Cam York is a young Flyers defenseman that stands at the age of 24. York just hasn’t been the same since his injury In November/December, rather he’s been up and down. He’ll have one good game, and the next game not so much.
York is playing for a contract next season, as he becomes an RFA a Year’s end (Restricted Free Agent). He will be given a marginal raise, but York won’t be getting the contract that he thought he would be getting, if he did not sustain that injury in November/December.
This past Tuesday night, the Flyers got doors blown off them, losing 7-2 to a juggernaut in the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, York only played 3:50 of that Game, as he was benched following a goal that made the score 1-1 at the time. Toronto scored off the skate of York, and he was benched thereafter. He did not see the ice for the rest of the game following this goal. The only thing I can think of, is that he lost his man, leaving Nylander wide open practically in the slot. York was just too late to get back in time.
York is a minutes eating defenseman. He typically plays top pairing minutes, so that left a big hole in the back end for the orange and black to fulfill the rest of the game. Young players, such as, Emil Andrae really struggled, as he just struggled to fill the shoes of York.
What bothered me about this peculiar benching of York, was the fact the whole team was demoralized and lethargic all night. One singular player shouldn’t have been singled out for a mistake, rather the whole team was making mistakes all night. The Maple Leafs had odd man rush, after odd man rush all night long, breakaway after breakaway. York wasn’t the only problem, but yet he was benched.
Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella is a good coach that wants his team to remain competitive, and possibly win every night. That’s what a good coach wants. I don’t always disagree with Tortorella, rather I appreciate is truthfulness, especially acting as a General Manager at times, but in this case, York’s benching was head scratching for me. That’s mainly due to the whole team playing horribly as a whole, so it’s kind of hard to single out one player, when the whole team should have been benched, minus Ryan Poehling and Samuel Ersson. Ersson just let out to dry all night and although he could have made, maybe one more save, it’s unfair to criticize him for that game.
York, like many other players, this time of year is probably playing hurt. It just doesn’t look like the same. Defenseman he was before this injury.. He’s probably been playing hurt for a while, and with that York will make some mistakes. The question I have is, will he be benched for every mistake moving forward?
Obviously, the media is not purview to what and how he was taught in the past by Tortorella. Maybe this particular coverage Play was talked over and over again by him and the coach, thus he keeps making the same mistake. On the surface though, it seems rather odd he was the only benched, in what a team looked like they packed it in on that night. York’s benching is a sheer reminder, that it’s all part of the process.
In the end, let’s hope that York comes back motivated more than ever tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. York has an opportunity to redeem himself in a big way, let’s hope he does it.
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Luckily for this writer, Torts is not the editor. The errors throughout are worthy of benching, if not a trade for future considerations. Just terrible writing and even more shameful proofreading.