Behind the Hockey Scenes: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Behind the Hockey Scenes: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

December 20, 2022 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

(Photo - Sean O'Brien)

Introductions

Philadelphia (10-15-7, 27 points) sits just ahead of the bottom team, Columbus (10-19-2, 22 points) in the Metropolitan division of the National Hockey League's Eastern Conference. The Flyers and Blue Jackets are just ahead of the Anaheim Ducks (21 points) and Chicago Blackhawks (18 points) with the lowest point totals in the NHL.

Like Brad Larsen's squad, John Tortorella's team has been impacted by many injuries. Last summer's debate about Johnny Gaudreau led to him signing with Columbus in July. He leads his team with 33 points (10 goals and 23 assists).

Columbus leads the four-game season series with one regulation and one overtime win.

The Flyers lost 6-3 to the New York Rangers at home on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets lost 2-1 at home to the Dallas Stars last night.

Anthem - Lauren Hart - Her voice and love for the game and the fans, like that of her iconic father and Flyers' broadcaster, Gene Hart, resonates in the listener's soul.

First period

Starting goaltenders – Philadelphia – Carter Hart, Columbus – Daniil Tarasov

Wade Allison, Kevin Hayes, and Zack MacEwen returned to the Flyers' lineup.

No sustained pressure on either side through the first half of the period.

First power play went to the Jackets due to Rasmus Ristolainen with at 12:58 left in the frame. However, Travis Konecny scored a shorty (thirteenth overall goal) at 13:58 remaining to give the Flyers the first tally. Assist to Scott Laughton)

Shots: Philadelphia - 13 Columbus - 8

Score: Philadelphia - 1 Columbus - 0

Intermission – Mites On Ice, with Peanuts Christmas music equaled a crowd-pleaser.

Second period

Kirill Marchenko scored (third goal) at 5:58 into the frame. Assists to Jake Christensen and Eric Robinson.

Kent Johnson (eighth goal) put a wrister over Hart's left shoulder at 8:41 to give the Jackets a 2-1 lead. Assist to Gaudreau.

Moran Frost (sixth goal) took a pass from Cam York and snapped a wicked wrist shot past Tarasov at 10:04 to tie the game. Assists York and James van Riemsdyk.

Owen Tippett (ninth goal) worked a nifty give-an-go with Joel Farabee to the right of Tarasov on a power play to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead at 14:18.

The growth of the younger players on the roster was on display at points in this period. As Tortorella has often said, this season is about seeing what they have.

Shots: Philadelphia - 13 Columbus - 12

Score: Philadelphia - 3 Columbus - 2

Intermission – More Mites

(Photo - Sean O'Brien)

Third period

Konecny, who had that Christmas pep in his step tonight, weaved into the offensive zone and threaded a backhanded wrister over the left shoulder of Tarasov to give the Flyers a 4-2 lead at 2:45. His second goal of the night and fourteenth of the season was unassisted.

Andrew Peeke (third goal) quickly entered the zone and snapped a strong wrist shot over Hart's left shoulder to close the gap to one goal at 11:11. Assists to Jack Roslovic and Gustav Nyquist.

Columbus pulled the goalie with approximately two minutes to go. But Tippett (tenth) netted an empty-netter to seal the game. His second of the night, unassisted at 18:41 to give Philadelphia a 5-3 victory. 

Shots: Philadelphia - 13 Columbus - 13

Final Shots: Philadelphia 39 - Columbus - 33 

(Photo - Sean O'Brien)

Per the Flyers media relations department:

Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella

 

How much of a factor was it for you guys to come back in that second period? They started to get some momentum on their side, you guys answered back and take it back, but how key was that for you guys?

Are you asking me if that was a key time? When we went down 2-1? Yeah, when we answered, tied it, and then scored another one – Tip’s goal – it just swings the momentum. Didn’t give. We give up some goals. We give up a lead, but we didn’t give. We crawled back in it and found a way.

 

Was Carter okay at the end? It looked like he was slow getting up.

I didn’t notice anything. I just left the bench. I did not see. No one’s told me anything.

 

This morning we talked about the power play and how the main focus for those guys was the entries, just getting into the zone. That unit didn’t end up with a goal on the power play – I believe it was Tippett’s goal at the end – but what did you see there, them being able to keep the puck in even after the power play ended?

We still struggle on the entry. It’s at a very dangerous area right at the blue line. I thought Tip has a good game as far as retrieving pucks and battling for pucks. I didn’t even see the goal, so I can’t even comment on it. Everybody stood up, so I couldn’t even see it. It’s a work in progress as far as our power play, especially the entry part.

 

You’ve talked a lot the last few weeks about the fact that you’re building something here. A game like this where you have a lot of the 25 and younger guys step up – TK, Tippett, Frost, Cam – does that make you excited for what this could be down the road?

