Date Published: 1-13-2022
Photo Credit: The Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers season is fans following the halfway mark of the season and it’s not slowing down Travis Konecny. He’s been a ball of energy, talented, and giving the Flyers life.
With the Flyers starting out to a 5-3-2 record to begin the season, a player that really shined was Travis Konecny. Looking forward, there is no doubt that Travis is back to his old ways. He scored his first of the year in the season opener against the New Jersey Devils, and then he scored his second of the night in the third period of the same game to put the team up 4-1. Of course, the Flyers won that game 5-2. The Flyers then took on the Vancouver Canucks on October 15, 2022, and they won the game 3-2 with Konecny scoring the game winning goal. This was the game that everyone realized that Konecny was revitalized, he was fiesty, full of energy.
As much as people downed Konecny last year, I believe that he used that negativity to better himself this year and really help out the team. Travis’ teammates speak very highly of him:
“TK is an unbelievable player. He’s an all-star player in this league. He’s arguably our best player, and last year – stats aren’t always a big picture. I’m sure he thinks about it, it’s written about, it’s talked about. I don’t think he’s done anything too drastic to change. I think his energy’s always there; he’s always kind of a rat, and when he scores goals and he’s being himself it just adds to his fuel, and it makes him look that much better. He knows he’s a great player, everyone in this league knows he’s a really good player. It’s great that he’s off to a hot start and hopefully it keeps going.” – Kevin Hayes
I think most of us can agree with Kevin that Travis is an All-Star player when he is playing with confidence. Everyone is excited to see more of TK, “I just think he’s playing. He’s a reactionary type player,” John Tortorella said following the Washington game on Wednesday night. “I’ve only seen him play from afar before this year. He just plays. The puck finds him; he plays in the areas. Everything about his game is effort. I think he’s getting rewarded.”
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Torts continued and reveals that Danny Briere has aided Konecny, “He’s a pretty good player. I think what he’s done here – and he’s done a little extra work – I think Danny Briere had a little bit to do with him also. In talking to Danny, they sat down quite a bit as far as playing on the inside. He was on the outside a lot and his stats weren’t there where he wanted them to be. I think he put the time in. I think Danny as an ex-player helped him and showed him some stuff. The most important thing, he puts his uniform on and has got to run with it. I think he’s done a really good job.”
For his efforts, Konecny leads the team in Points (46), Goals (24), and tied for first in Power Play points with Kevin Hayes (12)- 5g,7a with the man advantage. He’s also second on the team in assists with 22. Just superb stuff from Teeks. Hopefully his success continues as the season wears on, as he continues to stick up for his teammates. Should we credit Briere for Konecny’s rejuvenated season?
“This started last year and into this year,” Konecny said of Briere giving him tutelage. “It is more when I get rid of the puck, where I fall into rather than playing the outside. Instead of taking shots on the outside, maybe making plays and not wasting a shot. There is more detail, but too long to talk about.”
Torts bans iPads
It’s very common in professional sports to see athletes using technology on the bench nowadays, otherwise known as iPads. However, that will no longer be the case for the Flyers organization as long as Tortorella is the Head Coach:
“We took the video on the bench off the bench because we want them to just worry about their next shift. I think it’s a major problem with us, understanding momentums of the game. You can’t understand momentums of the game if you’re looking at the iPad all the time. We took them off and aren’t even going to use them, so that they watch the game and see what’s next. TK does that within his game all the time and he’s one of the ones that looks at that damn thing all the time. I think he just has the proper mindset that he’s not afraid to make a mistake.” – John Tortorella
