Philippe Myers knows from experience that he needs to walk a fine line.
On one hand, the shutdown defenseman wants to break training camp this fall with the Flyers. On the other, he doesn’t want to obsess too much with the opportunity to the point it disrupts his focus and, ultimately, performance.
“I’m coming into training camp [in September] to stay and make the team,” said Myers, who completed his fourth and final Development Camp with the Flyers earlier this month. “That is my goal for next year. This summer is huge for me and I am going to get stronger and strengthen up.
“I want to work on my weaker areas and come into training camp and give it everything I’ve got. I want to stay here in Philly.”
Ah, but therein lies the pitfall.
After spending four years in junior hockey and just one step away from achieving his dream to play in the NHL last year, he worried too much about getting promoted to the Flyers from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and his play suffered due to it.
However, he recalibrated his entire approach midway through the season, recovered from some injuries, and finished with a flurry.
Call it a lesson learned.
“I was thinking too much about that,” Myers said. “I had to focus on myself and what I needed to do to get better, instead of focusing on all that other stuff. It’s just a distraction and nothing good can come of it. I think the best thing to do is ignore that stuff and focus on yourself.”
How did Philippe Myers do with Lehigh Valley?
In his first year with the Phantoms, Myers finished with five goals, 16 assists, and a plus-12 in 50 regular season games. In 13 playoff games, he had seven points.
“I think my mental side of the game was so much better in the second half,” Myers said. “I wasn’t thinking out there, I was just reacting – and that is when you play your best hockey.”
Myers must also walk a fine line with adding weight and muscle this offseason. He wants to bulk up, but not to the point where he would lose some speed.
Philippe Myers, who is 6-foot-5, said he gained eight pounds since the end of the Phantoms’ season and is at 220 pounds. He wouldn’t mind packing on five more – but he needs to do it the right way.
“I am getting heavier, but I want to put the right weight on,” Myers said. “It’s all about getting stronger and bigger.”
It’s a tightrope, physically and mentally, he is trying to master this season. If he accomplishes it and picks up where he left off last season with his play, Myers will likely be wearing a Flyers jersey this season.
“It’s just I want to get better every day and work my butt off,” Myers said. “I feel if you do that and keep the right attitude, you will get to the NHL, for sure.”