As hard as it’s been to eat all the losses – for coaches, it’s hard – they’re the ones that play. I can imagine how they feel. There have been some good things going on as far as development, as far as individual players, and also our team concept. You got to hang your hat on somewhere or you’ll lose your mind. Those are the things we’re trying. We’re trying a little “small victories” as far as where we’re coming as individuals. I’ve seen players get better each game. I’ve seen our backend get better. Cam York – minor leagues worked. Lappy and those guys, that whole situation that you guys were pissing and moaning about when we sent him down – worked. Cam comes up and is trying to make a difference. Those are the things we’re trying just to build on and hopefully – 50 plus games here – hopefully we just get some consistency and maybe some results.

 

With Konecny, has he entered the point where you trust him in any situation – power play, shorthanded, up a goal, down a goal?

You see how I use him, so I trust him. I’m always looking for him. He does some crazy stuff at times. We need to work with situational play with him, but you’ve got to be really careful of how – he’s just a reaction type player – you got to be really careful how you coach him because I need to let him go. Teach him a couple things along the way, but I need to let him go because that’s when he’s at his best.

 

Have you seen the positive progression in the areas you need him to be better in?

Yeah, I think he’s cognizant – at least he tells me that before he goes out on the next shift. He’s a bundle of energy and I love that about him. With a bundle of energy, there’s going to be some crazy stuff that happens. I don’t want to overcoach him. When we get to being a team that is competing in big games, playoffs and all that, when we get there as a team, hopefully at that time, he’ll lead the way as far as situational play. He’s still a pretty young man in this game. I’m hoping he leads the way as far as understanding some of those things when you’re in those key type of situations.

 

What did you think of Wade Allison’s game? I think he missed about six weeks, and what did you think of Hayes’ game tonight too?

I’m not giving up Hayesy’s game. I’m not going to have the Kevin Hayes update. You guys are trying to pit him against me and me against him, which is so ludicrous. So, I’m not giving you any update on Kevin Hayes. Ally, straight ahead, had some good bangs. I think he probably played ten minutes. I can give you a better assessment when I watch the tape.

 

Going back to Konecny, he scored the first shorthanded goal of his career tonight. You’ve had him paired up with Scott Laughton on the penalty kill. What have you liked about that duo, not just from a penalty killing standpoint but also their ability to try to create some offense?

I don’t think he’s killed here before. At least that’s what he’s told me, which is shocking. I’m not criticizing the prior coaching staffs, but I just think he’s so good. I had Cam for six years. Him and Cam are very similar – they anticipate so very well as a penalty killer. That’s why they end up with scoring chances in those types of situations. Willing to block shots, their quickness to pucks – listen, he’s a key guy. As I said, I look for him in every situation and deservedly so.

 

You talked about how Cam York, since he’s come back up, he’s trying to make a difference. Are you kind of seeing the same thing with Morgan Frost, especially over these last few games?

Yeah, he’s growing. He scores another goal tonight. I think we put that line together and I think James has kind of steadied those two kids. I watch him tonight. I see him carry the puck more instead of just getting rid of it. I think the big part of his game is carrying the puck, bringing people to him, so he can make plays. For a big part of this season, he was just getting rid of the puck. I think he feels more confident. When you start getting some points and you score a couple goals with those offensive guys, that’s what happens. This is a big time for his career. He has a chance to show or not show. He’s going to get the opportunity throughout the rest of this year and I think he’s trying to cease it here.

 

We talked a lot about positives at times in losses and how that’s important to focus on, but you have two wins in your last three games. Is it still important to get results throughout this process?

Everybody wants results. You can’t minimize that. We always are preparing to win a hockey game. Players, that’s all they want to do is win. I have to, as the head coach of the team, understand some of the situations that some guys are in and where maybe we get overwhelmed at times. I got to make sure I keep patience as we’re building. Because we’re building. As you’re building, when you approach each and every game, you want to win. It’s my job and my coaching staff’s job to make sure we handle ourselves the right way. Players just want to play and win. We have to control circumstances and how we coach them when we’re not getting the results.

John Tortorella's Comments Intriguing - Danny Briere's Star to Shine in Philadelphia?

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella spoke with the media this week, as he regularly does, and offered an intriguing response to a question about his relationship with the team's management. 

He credited assistant general manager Brent Flahr. But Tortorella also praised the hockey mind of the special assistant to the general manager, Danny Briere. 

People can subjectively read between the lines now and refer back to the latter part of November 2022 to determine where Briere's ascension is realized, meaning with this or another organization, as the future unfolds.

Philadelphia Phillies' Win Arguably Most Improbable National League Pennant

Baseball is a great game filled with emotional memories. This sport is played in backyards, on city streets, and in ballfields across the world. 

As someone who has followed the Philadelphia Phillies since the 1970's, this season's improbable turnaround, through a tough September, is particularly special. 

The Phillies have enjoyed four club house celebrations since Monday, October 3. Their trip to the 2022 World Series is stunning, with the triumphs over the St. Louis Cardinals, reigning World Champion Atlanta Braves, and San Diego Padres all being impressive. 

What comes next is also unpredictable, with a strong Houston Astros team likely primed to secure its fourth American League pennant (2018, 2021) since also winning its first-ever World Series championship in 2017. 

