Sean Couturier's protection of Matvei Michkov shows importance of Flyers' culture

Sean Couturier said it with his words and with his fists. If you touch Matvei Michkov, you are going to face the consequences.

The Flyers have long stressed the importance of team culture, especially when John Tortorella took over as coach. That was one of his priorities when taking over the team. Finding out who was necessary to help this team move forward.

In Saturday night's game against the Bruins, the Flyers proved that they have taken the culture change seriously. And it all centered around Michkov. Any time someone on the Bruins tried to rough him up, there was at least one of his teammates there to back him up.

Hunter McDonald, who already plays a physical game, was there during a scrum. Couturier said some...choice words to Trent Frederick when he tried to go after Michkov. That alone shows how the Flyers feel.

But it was what Couturier did in the late in the first period that sent a clear message.

Sean Couturier's fight is a clear indications of the Flyers' culture

Couturier does not drop the gloves. Heading into Saturday's game, he only had eight career fights. His last was against Matt Dumba this past season. Before that? He hadn't dropped the gloves since 2019.

But when Billy Sweezey tried to goad Michkov into dropping the gloves, Couturier had other plans.

I think we gotta make sure we don't get pushed around and stick up for each other. I thought that guy was trying to take a little too much advantage of him," Couturier said after the game.

Couturier stressed that it's important for the team to stick together and set the tone early that they aren't going to be pushed around at any point. That had been a problem before with this team. They weren't going after opponents who were maybe getting close to their goaltenders or laying big hits on teammates.

There's a fine line between defending your teammates and going after players who lay hard, but clean hits. The discussion is always about whether or not a player should have to answer for a hit if it was clean but injured a player. Or if it was just a hard hit in general.

But what Couturier did was step up for a young teammate who is learning how to play in the NHL. Will Michkov have to learn about the physicality of the league? Of course. But there is no reason to let a player try to take advantage of him, especially during the preseason.

It's gigantic. That's how teams are built, right? It's a brotherhood, you're playing for one another. Absolute perfect leadership at that time, exactly what we needed," Brad Shaw said about Couturier's fight.

Going forward, it goes a long way on building that team and embracing Matvei as a teammate.

Michkov is going to remember what Couturier did for him. He's going to know that his teammates, especially his captain, will be there to stick up for him. Learning that this early in his career is huge. Tortorella said he would put this locker room up against any other team in the league. Something like what Couturier did is exactly what the Flyers' head coach is referring to.

This team is close and plays like that will only bring them closer. If you're willing to drop the gloves in the preseason? That means you're even more willing to do it when the regular season comes around.

The Flyers hope to take another step forward and with Michkov in tow, they have an opportunity to make even more noise than they did last season. Couturier's leadership on the ice is just the beginning of what this team hopes to do moving forward.