Flyers-Canadian game tonight | Sean Couturier’s hard return to Earth

John Tortorella appeared in a bad mood during the meeting with the media Thursday morning at the Bell Centre.

He was kind enough to confirm that Samuel Ersson will be his starting goalkeeper, before giving a few dry answers. What does he think of the level of competition from the Canadian, his opponent in the evening? “I don’t even look at them. I look at our team. »

What did he think of the response from his captain Sean Couturier, who has just taken part in his team’s last three games after being left out two games in a row? “I don’t talk about it. I haven’t discussed it with them, he said, pointing to the Philadelphia reporters. I won’t talk about it with you. »

We conclude that the subject remains delicate. Daniel Brière, general manager of the Flyers, however, was more willing to talk about it.

“In the first half of the season, Sean was excellent,” underlined the young GM. He played a lot of hockey. He missed almost two years, and at the start of the season, he was playing 20, 22 minutes per game, in all situations, and it caught up with him. It’s been tougher lately, but I have no doubt he’ll get back up. Maybe he just needed a reset. He has played very well since he came back, even if he hasn’t had as many minutes. There is no problem on my side with Sean and it will be resolved very quickly. »

The explanation of the minutes played at the start of the season does not seem to particularly move Couturier, judging by the pout, and the rather difficult to describe noise that he made when Brière’s explanation was presented to him, after training.

“That’s one way of looking at things. I don’t completely agree and I told him so, said the New Brunswicker. My back feels good. It’s the rest of the body, in the long run. It seems like every week something poppait. I don’t know if I’m made up for by the two years without hockey, by an 82 game season. Maybe, but I think it was more the little injuries that caught up with me. I’m just waiting for my chance to prove that I’m still the player that I am. I showed it in the first 40 matches, I have lethargy at the moment. »

On 24 occasions this season, Couturier exceeded 20 minutes of play, even reaching 24 min 1 s on January 6. However, it has not exceeded 20 minutes since January 23. His offensive performance has suffered, but defensively, the indicators are hardly encouraging. He hasn’t finished a game with a positive rating since February 6. Since that day, it’s a return of -17 in 20 games.

The situation is delicate for many reasons. Couturier has status with the Flyers. He was named captain on February 15, just as his slide began. Perhaps more worrying for Brière, Couturier is entering the second year of an 8-year contract, signed in the summer of 2021. Until 2030, number 14 will count for $7.75 million under the Flyers’ payroll. .

And that’s without forgetting that, against all odds, the Flyers would participate in the playoffs if they started today. The team badly needs points, recalled Tortorella, so he is not in a position to spare the sensitivities.

“I have to adapt to the speed of play at this time of year. It’s been three years since I last played at this time of year, recalled the main person concerned. It’s an adaptation, but I think I’m capable. I was never the fastest, but I always had a good hockey head and I was able to adapt to lots of situations. I’m not worried that I’ll get through this and be stronger. »

It will be interesting to see what fate awaits him on Thursday evening. The Flyers’ lineup has not been confirmed, but Couturier remained on the ice until approximately 12:15 p.m. Such an exit time is often the work of reserves.

Good words for Poehling

Couturier’s fall, however, smiled on Ryan Poehling, former choice of 1^er Canadian’s turn.

The Habs had essentially abandoned the young man, claimed on 25^e rank in 2017. In the summer of 2022, he was traded to the Penguins, along with Jeff Petry, for Mike Matheson. Poehling’s inclusion in the transaction caused little discussion at the time, as it seemed clear that he was no longer part of the plans. And in Pittsburgh, the American had to be content with around twelve minutes per match.

When the summer came, he took advantage of his autonomy to join the Flyers. Here he is at 18 minutes per game in March, including a personal high of 20:10 in the last game, in New York, on Tuesday.

“He started the season as a fourth center,” Tortorella recalled. I love his speed. »

The fiery head coach then went there with words of rare honesty.

“He’s not great at anything. He’s not great at defending, but he can defend. He’s not a great scorer, but he can score from time to time. I like his consistency. His trio gives us momentum. I wish they scored more because they spend a lot of time in the offensive zone. But in his role he gives us the best chance of winning. »

Poehling says he always believed in his chances of establishing himself in a more important role, which the Flyers confirmed by offering him a two-year contract extension in January.

Did the Canadian quit on him too quickly?

” I don’t know. It’s hard to say, he admits. It was hard here in Montreal, I was going up and down. Getting a fresh start was good for me and Montreal got a great player in Matheson. I think it worked on both sides. »

The brain of St. Louis

We told you that Tortorella seemed in bad shape at the start of the press briefing. It took a question about his counterpart and rival of the day, Martin St-Louis, to make him lower his guard.

“We spoke 30 minutes before I came to see you. I’m so happy to see that Mason is doing better, I was in contact with him throughout the situation,” Tortorella first said of his former protégé.

He then praised St. Louis’ level of dedication to his team and to his craft. “He has one of the most interesting minds when it comes to talking about hockey. He can’t give all his ideas to his team, because there’s a lot going on in his head! We had several conversations about this, because when I coached, he was driving me crazy. But it will be excellent.

“It’s pleasant for me, because we’re at another level. We have experienced lots of things, not always beautiful, when I coached. It’s nice to talk to each other today as counterparts. You are in good hands here. »