The then five-game maximum Phillies-Astros 1980 National League Championship Series (when Houston was still in the NL) ranks with or is the greatest championship series of all-time. The last four games all went extra innings, with the Phillies emerging victorious and then defeating a good Kansas City Royals team in six games to earn Philadelphia's first-ever title. 

While the Phillies have gone to the World Series in 1915, 1950, 1980, 1983, 1993, 2008, and 2009, the franchise has only ever been awarded one other trophy. The 2008 championship team was part of a run (2007-2011) of five consecutive playoff appearances. The 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1983 playoff teams represent the only other great era in team history.

The 1993 run to the World Series (verses the Toronto Blue Jays) has since been seen as the most improbable playoff run in franchise history. The 2022 season arguably tops it. 

 

Philadelphia Flyers Prepare To Establish 2022-23 Baseline Standard

The Philadelphia Flyers appear to see the 2022-23 season as one that will establish a baseline standard. The team, led by new head coach, John Tortorella, is not stocked to contend or, realistically, be a .500 team. 

So, an establishment of a what it means to be a Flyer is partially what the upcoming campaign will be about. Tortorella will lead the evaluation of the players who he believes can be part of a future that goes beyond this season. 

President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Chuck Fletcher, spoke to the media on Wednesday morning, with the season's first game being the next day, against the New Jersey Devils, on home ice in Philadelphia. 

The following is courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers media relations department:

President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Chuck Fletcher

Couturier’s been skating off and on, do you have a timetable of when he’ll be able to get in the lineup?

No timetable yet. I think he’s skated six or seven times now, I believe he was going to skate again today. He feels great, he’s progressing. If anything, we’re trying to slow him down from time to time. He’s really anxious to get back, but this is the best he’s felt since pre-surgery last year so we’re cautiously optimistic and hopefully he’ll continue to progress.

 

Where do you think the strengths are for your roster and where do you think the weaknesses are for things you’re going to figure out throughout the year?

Well, the strengths – this is a young, fast team. There’s 12 players on the 23-man roster that are 25 and under, I think 9 of them are 24 and under, so they’re a little bit unproven. That’s something we’re going to have to work through that Torts has been addressing, I think with you guys as well. We have a lot of work to do, but there’s a lot of upside, so I think the youth, the speed, the depth – we have really good depth this year, much better than we have the last two years, so if we do run into injuries, which seem to happen through the course of the season, I think we have a lot of kids down in Lehigh Valley we can call up. We have 23 on our roster now, and even though we’re on LTI, we have $3.9 million in LTI space now, and we can create more, obviously, if we want to carry fewer than 23, so I think we’re set up pretty well from that standpoint. We have a lot of work to do. We know that, we’ve been saying that. The players have been working hard. I’m sure some things, some of the systems play, specialty teams even, early in the season we’re going to have to work through some things. There’s great energy down there right now. I think the players are recharged after last season and I think everyone’s just excited to get playing.

 

It was a little bit of a surprise to see both Ronnie Attard and Egor Zamula on the roster. John had said that you guys weren’t going to keep them if they weren’t playing. Do you expect them to be in the opening night lineup? Where do they fit right now?

That’s what we’re going to see the next few days. If young players are not getting regular ice time here, clearly we’ll get them to Lehigh Valley at the appropriate point. I still think John is looking at the different combinations. I believe Zamula in particular has a strong chance to play tomorrow night, but we’ll see what John does today. I haven’t had a long chat with him yet, but we’ll just see how things play out the first couple games the next few days.

 

When we spoke to you back in September you mentioned that Ryan Ellis hadn’t been progressing. You put him on LTIR, do you have any update on how he’s doing now?

He’s continuing to rehab every day. He’s been in the facility a lot, but there’s been no substantial or substantive change in his situation.

 

Is surgery an option for him? I know you said during the summer it wasn’t, has that changed at all?

At this point, we’re continuing the process that we started a while ago and that Ryan’s been working hard at. We’ll just continue to see how things evolve.

 

Felix has put in a couple practices in a row, he sounded optimistic to be able to start the season on time. Was starting him on Injured Non-Roster just precautionary or did he have a setback?

No set back at all. It’s a groin strain. If he was a skater he could probably play, but with goaltenders you always want to be a little bit more careful. In case he had to get into the game as a backup, you’d hate to have him aggravate something. He’s continuing to practice in full. He truly is day-to-day so we’ll see how that plays out, but for right now I believe Sam Ersson will be the backup tomorrow.

 

What would you say the expectations are, and, in your mind, what would make this a good season for you guys?

In terms of expectations, it’s exactly what John and I have been saying. We expect to work hard this season. We expect to work hard at establishing a standard to which we’re going to be held on and off the ice. We’re expecting to defend much better, play harder away from the puck, be a more competitive team. Clearly we got to reduce our goals against. That’s something that you can control through hard work and structure and attention to detail, and that’s an area that coaches have been focused on in camp and we’ve spoken about a lot internally. To me, I’d like to see significant improvement in our compete, in our details, keeping the puck out of our net, allowing our goaltenders to see the puck a little cleaner. If we can do that, we’ll be a pretty competitive team.

