Couturier ready to take on any foe
There will be one Flyers exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, then three equally meaningless round-robin seeding games against each of the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins, whose 100 points in 70 games earned them an essentially worthless 2019-20 President’s Trophy.
After all, the Bruins literally have to cram in with those other three teams in Toronto for that round-robin mini-tourney without the added benefit of home ice advantage. And eight other half-worthy playoff challengers from the East will vie in a “qualifying tournament” in Toronto to complete the East’s eight team field for an appropriately weird Stanley Cup playoff tournament of sorts.
That is, they will if everyone stays healthy enough to let the tournaments go forth.
“I honestly didn’t know what to expect,” Sean Couturier said in a video chat Friday. “I’ve been taking it seriously and trying to stay in the best shape possible. Take advantage of the break if we would come back and make sure I was ready, healthy and feeling 100 percent.”
He is that, no surprise to anyone who has watched Couturier during the course of his career. And just because a round-robin mini-tourney doesn’t exactly offer much suspense for the winners and losers, it won’t be taken lightly by the likes of Couturier and his teammates.
“I think once we get going in the round-robin, we’re going to try to win every game,” Couturier said. “(That’s) just the nature of being a pro athlete. At the same time ... you can practice all you want, skate all you want, feel great. But once you get into a game it’s different. The timing is different, the plays are different and the game shape is different.
“We’ll have one exhibition game to kind of get up to pace. Sometimes it takes a few games, sometimes it takes a few periods, it all depends on players and the situation. We’re going to have to be sharp from the start of that first exhibition game and try to get into game shape as quickly as possible.”
Either way, as Couturier pointed out, the Flyers’ players eager to play won’t treat these first few roundrobin games any differently than the 69 regular season games that got them ... well, here.
For Couturier, that means an impressive performance night in and night out. He’s coming off another rather brilliant season, and should be recognized Monday upon the announcement of three finalists for the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward.
Nothing guaranteed, of course, not with Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and other top two-way forwards (the award has been moving toward top defensive forwards who can also score in recent years) still playing.
“I definitely looked up to guys like him,” Couturier said of Bergeron, “and (Anze) Kopitar, (Jonathan) Toews and Jordan Staal. Those guys are really reliable and play the game the right way. It’s definitely an honor to be mentioned in the same conversation as those guys.”
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NOTES » Flyers prospect Maksim Sushko to Dynamo-Minsk of the KHL . ... Shayne Gostisbehere has gone from one of the Flyers’ most acclaimed defensemen to a player barely hanging on to an active roster spot. Ghost’s downturn in play last year, and two knee surgeries in recent months has put him at about No. 8 on a club that likes to employ a steady six defenders. But defensive assistant Mike Yeo sees Gostisbehere as a worthwhile sub during the playoffs. “Obviously he’s in a difficult situation. It’s been a difficult year for him between the injuries and the success of the team while he was out, making it tough for him to get back in,” Yeo said. “But he looks really good to me right now. He’s a guy that we are looking at very closely.”