Photo Credit: Matthew Slocumb/Associated Press
Chuck Fletcher and the Flyers entered an offseason knowing that there were major changes in store for the team. After a debacle of the 2020-21 season and facing a difficult cap situation, the organization knew high priced fan favorites would have to be moved to address scoring and defensive depth. One of the top priorities for the team was to add a shoot first winger to play a top six forward. The Flyers pulled the trigger and traded Jakub Voracek for Cam Atkinson in a one for one deal.
The acquisition of Cam Atkinson highlighted some of the priorities that the Flyers had for their offseason most notably: Leadership, ability to play at 5-on-5, faster starts, and special teams. Before the two Covid-19 shortened seasons, Atkinson averaged 20+ goals per season. His career high came in the 2018-2019 season when he scored 41 goals to go along with his 28 assists.
Atkinson was just as advertised before season ending injury, shooting from everywhere, well netting 23 goals for his efforts. He provided much needed energy to the lineup, and he is pissed at the way this past season ended:
“I’m just embarrassed, I guess,” he said. “It’s a crappy feeling. Almost a waste of a year in my mind, but I hope Chuck is going to do some things in the summer to help this team. I want to be here. I want to win here. We will turn this thing around. Have a good summer and get back at it for next year.”
Atkinson continued, “I think going into next year, we need to find a way to have some more grit, some more jam, more ‘F you’ to our game, on both sides of the puck, in our crease, defending our goalie and in their crease. I thought we were a pretty soft team this year in my opinion.”
Flyers fans are well accustomed to the word “Jam” as former Head Coach Peter Laviolette used to say the same thing. Maybe he was on to something, especially after these two horrible seasons back to back nonetheless. There are no excuses, Atkinson knows this, but that’s why the city embraces Cam, honesty goes a long way in Philadelphia, “I think it’s super important as a player, as an athlete, to embrace whatever city you’re playing in, especially the fans,” Atkinson said. “Without the fans, we wouldn’t be able to play the game that we love. I think I embraced it pretty quickly here. Playing against the Flyers for ten years, I know that they like to run hot. As a player I personally love that and they have every right to be on us. Just a crappy year, we’ll talk about that later. I think the fans have been great for me. They expect to win, and you want that. You want them to be passionate and we want to win just as bad. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the year, but hopefully they like me.”
Of course Philly loves Cam. Atkinson blocks shots, hits, and really wears heart on his sleeve. He takes responsibility after game one for the lackluster penalty kill. Accountability is a an breath of fresh air for this organization, as it is very uncommon for players to openly take accountability. All these factors go a long way with the fans relationship with the player. The harder you work, the harder the city is going to root for you. Cam relished that this season, in Chester’s first season with the orange and black he gets it.
Atkinson can fill gaps in both the power play and penalty killing units. He has been a prolific short-handed goal scorer in his career, amassing 17 goals in 10 years. Last season, he matched a career high with four short-handed tallies.
The former alternate Captain with the Blue Jackets in Atkinson is a class act, and speaks up when his team needs him the most. He was true when he said there were players that need to dig deeper, time to meet that honest, a player needs to hear it, “I don’t know if anyone really deserved that award this year,” Atkinson said of winning his team MVP award. “I didn’t even know those awards were given. Every team does different awards, but obviously a huge honor to receive it from Coots. He was kind of joking around with me yesterday saying that he’s won it the last three years in a row, so if I didn’t mention him in this, he would be mad. I appreciate being awarded that and I personally like to give it my all every single shift. That’s how I was raised and I put it on the line every single day, whether you’re hurt or not. Wasn’t the greatest year. I thought I started off strong. Goal scorers kind of go through a little bit of droughts, but it’s just sticking with it. If you’re not getting the opportunities, then you’re doing something wrong. I felt like I was getting opportunities for the most part throughout the year.”
“You practice how you play. Especially when I turned pro, I learned that from John Tortorella. He was great in that aspect.” – Cam Atkinson
Per reports (Bill Meltzer, Frank Seravalli, Anthony SanFilippo, and John Biccuigross), John Tortorella is a finalist for the Flyers’ Head Coaching vacancy. I can confirm this to be true as Barry Trotz is also a finalist for the position.
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