Finally, finally Cam York made his most anticipated NHL debut last night. Cam York is one of the Flyers top prospects, and he made quite the impression last night. He was named a star of the game for his efforts in 20:59 of ice time. York finished the game with a plus 1, one blocked shot, one shot on net, and one takeaway.
York was confident, skating well, and just so darn good with transitioning from defense to offense. One of the best qualities he possesses on the offensive side of the game is his shot accuracy. He hits the net nine times out of ten, and he showed that while quarterbacking the top Power Play unit. He was great with cycling the puck, and holding the pucks in st the blue line, thus extending zone play for the Flyers.
The best part of York’s game was his confidence. This lead to long strides skating wise, and he was able to pass the puck with ease to his defensive partner Justin Braun, which lead to clean zone exits. It just appeared that when he was on the ice he settled things down. Getting back to his confidence, one could sense it as he was joining the rush up the ice, and pinching when needed.
The young 20-year-old in York did provide some nice plays with the man advantage though. For instance, York used his good instincts to keep a puck in Washington’s zone to extend the Power Play on the first man advantage, which lead to a prime scoring chance. He is as good as Shayne Gostisbehere it appears at holding pucks in at the blue line. With little practice time of knowing where the team’s personnel was going to be and when, he is actually doing quite well in this area. York quarter backed Michigan’s top Power Play Unit this past season, and that definitely helping his comfortability.
York proved he belonged in the NHL. He was faster than I’ve personally seen him, as he joked before the game “I will score a hat trick, maybe add two assists,” he said laughing. “You could tell right from the beginning that the young man is a very good skater, smooth on his feet had the ability tonight to beat the first fore checker, and make a good pass,” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said following the game.
“This is the first of a long career,” Allison said of York following the game. “This guy’s going to play a lot of games because as you can tell from tonight, he’s a really special player.”
