And when the two
face their former teams tonight in Philadelphia
, it will be a special, unique night for each player, but probably more meaningful for Voracek just because he's the one back in his old haunts (not to mention the fact he cleared COVID protocol and will return to the lineup for the game). Voracek spent 10 years playing for the Flyers and is 10th all time in team history with 604 points.
His return has been a constant stream of hellos with his old teammates and friends, including this morning when he arrived and stopped in the Flyers locker room.
"I don't have many thoughts as of now," he said of his return. "I think everything is going to build up before the puck drop, but obviously it's going to be weird to play against my friends. But I've done that in the past. When I got traded from Columbus, it was the same thing for me when we played Columbus in 2011. We'll see how the fans are going to react, but it's always good to be back in Philly, that's for sure."
Atkinson, meanwhile, is playing the team that drafted him for the first time. The winger who was taken in the sixth round of the 2008 draft worked himself into a two-time All-Star with the Jackets and is second in goals (213), fourth in assists (189) and second in points (402) in team history.
"It's gonna be high emotion," said Atkinson, who said he plans to return to Columbus to live after his playing career. "It will be nice to get the first couple of shifts out of the way. I think it's going to be more difficult and a lot more emotions going back to Columbus than playing here, but I know the boys are going to push a little harder for me tonight."