Wellwood excited about NHL debut with Flyers

AFTER HE hung up from the call that summoned him to Philadelphia, Eric Wellwood said he needed almost an hour to stop shaking.

With Danny Briere suspended for three games for a crosscheck during Saturday night's game against the Islanders, and Andreas Nodl out with a shoulder injury, Wellwood, 20, was recalled from Adirondack on Sunday to make his NHL debut last night against Carolina.

"It caught me off-guard," Wellwood explained. "I wasn't expecting anything like that to happen, but it did."

Wellwood, in his first professional season, probably was thrilled to escape the turmoil unfolding in AHL Adirondack this week. The Flyers sent Phantoms leading scorer Pat Maroon packing and issued warnings to other players on the team with behavioral questions.

Wellwood had three goals and one assist in his first 11 games with the Phantoms. He saw action in two Flyers preseason games, contributing one assist.

Last night, he took Nodl's place on a line with Mike Richards and James van Riemsdyk. He played 13:47 and took a team-high six shots.

"He has a lot of speed," coach Peter Laviolette said. "I remember an opportunity where he got to play some minutes - it was in Toronto - and he did real good. He's able to generate offense. He's a smart player. I think his speed is an advantage. It should help our game."

Wellwood was a Flyers' sixth-round pick in 2009. He played on the OHL's Windsor Spitfires last season, on a line with No. 1 overall pick Taylor Hall, who now plays for the Edmonton Oilers. That helped his exposure.

So did his last name. His older brother, Kyle Wellwood, played five full seasons in the NHL. Despite posting 25 points last season in Vancouver, Kyle could not hang on with the Phoenix Coyotes through training camp. He is playing for Mytischi Atlant in Russia's KHL this year.

For Eric, even advice from his older brother, who has skated miles in his shoes, couldn't help prepare him for the excitement surrounding last night.