VOORHEES, NJ – No one can say Travis Konicney hasn’t done his homework.
Last season, a long and miserable season for the Flyers, Konecny’s search for answers. He wasn’t scoring anywhere near the level he scored in the 2019-20 All-Star season. Although the club exited well from the playoff race, Konecnie saw some results in the long run.
The 25-year-old was enlightened by the information provided to him by Special Assistant to General Manager Danny Breyer and Hockey Analytics Director Ian Anderson.
This season, Konecny is thriving, looking like the constant scoring threat and pesky pest the Flyers love to be behind the wheel. In 36 games, he’s already hit a career high of 24 goals to go with 22 assists.
The study paid off.
“It was amazing,” Konecny said Wednesday afterwards. Scored a hat-trick in the Flyers’ 5-3 victory over the Capitals. “Those things I hadn’t looked at before. The chance to see them on video and in a research paper really helped me.
“It’s more of when I throw the puck away that I’m heading in instead of playing out. And then instead of taking shots on the outside, maybe I’m making a play instead of just missing a shot.”
But as much as John Tortorella advocates preparation, he doesn’t want his players to overthink when the game is going. system depends on “Don’t think, just do.” He likes it about Konekni’s style of play.
Stop homework during games. Just go out and play, boy.
Tortorella and the Flyers recently pulled access to iPads off the bench. Between shifts, some players may want to grab an iPad and watch a previous shift to see what they did well or what they could have done differently.
“We got them off the bench, we don’t have them on the bench anymore because I just want them to worry about the next shift,” the Flyers coach said Wednesday. “I think it’s a big problem in understanding the momentum of the game. You can’t understand the momentum of the game if you look at the iPad all the time.
“So we took it down, we wouldn’t even use it, so they watch the game and see what’s next. TK does that in his game all the time. And he’s one of the people who looks at this damn thing all the time.”
And the Flyers never want Konecki to lose his grappling tactics – getting under the skin of the opponent and his teammates.
“That’s one of the beauties of TK, he’s not afraid to go after anyone,” Cam York said Friday after rehearsal. He can also put him in the back of the net. He’s a unique player. He’s not too big. He’s like a little rat over there. He’s so much fun to watch.
“I think when you’re young, it’s nice to have a guy like that in the locker room, to have someone who sets the standard high and does everything at a high pace.”
The Flyers are at their best when Konecny is in the middle of the break. Don’t worry about getting in trouble.
Konecny doesn’t have to change anything there.
“It’s contagious,” Tortorella said Friday. “You have to pull him off the way he plays. He’s just so non-stop. I respect him because he carries himself the right way.”
“He makes a lot of mistakes, but it’s for the right reason, he’s just trying to make a difference. He’s a huge part of the athlete today versus what he was back in the day when everyone was trying not to make mistakes. Mistakes were the training hell out of them during games before.” trainers.
“Let it go. And TK let it go. A lot of times, of course lately, it’s worked out really well for him and our team.”
Konecny goes into the weekend on a 10-point streak in which he has 12 goals and eight assists. Since December 1, he has the same number of goals as Conor McDavid and Taj Thompson (17). Only David Pastrnak has more than that range (18).
For the Flyers, a big part of the 2022-23 season has been seeing what their young players can really do, Konicny being one of them.
“We want to know what we have,” Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said in September. “So take a player like Travis Konicney. Is he a 50-point guy or is he a 70-point guy? Let’s squeeze in here a little bit, let’s see what we’ve got.”
Konecki is on track to score over 50 goals and 97 points.
Working with Briere has helped, but Konecny deserves credit, too. He gave the pilots some answers.
“While talking with Danny, they sat a little bit as much as they were playing inside,” Tortorella said on Wednesday. “He’s been out a lot and his stats just aren’t where he wants them to be. I think he just made the time for it.
“I think Danny as a former player helped him and showed him some things. But the most important thing, he’s in the uniform and he has to run with it. I think he’s done a really good job.”
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