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Donnellon: Provorov's game belies his age

HE STEPPED gingerly onto the Skate Zone ice just before 11, his first few strides resembling those of a current Hall of Famer, not a teenager who dreams of becoming one.

Ivan Provorov had logged more than 50 minutes of ice time over two games in two nights, grueling minutes of penalty-killing and power play, playing with this guy one night, that guy the next. It was a test, simply, the most recent in a camp filled with them, designed by Flyers brass to gauge how ready their 19-year-old man-child is for a top-rung NHL role, for the rigors and pressures of an 82-game NHL season.