PITTSBURGH -- Garnet Hathaway was eaves dropping on an interview after the morning skate prior to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the Flyers and Penguins at PPG Paints arena.
The player being interviewed was Denver Barkey. Barkey is one of 12 Flyers on the active roster who have never played in a playoff game, so, rest assured, the veteran Hathaway, who has 31 games of playoff experience under his belt, was going to make sure Barkey didn't get stuck on an answer or that a question might be out of line.
Once the interview ended without incident, Hathaway held court.
And it's not a surprise that he would. After all, the story line for this series from the Flyers perspective is that they are young and scrappy going up against a resurgent Penguins team that's a little long in the tooth even though they likely have four hall of famers on their roster in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson.
And of course the question is going to be can the young guys handle the pressure of the playoffs? Will they succumb to the bright lights and faster pace? Or will they thrive because they don't know what they don't know and they'll just be out there playing hockey.
Hear from forwards Sean Couturier, Porter Martone and Garnet Hathaway following Saturday's morning skate in Pittsburgh.#PHIvsPIT | #IgniteTheOrange
"I've been wondering that myself," Hathaway said. "It's funny. It's some level of, what is it, naivete? But what you see is a young group that has grown a lot and figuring out what it takes to take the next step. We've talked about playing winning hockey for six months now. We've talked about slowing other teams down. We've talked about controlling the neutral zone a little more. We've talked about getting to the net front and getting point shots and trying to figure out how we can be better at those things. I think the last month-and-a-half you've seen us do all those things and it's a lot from these younger guys taking steps.
"So, yeah, whether they know these games are more (high drama) especially for the public, or whether they're thinking about this as playoff hockey or just part of their day-to-day, (I don't know). Yeah, we're going to have to ramp it up, but don't change what you've been doing. I think the young guys understand that."
For their part, they're saying all the right things. They know they need to respect their opponent, but they also know they need to make difficult on them. The Penguins and Flyers are also a contrast in styles - with the Penguins among the league's best offensive teams and the Flyers among the league's stingiest defensive teams.
"The stakes are high and I know the group in here is really excited," said Porter Martone, who has all of nine games of NHL experience under his belt. "This group has worked for the whole year to make the playoffs and I was lucky enough to to come in near the end of it. ... It's going to be a fun series and it's exciting that this early in my career I get a taste of playoff hockey."
The fact that Martone, a teenager, can think of this as a fun time, when everyone watching from homme will be white knuckle gripping their sofas and barstools while watching it shows an air of confidence that shows he's ready to meet the moment.
And that's the thing. These young Flyers don't know anything about nerves. They may not be thinking about the aura of playoff hockey, because to them, this is nothing but a good time - and they're playing a game with house money.
Or it could be that they already know what this is all about.
Just ask alternate captain Travis Konecny, who feels that the high level of confidence and the notion that the first-timers don't realize they supposed to be nervous is super beneficial, but to say they don't have experience... well...
"I've been saying it all week," Konencny said. "We've been playing in these types of games for a while. Obviously, there's going to be a little bit more intensity. The crowd's going to be buzzing. But overall, once the game, like, settles down, we've been playing in these style of games for a month. ... Overall, they're good. They're fine."
And they'll have to be, if the Flyers are going to continue to shock the world and take down the Penguins.
"The tight-knit group that we have helps each guy kind of be themselves," Hathaway said. "And the details matter in these games. They matter so much that puck battles, the battles at the blue line, they can win or lose the series. I've seen it. ... We've got a bunch of guys who all respect each other to listen to each other."
And that intangible might make all the difference.