 

One thing that John Tortorella said at the start of camp is that one thing that he’s good at as a coach is determining which players fit the program that he’s trying to build. How important of an aspect of this season is that – trying to figure out which guys should be part of this team moving forward?

That’s clearly one of John’s greatest strengths. I think the other one is actually developing young players. There’s no question this season we got to see who’s part of the solution going forward. Whether you’re a veteran player, whether you’re a younger player that’s trying to push and make their way into becoming full time NHLers. There certainly are some question marks in some of these players, and that’s what happens when you have a lot of young players. Again, they’re a little bit unproven, so there could be some ups and downs, but, on the other hand, there’s also potential to improve. Whether it’s as individuals, these players, or even collectively as a team, we feel we will get better as the season goes along.

 

As a follow up on that, how patient do you think you guys are going to be? Specifically with the young players, but also with the veterans in terms of if guys aren’t necessarily buying into what John is selling.

I don’t think there’ll be a lot of patience at all if you’re not buying in. Now, if you’re buying in, playing hard, and the production isn’t quite there, the results aren’t quite there, but you’re doing what’s asked of you, there’ll be a lot of patience, but there won’t be any patience for not buying in.

 

Couple players said over the last year or two that pressure in the offensive zone, attacking the net more, is the key to cutting down on the goals allowed, because you’re spending less time in your own end. Is that something that you and John are in agreement on, that you have to be more proactive here than react so much?

If you look at John’s teams historically, they’re strong puck possession teams. They have the ability to hold the puck in the offensive zone, and when you have the puck, obviously you don’t have to defend. Clearly, we got to get better defending, we got to defend harder, we got to defend faster. And the other part of our game last year that really struggled was our transition game. We weren’t very good at – one of the bottom five teams in the league I think – at getting out of our zone successfully, and that’s where you hope players like Zamula and Tony DeAngelo can really help you get the puck, get going. Clearly if we can have the puck, hold onto the puck, it should improve your offense, but, just as importantly, help you reduce your goals against.

 

You mentioned that Samuel Ersson is going to be the backup for the time being as Sandstrom gets healthy. How do you see – once Sandstrom does get back, and he is healthy, and he returns to the lineup – how do you see that competition? Is it over, how does it play out?

I don’t think the competition’s ever over. Again, there could be moves you have to make short-term, but I think – whether it’s the first month, the first couple months, even the first half of the year – I think you’re going to see a lot of movement between Lehigh Valley and here.

 

John said the other day he expected Cam Atkinson to be on the ice today. How’s he doing, any update on him?

I haven’t seen Cam yet; he is back in the building. He is going to get on the ice today in some fashion, and we’ll just see where he’s at. I know he feels great, he feels much better than he did last week. He’s progressed, and I guess we’ll have to see what that means.

 

How concerned are you that he, Carter Hart, a couple of other guys didn’t play in any preseason games? Does that worry you at all?

It’s sort of the reality. I don’t think there’s much we can do about that now. You’re actually seeing that more and more in other sports as well. I think in the NFL, a lot of the vets don’t even get a snap in preseason anymore. Its probably not ideal, but these guys are professionals, they’re working hard, and I assume over a couple games they’ll get going.

 

How do you think that Ronnie Attard and Egor Zamula improved during the preseason with their decision making, and how did that factor into keeping them on the roster?

Zamula had a really tough first shift in the rookie camp game, and I thought from that point on he actually kept getting better and better. He has great poise with the puck, he sees the ice so well, he’s got great length and reach. He put on about 10 pounds of muscle this summer, he can still continue to get stronger, but for right now, after two years in the American league, I’m kind of excited to see what he can do up here. Let’s see if we can develop him more up here versus just another season in the American league. That’ll be up to him how he plays. Ronnie, similar, I thought he was trying to do a lot early, trying to impact the play all over the ice in every situation early in camp. I know John and Brad Shaw had some good conversations with him. I thought he settled down and still was getting a lot of shots, was still being aggressive, but being a little bit more controlled in his defensive play. He’s a player that’s very close to playing. Whether its right now or whether he needs a little bit of time, we’ll see, but I just love the energy he brings, I love the size he brings. He’s a little bit unpredictable which I think is great. Not a cookie cutter player, but he can impact the game in so many different ways. Again, whether he's ready right now, we’ll see, but he’s here for a reason, because he’s earned the right to be here.

 

We talked to John a few days before the roster was finalized about Hayden Hodgson and he said that his camp was OK. He didn’t seem terribly excited by what he’d seen, but he said that a lot of people in the organization are really high on him. What went into the decision to keep him and keep him on the roster given the fact that it doesn’t sound like he really blew the doors off in camp?

I don’t think he had a bad camp. I really liked his first game. I thought the other games he played he was probably a little bit too safe, maybe even a little bit in-between. He wasn’t bringing that physical nature that he has. He’s a big, heavy guy. He can impact the play on the forecheck. He’s got a great shot. He’s just a young man that essentially has been an ECHL player until last year. Even though he’s 27, I still think there’s some untapped potential there. I think playing at a higher level, as he continues to adjust to the pace here, that he can improve and can continue to round out his game. Clearly what we saw last year – whether it was Lappy, Brent, Danny, me – we had a lot of time, and we’re very impressed with what he did last season, so that certainly bought him the opportunity to be here now. He knows he has to step up a bit, and he’ll get that opportunity.

