When the Philadelphia Flyers returned to the ice for their first practice since the Olympic break, the focus was immediate and practical. With the final stretch of the regular season approaching, the week of practice ahead offers a rare opportunity to address structural issues, restore conditioning, and reestablish the consistency that defined much of their early-season success.
Rather than focusing on external factors like the trade deadline or playoff positioning, the emphasis inside the room remains on internal improvement.
“I think we’re just focused on the last bit of the season here,” said Travis Konecny. “I don’t think there’s any emphasis on games and for the [trade] deadline. That doesn’t change anything for us. We’re just looking to get back on track and back to the way we were planning to start the season.”
After playing more than half the season and navigating a demanding schedule, the Olympic break provided both physical recovery and a chance to reset mentally.
“It’s a good opportunity to look at what we’ve struggled with as of late before the break, clean up some of that stuff,” Konecny said. “We’ve played over half a season now, so you’re just trying to get your hands back, get your conditioning back to where it needs to be.”
The Flyers’ coaching staff (sans head coach Rick Tocchet, who is still at the Olympics as one of Team Canada's coaches), approached the first day back with a clear plan. Assistant coach Todd Rierdan said the group met prior to practice to outline specific areas of focus and establish a structured approach for the week ahead.
“We had a short meeting together before the start of practice just to let them know exactly where things stand,” Rierdan said. “We had a Zoom call yesterday with Tocc and went over our plan for every day and the drills we want to use and everything we could do to maximize the situation. We talked about some messaging and tried to improve some things structurally that have been deficient in our game that we can attack right now.”
The condensed pre-Olympics schedule limited their practice time, so having this upcoming week to get back in the swing of things will certainly not go to waste.
“I think this break is going to help everybody,” Rierdan said. “We’re really fortunate that we only have the three guys in addition to Tocc apart from us. So this is a really great opportunity for us to build our game, and we know that the most difficult hockey is still ahead of us.”
With most of the roster available, the Flyers can use this time to really address the struggles that have plagued them the last few weeks, and, according to Rierdan, they are raring to get ready again.
“We’re really excited about taking advantage of it,” Rierdan said. “I love the guys; their attitudes today were really high-end.”