Daily Times (Primos, PA)

Playoff talk not on the Flyers’ agenda this December

- Rparent@delcotimes.com

Playoffs.

Playoffs?

Playoffs!?!

John Tortorella didn’t even attempt to raise his voice Thursday but given the chance to emulate an old famous football coach like Jim Mora … well, Torts didn’t even go there.

During a morning skate session, Tortorella was asked, sort of, if he thought this year’s stubborn spate of Flyers success could translate into a playoff spot for the club.

“Playoffs?” Tortorella said. “Don’t even start asking me those questions. We’re in the end of December. … You don’t know what your team is until the end of January. I’m not even going there.”

If he won’t go there, who will?

To their credit, not many of the Flyers’ players do, either. But there’s no question this team has been more consistent­ly competitiv­e in games than it has in quite some time. Years, even.

“The biggest thing is confidence throughout the entire locker room,” said Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway. “We have this belief that the guy next to you is going to do the job, and we know that we can score goals.

“We’ve played a lot of teams in our division lately as well, and those games are so tight. They play to the wire. And playing until overtime … we’ve been down goals in most of those games. But having that belief and trust in that guy next to you in the locker room and just knowing that you take that next shift (is important).

“It’s one of those things where we know we need to rely on everyone to have their best game in order to have success in this league,” Hathaway added. “We taken it one game at a time, one shift at a time.”

Of course, Hathaway hasn’t been here through most of the hard times. He was a player the Flyers pegged for free agency at the start of the buying period on July 1, signing a two-year, $4.75 million deal.

Through 31 games, the veteran checking line forward had but two goals and three points. But his defensive ability and energy weighed favorably, and moved Tortorella to put him in higher leveraged roles of late, especially with Cam Atkinson in a long scoring slump.

“Garny is what he is,” Torts said. “A simple game, go after pucks, bang around. But he’s more skilled than what people give him credit for. … I feel we can move him up and down the lineup. He’ll get bounced around if we think guys are struggling.”

•••

As for Atkinson, who played under Tortorella in Columbus but missed all of last season due to injury, his goal-less streak was at 16 and counting entering the game against

Nashville Thursday.

“He hasn’t played well enough,” Tortorella said of the 34-year-old veteran. “The biggest thing for Cam, for me, is the energy. The reason Cam has been such a good player in this league is because you just notice his energy and the quickness all the time. That’s been inconsiste­nt. It’s been a struggle.

“I’m sure not scoring goals has weighed on him. Is it the year off? I don’t know. But if we want to stay competitiv­e, I think he needs to be a big part of this. So we’re trying to figure it out.”

•••

It was a late scratch this time, but again Carter Hart was unavailabl­e for starting or backup duty in net Thursday due to effects of a longstandi­ng illness.

“It is what it is,” Tortorella said. “You don’t want players sick, but you get sick. But it’s not off the charts. We’re not running around with our heads cut off.”

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