Flyers Training Camp Day 1
Day 1 of Camp Torts aka Flyers training camp is in the books and it went as expected.
Skating, skating, and more skating with not a puck in sight.
The three groups each got their chance to go through the typical John Tortorella skating test at the beginning of each training camp. For some players it was their first opportunity, while others relied on their previous experiences. One guy who has done this quite a few times was newcomer Marc Staal.
When asked about how it went today Staal said “I think he keeps making it harder, think he added more laps. Doesn’t change it still hurts.”
Staal can be seen here leaning over the bench after completing the bag skate. I was in attendance today for the first time and I can say now seeing it in person it looked miserable.
With today being the skating test, there really wasn’t too much to take away from it. Each group saw at least one guy truly laboring to get through it.
In group one it was defenseman Cam York as he was clearly powering through and looked exhausted towards the end. That didn’t go unnoticed by head coach John Tortorella.
“It was an absolute horror show, after the second rep he was done. But I watched Yorky and he finished everytime and I found him right after and it’s probably them most emotion I’ve ever seen out of him I can’t tell ya what he said but he finished and thats the key. Thats building a standard.”
This spoke volumes to me when Torts went out of his way to mention Cam York. For a guy that didn’t make the team out of camp last year to get praised by Torts on day one is huge. It speaks to the development of York and that Torts sees him as an important piece of this teams future.
Group two Scott Laughton was the one who seemed to be struggling the most he joked with us during the press conference “Don’t make me laugh I might puke.” 
A name that you might not know but could become a more well known guy is Matt Brown. A camp invite from Boston University who had 47 points in 39 games last season. He was flying out there today and didn’t look like he was fazed by all of the skating. You could tell that Torts was watching him each time he was up as he seems to have caught the eye of the head coach and rightfully so after day one.
Noah Cates also looked great today during the bag skating and might even be faster than he was last season. It’s clear he put in some extra work during the offseason and wants to cement his place in the Flyers lineup.
We didn’t get to see much of the goaltenders today but we did get a chance to hear from Carter Hart after.
Charlie O’Connor asked about the Hockey Canada investigation and Hart responded with “I really don’t know, I can’t talk about it. I wish I could, same thing. All I know is the investigation is ongoing and that’s all I know.”
There was a lot of speculation after he went private on instagram but from the way he answered the question he doesn’t seem to be worried about when the report comes out. I really have to think that the Flyers would know something right now and wouldn’t put him in a spot to answer a question like that if he wasn’t innocent.
Hart was also asked about his contract situation and was adamant about being in Philly for the long term.
“Honestly, haven’t even thought about that yet. Just another season for me, another season to grow and get better.” When asked about the trade rumors from the offseason Hart stated “Danny’s a good man and a good manager and I trust him. I’m pretty confident I’m going to be a Flyer. I’m happy here, I love playing for this city and this organization and I love my teammates.”
Carter sounded confident he is going to be here for the long term and that an extension will likely get done just a matter of when.
That’s about it for day 1 of Flyers Training Camp, don’t worry I will be back for day 2 tomorrow morning so make sure you are following along.
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-Walsh