While Thursday was the first official day of training camp, it had a different vibe from last year’s opening day. Last year truly seemed like the first day of school, with all players skating under John Tortorella for the first time. The skating test had been whispered about between players but certainly not experienced.
This time, everybody knew what was coming, and the overall course of the day seemed like the season was well underway from an operational standpoint. The coaching staff wasn’t new anymore and only a few of the players were new. Also, the majority of the roster has been in town for a while.
“Everybody came here September 1st,” Tortorella said. “It’s kind of a standard for us right now. We can’t force them to, but they come. It’s not so much to practice. They went to a football game. Cookouts. Golf. That is all good stuff, and you can feel the room. I have a real good feeling about what’s going on.”
That sentiment appears to exist on the player side as well.
“I talked to one player a month and a half ago,” Tortorella said. “He said ‘I feel so much more prepared, because I know what to expect.’ And I said ‘So do I, because I know you better.’”
Although most of the roster had been through the skating test once, one veteran who did not experience it in fall of 2022 was Sean Couturier. Last year, his back issues kept him off the ice for the entirety of camp and the subsequent season. With those problems now literally behind him, he was able to start off the season in the traditional Tortorella way.
“It felt great,” Couturier said afterwards, somewhat tongue-in-cheek. “All the other guys were giving me advice. Not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous about it, but once you get going, you just grind and battle through it.”
Couturier’s next step is game action, and he made it clear he’s hoping to get in as many preseason games as possible. He hasn’t played in an NHL game since December of 2021, so he’s eager to get back in the saddle.
“It’s one thing to be hurt for a long period of time, but to not [play a game] for a year and a half, it’s different,” he said. “I just want to get back to feeling good in games, gain some confidence in camp and feel good about my game. I’ve put on a couple pounds this summer to make sure I’m OK to take more hits and be more physical, and last an 82-game season.”
Couturier’s teammates are just as eager to see him back on the ice this season.
“Our wives are pretty good friends, we’ve been together for a while, his daughter’s the best,” Laughton said. “We spent a lot of time last year together with dinners and hanging out at each other’s houses. It’s huge. You go into different cities and you’re looking for a matchup for top lines, Coots is a calming presence out there. That’s kind of been lost with him missing the last couple years. He settles down the game, takes big faceoffs, and is just an overall good player.”
One newcomer who fully knew what to expect Thursday was Marc Staal. The veteran blueliner went through five of these with Tortorella when both were with the New York Rangers.
“I think he keeps making it harder, to be honest,” Staal said.
Staal signed with the Flyers in the offseason despite being an older veteran joining a rebuilding team, which was something that even took general manager Danny Briere by surprise.
“Me and my family coming back up to this area, knowing where [the team is] at and just looking at it in a way where I can help and be a part of something where you’re growing it, the familiarity with Torts and knowing what’s expected of me going in, it just checked a lot of boxes for me,” Staal said. “I’m excited to compete again and come to an organization that has a ton of history and a lot of passion.”
Staal’s biggest contribution to the Flyers this year will be helping its young defensive core develop further.
“He’s going to be a mentor, he’s going to be an offshoot of the coaching staff,” Tortorella said. “It’s a very young back end, and Marc Staal’s going to play a major role with them even if Marc isn’t playing some games during the year. There’s going to be some nights that he’s not going to play, but he’s going to be just as important in those nights and those days leading up to games that he’s maybe not playing in as he is putting the uniform on. He’s a great pro and it’s a huge asset for us just to have him around the locker room.”
