Photo Credit: Our very own Rob Windfelder
“Again…Again…Again” that was Herb Brooks telling his US Team to skate, and skate again. Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella put this Flyers team through bag skate after bag skate during Training Camp. Day one is just gauntlet and suicide skating. However, this does get results, as the Flyers appeared to be in better condition against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets throughout the second period on, looked gassed at times.
John Tortorella was smiling and serious at times at camp. Bag skates really make some players look ugly, much like Cam York. York finished the gauntlet skating, barely, but he did complete it. “For me, it’s not physical,” Tortorella said. “For them it is. You watch them and it has to be. I get that, and I appreciate that. But for me, I’m watching the mental part of it.”
The players had to earn their spots, and he holds everyone accountable, “He holds everyone accountable, he may do it a different way,” Marc Staal said on the first day of camp. Carter Hart agrees and likes the fact that Tortorella is honest and holds players accountable. He said that is what players respect the most about Tortorella.
What did the the bag skate test prove?
“Look at Cam York. He was a horror show today (Skating), but he finished. That’s what it’s about,” Tortorella said in the first day of camp. Cam York said his number one priority is to find the rope and burn it. Tortorella uses a yellow rope during bag skates, and he said it was the same rope he had in Tampa Bay. He said he has taken it to each place after he gets fired from that said team.
The bag skates help condition and it also tests the player mentally. The mental side of the game is just as important as playing the game itself. One thing that be certain about this Flyers team is that they will be conditioned and skate with anyone.
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How will the Flyers fare this season is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for certain, they will be a competitive bunch. This team will compete with anyone on most nights, and due to being well conditioned. They might win a game they are not supposed to win.
