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 and 22-years-old.
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 then 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, and the proof is in the pudding, “I want to be the best I can be,” Hart said on the first day of camp. “I want to be able to give our team a chance to win every night and for me, this will be my third, I guess kind of third year in the league.”
“I don’t want to just be another NHL player; I want to be the best and I want to be the best NHL goaltender. That is something that I strive for every day. For me, for myself and our team, we have a really good group again this year and I think we have to buy in and compete and we will have some success.”– Carter Hart on the first day of camp
Hart will continue to impress the Flyers and their proud faithful. He has become one of the best athletes in Philadelphia in just two seasons. Hart has just been dynamite on the ice, and this year shall be no different.
“It’s kind of a different year again where it won’t be a full season as well. I think right now the biggest focus for us is just preparing and getting ready for opening night,” Hart said yesterday, “This year our goal is to win a Stanley Cup and get into the playoffs. I know we have a good division with good competition. But we are in the metro every year, we always have good competition. It is nothing that we are not used to or familiar with. I think with the scheduling and how we are playing each team 8 times or so, it is going to create some competition and maybe some bitterness between teams. It is going to be fun and we are all really looking forward to being able to play the game again in less than 10 days.”
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Hart is just one of the guys, however, he isn’t good at something, which is hard to believe, “I think that is one thing that this off season was really beneficial for me is I started getting a meal service. Both my parents are working most of the days, so I make my breakfast in the morning, then go and work out and then have a skate after, so I need to have lunch in between. I hate cooking. I’m not really a good cook. So, I got a meal service back home. It’s all organic, it’s whole fresh. Straight from the butcher. I get my seven meals delivered every week at the start of each week. Me and my mom would make dinner most nights. So, I would get those meals delivered at the start of each week, and it was awesome. I feel really good. I feel a lot better. I feel leaner. I think it was really good.”
Hart continues, “I was able to get in a lot of work on and off the ice. I ran into a little bit of trouble at the end because of restrictions with COVID in Alberta. That’s why I had to come here a little bit early, but for the most part we were able to get done what we wanted to accomplish. I thought it was a really good offseason. I was with Tristian Jarry, with the Penguins, I know he’s a rival and we’ll be seeing him Wednesday night here. Seeing a lot of them this year. But me and him got a lot of work done this year and I feel good and I feel ready.
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 22-years-old with just so much potential, and eventually he will hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup on Broad Street.
