Cam York is a young Flyers defenseman that stands at the age of 24. York just hasn’t been the same since his injury In November/December, rather he’s been up and down. He’ll have one good game, and the next game not so much.
York is playing for a contract next season, as he becomes an RFA a Year’s end (Restricted Free Agent). He will be given a marginal raise, but York won’t be getting the contract that he thought he would be getting, if he did not sustain that injury in November/December.
This past Tuesday night, the Flyers got doors blown off them, losing 7-2 to a juggernaut in the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, York only played 3:50 of that Game, as he was benched following a goal that made the score 1-1 at the time. Toronto scored off the skate of York, and he was benched thereafter. He did not see the ice for the rest of the game following this goal. The only thing I can think of, is that he lost his man, leaving Nylander wide open practically in the slot. York was just too late to get back in time.
York is a minutes eating defenseman. He typically plays top pairing minutes, so that left a big hole in the back end for the orange and black to fulfill the rest of the game. Young players, such as, Emil Andrae really struggled, as he just struggled to fill the shoes of York.
What bothered me about this peculiar benching of York, was the fact the whole team was demoralized and lethargic all night. One singular player shouldn’t have been singled out for a mistake, rather the whole team was making mistakes all night. The Maple Leafs had odd man rush, after odd man rush all night long, breakaway after breakaway. York wasn’t the only problem, but yet he was benched.
Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella is a good coach that wants his team to remain competitive, and possibly win every night. That’s what a good coach wants. Now that Tortorella has been fired, much is coming out about possible friction between Tortorella and York, and there definitely was that as I’m getting more information. What exactly it was, I don’t know, I just know there was friction between both parties. This could have stemmed from two weeks ago when York was benched against the Seattle Kraken, and then it came to a head this past Tuesday night against Toronto.
York’s benching this past Tuesday night was head scratching for me, at least on the surface on Tuesday. That’s mainly due to the whole team playing horribly as a whole, so it’s kind of hard to single out one player, when the whole team should have been benched, minus Ryan Poehling and Samuel Ersson. Ersson just let out to dry all night and although he could have made, maybe one more save, it’s unfair to criticize him for that game.
However, the new Flyers’ Interim Head Coach Brad Shaw did say that York was benched for disciplinary purposes this past Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, and that he would have no further comment. That further laments that something came to a head this past Tuesday/Wednesday, as first speculated. York just needs to put his head down and play the rest of the season. As stated above in this piece, York is an RFA (Restricted Free Agent) at year’s end, so he is playing for a contract next season and beyond in Philadelphia.
Like many other players, York, this time of year is probably playing hurt. He just doesn’t look like the same. Defenseman he was before this injury.. He’s probably been playing hurt for a while, and with that York will make some mistakes. The question I have is, will he be benched for every mistake moving forward?
Obviously, the media is not purview to what and how he was taught in the past by Tortorella. Maybe this particular coverage Play was talked over and over again by him and the coach, thus he keeps making the same mistake. On the surface though, it seems rather odd he was the only benched, in what a team looked like they packed it in on that night. York’s benching is a sheer reminder, that it’s all part of the process.
In the end, let’s hope that York comes back motivated more than ever Saturday afternoon against the Buffalo Sabres. York has an opportunity to redeem himself in a big way, let’s hope he does it.
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