The Philadelphia Flyers finished their season Thursday night after defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 in overtime. The Flyers finished 7th in the Metropolitan Division with a 31-38-13 record. Despite the injuries, management changes, and coaching changes the Flyers made some improvements from their previous season. In 2021-2022 the Flyers finished 25-46-11 and ended up in last place in the Metropolitan.
The Flyer’s exit interviews provide players an opportunity to talk about their individual seasons as well as the teams. This is one last final comment on the season before the guys head into the off-season to prepare for what’s to come next season.
Here are 5 things we learned from Flyers’ exit interviews:
Cam Atkinson Described His Year With Surgery And Recovery
(Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
Atkinson started off the presser by saying, “Hello everybody. Good year for me, good year.” Cam was out due to injury this season but remains to be one of the more positive members of this organization. When asked about his year between surgery and recovery he explained in full detail the process. ”
Where do I start? Just wasn’t feeling well at the start of training camp. Got a couple of different MRIs and a couple of misdiagnoses. Finally, I saw someone that told me that I had a herniated disc in my C6-C7 and that I needed to get surgery right away. At the time, I didn’t want to get surgery because it kind of freaked me out a little bit, going through the neck, and I was being told differently. Went through the process of trying to rehab naturally. I went back to Columbus for a little bit to see some people that I trust and know and came back here feeling pretty good. Thought that I could kind of return to play in December when we went on that road trip to Vegas, Colorado, Arizona, and then New Jersey, I believe, and just the process of the return to play. I just I couldn’t get through practice by myself. So anyway, I felt like I needed to do something. I saw a different doctor, Vic Carroll, who was a BC guy, a Boston College guy, and one of the Eagles’ surgeons and has worked on a lot of professional athletes, and pretty much reassured me that if I don’t take care of my atrophy in my left triceps, that I probably wouldn’t be able to play again. So, I got surgery three days later. I woke up and felt unbelievable. All the pain that I couldn’t sleep was gone. Just started the process of rehabbing. I don’t even know why I’m getting emotional, but just a tough year. Feel good. Feel good, and I know this is a huge summer for me and I want to be part of the solution, and I’m going to push myself more than ever. Seeing these young guys, some guys take a huge step forward, it only fuels me to push myself and push the young guys. I don’t think we’re as far off as people think especially if guys are healthy and certain things happen this offseason. Not to get too sappy, but that’s been my year. But I feel great. I feel the best I’ve felt in a long, long time, and it’s nice to be able to shoot the puck the way that I’ve been able to shoot the puck in the past. Like I said, just looking forward to starting next season.” Atkinson is eager for next season to begin as he feels 100%.”
Kevin Hayes Is Uncertain He Will Return To Philly
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
When Hayes was asked about the rebuild he answered, “They need to go younger here if they want to win. That’s how you win in this league, you got to rebuild, and that’s what they’re in now. As much as I would love to stay and help it out, I have no idea if that’s going to be the case.” This was a major indication as well as Hayes’ behavior that he was uncertain if he was going to be returning to Philadelphia next season. Hayes became a huge asset to the Flyers when they acquired him from the Rangers. If this season was the last season Hayes played as a Flyer he described his favorite moments as a Flyer. “I think there’s a lot of fun moments here honestly. The two I’ll always fall back on is G’s 1000th game – that was a lot of fun being there for that. I got to play with the Yands, which was amazing. But I think the best moment I think was in the bubble when Oskar came back and at that practice when AV told everyone he was playing. It was a very cool moment that I’ll remember probably for my whole career.”
Tony DeAngelo Still Wants To Be A Flyer
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DeAngelo was healthy scratched his last five games, which seemed to indicate he may not be a Flyer come next season. When asked about his relationship with Tortorella he said, “I love being a Flyer. My whole life I’ve wanted to be a Flyer. Now that I am, I don’t take it for granted at all. It’s something that means a lot to me, so we’re not going to let any relationship stuff get in the way. He’s the coach of the team, so you got to respect that, and I respect what he does. Do I agree with it, what happened in the last five games? Absolutely not.” DeAngelo didn’t get into specific detail about what went on between him and Tortorella, but he made it very clear that he is ready to have a good season next year.
Sean Couturier Feels 100%
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One of the biggest losses the past couple seasons was Sean Couturier, when being asked about how feels when it comes to next season he was enthusiastic. “I feel great. I feel like I’ve pretty much done a full offseason of training already and I’m starting again. I’m already excited for camp, and obviously it’s a big summer of training for me. I’m going to work extremely hard to get back to the pace of the game. Just looking forward to next year.”
JVR Was Disappointed With The Trade Deadline
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One of the biggest stories to come out of this season was how James van Riemsdyk was not moved at the trade deadline. Van Riemsdyk commented on what that was like for him, “I’m obviously extremely proud to be a Flyer and play for the Flyers for as many games as I have and as many years as I have. That being said, that was probably one of the more disappointing things that I’ve gone through just for a whole host of different reasons. Definitely disappointed that I wasn’t able to get that opportunity.”
