PHILLY!! HELLO!!

In my bedroom back home in Peterborough, I’ve got these sticks up on my wall. They have little pegs attached to them. Every time I won a medal at a junior hockey tournament I’d hang them from there, and I’d fall asleep looking at them. Since I was four, all I’ve ever wanted was to keep filling up those pegs. When one of my teams would win something I’d think, Yeah, that’ll look just right on my wall. 

I get that same kind of energy from everybody in Philly. I felt it as soon as I got here. You guys are the kind of people who hang stuff up on your walls, right? The game room or the basement or wherever. Trophies everywhere. Newspapers framed everywhere. This is just a city of winners. I love it. People who hate to lose, who feel sick to their stomach when they lose. Those are my people. I felt all of that when I joined the team last spring before the playoffs started. 

It was crazy because like 12 hours after my season ended with Michigan State, everything happened. All of a sudden I’m talking to my agent. Then I’m signing my contract. Then I’m on a flight. Then I’m pulling on a Flyers jersey and I’m catching myself staring at Ovi during warmups. Then I’m flipping a puck over the glass, in like my third shift ever. Then I’m sitting in the penalty box.

What just happened….?

It felt like yesterday I was watching Hockey Night in Canada with my dad in our living room. My dad is my hero. He was drafted in ’96 by the Sabres but never quite made it to the NHL. He was a great player. But I mostly remember him as the architect of our beautiful rink out on the pond behind our house. That was the place. The place. Man, I think, if I have an ODR and a puck, I can be happy for a long, long time. Our pond was like a gathering spot for everyone in the neighbourhood. Boxing Day was a special time on our street. A bunch of families would come over to our place. Mom and her friends would cook meatballs and pastas and the Crock-Pots would be running all day. The smell…. Legendary. And we’d get a big, like, 20 vs 20 going out on the pond. We’d pop back in the house to watch World Juniors, then we’d be back out there. 

Remember how I said I feel at home in a Flyers jersey?

That’s because I was a Flyers fan growing up!!!

I do have to admit something, though….

I loved Sid.

I mean, c’mon. Can you blame me? As a Canadian … you gotta love Sid.

Not being from Philly, and being a kid I didn’t quite understand the Battle of Pennsylvania. I’d be cheering when the Flyers scored, and then Sid would score, and I’d give a little secret fist pump, you know? 

It’s crazy that I’m sitting here like a decade later, and I just played a playoff series against Sid in a Flyers sweater. 

And yeah, the Battle of PA? I get it now. 

Man, it was beyond words…. Going back to our rink for Game 3, having won the first two games, it was just madness. The coolest experience of my life. The fans in Philly are so passionate, and you guys just gave me this extra gear. That made the difference in the series, without a doubt.

That whole end of the season, plus the playoffs, I really just felt honoured to be a part of it. To see those guys giving everything to get into the postseason and then the battle and the effort it takes once you’re there, I learned a lot. I was living with Alex Bump at the time, and we’d both kinda talk about what we were seeing and taking from being in that locker room. For me, man, Coots is just an incredible leader. I remember he got up to speak during the series against Pittsburgh, and I noticed how everyone in the room was completely locked in and just hanging on every word. And then he goes out there and he just plays the game the way it’s meant to be played. He’s a team-first guy who is just a master of the little things. When you see that out there, and you see the way he’s respected in our room … there’s just nobody better to be wearing our C.

When I came down to see the Flyers play when I was eight, Giroux had the C. He was my guy, too. Him and Wayne Simmonds. They were so cool to me. Giroux always seemed so connected to the fans, to the city. People still talk about him here. I think that’s the same thing with Coots.

Him and Toc set this tone in our room that makes me excited to come in. Toc’s been a huge help to me. He was a power forward, a captain, he gets it. He’s always there to help with the tips and tricks, and I think really what sets him apart is that he can just relate to the players. He knows what you’re going through. Whether you’re a rookie like me or a vet. He’s been there.

When I got called up last year, it was pretty clear to me that this group was a family. Garnet Hathaway invited me and Bumper over for dinner just to welcome us in. Zegras had us over, too. He’s a younger guy, but he’s kind of taken us under his wing. Dinner was so good I ended up moving in. I’m kidding. Not about the moving in thing, though, I do really live with him (for now). It’s me and Dvo and Barks crashing there. It’s been a great time, and I’m loving being around the guys and getting to know the city.

I guess the only thing I feel guilt about is that I’ve still never actually had a real cheesesteak.

The season was just such a whirlwind, and I still need to know where I should go. 

Somebody tell me, please. Leave a comment. I gotta get this in before the season starts so I can skate it off.

I can’t wait to get to know this whole city, to go to battle for you all. Because I want to make something clear: Last year, yeah, it was awesome. Everything that happened was awesome. But the season ending the way it did? I’m not about that. Not one bit. One of the things that my dad would tell me on our car rides back and forth from rinks all over Ontario, was never to get complacent. Never take your foot off the gas. Yeah, things are pretty good. But we’ve got so much more to give, to become. I promise you that.

When I stepped on the ice for the first time as a Flyer, I reminded myself to be where my feet are. I don’t take it for granted. It’s awesome.

And those sticks back home on my bedroom wall?

I just checked with my mom. We got plenty of pegs left. 

See ya out there, Philly.