VOORHEES, N.J. -- Most nights, Radko Gudas will get his licks in on the ice.
During Tuesday’s listless 4-0 loss to Colorado, Gudas lifted Avalanche center Carl Soderberg off the ice and body slammed him for a roughing call.
It was the only real anger and physicality the Flyers displayed during the game. Other than that, they let the Avs skate all over them.
Which is why head coach Dave Hakstol held an assault practice Wednesday where players battled and went after each other (see story).
Gudas, who is fourth in the NHL with 63 hits, enjoyed pounding his teammates, except when he was upended by defenseman Luke Schenn.
“I love it,” he said. “It was a good practice, a lot of good battles.”
Was it necessary?
NHL
“Obviously,” he said. “Take a look at our games, battles were something we weren’t good enough at. Today showed we want to battle.
“If you want to win games in this league, you want to compete. Set the tone high and you’re winning those battles.”
To a man, the Flyers said they needed this type of practice to reignite their engines so they can play the same way in games.
“It’s like training camp revisited, but something we need,” Wayne Simmonds said. “Getting into battles like that will help activate us more. We just got to be more competitive and have a higher compete level.”
There seemed to be no hesitation whatsoever about players trying to punish each other. The second the drill began and it was last man standing.
Simmonds appreciated the rationale behind these rather personal one-on-one and two-on-two exercises along the boards and in the slot.
“If you can go out there and have mean streak against your teammates, I don’t see why you can’t have it against the other team,” he said.
“We didn’t have the highest compete level the last game, even though we played pretty well in Winnipeg.
“We came home and came out flat. That was a great practice for us. It was high paced and not too long … we raised our compete level.”
But for how long? That is continually the issue with the Flyers. Lessons are taught but never seem to be learned.
“We have to have the effort levels in practice like we had today," goalie Steve Mason said. “Guys were battling hard. If we can go out and work like that in games, we can wear teams down.”
The second message here is accountability on the ice. Simmonds said far too many times against Colorado, the Flyers were pulling out of puck battles way too early, leaving teammates to fend for themselves.
“Players are definitely accountable to one another,” Mason said. “You talk a lot. It’s a matter of actually — we keep saying it — going out and doing it.
"That’s the biggest thing. You can say all the right things, but we have to back it up.”
Jakub Voracek, who has not scored this season, wasn’t surprised at the intensity.
“It was a tough practice but we deserved one,” he said. “We battled very hard today and we have to use it tomorrow.”
Sam Gagner, who saw his share of losing in Edmonton, said he’s been part of these wars on ice before.
“It’s necessary at times,” Gagner said. “Get everyone in the right frame of mind.”
Of course given the fragile health of the Flyers right now, this kind of practice represented a calculated risk on Hakstol’s part that no one was hurt.
“It’s got its pluses and minuses,” Gudas said. “You can’t focus on who is hurt and not hurt. If you broke your teeth, fractured your ankle, bruised or fresh, it doesn’t matter. On the ice it doesn’t matter. Just go at it.”
Which they did Wednesday.
Make A Wish
The Flyers held a special Make-a-Wish for Liam Idzi, an eight-year-old fan from Wisconsin, diagnosed with cerebral palsy and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
Idzi, who uses a wheelchair, wished to meet Voracek and be pushed around the ice by a Flyer.
All of that unfolded for him and his brothers, Lars and Jay. A number of Flyers, besides Voracek, were accommodating to the entire Idzi family after the practice.
“He scored a goal," Voracek said, "that’s one more than me."
Voracek has arranged for the Idzi family to attend Thursday’s game against Washington.