Brayden Schenn's lone goal of the tournament was a game-winning tally.

Also representing Hockey Canada in the tournament were Flyers GM Ron Hextall, who served as GM for Canada in the tournament for the first time. As was also the case for Flyers head coach, Dave Hakstol, who served as an assistant coach of the tournament to Tampa's Jon Cooper.

Trailing 2-0 after 40 minutes of play, the Canadians tallied four unanswered goals to beat Russia by a 4-2 score in the first semifinal of the 2017 IIHF World Championships in Cologne, Germany.

After Canada scored an early power-play goal in the third period to get within one, Flyers rookie Travis Konecny made a beautiful set up pass into the slot to Nathan MacKinnon, who scored the equalizer with just under five minutes to go in the game.

Konecny now has eight points, all of them assists, in the tournament thus far which is tied for the team lead in helpers (with MacKinnon) and is also tied for third among all players in the tournament.

Canada fired 38 shots on net compared to 28 from Russia, but also out-shot the Russians by a 19 to 5 margin in the third period to rally.

The World Championships enter the final weekend of the year and seven Flyers are in the mix for gold with three of the four countries still standing.

FINLAND IS IN

In the first Quarterfinal, USA took on Valtteri Filppula and Finland, who walked away with a 2-0 shutout victory despite being outshot, 26-20, including 12-5 in the third period. 

Filppula recorded one shot on goal, which came off a 2-on-1 rush with Sebastien Aho, but was denied by USA goaltender, Jimmy Howard. 

Harri Sateri earned his first shutout of the tournament for the Fins, while Filppula logged 17:18 of ice time in the win.

SWEDES BEAT THE SWISS

Finland will now take on their heated rivals in Sweden, who earned a 3-1 win over Switzerland, who went unbeaten in regulation (5-0-2) in the preliminary round.

Joining the team from his playoff exit, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped 26 of 27 shots while Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander posted a goal and an assist in the victory.

The game was the only one in which no members of the Flyers were represented.

Game time between Finland and Sweden is 1:15 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon and can been seen on the NHL Network.

The Philadelphia Flyers will host open auditions for their 2017-18 Ice Girls on Sunday, August 6 at 2 p.m. at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ.

The club is seeking energetic candidates with a love for the game of hockey in both skating and non-skating roles on the squad. The audition process is a one-day event consisting of public speaking evaluations, individual interviews, and skating drills or dance routines, based on which role the candidate is auditioning for.

Interested candidates must be 18 years of age, have a positive and outgoing personality, possess strong interpersonal skills, have a flexible schedule that can accommodate all 2017-18 Flyers home games, and have a solid means of transportation.

Bill Meltzer wraps up his series looking at the second overall pick and how it has shaped a franchise by examining the early part of the century, how the game has changed and how players have adapted and made an impact in recent years.

The 2000s (Eric Staal, Evgeni Malkin, Drew Doughty, Victor Hedman)

The 2003 NHL Draft, widely regarded among the two or three deepest classes in Draft history, saw the Carolina Hurricanes select big-framed Peterborough Petes center Eric Staal with the second overall the pick. The first of the four Staal brothers to play in the NHL, Eric spent the first decade of his career with Carolina and was a force on their 2005-06 Stanley Cup winning team (45 goals, 100 points in the regular season, 28 points in 25 playoff games). He succeeded Rod Brind'Amour as the Hurricanes' captain in January 2010.

Staal experienced a career revival in 2016-17 as a member of the Minnesota Wild, for whom he notched 28 goals and 65 points. In 1,011 career NHL games to date, he has racked up 353 goals and 846 points.

The next Draft, dubbed "the year of the Russian," saw the Washington Capitals select Alex Ovechkin first overall and the Pittsburgh Penguins choose Evgeni Malkin with the second pick. Coming over to North America in 2006, Malkin formed a superstar one-two punch with 2005 first-overall pick Sidney Crosby. 

Malkin collected the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the year in 2006-07. Subsequently, he won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer in 2008-09 and followed it up with a Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) as the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. Malkin won his second Art Ross Trophy in 2011-12 and he also collected both the Hart Trophy and the peer-selected Ted Lindsay Award as league MVP. Through the 2016-17 season, he has 832 career points (328 goals, 504 assists) in the NHL.

With the preliminary rounds ending on Tuesday, the quest for gold begins at the 2017 IIHF World Championships with nine Flyers still in the mix.

The quarterfinal round, which after a day off, will begin on Thursday in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France.  

UPDATED: QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE
Cologne, Germany
QF 1: USA vs. Finland, 10:15 am ET
QF 3: Canada vs. Germany, 2:15 pm ET

Paris, France
QF 2: Russia vs. Czech Republic, 10:15 am ET 
QF 4: Switzerland vs. Sweden, 2:15 pm ET

CANADA

Team Canada earned a 5-2 win over Finland in their preliminary finale bringing their record to 6-0-1, and with 19 points, finish atop the standings of any team in the tournament. 

The Canadians now face off against Germany, who took a winner-take-all victory in their last game of the round with a 4-3 shootout win over Latvia.

Serving as captain of Team Canada, Claude Giroux finished with six points (2g-4a) and a plus-5 rating appearing in all seven games.

Playing in his first World Championships, rookie Travis Konecny finished fourth on the team with seven points, all of which were assists, while also posting a plus-minus rating of plus-6. His seven helpers also tied for the team lead.

Brayden Schenn (1g-0a) and Wayne Simmonds (0g-2a) also appeared in all seven games, while Sean Couturier missed the first two games of the tournament, but played in each of the last five outings, recording one assist.

The Philadelphia Flyers have teamed up with leading sports technology company NormaTec to establish an official Recovery Room powered by NormaTec for their players.

The room features NormaTec PULSE PRO Systems for the players to utilize before and after training to rejuvenate muscle tissue, increase circulation, rehab from pain and soreness, and ultimately speed up the recovery process. NormaTec's Recovery Systems use a patented compression technology to provide rapid recovery for athletes.

"The NormaTec is a lightweight portable & durable adjunct to the recovery process of the Philadelphia Flyers," said Flyers Director of Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer, Jim McCrossin. "It can be utilized not only in our recovery room but on the plane , train or the bedroom of our players." 

Gilad Jacobs, CEO of NormaTec, added: "Hockey is a high intensity sport and the Flyers have some of the best players in the NHL. We are thrilled to have partnered with them on the Recovery Room and to see NormaTec's technology at work helping them excel on the ice every day."