VOORHEES, N.J. — The structured portion of Flyers practice typically ends with the team around the circle at center ice, a player in the center dot leading the group through stretches.
Monday, that ritual came without Jakub Voracek's having yet touched the ice as the 26-year-old continues to recover from the lower-body injury that has kept him out the last seven games.
But as the stretching group dispersed, a fully-padded Voracek emerged from the locker room and started walking around the boards toward the Flyers bench.
His teammates started to roar and tap their sticks on the ice. It was the first time their second-leading scorer has shared the ice with them since the Feb. 25 tilt against Minnesota.
“It was amazing,” Voracek said of the uproar. “It felt really good, I’m not gonna lie.”
That lower-body injury to his left foot/ankle, however, is not feeling really good just yet.
Voracek, who skated for the first time since the injury briefly on Sunday before taking some skating Monday, said there’s “not a chance” he plays Tuesday night against Detroit. Mostly all of the work he did Monday came after practice.
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He said he’ll need a few more hard skates and probably a full practice with the team before returning to game action.
“Hopefully I get better during the week,” he said.
With the second half of a back-to-back to follow Tuesday’s game in Chicago the next night, it’s unlikely Voracek makes his return anytime before Saturday’s home game against Pittsburgh.
The Flyers, playing some of their best hockey of the year, are 5-1-1 in his absence.
Tuesday’s game against the Red Wings is arguably their biggest of the season. Detroit, losers Sunday night against Toronto, remains three points up on the Flyers for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. The Flyers, however, have two games in hand entering Tuesday’s contest, with 15 games remaining to Detroit’s 13. The two teams will meet once more after Tuesday, an April 6 matchup in Detroit.
Voracek, who had a 286-game ironman streak come to an end, can’t come back soon enough.
“It’s not a good feeling but the boys make it easy on me,” Voracek said. “It’s fun to watch them. The last seven games I’ve been out, they’re playing incredible hockey.
“They are like my family, basically. I wasn’t used to not being around them.”
Voracek hasn’t been far away, though. His teammates say he’s been one of the last guys at the arena after home games and has been at the practice facility in Voorhees.
“Jake’s the kind of guy that’s not going too far from the boys,” Wayne Simmonds said. “He pokes his head in every once in awhile at the meetings. I think he’s lost without us. It’s like he’s been with us the whole time but he hasn’t been playing.”
“He’s one of the best team guys I’ve ever played with,” captain Claude Giroux said. “He just wants to be around the guys so much. He’s a little clown, too. He kind of keeps everybody relaxed and he just enjoys being at the rink so much it makes us enjoy it a little bit more, too.”
Voracek said he's been bored. He's been reading a lot to pass time and said he's been staying up to date on "The People v. O.J. Simpson" series on FX.
Not one who is used to watching from the press box, Voracek said he’s picked up on some things while watching from afar. He said he’s paid close attention to the power play and how he can improve that unit when he comes back.
“You see some things that you don’t see on the ice. Now I know why you guys are so smart,” Voracek quipped.
Lately, he’s seen a team finally playing at a consistent level. Twice in five days, the Flyers dominated Tampa Bay before losing in a shootout to Florida Saturday night. They have points in seven of their last eight games.
Voracek said the pressure Tuesday night is on Detroit and not the Flyers.
“The way we’re playing,” Voracek said, “[Detroit has] got to be more worried about not making the playoffs than us because … everybody knows how good we’re playing right now and everybody watches the games.”
Voracek, too, will be watching, at least for another game or two.