 

Just curious to see if you’ve had any discussions with Ivan Fedotov’s agent and is there any hope that he’ll be here at some point during the season, or is that something that you’re not even worried about now or thinking about?

There’s really been no change. He continues to be under contract to us. He continues to serve his time in the Russian Navy, and other than that there really hasn’t been any change or any update.

 

You’re going to start this season without a Captain. Were you heavily involved in that decision, and how important is it to get the right guys to wear the As, home and away?

I’ve had a few conversations with John on that, and I think even John mentioned it – we have a lot of priorities, that’s just probably not towards the top of the list right now. I think there is some very good leaders in this group, and guys that can certainly wear a letter and have a lot of experience. I think what he wants to do is, let’s just get into the season, let’s see how players adjust, let’s see how players buy-in, and let’s see where we’re at in a little bit of time. And when there’s a decision to be made, we’ll be ready to make it.

 

You got a 14-game look at Noah Cates last year, he had a very impressive camp. One of the areas that John, and before him, Mike Yeo, had said was an area of concern was the young players and the team as a whole wasn’t handling adversity in games. They’d play well when things were going well and then kind of blend in and play the way everybody did when things weren’t going so well. Is Noah, being an exception to that, is that something that other players can look at and think this is how we have to play?

The way he’s played so far, I think every player on our team can look at his habits, his work ethic – his hockey sense is off the charts. Can move him around different positions, move him up and down your lineup. He’s playing a big role right now. That’s, to me, kind of an exciting line for our franchise. With Farabee and Tippett, and right now you got JVR with Frost and Allison, so that’s five younger guys in your middle six group, if you will. I think, not even just Noah, but some of these players now, they’re young, but they’ve had some experience, players like Frost and Tippett for example. Even Allison and Laczynski are 25 now. At some point you got to grab that opportunity and you got to rise above what Mike Yeo spoke about last year, and you hope that with continued experience and getting these reps, that that’s something they can grow into, where their game doesn’t change regardless of the score, and they can continue to take steps forward, and I’d be surprised if many of them don’t. Again, most of them have had very good camps.

 

You mentioned the improvements of Ronnie Attard and Egor Zamula throughout the course of camp, we talked to John about this too, what kind of separated the two of them from Cam York, whether it was buy-in, execution, and ultimately what lead to York being sent down to the AHL?

Cam’s a really good young player and he’s going to be a big part of our future. I spoke to you guys about this earlier in the Summer, the things he does well are the things we need for our group going forward. But he’s 21. His camp was OK. We just felt at this stage, with his age and relative lack of experience, that the best place for him is in Lehigh Valley. Lappy’s going to give him a great chance to play in every situation. Again, it’s going to be a fluid situation, there’s going to be movement, but I think allowing Cam to get big minutes in Lehigh Valley right now is the best thing, not only for him, but for our team if we want him to be that player going forward.

 

John’s a coach that likes to have his input on players and decisions, he’s a pretty fiery guy, just curious as to what your relationship has been like with him and how’s it grown throughout the preseason?

It’s been great. If you see the show The Standard that we put out, I just saw a cut of it, the one that’s going out tonight, I think it’s pretty good, you’ll see a lot of that interaction. He’s been great. He, honestly, hasn’t come in and demanded anything, “you need to get this player, you need to get that”. He wants to work with young players, “whoever you give me I’ll work with”. Now, he has opinions on those players, and you guys will know it without him even saying it, you’ll know how he feels about a player, but I think that’s great. It’s brutal honesty. The players have embraced it, and he never holds a grudge. He could have a confrontation with a player in the morning and that afternoon he’s chatting with them in the lunchroom, and the next day it’s like nothing happened. Everything he does is about making a player better. It’s never personal. I’ve been really impressed with how he ran this camp, I thought it was a great camp, and I’m excited to see what he can do. Again, his track record of bringing along young players and helping veteran players get back to where they need to be is pretty much unparalleled, in my opinion.

 

You mentioned the Eagles and the Phillies at the start, the fact that their fanbase is excited right now, and your attendance was declining the last year or so, what’s your message to the fanbase? That this is a young team that’s going to be exciting to watch? What’s the selling point here?

We’re going to get better. I think we are an exciting young team. We’re going to be fast, we’re going to be aggressive. Right now, we’re working hard to come together as a group. Like everybody, you get your 20-odd days in camp, and you’re throwing line combinations together now, we’re still working on systems, but I see a lot of potential for this group to grow. I think we have some good young talent, and I think we’re going to be an improved team and a team that’s really fun to watch.

 

I know you’re always looking to improve your team in some way, but compared to what you have here, the young guys, what you have at your disposal in Lehigh as well, how active do you intend on being in terms of mining the waiver wire as teams get sorted out over these next couple weeks?

