VOORHEES, N.J. – He might have two goals in his first five NHL games but Flyers rookie Alex Bump is taking nothing for granted.
Bump knows fame can be fleeting in a fraternity as elite as the NHL. A costly mistake here or there can get you in the fast lane of a highway back to the minors.
So far that hasn’t happened and the big smile on the left wing’s face after Sunday’s practice at the Flyers Training Center confirmed that.
After a few “how’s it going?” questions, Bump was asked if his sudden success has had a chance to sink in yet. After all, he scored in his very first game and kind of made it look easy.
“Yeah, I think I breathed a sigh of relief knowing I can play here,” he said. “It’s an everyday league, you can’t be happy with the past. You have to stay in the present and focus on game by game.
“It’s just knowing that I can play here. It’s the belief in yourself. I have a lot of it.”
Bump’s goal against the Blue Jackets was a bit of a tip-in of a long shot which came about because of his proximity to the goal.
“I’m not a big body,” said the 6-foot-0, 195-pound native of Minnesota. “So I’ve got to get to the front of the net more often.”
Bump’s scoring prowess certainly could be used on the Flyers’ power play, a unit which sits dead last in the NHL at the moment.
“I think we have the guys on the power play who can do the job,” Bump said. “Maybe more pucks to the net. We’re passing up too many shots from all over the rink. Maybe just not getting the bounces as well. I think that will come still. You just have to play through it. I’m sure they’ll start going in.”
Bump did get two minutes, 41 seconds of power-play time in Saturday night’s 2-1 shootout loss to Columbus.
“I’m set to be on the power play, honestly,” he said. “I think I can get shots in the middle of the rink and have a good chance of scoring.”
What’s to lose? The Flyers are clicking at just around only 15 percent. In the past four seasons, they’ve been 31st once and 32nd the other three times.
The advice from coach Rick Tocchet to his power-play cast has been rather elementary.
“Shoot the puck,” Bump said. “More shots. Can’t be passing up shots. When you’re in the middle of the ice you’re going to have to shoot. I think that’s kind of been his message.”
Bump said he’s made it through these first five games without too much physical wear-and-tear. He’s looking forward to the Flyers’ upcoming trip to the West Coast, which starts Wednesday in Anaheim.
Running on adrenaline?
“A little bit,” he said. “I think we got back from Minnesota (early Friday morning) and I didn’t get asleep to about five (a.m.). That was a tough wakeup. The adrenaline for every game is high. Tough to get down.”
Bump said it’s nice to have Lehigh Valley teammates Denver Barkey and veteran Garrett Wilson around to help him get acclimated.
“(With Lehigh) he (Wilson) has taken all of us prospects under his wing,” Bump said. “Showing us the way. It’s nice to have him here. All the guys have been great. Everytime I have a question they can answer it.”
>Short shots
Tocchet missed Sunday’s practice due to illness but should be ready for the first game of the road trip on Wednesday. . .After this road trip the Flyers have only one more game outside of the Eastern time zone (at Winnipeg on April 11). . .Travis Sanheim leads the Flyers in blocked shots with 193.
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