Konecny hungry for playoff success
After the best season of his NHL career, Travis Konecny wasn't interested in talking about personal success.
The Philadelphia Flyers' alternate captain from Clachan was already looking ahead to next season.
He's hungry to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs after missing the post-season for the fourth straight year.
Konecny led the Flyers this season with 33 goals, 35 assists and 68 points in 76 games. He set career highs in goals and points.
“It was a good season,” the Sarnia Sting alumnus said at a year-end news conference. “I think it's hard right now, because you just look at it as you end on a bad note. It's been a little bit since I've been in a position to potentially be in the playoffs and we felt really good about this group, so that's all we're looking at right now.
“I don't think anyone's doing any individual evaluations right now. You're just trying to figure out what we can do for next year and get ready to get back to work this summer and come back excited again.”
The Flyers were in position to make the playoffs until a late-season slump left them with 87 points, four behind the Washington Capitals for the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
The young squad surprised many fans and pundits by staying in playoff contention all season.
“It was awesome for a lot of the guys to just prove a lot of people wrong and maybe even prove themselves wrong,” Konecny said. “They showed themselves that we're capable of fighting with every other top team in the league.
“Now it's just believing. We proved it to ourselves, so you can go into the summer now working hard and have that eagerness and hungry attitude to get back at it and be right back to this spot as quickly as we can next year.”
He's optimistic about the Flyers' rebuilding plans.
“You see the steps we took this year,” he said. “Everyone's a year older next year and we go through it again and let's see where we're at. I believe that this team could be great and be in the playoffs consistently every year. We have all the tools to do it.”
This season's finish was a good lesson that every game is important, he said.
“Going into next year, maybe it makes you realize that nothing game on a Tuesday (in a) random city, that game matters,” he said. “It's a good mindset for our team to have.”
Konecny was chosen an all-star this season for the second time in his eight-year career. He also began wearing an A.
His role has expanded during the last two seasons to include more penalty-killing. He led the NHL this season with six short-handed goals.
“It's been huge,” Konecny said of killing penalties. “That was big for me. I think just the belief that I could be on the penalty kill because I had just felt at times in my career that maybe I was just limited to a certain type of player and that was it. I've been really happy with that.
“I think it's added to my game and helped me a lot five-on-five, too. If you're not feeling it five-onfive, you can get a penalty kill in and feel like you're doing something for the team and maybe boost your energy and your confidence for the rest of the game.”