Flyers winger Cam Atkinson reveals that John Tortorella has already threatened every single player on the team
New Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella made headlines a few weeks back when he said he had concerns about the Flyers' locker room. He's already called out the leadership group and has said he's in no rush to name a new Captain after former captain Claude Giroux was dealt to Florida at the trade deadline this past season. He has since signed in Ottawa as a UFA.
Former Blue Jacket and current Flyer Cam Atkinson, who endured six of Totorella's training camps in Columbus, recently explained Torts' unique way of unofficially starting training camp. "Torts sends out a handwritten letter every year, just explaining what's going to happen during training camp and threatening everyone," Atkinson said of Tortorella's ritual.
«He put in the letter, 'We're doing a skate test. It's going to be hard. If you have questions, ask Cam.' You can imagine everyone's reached out and picked my brain. It's funny because teammates that have asked me in the summer and asked me again during informal captain's skates, you can tell the anxiety is starting to kick up a little bit. But it's a grind, without question. I personally love it, and knowing that we all do it together, I think it builds camaraderie."
The Flyers will be in a pressure cooker to start the season given what Tortorella expects of his players. He has already said that if players are not in shape at camp they won't be playing, so you can bet all the anxiety and tension in camp will lead to some highly intense days at camp and perhaps even some interesting cuts.
