Friday Morning Fly By: Heading West

*We’ve just about made it through the holiday break (did we endure this break? Or did we revel in it? Who’s to say) and blissfully we get to ease into the traditional post-Christmas West Coast trip with a 4 p.m. start tomorrow against Anaheim. Ahh yes, the West Coast Trip. We’ve been doing this a while, eh? [BSH]

*The WJC kicked off yesterday and in case you missed it, we’ve put together a full preview of the tournament for your reading pleasure. [BSH]

*The World Juniors are always a good time but this year in particular there are several good reasons for Flyers fans to tune in. [Inquirer]

*The end of the year makes for prime time for Future Predictions, and here’s a bold one for the 4 Nations Faceoff we will see in 2025. [Sportsnet]

*And finally, we’re coming up on the Winter Classic. What used to be appointment television for many hockey fans has become kinda… boring. Kinda stale. Time for the NHL to start shaking things up if they want their marquee annual event to remain a thing worth watching. [The Athletic]