Date Published: 10-31-2022
Photo Credit: Our very Rob Windfelder
The Flyers faceoff tomorrow night against the New York Rangers for the first time this season. Flyers head coach John Tortorella coached the Rangers from 2009 to 2013. When asked about facing Carolina the other night compared to the upcoming schedule Tortorella said, it doesn’t matter to me who we are playing, all games in the NHL are tough games.
This morning’s practice was intense, it was great to see, super high energy. Tortorella and his staff kept things moving driving the team through a number of different high paced drills. The Flyers looked totally up to the challenge. Every player was really pushing it for the duration of the session. The mood was very upbeat. Some of that good vibe had to be coming from Tanner Laczynski who was just returning to the team after the birth of his child. The proud dad was smiling ear to ear. When asked about Tanner’s very short leave of absence Tortorella was very supportive of Laczynski being with his family for such an important life event.
Another topic today was Lukáš Sedlák, the Flyers recently claimed him off waivers from Colorado. Sedlák had previously played under Tortorella as a Columbus Blue Jacket. In separate interviews both Sedlák and Tortorella spoke of the advantage he has already being familiar with the system. The coach agreed it was a “plug and play” type of situation. When the Avalanche put him on waivers the big question for the Flyers was does this guy still have legs? The answer is yes.
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So your Flyers looked strong and confident this morning and for sure that is a good thing. Tortorella is concerned by the lack of confidence and the tentative play they have exhibited during 1st periods so far this season. He believes it is actually harder to play with a lead and he would like to see how his team responds to that challenge by getting ahead early. When asked about saying something to get the team going before the games begin his response without hesitation was “I certainly do”. …I am just going to guess based on the dynamic so far that this is a very accurate statement from the coach.