We were watching the waiver wire like everybody, but going back to what I said before, I think our depth is pretty good. You look at D, we’re ten, eleven deep that can play up here. Obviously, a lot of forwards that can play here. A lot of young players that I think need an opportunity. So, I think before we start looking outside the organization, let’s see what we have inside. And again, for the most part, you guys have watched most of camp, I think most of the young players have played pretty well and look like they’re improved. And I think right now, if they continue to work and do what John asks, we need to give them the opportunity to show what they are. Going back to Charlie’s question earlier, this is a year we got to find out who’s part of the solution going forward, and hopefully a lot of these players grab that opportunity.

Philadelphia Flyers' Chuck Fletcher Speaks As John Tortorella Leads

The Philadelphia Flyers have opened the 2022-23 season with a new outlook. The off-season hiring of head coach John Tortorella was significant, in that it signaled that the organization intends to enforce on-ice accountability. 

Torts, as he has long been known, is not expected to work a miracle on ice with what was an injury-riddled roster. Instead, the veteran coach, whose Tampa Bay Lightning team beat a stacked Flyers team in 2003-04 in a memorable seven-game Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series and then won what remains his first and only Stanley Cup, enters the fray as an all-eyes evaluator. 

This two-time Jack Adams' winner (2003-04, and 2016-17 in Columbus) is an instant fan favorite, a Philly fit, and may be the right guy for this rebuilding team. But he may need the full four years of his contract to lead this franchise to being able to make a deep playoff run toward its ever elusive (1973-74, 1974-75) third Cup.

The following transcript was provided courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers Media Relations Department:

Philadelphia Flyers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Chuck Fletcher

Last year we dealt with a lot of adversity on and off the ice. Clearly, we didn’t meet the challenges that we faced, there’s no ducking that. It was an extremely disappointing season, one that we lived with all summer, and certainly one that drove us to make the changes that we did both on and off the ice. 

 

But this year is a clean slate for everybody, John has made that very clear to the players. We know there’s a lot of skeptics, a lot of people that don’t believe we are a good hockey team. I know our players are eager to prove them wrong, we all are.

 

There’s a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we’re excited about camp. In particular, I think this year this is probably the best opportunity since I’ve been here for young players to step up and either earn a bigger role on the National Hockey League team or even to make the team. 

 

We have a big wave of young talent coming into our system this year. Some will play in Lehigh, some will play here, but it’s an exciting opportunity for a lot of young players. Depending on how camp goes, we could have up to 10 players on our roster 25 years old and younger. So clearly, particularly up front, there’s a lot of opportunity for some young players to step up and show what they can do and see if they're a part of the solution going forward. 

 

In terms of injuries, I’ll start off with Sean Couturier. He has not been cleared to play as you all know. This morning he will see a specialist to get a second opinion. Based on that appointment, we will try to come up with a plan of attack, and as we have more information, we will let you know. 

 

Ryan Ellis is out indefinitely. There is no timetable on his return to play. I’ll just say that my assumption is that he will not play this season if he does it will be a bonus. That is how we have prepared this offseason by making the additions we did on the blue line.   

 

Patrick Brown had offseason back surgery, he is continuing to rehab. The timeline is a little murky, I would call it week to week. He is skating but he has not been cleared for contact. 

 

Joel Farabee has been cleared to participate, but non-contact participation. I think we saw him this morning in the skating test, he is making good progress. In terms of when he will be cleared for contact, that will probably depend a little bit on how he feels in the skating portion and the practice portion of camp. I think we’re still looking week to week with Joel. 

 

Bobby Brink is in the building rehabbing, rehabbing is going well, he is nine weeks post-op. Return to play I believe will still be in that December-January timeframe. The next step for him is to progress to on-ice rehab which we hope to have him do in the next week or two. 

 

Ryan Fitzgerald has a lower body injury he suffered while skating in Boston a couple of weeks ago. He is one to two weeks away. 

 

With that, I will take your questions. 

 

How surprised are you with Ryan Ellis? Because last year it seemed like he was improving and there was a decent chance he would play this year… 

There’s been ebbs and flows, I think he made progress earlier in the summer. I would say the last two months there hasn't been any visible signs of progress. It’s been a frustrating injury, nobody is more frustrated than Ryan, nobody wants to play more than Ryan, but we’re dealing with reality now. He’s not skating, so clearly, he is a long way from playing. 

 

So, he’ll go on long term? 

Potentially, that’s certainly an option for us. 

 

When did Joel Farabee return to being able to skate? 

Joel’s been skating with the group for over a month now, he just has not had some contact yet. He had a little inadvertent contact in a couple scrimmages when the players were conducting their own practices, but he feels great. I think we want to be careful here, let the injury heal. 

 

We also want to make sure Joel can do the off-ice training he needs to get stronger so he cannot just survive but play well this season. We’re going to do what’s in the best interest of Joel, but I think it’s very encouraging. You saw he skated as hard as everybody, so the good thing is he’s been handling the puck skating. His timing will be great, so now it’s just a question of getting him back into contact and making sure he’s strong enough. 

 

Regarding Ryan, when things broke up last season, you said a surgical option wasn’t something that was going to be considered. Has that changed, is there going to be a surgical option to fix whatever his issue is? 

