PHILADELPHIA – Fame can be fleeting when it comes to the Flyers’ defense.
One minute Emil Andrae was sailing along after being promoted from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Then he skated into coach John Tortorella’s doghouse.
The youngster hung out there for a few games, got a one-game reprieve to show he learned his lesson.
Or not. Before Saturday night’s game against Columbus, Andrae found himself back in Allentown with the American Hockey League crew.
“It was a no-brainer,” Tortorella said of the decision before the morning skate at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. “It’s gotten too rich for him. An easy part of the process. He gets a little bit up here, plays really well, starts falling off.
“We’re not going to keep putting a kid in a spot where we’re hurting him. We put him in a hell of a spot against L.A. (in a 7-3 loss on Thursday night). But this is part of the process. This is the right thing to do for him.”
Andrae actually played in 20 games and registered a goal and four assists. One positive number which stands out: Plus-3 on a team which is in negative double-digits.
The 22-year-old Swede looked comfortable in all situations and packs a lot of wallop for someone who goes 5-foot-9, 189 pounds.
“He needs to go down and play because there have been some struggles in his game,” Tortorella said. “There’s no secret stuff going on. We’ll get him through the Christmas break.”
Tortorella said Andrae made some good outlet passes vs. the Kings but had problems on the defensive side of the puck. There’s nothing unusual about that for young defensemen. Just ask Egor Zamula, who still has those sorts of issues some five years into his career.
The coach was hoping that giving Andrae a few games off would help the situation but apparently there wasn’t enough improvement.
“That’s part of the process for young defensemen coming up from the American League,” Tortorella said. “Sit out some games. If he played well, he probably wouldn’t have been sent down. We’ve had these conversations for a couple weeks now, what’s best for him.
“It’s an easy decision because it’s what’s best for him. We’re at this phase with our hockey club where we’re trying to help these guys develop.”
>York back in action
After a one-game benching, Cam York was back in action on Saturday night.
Tortorella is hoping the young backliner had time to work on his game and make some adjustments.
“I’m looking for a response tonight from ‘Yorkie,’+” the coach said. “Because he’s been in neutral long enough. I’ve watched him play at a whole different level, from his first year to where he’s gotten to. It’s certainly unacceptable.”
York has been working consistently on a first defense pairing with Travis Sanheim and the team has used that tandem on the penalty kill, which has been ranked as high as third in the NHL this season.
“We (York and Tortorella) have had some conversations,” York revealed. “It’s been good. For me, it’s been executions I usually make. They haven’t been as clean for me. It’s just something I’m going to have to work through.”
York hasn’t been quite up to his usual standard since missing nearly a month of action due to injury. He’s posted three goals/five points with a minus-3.
