Photo Credit: Our very own Michael Reaves
This past season was a figuring out year for the Flyers and their proud faithful. They struggled at times, were good at times, and were downright awful at times. It was a bit of a roller coaster. However, they did play hard through all of this. This past year was different than years past, and this young Flyers team exceeded expectations to include the growth of Cam York, “I felt like I put in a lot of work in the offseason, and spent the majority of my summer here,” York said at exit interviews. “I felt like my body help up pretty well for 82 games playing as much as I did. I’m happy with that, and just want to continue to build and grow my game and continue to get stronger.”
Cam York is ready to take the next step in his development, and he’s become one of the Flyers best defenders in the same process, even with him and Travis Sanheim being banged up, “We were both pretty banged up there, but the situation we were in we had a lot of Defensemen injured. When you are right there in the playoff line I think you want to just lay it all on the line. I think we did that. Just proud of how we (Travis Sanheim and I) handled that, not an easy situation when you are playing 25 plus minutes a night.”
York has become a better and more resilient player. He has matured, and York has taken a leadership role while trying to take Jamie Drysdale under his wing. People want to see York, Drysdale, Egor Zamula, Emil Andrae, and Ronnie Attard play during this rebuild. All of these aforementioned players should get another shot or get a shot to see what they have at some point next season.
“If they are having dinner together, they might talk hockey. If I ever heard that this was going on, I’d wet my pants (Laughing),” John Tortorella said of Jamie Drysdale’s and York’s relationship off the ice.
It appears York wants to help the Flyers right the ship, as he vows to take the next step in his development. Mind you, York trained and dieted in Voorhees, NJ last June in preparations of the upcoming season.
“He’s probably one of our better defensemen.” – John Tortorella said following practice on 2-5-24
Now those are some big words coming from his Head Coach, but Tortorella is right. He has become a confident blueliner during his short tenure in the NHL, and his growth he has displayed this season has been astronomical. One of the best qualities he possesses is on the offensive side of the puck, his shot accuracy. He hits the net nine times out of ten, and he showed that while quarterbacking the top Power Play unit at times last season. York was great with cycling the puck, and holding the pucks in at the blue line thus extending zone play for the Flyers. These are attributes he was known for while playing with a renown program like the University of Michigan, “I had a grade two AC shoulder sprain,” York said. “The outdoor game was the next game, and I wasn’t going to miss that one. I don’t know, after the Toronto game, I got shot up with something, I’m not sure what it was but that did the job.”
The skies the limit for York, but he appears confident on the left side, as opposed to the right side. York obviously has become an NHL mainstay, as he is gaining more valuable experience in the NHL. Last season for the Flyers was very murky (To say it nicely), now it’s up to the young prized prospects to showcase what they can do, “Like I said I put in a lot of work,” York said. “I knew I could do this, and I think for me I’m gonna continue to just get better and better. I owe a lot to (Sanheim) for being a great defensive partner all year and helping me out there.”
York continued, “For me, I feel like my confidence has always been there, but this year, I just was put in a situation where I could thrive. I’m looking forward to next year and continuing to build on what I am all about and what I can do, I’m really excited. I think as a young guy, especially with Torts as your coach, you have got to earn his trust. I want to play as much as possible throughout the game. I don’t think you can do that as a young D if you are not responsible in your own end. That’s just always been an area that I wanted to make sure I had down. My first couple of years here we weren’t the best, we were in our D zone a lot. I think at the time, obviously, it sucked. Looking back, I think that really helped me a lot kind of grow my D game. It’s still a work in progress, I’m continuing to learn, but I think that’s where it starts for me, then my defense leads into offense and kind of goes from there.”
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