Philadelphia Flyers winger Travis Konecny rubs a whole lot of people the wrong way, and now it has led to some name-calling by a San Jose Sharks defenseman.
During the 4-1 win in San Jose, Konecny was just playing his game. While being one of the more offensively charged forwards in the Flyers lineup, he was also jawing at opponents, getting involved in the post-whistle scrums, and just being a general nuisance. All 5-foot-10 of him was, and has always been, committed to creating a whole lot of problems for the opponent outside of putting points on the board.
Travis Konecny gets insult thrown his way by Sharks’ John Klingberg
One major target of Konecny’s whole deal on Saturday afternoon was defenseman John Klingberg, as the two were jawing all throughout the game. Klingberg was clearly not into Konecny being a little aggressive and playing with that edge we all love. So much so that after the game, he called insulted the Flyers winger to the media.
Klingberg calls Konecny “dirty”: “He’s a great player, but in my opinion, he’s also a dirty player sometimes…I thought that he was trying to take my knee out instead of going through the body. That kind of pissed me off a little bit.”
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“He’s a great player, but in my opinion, he’s also a dirty player sometimes,” Klingberg told reporters. “I’m all for physical play — I like it, I love it — it gets me into the game too, but in my opinion there I thought that he was trying to take my knee out instead of going through the body. That kind of pissed me off a little bit.”
That’s just a little unnecessary. Yes, Konecny was being his typical aggressive self during that play but it wasn’t dirty and to throw the dirty player label his way for that instance, is just a crazy thing to do.
While Klingberg said that he likes physical play and appreciates it, he is maybe the least physical defenseman in the modern era and is such a defensive blackhole who is just good for throwing in some offense from the blue line, as soon as that dried up from his days in Dallas, he’s been searching for a consistent home in the league. A decade ago, Klingberg was spoken in the same breath with the best blueliners in the league and now its’ five teams in four years because teams don’t trust that he can even bring an ounce of physicality and intensity to his game.
It makes sense that a defenseman who averages just over half a hit per game, wouldn’t necessarily appreciate everything that Konecny does on the ice every single night.
The Philadelphia Flyers walked into San Jose and played an up-and-coming Sharks team and played some of their most impressive hockey this season. A 4-1 win after being on the road all week and already earning all four points in a back-to-back in Los Angeles and Anaheim, might not seem like much but the pressure is certainly piling as they inch closer to being a true contender in the playoff hunt.
With 13 games left in the season and the Flyers four points out of the second Wild Card spot (and just five points out from the third spot in the division), there is certainly a path to this team making the playoffs and really taking that massive step forward with this group. And Travis Konecny doing what he does on the ice is a big reason why the postseason is even a possibility.