When the Philadelphia Flyers game against the Washington Capitals was postponed on Dec. 21, Cam Atkinson was disappointed — then realized it was a potential reprieve.
Philadelphia players were given an extra two days off, meaning they could start their Christmas break early. It had been a challenging start for the Flyers. A season with Stanley Cup aspirations tumbled quickly. They fired their coach in December and were last in the Metropolitan Division. Not an ideal introduction for Atkinson, who was traded to Philadelphia over the summer after spending a decade in Columbus.
Atkinson figured a few days away from the rink might help him and his teammates reset mentally.
“I’m someone who always tries to find the positives,” Atkinson said.
Meanwhile, less than a mile away, 29-year-old Joe Boustany sat in a hotel room seething.
Boustany grew up in Louisiana. There was an ice rink in Lafayette, thanks to the (now-defunct) ECHL’s Louisiana IceGators, and Boustany’s dad put him on skates as…
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