SPORTS

Pair of injuries kept Flyers from seeing what Mark Alt can do

Dave Isaac
@davegisaac

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Mark Alt saw the name on his cell phone as it lit up and he answered.

It was usual Lehigh Valley Phantoms teammate Jason Akeson, who had made the Flyers' roster out of training camp.

That late October day, Akeson was calling to tell the defenseman that he was supposed to be in a team meeting. In Voorhees. With the Flyers.

Alt was in Allentown with the Phantoms, recovering from a shoulder injury that would cost him a month's worth of games.

"It was a strange day," Alt said. "I was hearing so many different things from so many different people. I really didn't believe anything because nobody told me officially."

Andrew MacDonald had gone down with a knee injury and as much as the Flyers wanted to call up Alt, a 23-year-old blueliner the Flyers acquired via trade with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2013, the injury wouldn't allow it.

Alt, whose father John was a two-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs, hasn't had much of a chance to show what he can do at a level higher than the American Hockey League.

Were it not for the shoulder injury, he would have. At 6-foot-4, 201 pounds, Alt certainly has the frame for an NHL brand of hockey, yet he's rarely involved in the conversation about the Flyers' young Flyers group of defense prospects that typically includes Shayne Gostisbehere, Samuel Morin, Travis Sanheim and Robert Hagg.

"Yeah, he deserves to be in the conversation," Phantoms coach Terry Murray said last week. "He was on track. When I came in at the start of the year I'm asked that question and I said he's on track. Everything's going fine. Now he's had a big setback here a couple of times this year and he's an interesting player. He's big and he can really skate. He's got very nice speed."

Alt's other setback came on New Year's Eve when he reached his left hand out to block a shot and puck shattered bone. After surgery in early January, that yielded a scar from the base of his thumb past the first knuckle of his index finger, Alt returned for two games last weekend.

The Minnesota-born defenseman, who was also a quarterback until deciding to be a one-sport athlete in 2009, was hoping this could be his year and a chance to show he's one of the Flyers' better D prospects in training camp.

"I knew the Flyers had their defensemen," said Alt, who is in the middle of his three-year entry-level contract. "They were set and had a lot of veteran guys. I knew I was gonna come down here (to the AHL) and put my work and time in. I felt great coming down here. I felt like I was at the top of my game. Having these two setbacks, it's been a tough year, but I've really worked hard to get back to where I want to be."

Alt has played only 21 games at no fault of his own. One of many Phantoms injuries this season, when he has been in the lineup he hasn't had one set partner. In his second full pro season, he would have liked to have known what a full workload was like.

"It's a process to learn how to get that part all figured out, too," Murray said of Alt, who was used to roughly 40-game college schedules. "Again, it comes to being the best every day. It's fatiguing. He's a big kid, very strong and athletic. I like Mark Alt. he's a very intense, hard-working guy. He really cares. He's very passionate about playing the game the right way. I think he has to be put into that conversation because he's a high-character guy."

Zepp to be recalled: Goalie Rob Zepp was injured the night before Steve Mason went down with a right knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery. He'll also be the first one back. Zepp, 33, was hit by a Binghamton Senator and injured his ankle against the post, but he only missed one game.

He played three games this past weekend, making 95 saves for the Phantoms on 106 shots for a .896 save percentage. That's enough action to be good to go in relieving Mason. Zepp will take over backup duties from Anthony Stolarz, the Flyers' 2012 second-round pick who went on the roadtrip, but did not see any action.

Morin suspended: The Flyers' 2013 first-round pick, Morin was suspended by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League two games for checking from behind. In the third period of Saturday's 7-3 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs, Morin hit center Samuel Dove-McFalls from behind and was assessed 12 minutes in penalties on the play.

Reach Dave Isaac at disaac@courierpostonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @davegisaac.