I know we have been vague with describing the injury. I think we call it multifaceted, which it is, there's a psoas component, there’s a hip component, there’s an abductor component, so I’m not sure if you go in and repair one part that it’s going to fix everything. I’ve never heard of an injury like this, it’s very complicated. Torn psoas is a very serious injury for a hockey player, a very rare injury, so we’re doing the best we can, but we will leave it up to the medical experts. 

 

Regarding Sean Couturier, can you speak to the details of the location of the injury and whether this is the same injury happening again? 

I know it’s in the same area as the last injury. He has been following the medical guidance of the doctors and our medical staff. Over the course of the summer he was improving, but from time to time he had some nerve irritation in his glutes He was told it was a normal part of the process, continued to train, and at some point, over the last week things deteriorated. It got to the point that he was not sleeping as well and was experiencing some pain. What triggered that I don’t know, there’s a whole host of components that impact your back. We’ll try to get to the bottom of it and we’ll do what’s best for Sean. 

 

He’s going for a second opinion, if it comes back in a negative way is this potentially a season ending issue? Is this something that could threaten his career? 

I think we’re a long way from knowing that. He feels much better than he did last year, he can walk around, he can sit comfortably,  he feels he can even go out and skate right now. To suggest its career ending or season ending is a long way away. We’ll leave it up to the specialists, see what his opinion is, and then we’ll get together and get a plan.        

 

Is Ellis’s injury threatening his career?     

Certainly, that’s a possibility.

 

How is Ellis holding up mentally? 

It is extremely frustrating for him; I think he thought he would be a Predator forever. He got over the initial shock of being traded, he came here, he dove right and was a great teammate, he took Ivan Provorov under his wing - they were inseparable trying to build that chemistry. He was so excited to start the season, when he played, he played well. Nobody wants to play more than Ryan Ellis. I know people in this market haven’t had a great chance to see him, but he is a high-end competitor, a very good player. It has been very difficult on Ryan as a human trying to get healthy and trying to be a part of what we are building here. But we’ll hope for the best, and things can turn quickly as we have seen for the good and for the bad, but we’ll keep working. 

 

Have you entered contract negotiations with Travis Sanheim?  

We have, we’ve had conversations with his agent. Our goal is to resign Travis, he’s a big part of our team. He is probably the one and only player that played to their capabilities last year. I think he continues to improve. We continue to work to find a resolution, but if we don’t, I don’t think it will be a distraction. Everything has been professional and amicable, and we will continue to work away. 

 

What was the back injury Couturier was dealing with and what kind of surgery did he have? 

He did have back surgery, that’s the best I can characterize. 

 

Do you see any moves coming down the middle or do you feel someone within can step-up? 

This is a really important training camp. We brought John in for a reason, not just to guide a change in culture and change standards and crack the whip but John has a proven track record of helping players reach their potential, of helping young players get better. I think we are excited to let John and his staff get to work and to see where some of these young players are, let's see where the health of our players is, and from there we can make decisions. It's a critical camp for a lot of players and again there is an unprecedented opportunity for some young players to take on bigger roles now that Giroux isn't here. Not every player is going to make our club, but all these kids are important parts of our future.

Do you think someone can change to center because… (inaudible)?

Scott Laughton can play center; he can play wing. Lycksell played some center before in his past, but I think we’re going to start him on the wing here that’s the position he’s played most at. We do have some depth at center still and again we’ll see what the situation is with respect to Couturier and Brown and see how some of these players do and we’ll make decisions from there.

 

Have you been able to determine whether Hart is a subject of the Hockey Canada investigation and is there a concern regarding that on your part? 

This is a really serious matter; I think we all understand that. The NHL is conducting an investigation. They've been pretty adamant that at this point we should refrain from making comments - we should direct all questions to them. The question is a serious matter but at this point I’ll refrain from speaking until the NHL releases their investigation. 

 

Have you been told how long the investigation is going? 

I haven’t. 

 

Is Hart cooperating with the investigation? 

From what I’ve been told every player has cooperated. 

 

(Inaudible) Can you talk about that change and also is Harry back with the team or not, and if not why?

We feel that in order to be successful on the ice we have to have the right support crew off the ice, and we spent the bulk of summer really analyzing our staff but also conducting exhaustive job searches for people to come in whether is John Tortorella and his coaching staff or Ian McEwen and the athlete performance and wellness staff. We’re very excited with where we landed with not only John but Ian, and Ian’s only been on the ground a couple weeks. He’s been focused on rounding out the staff and we announced the hiring of Tommy Alva to be our head athletic trainer, Jeff Taylor to come into a newly created PT type of position, a rehab position, we’re looking into soft tissue experts to come in and work with our players so Ian’s been hard at work with Barry Hanrahan trying to build out the staff. It’s really important that we look at different ways of taking care of our players. It’s not enough just to help out players when they’re hurt, I think the whole emphasis here is in trying to build out a program where we can prevent injuries from happening by using data, best practices, and having experts in the field. It’s going to be a process, it’s going to take some time, but we brought some good people in, and we’re excited with where we’re going to take the program.

 

Is Harry back or not?

