Up Close

By: Patrice L. Leonard

Today I had the opportunity to partake in one of my favorite activities. I attended Flyers practice at the Skate Zone. Now, I’ve been there a lot already. I look forward to every trip to South Jersey. I get to watch some of the best athletes in the sporting world tune up for their next opponent. In this case, the New Jersey Devils. One of the best attributes of this organization is the simple fact that they let their fans, and anyone else for that matter, come and watch them in a very up close and personal setting. They are always available for autographs afterwards and are friendly and accomendating.

Today, I was not watching practice as merely a fan. I was watching as a writer. It’s amazing how much you can miss when you don’t have to pay attention to the little things. The speed of these players is out of control. Traveling at speeds up to 30 mph, I began to feel sorry for all those opposing forwards being slammed into the boards. You take notice of the precision at which all of the drills are run. If it’s not right, they do it again, and again. You notice the little things like how “wicked” hard Joni Pitkanen’s shot is. Or maybe, you’ll notice that Peter Nedved is very vocal on the ice. Or how Antero Niittymaki likes to clown around before he leaves the ice at the end of practice.

I also noticed something else. Today’s theme seemed to be all about special teams. Be it 5 on 4 or 4 on 4, the power play and penalty kill took center stage. The Forsberg-Knuble-Gagne line spent most the time working the drills. When I asked Mike Knuble why that was he said, “That’s our power play group, our line.” As far as why so much time was spent on special teams today, “Coming down the line it’s really important for our power play to out score their penalty killing and our penalty killing to out score their power play. Last week in Pittsburgh, we were down 2-0, we had a chance. Special teams are always huge. We had a seven minute power play and came away with nothing.” It was obvious that game still held a slight sting for Mike.

To ask a warrior like Mike Knuble, who was wearing the remains of a black eye like a badge of honor, if his team was tired seemed out of place. The question was asked though. His response, not too convincing. “We went on a skid, so did the Rangers. What the reason is I don’t know. We have a team to catch.” I asked him if the team’s spirits were up. He laughed as he replied, “Yeah, everybody’s great.”

Next to him is sitting Mike Richards. One of the Flyers young “guns”. A very big part of the reason this team has stayed at the top of the division. So, I comment to Mike about how strong the young guys have been, stepping up. He agreed. “They’ve been through a lot this year, you know, on and off the ice. They’ve seen the good times and the bad. We don’t consider them rookies. We just want who can keep the puck out of the net and put it in.”

I just had one more thing before I let the battle tired winger go. I had to find out his thoughts on this 2 goalie system Hitch is employing. I told him that I though it was a little easier to be a team with a definite number one playing 85-90% of the time. With two goalies, you have to be on your toes. You have to remember which one likes to cover up, or clear. Which on is more vocal. Esche and Niittymaki seem to have different personalities. “Yeah, they do.”, he says laughing. “It’s a fortunate thing to be part of having a number 1. I think that players who are dressing that night know that we are shuffling goalies and nobody really cares as long as they keep it up.”, referring to the level of play of both net minders. “That’s the bottom line.”

Walking through an NHL locker room, I have learned, you pick up a lot of points of view. You notice all of the different personalities on one team. Some serious, like Peter Forsberg. Some not too serious, like Petr Nedved. They sit side by side in the dressing room, but have different ways about them.

Peter Forsberg is soft spoken and likes to make eye contact while talking to you. He also has a habit of stroking his beard about every 10 words or so. His voice is soft, but the intensity in his icy blue eyes is deafening. When asked about why his play changes in the playoffs, he appeared ever-so-slightly offended. “Playoffs are playoffs. That’s not to say the regular season doesn’t mean anything. That’s why my numbers seem to go up. Every game is so important. You have to do anything you possibly can to win. That’s what I try to do. Some guys take it to a different level. Every game is do or die in the playoffs. That has to start right now for us.”

He shifts to gaze, strokes his beard, runs his hands through his hair, and exhales. There does appear to be a small, barely noticeable smile when he continues. “We play a lot of divisional games, a lot of important games. Every game is so important. We have to make sure everyone’s on the same page. It is easier if you start playing like that way before the playoffs.” As Forsberg finishes talking to me I can hear Petr Nedved laughing loudly in the next stall. He is recounting a moment in a game a week or so ago where he tried to avoid getting a penalty.

“Bobby Holik grabbed my stick and put it in his armpit, like, for 3 seconds. I just let it go, dropped it. I still got the penalty.” Everyone around him was laughing too. He retells this story with such animation. His good nature is contagious.

And there you have it dear Flyers fans. A different point of view. One from within the inner sanctum. The war room. It’s exactly as you’ve imagined it, I would reckon. I enjoyed my time with this team today. My fondness for this year’s squad has surely been strengthened. They truly are the most cordial and easy going athletes around. And next time, if I get the chance, I’m going to ask Michal Handzus who does his hair.