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What cannot be said about Laughton at this point. He has a tremendous work ethic as displayed when he went down in 2017 to work on his skating, which is now helping him tremendously to be one of the Flyers top two-way forwards. Laughton this season under coach Alain Vigneault, not only showed great comfort on the defensive end as he has done so well most of his career, but also looked very confident offensively. Scottie tallied 13G, 14A, 27P, and a +13 rating in his first season with Vigneault at the helm. Arguably, the most confident he has ever looked on both ends of the puck and that’s because, this system works so well for a player like Laughton. AV loves to see defense lead to offense and that is music to a player like Laughton’s ears. He is one of the Flyers most effective players on the forecheck, at stick checking, using his body effectively to lay hits or fend off defenders when possessing the puck, as well as, being great at defensive positioning, all leading him to having his best overall year under AV.
The young 26 year-old in Laughton is a gem to have for the penalty kill of which he commented on after Thursday’s scrimmage on how well they looked saying, “I think it’s probably easier for us on the PK getting back into the swing of things, not moving the puck as much or anything like that. Guys are going to have to deal with the bad ice and things of that nature with the timing of when we’re playing. Our PK looks good and we’re playing hard. Guys are doing the right things or trying to. I really liked our practice today and I thought Moose was really good in net to help our PK.” Well that is music to Flyers fans ears hearing how well our PK is doing early on in camp but, on top of that, how well our backup netminder Brian “Moose” Elliott is doing as a top penalty killer, as well. In the playoffs you need two netminders you can trust and Moose’s play in camp plus this season earns him that trust hands down with Laughton’s quote just providing a little icing on the cake.
Laughton also provided some great news on where everyone is physically and on how sharp the team looks. He said, “I think we have been really good from the get go. All the staff has done a really good job of keeping us healthy and safe and fresh. We’ve had a really good camp of guys working hard and trying to execute plays. It’s hard to replicate a game situation with a scrimmage. You are playing against other guys that you can’t hit as much as you’d like or something like that. I really like where we’re at and we’ve got to continue to build. We’re heading out to Toronto soon. We continue to build our game and get our condition back. Everything’s looking pretty good for our group.” The Flyers have looked amazing in camp as coach Alain Vigneault really used his sports science team well to know when to ramp up and when to hold back and bit. This was a brilliant move. The key phrase Laughton also said in his quote is, “I think we have been really good from the get go.” This just further proves how great and well prepared our coaching staff is as well as our players to jump right back into it. Its part of that family feel a culture we get from all the interviews and a huge reason of many why Alain Vigneault is up for Jack Adams. This team is the most united its ever been and quotes like that
from Laughton just help to prove it.
To wrap this one up let me just say this, what other team in Philadelphia had a very family like feel to them? That would be the 2017 Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. Just saying. So without further ado Lets go Flyers!!!!!! Playoffs are almost here and its time to show them what the Flyers are made of.
