An ongoing theme for sports fans in the City of Brotherly Love is the need to be highly critical of the teams we love. From the outside looking in, it probably seems like we’re all just a crude bunch of brutish, hateful loudmouths. In actuality, the more a Philly fan whines often correlates with how much they love their team. I swear, booing the Flyers off the ice after a period of giveaways and missed powerplay opportunities is a sign of affection whether it seems that way or not. We know what our team is capable of and we expect them to perform at that level night in and night out.
Often times, the team’s top players feel this wrath/affection hybrid more than anyone else on the ice. After showcasing their talents, Flyers fans don’t want to see a player regress to a less productive state. A quick look at the roster will show plenty of players who set the bar for their personal success so high that they were destined to fall from grace eventually.
Jake Voracek is quite possibly the biggest offender in terms of showing fans what he’s capable of and ripping that dream straight out from under them. In the 2014-15 season, Voracek registered 81 points and was among the leagues most productive players. He had 3 solid years with the team prior to that season, but Voracek finally seemed like he was living up to the potential Flyers fans knew he could.
The following offseason, Ron Hextall granted Voracek a hefty 8-year, $66 million contract. A contract that large placed him among the likes of Corey Perry, Rick Nash and Phil Kessel and instantly elevated the expectations that’d be placed on him. Some Flyers fans, if not most, would say he hasn’t lived up to those expectations. The past two seasons following his contract year, his point production has plummeted to 55 and 61 points, respectively.
Every opinionated writer from South Jersey to Manayunk has weighed in on Voracek’s decline. Just a few short months ago, most fans would’ve happily seen Jake dealt to anyone willing to give up a bag of pucks just to rid themselves of buyer’s remorse. Fast forward to mid-December and Voracek has seemingly regained his elite status. With 41 points in 33 games, he sits behind only Tampa Bay powerhouses Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov for 3rd in the league in points. He leads all NHL players in assists at 33 and his confidence is through the roof.
Storylines such as the chemistry of Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier as well as the emergence of Ivan Provorov have somewhat overshadowed Voracek’s success this season. Regardless, he’s quietly filled the score sheet on a nightly basis and more importantly, has done it no matter what line he’s been put on.
The beginning of the season saw Giroux, Voracek and Couturier on the Flyers top line. Their production was out-of-this-world but the rest of the roster was in a free fall. The Flyers’ had lost 10 straight and in hopes of shaking things up, Voracek was placed on a line with Valterri Filppula and Michael Raffl. Many fans believed that Voracek’s production would plummet. Evidently, we were wrong.
Since the 10-game skid, Jake has registered 1 goal and 11 assists and his linemates have seen a significant boost in production as well. A lot of his success this season can probably be attributed to confidence. He’s been able to focus on the team and their overall success rather than be hung up on his own personal struggles. After a hard fought, somewhat lucky win against a young Toronto team Voracek stated:
“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think we played good today. To be honest, we found a way to win which is really important. You aren’t going to play great every night, but I don’t think it was a great game by us. We played well when we needed.”
In a game which Voracek failed to register a point, that self awareness rather than self pity was a welcomed site. He bounced back and has put together 4 points in the 3 games since that outing. The Jakub Voracek of years past may have focused more on his own lackluster effort instead of the fact that the team ultimately pulled out the win.
So, whether youre a Giroux-hater, MacDonald-loather or, like me, watching Couturier try to skate just gives you a headache; it’s nearly impossible to deny that #93 is playing out of his mind this season. He’s driving play on a nightly basis and this team looks damn good when he’s on the ice. Whether or not he keeps up this level of play remains to be seen however. Faith isn’t always an easy thing to come by in this city, but let’s lend Jake what little of it we have to spare!
Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