Harry’s not back, no. We’ve made some changes to our equipment staff. 

 

 Who is the new equipment manager? 

John Peters. 

 

Are you comfortable with the prospect of having competition between Felix and Troy? Is that something you’ll evaluate at the end of camp? Might it come to a point where you bring in a goalie from the outside? 

Yeah you know it’s a great question, Bill. We have spoke about this a lot the last two or three summers when we’ve been looking at backup goaltenders and who would have come in to work with Carter and you know it seems to be the same names every summer. The same types of goalies that are free agents. We just really feel that we need to start developing more talent internally. The goal going in was to have Ivan Fedotov, with Felix Sandstrom, and a goalie like Troy Grosenick and hopefully Samuel Ersson depending on he came back from injury last season. Let them compete. Let’s what we have. Let’s give them opportunities for these young goalies, to not only provide depth in the NHL, but hopefully take a step and reach their potential instead of bringing in sort of career backup goaltenders. I’m not sure if that is the proper term but obviously a little bit of a curveball with Fedetov. But Sandstrom, I thought played very well down the stretch. He played well here. Grosenick has had a long career with remarkably consistent numbers in the American Hockey League. Actually he has phenomenal numbers in the NHL and has never really been given that opportunity. So we feel these guys can compete. Samuel Ersson I thought would need maybe a half a season or maybe a season in the American League and maybe that’ll prove to be true. But he is coming off a successful rookie camp. Small sample size, I get it. But the fact that he’s healthy and was able to compete at that level at rookie camp, I think bodes well for the future. So look we will have to see, but at some point we will have to give some young players a chance to grab a job if they can earn it. And believe me, with Torts they have to earn it. But if you don’t give them a chance, you never know.

 

Regarding Fedetov, do you have any more clarity on that situation?

No. Just he has to fulfill a commitment back in Russia. It’s obviously a sensitive situation but there is a commitment he has to fill and really there’s not much influence we can have in this situation.

 

What is your expectation after he fulfills his year in Russia?

Look it’s a sensitive situation. I think I will just leave it at that he will have to fulfill his commitment in Russia. Obviously he has a contract with us and we’ll just let things play out.

 

Chuck, you mentioned about the possibility of up to 10 players 25 or younger making this team. With the issues with Couturier obviously it’s still unclear how long he’s going to be out but does that change the possibility of Couturier missing a set of time, missing the season, does that change the organizational approach to the season and pivot a little more towards playing young players and using this more as a future focused year?

Well part of our, I think I mentioned to you guys at the draft and free agency, part of our main focus this year is to provide opportunity for young players to get better. And we’ve added a lot of young talent over the last couple of years. And I think it’s really important to find out what we have. Last year, as I mentioned, a lot of adversity. Again, we didn’t handle the challenges well but it was also a difficult year to fairly evaluate some younger players. Particularly at the end when we traded some players and we had some players out. You’re throwing rosters together every night and on of John Tortorella’s strengths, and I don’t think he gets nearly enough credit for this, he’s got a proven track record of making players better. Pushing players to be better. Developing young players and that’s a critical part of what we want to do. We want to find out what we have. Even take a player like Travis Konecny. He is a 50 point guys or a 70 point guy. Let’s push him here a little bit let’s see what we have. Ivan Provorov, Sanheim I think took a step last year, but Ivan Provorov is a good hockey player. Let’s give him a chance to get better. Never mind the Yorks and the Attards and the Zamulas on the blue line. Some of these are young players and there’s going to be ups and down but we have to demand more out of some of these players. They’re not just our future anymore. Some of these kids are our present. So, it’s always been a critical part of what we wanted to do. If Sean is out for an extended period of time that clearly makes things a little more difficult because he’s arguably our best player. Our number one centerman. But with that there’s opportunity for other players to step up. There’s opportunity for Morgan Frost to step forward. There’s opportunity for Scott Laughton play at center. There’s opportunity maybe for a Tanner Laczynski to take a step. He’s 25 years old. We need to find out about Tanner Laczynski. He’s not a kid anymore but yet he’s missed a lot of time. Looks great so far from the little bit I’ve seen. But to me, that’s the main storyline of this camp. Let’s see what we have. Let’s see how good these kids are.

 

In regard to some of these younger players, obviously camp performance is the first barometer, but if things are close do waiver considerations factor in at all?

They do because you want to make sure you have enough depth. So that will be something that we sit with the coaching staff about. John has been pretty adamant that he doesn’t care what the name on the back of your jersey is. You’ll hear more from him today but whoever earns it will earn it but there’s obviously some practical considerations of time that we will have to look into. But there’s also health issues. How healthy are we? Sometimes you think you have decisions to make and they are made for you by virtue of things you can’t control. But look we’re, I guess I’ll just say in closing, we understand there’s a lot of questions about our team. We understand there are skeptics. But we are excited. We are excited to go out and prove people wrong. The energy around this building is the best I’ve seen. There is a little bit of fear. But just a lot of genuine excitement from the players about getting back out there. Let’s get some stability here. Let’s function as a team. Let’s rebuild some things we need to rebuild. So we are excited.