Photo Credit: NHL.com
Cam Atkinson was benched in the season finale, and obviously it wasn’t his first rodeo in that department this season. He was seen opening the door to the bench for his teammates after they came off the ice against the Washington Capitals. Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella, as he always does, would not elaborate as to why. However, Atkinson being the player in class act he is would tell you he deserved this benching after his play his dipped over the course of the last few months if the season, “I guess the word I could say is just disappointed,” Atkinson said of his season at exit interviews. “It’s unlike any situation I’ve ever been in.”
Atkinson has been through a lot, and he will use this as motivation to get going again for the 2024-25 season, but this is how it similarly ended for one of his friends last season in Kevin Hayes. Atkinson started the season off strong with an early quick eight goals, but his play dipped, mainly due to missing so much time over the course of the past season or so. It’s tough to get back into the flow. Some athletes can rebound right away, like Sean Couturier, but it’s unfair to put every athlete on Couturier’s level after missing so much time. Even Couturier dealt with a dip to his play during the last month-month and a half of the season. Every athlete is different and how they recover and rebound ailments. Atkinson showed promise early on in the season that he can be relied upon to score some big goals, so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, “You know all thirteen years of my career. I have been a go to guy. I could contribute offensively, and be put in situations to have success. When you go from that, to being in and out of the lineup, on the fourth line with limited minutes, there is only so much you can do,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson continues, “When I was out there, I tried my hardest to make some sort of an impact. I have never experienced that. Doing one to three shifts a period, it’s hard. I try to be a good teammate, and control what I can control and I’ll never go down that negative road. I want all my teammates to succeed and do well, and we all want to be difference makers. When your role does change, you find ways to contribute any way you can. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really on the scoresheet.”
He is a class act and great inside the locker room. Atkinson remains a pillar inside the community, this is not a time to turn on him, rather let’s rally behind him. You can use it as a pick me up, and that’s okay after missing so much time a dip in his play was to be expected. What he didn’t expect was his role to change, so that was new for him to adapt to, “Torts and I definitely have a unique relationship,” Atkinson said. “I think all the conversations we have had this year together. I never want one or two things to hinder our relationship. He was very honest in the beginning of the season, so was management and the organization, and the fans. We were going younger and those guys will get more of an opportunity. I get it, Torts and I are going to agree to disagree on a lot of things, but it is what it is at this point.”
“I have one more year on my contract,” Atkinson continued. “I know the player I am and how I am, and what’s made the player I am today. And what’s gotten me to this level. I still feel like I have a lot of juice left in the tank for the right situation. I control, what I can control.”
The 34-year-old in Atkinson missed the entire 2022-23 season with an unfortunate injury, and Atkinson was looking to have a strong 2023-24 campaign, but it was anything but blissful after only netting 13 goals for the season. Atkinson’s last point was against a the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 23, 2024, a 23 game pointless streak, and counting.
Atkinson again reiterated to coming back strong in 2024-25, “It doesn’t matter what anyone says. I think for me it’s what has made me successful, and how can I get back to being one of those go to guys again,” Atkinson said. “That’s all I’m really gonna focus on. I don’t care what anyone says. I just gotta believe in myself like I always have, and prove everyone wrong like I always have my whole life. Just go from there, and have a great Summer as far as working out.
He continues, “It’s a very important Summer for me in terms of getting back to being the player I want to be, and I know I can be. That’s all I’m gonna focus on.
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Ironically enough. Atkinson’s exit interview sounded very similarly to Hayes before he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. Now I’m not saying Atkinson will or won’t be traded or bought out in the offseason, but it sounds very similar to Hayes.
In the same token, Atkinson wears his heart on his sleeve. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, and rally behind him like the fans did with Trea Turner. Maybe it will spark him to produce next season. Atkinson is a class act, nothing more, nothing less.
