Date Published: 10-25-2022
Photo Credit: Katelynn Reiss
The first chapter of this Flyers season has definitely had more ups than downs leading up to a shutout loss on Sunday night to the San Jose Sharks. And it wasn’t just an ordinary loss. First and foremost James van Riemsdyk left the game with an injury to his hand that we now know will require surgery. No one in the organization will make a guess or an estimate on how much time he may lose before the surgery is completed. Flyers’ Scott Laughton has had a similar surgery in the past and said that he was sidelined for about four and a half weeks, but every situation is different. JVR was off to a good start this season and will be missed especially in “his office” in front of the net during the power play. The team will be using Laughton to help fill that spot. He says he’s looking forward to the challenge and spoke of the need to keep himself moving in that crease area to try and fill the space that JVR just naturally fills because of his size and skill.
Injuries are something that has really plagued this team the past couple years. The injury to JVR is something that just could not have been avoided, a blocked shot that traveled up his stick and into his hand. He went up the tunnel as soon as it happened so he must have known right away that it was the kind of thing that you don’t just shake off. On a positive note, both Rasmus Ristolainen and Owen Tippett skated with the team today and appear to be very close to a return.
One more big thing we need to address here. The team had the day off yesterday so today was the first practice since the loss on Sunday night. A loss that saw two of the Flyers most prolific stars sit on the bench for the entire 3rd period. So JVR leaves the game hurt and John Tortorella decides to leave both Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny riding the pines for the duration of the night. This was a move that was surely meant to send a message. Could not have been louder, could not have been more clear. The mood at this morning’s practice was not tense, but it was not loose either. It was very business like. Back to the grindstone, no yelling, no suicide skating drills, it was pretty much just what you would expect to see at a standard hockey practice. Some players were off to the sides working on specifics with the coaching staff but no one was singled out. It appears the coach had sent his message and now it’s time to get back to work. He said as much to the press today. When questioned about what happened on Sunday night he was not interested in dwelling on it. In fact he did not even want to refer to it as a “benching” (which it obviously was). He said the page was turned on that, and he quickly moved onto another subject. Owen Tippet was asked after practice if those players being benched sent a message to the rest of the team? He said that it did, but he also said, that it is the same message Tortorella has been sending since day one.
