Vigneault: "Philly Should Be Really Excited"

The start of training camp for the Philadelphia Flyers is just around the corner. So is the end of camp. Players will undergo physicals on January 3 and on-ice work will begin the following day. Camp wraps up on January 12 with the NHL's 56-game regular season schedule set to start on the 13th. With so little time to get ready for the season, there is no time to waste.
On Monday afternoon, Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault spoke via conference call with members of the local media. He discussed how training camp will be structured, his expectations for the start of the season and updated the statuses of Nolan Patrick and Oskar Lindblom.
"It's going to be a challenge to get into the playoffs. We expect to get in. But we're going to have to be at our best and once we're there. We've gained some experience. We gained some valuable lessons and hopefully moving forward, you'll get an opportunity to show what we can do," Vigneault said.
Here are five key takeaways from Vigneault's media session:

1. Camp planning started early
Although the NHL and NHLPA did not formally approve a return-to-play plan until this past Sunday, most of the key details surrounding training camps -- short duration, no exhibition games, 36-player camp roster limit -- were long suspected to be part of the plan. Vigneault spent most of the fall structuring plans for training camp.
"At the end of October, I came down to Philly for a week where Lappy [assistant coach Ian Laperriere] was. We conference with both Mikes [assistants Mike Yeo and Michel Therrien] on the phone," Vigneault said.
"A couple of weeks ago, we did it for a few more days where Yeosy was there. We conferenced and then made a couple of Zoom calls with the 'French Mike' and the coaching staff all together. We knew that at some point in early January, mid January or early February, this was going to get going. So we planned our training camp. We definitely expected the no-exhibition."
2. Fast-paced practices, lots of scrimmages
Back in July, during the two-week training camp in Voorhees before the Flyers departed for the "Bubble" in Toronto and the start of the 2020 playoffs, the latter part of camp saw the team conduct several scrimmages. On Monday, Vigneault said that there will be even more scrimmages to get the competitive juices flowing and game-situation timing back as much as possible.
On these days, there will be 45-minute practices on the front end. After the ice is resurfaced, the scrimmages will take place. Practice sessions, in equal parts, will emphasize skating and conditioning, competitive drills, and systems refreshers. There will also be off-ice video work. As is typical of Vigneault-run practices, everything will be mapped out and explained to players ahead of the start of on-ice work and then the drills will go rapidly. There won't be much standing around a dry-erase board. Time is of the essence, especially this year.
Scrimmages are not as beneficial as exhibition games for getting ready to play competitive games again, but every NHL team will be in the same boat. Likewise, players need to have made the best possible use of the extended offseason from a conditioning standpoint even if COVID-related local restrictions complicated the process. When the puck drops on opening night, no excuses will be accepted for being ill-prepared.
"One of the things that we've done with our conditioning guys and assistant coaches is to make sure that they are in constant communication with our players to see where they are in their conditioning and their on-ince process," Vigneault said.
"You know, depending on where you were in Canada or the States, it might have been a little more challenging to get to a gym or get to a rink. So we stayed on top of that. I'm very confident that, once we jump on the ice, guys are going to be in good condition and in good spirits."
3. Flyers must embrace -- not fear -- the competition
All 56 games of the Flyers regular season schedule (as well as the first round and second rounds of the playoffs) will be played within the Eastern Division. The Flyers will be in a tough division that features the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils.
The Flyers will play eight games apiece against each of the other seven teams. The top four teams in the division will advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vigneault acknowledged that playing so many games against top rivals -- four apiece at home at the Wells Fargo Center and four on the road -- will add further intensity and animosity to the already longstanding enmity.
That's a good thing, according to the Flyers coach. He wants -- and expects -- every player in camp to be eager for the challenge rather than concerned about it. The Flyers should be eager to seek revenge on the Islanders for knocking them out of the playoffs. They should be looking forward to renewed hostilities with the Penguins, Bruins, Capitals and the others. Facing and defeating tough competition, Vigneault believes, is the best part of playing hockey.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how the guys come back to their physical state, their mental state, to their opportunities they like. They want to jump on this and show that they can be a big part of this team. This is part of this excitement right now and help us win. That's why we're here. It's going to be obviously a very tough division. We know that that great competition is going to be great for us great for our fans," he said.
4. All hands on deck
Even with the end of the regular season pushed back a month -- from the typical finish in the first week of April to a May 8 end date for the belated 2020-21 season -- NHL teams are going to be playing a lot of hockey in a short space. In order to get in 56 games between January 13 and May 8, there will be even more back-to-back, three-in-four, and four-in-six stretches of games.

As a result, Vigneault said, he expects to use a lot more players over the course of the season than just the group of 23 who will make the opening night roster. It is almost a certainty that many players from the 4-6 man taxi squad will be recalled to play in games at some point. When they get their opportunities, Vigneault emphasized, it will be up to these players to excel and to make it hard for Vigneualt and the assistant coaches to take them back out of the lineup.
During camp, there will be different layers of roster battles taking place. In the top tier, players will compete for coveted spots within the lineup. For example, while Philippe Myers might get the first crack at skating on Ivan Provorov's defense pairing, other players (such Travis Sanheim, Erik Gustafsson, and perhaps Shayne Gostisbehere or Justin Braun) will also get some reps as different combinations are tried.
The second tier of competition is to earn spots on the 23-man roster for opening night. Newcomers such rookie center/winger Tanner Laczynski, Swedish import winger Linus Sandin, second-year pro center Morgan Frost, third-year pro center/winger Connor Bunnaman, winger Carsen Twarynski , rookie right winger Wade Allison and rookie defenseman Egor Zamula will try to put their best foot forward to be part of the active 23-man roster.
The final level of competition is to make the taxi squad. At least one spot, by rule as well as by practical necessity, must go to a goaltender. Alex Lyon is a virtual lock for that spot. That leaves only three to five taxi squad spots left for everyone else not on the 23-man roster to compete.
With the anticipated start of the American Hockey League regular season nearly a month behind the start of the NHL campaign, it is especially vital for players who miss the 23-man roster cutoff to be able to practice and travel with the NHL club in order to stay as sharp as possible. In addition to the aforementioned NHL roster bubble players, a prospect such as Isaac Ratcliffe (who is a longshot for the 23-man roster as he begins his second pro season, but whom the organization hopes is part of the long-term plan) could benefit from taxi squad time for the Flyers.
5. Positive signs with Lindblom and Patrick
Vigneault was asked to update the statuses of both Oskar Lindblom and Nolan Patrick. Both players are now in Voorhees, skating daily and working out in the gym.
In Lindblom's case, it's all systems go. The 24-year-old Swedish left winger's recent bone scans showed that he remains cancer free now after competing chemotherapy and surgical (rib removal) treatments for Ewing's Sarcoma. He was able to work out and skate regularly in Sweden during the off-season following his dramatic playoff return in the 2020 Eastern Conference semifinals. Lindblom should be fine to start the regular season on time and be part of the opening night starting lineup.
With Patrick, there's less clarity but things seem to be moving in a positive direction after the player missed the entire 2019-20 season due to chronic migraines and other seemingly related physical issues.
"As far as Nolan. all I hear are positive things," Vigneault said.
"I can just imagine, whether you're Nolan Patrick or Sam Morin (rehab from ACL repair surgery) and you haven't been on the ice a while, you're nervous. You've got some anxiety. But you're looking forward to, hopefully, coming back and being there at the start of the camp and the start of the season. All players have to go through physicals. My understanding is Nolan's really been skating. He's been feeling well. His physical is on [January] 3rd. Hopefully him and all our other players, we get the go ahead for them to participate in training camp and show what they can do."