Recap: The Standard Season 2, Part I

Narrated by Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster Bill Clement, the second season of the "The Standard" docuseries takes viewers behind the scenes during the Flyers' recently completed training camp. The debut 21-minute episode covers the early portion of camp and introduces the viewers to some of the new players on the roster while catching up with long-tenured veteran Sean Couturier on his return to play after undergoing two back surgery operations.

Here are five takeaway moments and quotes from Part I:

1. "You guys are going to have to take over that room."

Flyers head coach John Tortorella addresses all of the players at the start of camp. He collectively challenges the group to take the initiative to become leaders in the dressing room. It can't always be the coaches demanding accountability. Players most hold themselves and one another accountable, too.

"If we're going to take the next step in our rebuilding, you're going to have to take over that room without us [coaches] being in there," Tortorella said.

2. "It's a mental grind, but you're all in it together."

On the first day of training camp, as with every camp Tortorella has run during his NHL coaching career, the head coach put all of the players through an ultra-grueling skating test. The "Torts Skate" has gained a degree of infamy among players, especially ones new to playing for Tortorella who are anticipating what it will be like.

'Guys were giving me advice," 12-year NHL veteran Couturier said with a grin. 

Last year, due to recurring back issues that caused him to miss the entire 2022-23 season after missing the second half of the prior campaign, Couturier was not able to participate in training camp. This year, he did the skating test and got through it with no incidents.

Meanwhile, new Flyers defenseman Marc Staal spent several years earlier in his career playing for the New York Rangers under Tortorella. He's skated many laps under Tortorella's watchful eye and cajoling to keep on pushing. Now, at age 36, Staal is once again coached by Tortorella.

Over the years, Staal came to learn that what Tortorella wants to see from the skating test is simply for players to overcome the building discomfort and finish. It needn't look pretty, and rarely does.

"It's a mental grind, but you're in it together," Staal said, noting that it has a bonding effect for players to get through the demands of Day One test as a group.

2. "It's not street hockey!"

On Days Two, Three and Four of camp, the Flyers players underwent their second test of endurance, stamina and will to compete. Players were divided into three groups/teams. 

In the three-day period, there were a total of six scrimmages played: four per "team". Each day, one team played in back-to-back scrimmages. For the groups only scrimmaging once on a given day, there were practice-sessions (heavily emphasizing battle drills and making plays in tight quarters) and/or off-ice workouts.

Tortorella, in uncertain terms, warns the players not to coast through a scrimmage or treat it like a summertime pickup game. He wants to see pace, competitiveness and a genuine "game-like" simulation. (He later emphasized that point on the Camp's second day by stopping a scrimmage midway through to demand more intensity from the participants even though both groups were in their third scrimmage in two days on the heels of the skating test).

"It's not [bleeping] street hockey!" Tortorella reminds the players.

3. "You can't skip steps."

Tortorella discusses the rebuilding process and the importance of doing it right. Last season, one area where he felt there was progress was in the team's night-in and night-out competitiveness level. The team finished with a modest 75 points but it was a noticeably hard-working club and more resilient in dealing with adversity than in several previous years.

For 2023-24, Tortorella said that one of his main objectives is to see the locker room leadership grow especially among players who progressed on the ice last year and have the potential to take on an added element of leadership. Adding that into the growth in how hard the team collectively plays that started last, according to the head coach, is the next step in the process.

4. Don't try to be something you're not."

Before the first of the two Rookies Games at the PPL Center in Allentown against their New York Rangers counterparts, Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere addresses the Flyers' prospects in the locker room.

"Don't try to be something you're not. If you're a scorer, [bleeping] score. If you're a play maker, make [bleeping] plays. If you're a hitter or a checker, show us what you can do," Laperriere said.

5. "Like another coach in the room."

After segments on Flyers prospects Bobby Brink and Emil Andrae -- containing interviews and mic'ed up game footage -- and a talk with Sean Couturier and teammate Scott Laughton about the returns of Couturier and Cam Atkinson to the Flyers' lineup --- viewers are introduced to veteran forward Garnet Hathaway. A longtime rival as a member of the Washington Capitals, Hathaway joined the Flyers this summer as a free agent.

It is anticipated that Hathaway, apart from being a regular penalty killer and a pest to play against who also has proven double-digit scoring ability, will take on a leadership role with the team. He can be a mentor and leader by example for younger players while still being an effective NHL role player in his own right.

"It's like having another coach in the room," Tortorella said of Hathaway.