Travis Konecny’s Hot Start is What Flyers Need
By Scott Cole
The Philadelphia Flyers are 2-0 and few people are noticing right now. And you know what, I get it. There is a LOT going on in Philly right now. The Phillies have dispatched the Braves and have punched their way to the NLCS for the first time in 2010. The Eagles are the last undefeated team in the NFL and face off against Dallas in a Sunday night battle. It’s easy to forget that the NHL season just started with everything else happening.
But the Flyers have had two great games. They came out shooting and scoring against the Devils in the season opener. They followed that up with a come from behind victory against the Canucks. A big part of the Flyers’ opening successes to start this season is Travis Konecny.
On opening night, TK scored two goals, along with Morgan Frost, to lead the team to victory. In the win over Vancouver, Konecny scored the game clincher with less than seven minutes to play. And I know it maybe early in the season, but these are good signs.
Konecny was an all-star in 2019-20. He was well on his way to a career year with the team, having matched his career high of 24 goals with 12 games left to play out. Then COVID happened. The league shut down and then went into bubble mode. And then, TK changed.
In the 16 games of the postseason bubble, he lost his scoring touch. While he did contribute seven assists, he scored no goals. Former head coach Alain Vigneault had called him out for his lack of contributions that offseason. During the following season, Vigneault had benched Konecny for a perceived lack of playing “the right way”. TK got into a funk that he never quite got out of.
In the 2020-21 season, Konecny scored just 11 goals in the COVID shortened season. The following year, he scored 16. However, he seemed to regain his scoring touch after Vigneault was dismissed.
One of my concerns this year was that Konecny and Coach John Tortorella wouldn’t jive well. After all, TK pouted when Coach V was in town. If Torts is known for being tough on players too, would Konecny respond in the same way? So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case. And that is good news for the Flyers.
And while the Flyers jumped off to a good start last year before the wheels fell off the bus, we don’t want to get too excited. But these are good signs. There are still 80 games left to go (more than that hopefully!). But Konecny’s strong start could indicate a sign of good things to come. If he can maintain this, this could help the team stay competitive in a tough division.
Konency is a veteran whose experience could help inspire, motivate, and lead the youngsters who are being called to step up. If he is starting strong and can continue that throughout the year, it will help, especially when Cam Atkinson and Sean Couturier are out. A good start can lead to a good November and December; which in turn could lead to a good season. If Konecny can keep this up, maybe this season won’t be so bad after all.