Quick Hits: June 5, 2022
1) Right wing Cam Atkinson, the Bobby Clarke Trophy winner as the Flyers most valuable player during the 2021-22 season, celebrates his 33rd birthday today. In his first year with the Flyers after coming over in a trade for Jakub Voracek, Atkinson posted 23 goals and 50 points in 72 games.
Atkinson was one of the team's brightest spots amid a brutal campaign. Most of his production came up through the All-Star break, as Atkinson compiled 17 goals, 19 assists, 36 points and a team-best plus-11 rating through the first 45 games. He had two power play goals and three shorthanded tallies.
After the All-Star break, Atkinson was increasingly banged up and noticeably less effective. He gritted it out and stayed in the lineup until a lower-body injury suffered on April 12 in Washington forced Atkinson out for the remaining nine games of the season. Over his final 28 appearances of the season, Atkinson produced six goals, 14 points and a minus-13 rating. He did not record a point in his final six games and did not score a goal (0g, 3a) over his final 12 games.
"It’s just kind of that snowball effect that prior to the Washington game it seemed like every other game something happened, blocking a shot with my foot, getting whacked in the mouth, lost a tooth. It just never ended," Atkinson said on Exit Day.
"Obviously in Washington, I put myself in that bad spot, kind of a little banged up. If it were different circumstances or if we were in a playoff spot or in a race, I would have definitely played. It’s one of those things now that I just need to let it heal."
Atkinson became an almost instant fan favorite in Philadelphia after his arrival, just as he was in Columbus.
"I think it’s super important as a player, as an athlete, to embrace whatever city you’re playing in, especially the fans. Without the fans, we wouldn’t be able to play the game that we love. I think I embraced it pretty quickly here. Playing against the Flyers for ten years, I know that they like to run hot. As a player I personally love that and they have every right to be on us. Just a crappy year, we’ll talk about that later. I think the fans have been great for me. They expect to win, and you want that. You want them to be passionate and we want to win just as bad. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the year, but hopefully they like me," Atkinson said.
Both in his Exit Day media availability and in a one-on-one interview for Flyers Daily, Atkinson advocated for the Flyers to consider hiring his former Columbus coach, John Tortorella, as their next head coach.
"I think it all starts with practice. You practice how you play. Especially when I turned pro, I learned that from John Tortorella. He was great in that aspect. There just wasn’t a lot of practice times. It was hard to mold and gel as a group when you’re playing so many games because you can watch video. You can’t really get on the ice and do it. I think going into next year, we need to find a way to have some more grit, some more jam, more 'F you' to our game, on both sides of the puck, in our crease, defending our goalie and in their crease. I thought we were a pretty soft team this year in my opinion," Atkinson said.
Atkinson noted that some players on the team -- such as Rasmus Ristolainen and Zack MacEwen -- took pride in being hard to play against from a physical standpoint. He said, however, that he felt more grit and accountability was needed on a teamwide basis; something that he feels Tortorella instills effectively.
"It’s not just going out there and fighting, I don’t have a single NHL fight but I score a lot of my goals in the hard areas. I go back to when we played Chicago at home, and it felt like a playoff game because we were sticking up for each other, getting into scrums, protecting our goalie and getting in front of their goalie. It’s as simple as that. It shows your teammates that you’re going to stick up for each other. You can just feel the excitement too not only on the bench but in the arena. Something like that really brings a team together," Atkinson said.
2) The elder half of the first brother duo in Flyers team history, Larry Hillman passed away on June 3, 2022, at the age of 85. He was predeceased by younger brother Wayne Hillman, with whom Larry spent two seasons (1969-70 and 1970-71) as teammates. Both Hillman brothers were defensemen.
Apart from being among the most well-traveled players in hockey history, Larry Hillman was also part of a staggering number of championship-winning teams. He was a member of six Stanley Cup championship squads with three different teams: Detroit Red Wings (1954-55), Toronto Maple Leafs (1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1966-67) and Montreal Canadiens (1968-69).
Larry and Wayne Hillman's nephew, Brian Savage, played for the Flyers during the 2005-06 season.
3) Today in Flyers History: June 5, 1995
Heading into Game Two of the 1995 Eastern Conference Final, getting the Legion of Doom line untracked after being held quiet in the series opener was one of the Philadelphia Flyers' biggest keys to knotting the series against the New Jersey Devils. That objective was met, but the Flyers nevertheless went down to 5-2 loss at the Spectrum to fall behind two games to zero.
Flyers captain Eric Lindros got the Flyers on the board first. After a Randy McKay power play goal evened the game at 1-1, Mikael Renberg restored the one-goal lead less than two minutes later as the home crowd went wild.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, the night went downhill after the fast start. John MacLean notched a power play goal in the final 12 seconds of the opening period to send the teams to intermission tied at 1-1. The second period was disastrous for the Flyers as Neal Broten, Bobby Holik and even low-scoring defensive defenseman Ken Daneyko scored for New Jersey to open up a 5-2 lead.
The Flyers managed just five third period shots and 20 overall against Martin Brodeur and the stifling New Jersey neutral zone trap. Ron Hextall stopped 11 of 16 shots before Dominic Roussel (eight saves on eight shots) came in to finish out the game after the Daneyko goal.
4) June 5 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Andre Lacroix (1945), Radko Gudas (1990).