‘Camp Tortorella’ has begun. After a day of heavy skating with no pucks involved, players spoke to the media about their first taste of the 2022 Philadelphia Flyers Training Camp.
Tony DeAngelo
Tony DeAngelo was the big acquisition in the offseason. With Ryan Ellis likely to miss the entire season, or ever play again, DeAngelo is meant to complement Ivan Provorov on the top defensive pair. DeAngelo spent most of last season in Carolina paired with Jaccob Slavin. He compared Provorov to his former pair partner.
“He kind of reminds me of, different body types, I played with Slavin last year, but similar in the sense that they can defend guys one-on-one, finish guys off, break the puck out and go the other way. I feel like I complement those guys really well, so I feel like we can get off on the right foot quick and get some chemistry going.”
Tony DeAngelo; 9/22/2022
DeAngelo was happy with how the day went. He mentioned it was a tough first day, but everyone worked hard. Tortorella is pushing his players not just physically, but also mentally.
“It’s just work, everybody worked hard. I think everybody did a good job today. Tough first day, but I’m sure it’s going to get even harder.”
Tony DeAngelo; 9/22/2022
Tortorella mentioned earlier today that he wants the young kids to play this year. DeAngelo sees the talent that the Flyers have in the system and the young players at training camp who are pushing for roster spots. No matter who is playing for a job, everyone needs to be pushing each other.
“We got some young guys pushing for jobs, you want them to feel comfortable and hope some of them guys push for jobs to make the team right away. That’s what we need, we need some young guys to step up in the organization. It’s really good, the harder we push each other, the better team we’re gonna be.”
Tony DeAngelo; 9/22/2022
Artem Anisimov
Philadelphia signed forward Artem Anisimov to a PTO before training camp began. Anisimov played in the NHL for the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, and Senators. He spent last season in the KHL with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, scoring 19pts (8G, 11A) in 27 games.
He’s also familiar with Tortorella, as they worked together in New York. Anisimov’s best season under Tortorella was in 2010-11 when he scored 44 points (18G, 26A) in 82 games.
Anisimov said he started preparing for training camp in April after his season ended.
“My season finished earlier in March. In April, I started preparing myself for the training camp here.”
Artem Anisimov; 9/22/2022
Anisimov is a versatile, two-way forward who can play on both the powerplay and penalty kill. He says he feels comfortable playing anywhere on the ice and even joked about playing goalie.
“I can play all situations, take the pick. I can play goalie, but they don’t let me play there.”
Artem Anisimov; 9/22/2022
Anisimov also mentioned that it’s good to have young players pushing for spots on the team, just like DeAngelo. Anisimov has a point to prove in camp, just like the prospects.
“The young guys want to be in the league and the older guys like me want to be in the league too. It’s just the competition, young guys have a young body and recover faster. It’s comeptition, it’s nice.”
Artem Anisimov; 9/22/2022
(Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)
