Philly can breathe and relax again (As I’m sipping the sweat from my forehead). Flyers fans prized possession in Carter Hart took to the ice for the last day of Flyers training camp, and he feels good, “I feel good,” Hart said, “Just kind of taking things a little more precautionary the last couple days. Been ramping it up the last two days. I feel really good right now. The plan is to be good to go for Tuesday. Like I said, just more precautionary (Held out of practice). To kind of take things just with caution and better to be safe than sorry.”
Carter Hart entered the 2019-20 season with some unknowns. Some questions were how would this young netminder handle the rigors of a full NHL season, or would he get rattled enough to just give up during a game if the wheels start falling off the bus? Valid questions, but it turns out Carter had a great season at just the ripe age of 21-years-old, and he loved training camp, “I think this training camp for all of us was for us to get back and get into our rhythm as players and as a group,” Hart said, “A lot of us haven’t been on the ice for a long time. Some guys had access to ice. Others didn’t. Some guys were off the ice for three months. Some guys didn’t really take a break at all. For myself, I was off the ice a long time and came down a little early to get some work in with our goalie coach here. I thought that was very helpful in getting back into things. Then today was the last day of our two week camp. It was nice to have everybody here and get back our group together, practice together. The last couple days practice with mainly our group. That’s what this camp was for, for everyone to get their wheels under themselves and get back into a rhythm.”
Hart had some downs, however, his season was mainly filled with ups. He was able to rid of some bad habits with cutting down angles, and making himself bigger in the net after working tirelessly with Kim Dillabaugh. Hart was just spectacular for the most part in just his first full season for the Flyers. He posted a 24-13-3 record, with a 2.42 GAA (8th best in the league), and a .914 Save Percentage. What more could one expect from a 21-year-old in just his first full season in the NHL. At home he was lights out accumulating a 20-3-2 record, 1.63 GAA, and a .943 Save Percentage. Simply put, Hart proved he was the franchise Goaltender the Flyers have needed since President Reagan was in office.
Well, Carter is happy to be playing the best teams in the round robin tournament, “I think it’ll be great for us,” says Hart, “We’re in fourth place right now and we can only move up from here. I think we’re lucky in the sense that we put ourselves in a good position so we deserve to have those three extra games than some other teams going into the qualifiers where they play one exhibition game and then have to fight for their lives to get into the playoffs. It’s nice that we have those three games for us to determine the seeding and also to see what the atmosphere is going to be like playing in front of no fans and how setup is going to be. I think for us, we need to use those three games to our advantage and help us prepare for Round 1.”
Hart is just one of the guys in the locker room. He is just pretty pumped to get the playoffs started, but admits it’s going to be a little different, “Going into this post-season, it’s like no other. Its uncharted waters for everybody. It’s going to be a new situation. It’s not your normal typical playoffs. Me and Moose had a good chat there on the bench that one scrimmage and we were just taking a break between periods. He said to me, ‘This is what it’s going to be like for your first playoff game.’ That’s pretty crazy. Playoff games he said are mostly about atmosphere and all that so it’s going to be different for everybody.”
Hart continued, “I think as athletes, as professionals, that’s our job to adapt and overcome whatever’s thrown our way. Like you said, AV’s been great all year for all of us. He’s a very trustworthy coach. He’s very honest. He can be very strict as well but as a coach you want someone who’s honest and holds you accountable.”
This young man in Hart has electrified the fan base, and has cemented himself as the guy between the pipes for the orange and black for the foreseeable future. Most fans knew he was special, but it was great to see him flourish down the stretch in big playoff like atmosphere games, but this will be a little different than anyone is used to when the hockey season reconvenes. Hart knows he has stay focused, but have fun in the same token. He is the real deal, and he takes all the blame for a loss. That’s just what good players do. Hart will continue to have a lot of highs, but some lows, as well. We as people just have to remember, he is just 21-years-old with just so much potential.
