VOORHEES, N.J. \u2013 Veteran leaders are assigned letters on their jerseys because it\u2019s understood they\u2019ve been down the hockey road a number of times, learning what works and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
In the case of the Flyers, it\u2019s time for the experienced players to step forward and insist that there can\u2019t be letdowns like what happened Monday night against the New York Islanders.<\/p>\n
The Flyers were coming off a big win in Colorado Friday night to complete a successful three-game road trip. Then came Monday\u2019s collective failure in a 4-0 loss on home ice.<\/p>\n
After Tuesday\u2019s practice, several players agreed that corrections should be made. All season long, the Flyers have had trouble winning two or more games in a row. Also, when the team comes back from a road trip, it usually lacks energy.<\/p>\n
Travis Sanheim said all the players need to hold themselves accountable. And if they need reminders, the message doesn\u2019t always have to come from coach Rick Tocchet but rather the leaders in the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat first one after a road trip is always hard, whether you win or lose,\u201d Sanheim said at the Flyers Training Center. \u201cThe energy is always low. So that\u2019s on us to find different ways to try to win a game. It\u2019s going to happen again, we have trips multiple times. We have to understand what we have to do to get ready and just play a much better game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanheim agreed that veterans like captain Sean Couturier, alternate captain Travis Konecny and himself have to set the tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, whether it\u2019s in the room or on the ice,\u201d Sanheim said. \u201cI like to think that play dictates itself. We have to be leading the way. We\u2019ve been through this before, the road trips, the travel. So really, there are no excuses from our end.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe the younger guys are going through it for the first time it\u2019s a different story. For us, we have to get everyone on board, playing the right way and when we do that we\u2019re a really good team.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s safe to say the Flyers can\u2019t continue to be streaky. Too many good teams are putting together positive strings of victories.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to do it consistently and we\u2019ve got to do it game after game, whether it\u2019s a win or a loss the night before,\u201d Sanheim said. \u201cI think that\u2019s where we\u2019re at right now and what we\u2019re striving for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tocchet concurs that as the season winds down, the players have to take a more active role in setting the direction this team is headed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully halfway, three-quarters of the year, the coach is kind of on the outside,\u201d Tocchet explained. \u201cObviously he has to help leadership and stuff like that. But then the room kind of takes over. The coaches are less and less involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Players always perform better when they help take the initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it\u2019s like we go back to the first draft (the start of the season),\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cAll of a sudden we\u2019re disconnected again. But that\u2019s experience, that\u2019s living it everyday, that\u2019s bouncing back from losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done a good job this year, we\u2019re just in this roller coaster of high and low. Maybe I can do something after the Colorado game, guys were excited about the win. I like that, I want them to enjoy it. But you\u2019ve got to get back to Planet Earth really quick because you\u2019re going into the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next up for the Flyers are two pretty hot teams, Columbus and Boston. The Blue Jackets have lost only one game since changing coaches and just stuck an eight-spot on powerhouse Tampa Bay Saturday.<\/p>\n
That game Wednesday in Ohio should be a good test.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are big games that we need to show up in,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cThe results will happen if you do the right things. Whether we win, I don\u2019t know. But we have to worry about the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tocchet knows what impact on a new coach will have on a team. All he has to do is look in the mirror.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t have four or five guys carry our team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need a full contributed roster buying into the way we have to play. We can\u2019t go rogue. If there are plays to make, make \u2018em. We have to find our consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nick Seeler is one of the Flyers\u2019 heart-and-soul players who is among the NHL leaders in hits and blocked shots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should have had confidence coming into our own building,\u201d Seeler said of the Monday night failure. \u201cIt didn\u2019t happen so we need to come together as a group and finish strong before the (Olympic) break. The leaders in the room, I think, need to speak up. We have a young group so those are lessons that need to be learned. I think we need to be business-like, come to compete, and we need to get back to those ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noah Cates knows the guys with long resumes should be leading the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt comes down to consistency and being pros,\u201d he said. \u201cShowing up for work everyday. What happened yesterday, a week ago, you\u2019ve got to flush it and be ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VOORHEES, N.J. \u2013 Veteran leaders are assigned letters on their jerseys because it\u2019s understood they\u2019ve been down the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[1468,5,4,1467,56,5205,43,5406],"class_list":{"0":"post-432271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-flyers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","13":"tag-philadelphiaflyers","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-top-stories-tth"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115972115293849007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}