The Philadelphia Flyers first preseason game is upon us!

On today’s show, Russ and Rachel discuss day one of Philadelphia Flyers training camp. We get into the bag skate, head coach John Tortorella’s thoughts heading into camp and the season, player injury status, and more. Then we preview Sunday’s matchup vs the Washington Capitals. Who do we want to see in this first game? Is Matvei Michkov part of the game plan? Finally we look at this week for the Flyers. What were our key takeaways?
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[@chrisberry643]

Hey, you two. Great post. Can you discuss if Brink will ever see the light of day again? I like him as a player and hope that he gets a chance to play. He's motivated, has a great attitude, and if you give him some steady linemates, he could succeed. Also, what's your take on McDonald? I'd like to see him paired with Seeler....big bodies, and tough. With those two in the lineup, I wouldn't worry about playing Nick.

[@FlyboyEz3]

Love most of the show! Rachel is such a positive force, while still being critical of things that deserve scrutiny or criticisms. Russ, I appreciate your length of service as a hockey journalist, however, I feel you are acting exceedingly pessimistic; and as a Flyers fan of many years myself I get the sentiment of pessimism with this franchise. That being said, with all the valid criticisms (powerplay, handling of Michkov under Torts, etc) you have for the better part of the last few weeks acted even more dismissively pessimistic of areas that arent so important to criticize. Being biased definitely effects your brand negatively, and bias can tend to show us things that arent real. Torts isnt all bad, and you remarked in this ep that his kind words for the players was a good thing, inferring you dont think Torts is good, generally speaking. Most people think that Torts is doing very good work. So just some advice: pump the brakes on the negativity, and enjoy our upswing. Wait until something noteworthy that bad comes about, and THEN dig in. Digging into so much minutia and minor complaints really doesnt add much, without positives and having contrast. I still feel hurt since 2010 too. Things could have most definitely been handled better across the GMs and coaches, but we are really building something here, man. Love you, bud. Go Flyers!!!

[@OlsenMath]

I like the pessimism. Having seen Flyer fans be optimistic in the past only to be disappointed and then find a fall guy on the team (Doug Crossman, Rick Tocchet, Eric Lindros, et al.), I would rather the fanbase have continually low expectations. That way, if the team does better than we think, everyone will be happy.

[@FlyboyEz3]

​@@OlsenMath I applauded Rachels balance of criticism in the opening paragraph, and criticized Russ's lack of contrast (ie comparing the negatives AND positives in a range) and his visible bias towards negativity. Its late offseason: Rachel spent 2 eps talking about Gritty x Laughton photoshoot and tshirts lol, so theres fluff there. His negativity just contrasts so harshly, as he lacks that range to loosen up more.

[@fancyfreunds311]

Russ is a NY fan, it's just him needling the Flyers fan base because he knows it will get a reaction. Engagement is the social media game and he's playing it well.

[@FlyboyEz3]

​@@fancyfreunds311eh, 4-5 comments as the payoff? Sounds like a very flimsy and unlikely game of 4d chess, so very probably has nothing to do with media engagement. People want a balance of insights. Critical insights ARE good. Just needs to be realistic and fair.

[@dylanfowler8216]

@@fancyfreunds311Not really playing it well. Russ is unrealistically pessimistic. I used to watch Locked on Flyers everyday but his negativity turned me off to the channel. I watch at most once every few months now. But I watch PHLY everyday because they’re actually realistic with their takes. I’m sure I’m not the only one who stopped watching this podcast because Russ is a buzzkill who finds the negativity in any situation