Becoming a part of the Philadelphia Flyers after nearly a decade of playing against them isn't always an easy feat, but Garnet Hathaway has become a player that fans found themselves almost immediately endeared to in his first season in orange and black.
Becoming a part of the Philadelphia Flyers after nearly a decade of playing against them isn't always an easy feat, but Garnet Hathaway has become a player that fans found themselves almost immediately endeared to in his first season in orange and black.
Becoming a part of the Philadelphia Flyers after nearly a decade of playing against them isn't always an easy feat, but Garnet Hathaway has become a player that fans found themselves almost immediately endeared to in his first season in orange and black.
"That's nice!" he said of learning how much the fans have taken to him. "The fanbase is unbelievable. I don't know how many years I played against [the Flyers] and I was getting probably the most boos before. I think the whole team feels that support. Me personally, coming into my first year, it doesn't feel like my first year. It feels like I've been here a long time in a great way. It's a fanbase I hope to keep playing for.
"The group's amazing, it really is, so from day one, not knowing anybody and looking back on it, felt like where I belong. That starts from the guys in the room and the culture they've built. It's a great group to be a part of. I'm really lucky to be a part of it."
Even though he came into his first season on a team facing huge underdog status, Hathaway is proud of how the group dealt with the doubters and believes that this is just the first step in the Flyers growing into a team that consistently makes the playoffs.
"I think guys took a lot of strides this year," he said. "I'm sure guys will tell you that, and you can see it from the outside. Thinking about the game, understanding the league, seeing what it takes—I think guys learned a lot. You can't quantify that, you can't see it from the outside, but in that room, there's guys that I think understand better now than they did before and that's what it takes. It's gonna take guys continuing to learn and taking that feeling we have right now into the summer.
"You have to take that effort and continue to grow and take what you had last season and continue to build...In a group like this, where the work ethic is already so high, you see that trust that we have in the locker room. You see how hard everyone's working, you trust the guy next to you, you know in the summer they're gonna put the work in and we're gonna come back even better than we were...The confidence is huge. You look at that belief, and when people count you out a lot, you have to take a step back and believe in yourself before you go anywhere. The things we went through this year, the obstacles, the ups and downs of the season, I think that's what we'll fall back on. We learned how to deal with it, and we'll keep going."
Part of that learning process, in Hathaway's opinion, is overcoming obstacles that get thrown in your path during the season—something the Flyers had to deal with quite a bit this year.
"I think that it's gonna happen no matter what, it happens on every team," he said. "Things happen throughout the whole year that will try and distract you and pull you apart—it happens to every team. That's one thing that the good teams that you see consistently get into the playoffs, they know how to go through the ups and downs of the season. You look at losing streaks, and you see the really good teams shut them down so fast; it doesn't gain any traction. I think that's one thing we're gonna keep learning. Those are the strides we're taking to get to where we want to be."
For Hathaway's individual performance, he did plenty of learning and adjusting to his new surroundings, but he already feels comfortable in Philadelphia.
"I grew throughout the season," he said. "New system, new group of guys, trying to be build my role. Starting on a fourth line I thought was pretty set in preseason and finding my game a little more and finding responsibility in the defensive zone...There's parts of my game that I want to work on, and I'll look at that. I think the whole city, the whole Flyers organization, look at this team and the Broad Street Bullies and everything, and it definitely draws comparisons to how I want to play my game. I see that and I see the work ethic that came before me and the culture that we have, and it just motivates you to try and do more and try to be consistent every night. That's one thing that I'm gonna keep trying to work on."
He's certainly not the only player that will be looking to get better over the summer, but Hathaway did highlight the fact that he and his teammates are looking forward to when the time comes to start putting the work in again.
"The guys wanted more," he said. "So with how competitive we are and how much that locker room cares, guys are excited knowing just how much hard work it's gonna take, which seems wild, but that's the kind of group that this. I think guys shouldn't hop in the gym right away, but I know once they are, they're gonna go full throttle and that's the exciting part. No one's looking forward to the skate test, but we're looking forward to getting back here. It's starting off on the right foot and understanding what that takes and knowing there's gonna be ups and downs, but the faster you start playing your game, the better off you're gonna be."
When asked if he would be taking a break from the gym, though, Hathaway said, "No!"
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