Photo Credit: Our very own Samantha Wismer
The Flyers completed their pre-season last night in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders. No one likes to lose, but the Flyers played mainly energetic hockey with the bench boss behind the bench in John Tortorella, that’s a good thing because that was inconsistent throughout the pre-season.
Off the Schneid
Two players that needed to get off the schneid were Tanner Laczynski and Owen Tippett. Both tallied goals, and hopefully that gives them both confidence to succeed in the future. Laczynski is battling for a 4C spot with Jackson Cates, so it was important to get on the scoreboard in the pre-season. His pre-season thus far has been a bit lackluster up until last night, however, do take into account he’s been playing with “Tough guys”.
“Yeah definitely. Anytime you score, it gives you a little bit of confidence,” Laczynski said following the game. “For me, it’s more of a confidence booster.” The one knack for Tippett is he’s had trouble finishing. His pre-season is also been lackluster, and camp for that matter. He certainly hasn’t knocked down the doors for a spot, which is frustrating as many had high hopes for him. However, he did get off the schneid last night and finished to play off a nice feed from Kevin Hayes.
Let’s hope both of these players continue their success from last night, and it carries over for the rest of Training Camp. Both are good skaters, so that is not a problem at all.
Ersson on Fire
Samuel Ersson has put forth one amazing pre-season, and he has had a phenomenal Training Camp, as well. No one knew what to expect from Ersson this Training Camp, as he missed nearly the entire season for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, which would be his first professional season last season. Ersson has turned some heads in the organization, and for his efforts he stopped 57 shots on 60 shots faced for the pre-season. He finished the pre-season with a .950 Save Percentage, and he passed his last mental test of being named the starter right before the game started last night.
Troy Grosenick was supposed to be the starter last night, but right before the game Tortorella had one last mental test for Ersson, as he tabbed him the starter. Ersson finished the game with allowing zero goals on 15 shots faced, so he passed the test with flying colors.
“In the end, it’s Coaches’ decision,” Ersson said following the game. “All I can do is go out there and make it a tough decision for Coach to not put me in there.”
Kevin Hayes
I haven’t talked about Hayes nearly as much this pre-season, and I should have. Hayes has those powerful long strides back, and has skated well throughout the entire pre-season. He threaded another beautiful pass to Tippett, to which he made no mistake in converting. When you see Hayes make these type of plays that shows confidence in his game. Good to see him have his swagger back after a hard 2021-22 season mentally and physically.
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Hayes means a lot to the overall success of the Flyers. As Hayes goes, so does the Flyers. Now he has eight days to prepare for the season opener/home opener on October 13 against the New Jersey Devils.
Flyers Update:
The Flyers have no on-Ice practice today, as the orange and black will make some roster cuts. From here on out, there will only be one practice group for the remaining of Training Camp.
