From ‘Funky Town’ to a Swedish Christmas, behind the scenes of the Flyers’ California road trip

Throughout the Flyers’ weeklong holiday road trip in California that wrapped up the 2022 calendar year, an uncharacteristic smattering of rain, clouds, and cool breezes turned the “Golden State” gray.

Where did all of the sunshine go? Check the visitor’s locker room.

The Flyers pulled out three straight victories over the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks, turning a historically dreadful Disney on Ice outing into a wonderland of winning. As the players milled about their humid postgame locker room in each city, the song Funky Town by Lipps Inc. served as the soundtrack to their success. The Flyers’ lone letter-wearer — alternate captain Scott Laughton — added it to the aux rotation after one morning skate earlier in the season when the tune got stuck in his head.

“Just a nice little vibe,” Laughton said.

Those good vibes extended into the Flyers’ return home on Thursday night with a 6-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes, as the team won four straight games for the first time since January 2021. As the Flyers stare down a tough stretch of contests against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, and Washington Capitals, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at their holiday break and their California dream of a road trip amidst their 15-17-7 season.

» READ MORE: Amid all the tanking talk, the Flyers are playing their best hockey of the season — for better or for worse

Just before the Flyers left for San Jose on Dec. 28, players enjoyed the NHL’s three-day break. While some stayed behind in Philadelphia and others traveled within the continent to be with their families, the Swedes of the Flyers organization planned a trip to New York City to celebrate Christmas together and partake in Swedish traditions. Unlike Christmas in North America, which typically is celebrated Dec. 25, the bulk of Christmas festivities in Sweden take place Dec. 24.

Goalie Samuel Ersson, forward Olle Lycksell, and defensemen Adam Ginning and Linus Högberg traveled to Manhattan for some sightseeing, shopping, and dining at a Scandinavian restaurant for a traditional dinner. Goalie Felix Sandström was sick over the break and was disappointed he couldn’t tag along.

“It’s kind of a big deal in Sweden, you eat Swedish meatballs and stuff like that, eggs,” Lycksell said. “It’s a pretty big deal, actually. So I’ve heard it’s not too big [a] deal with Christmas food around here.”

In customary fashion on Dec. 24, the Swedes tried to watch Kalle Anka, better known in North America as Donald Duck. It’s a longstanding tradition in Sweden for families to tune into the 1958 Disney Christmas special From All of Us to All of You at 3 p.m. on public television. However, because of the six-hour time difference, the Swedes were unable to catch the movie. Nonetheless, Lycksell said the trip was a success, blending their heritage with the sights and sounds of New York City at Christmastime.

“It’s really nice to have New York pretty close to Allentown and Philly,” Lycksell said. “It’s my first year here. So we try to explore as many things as possible. I’m just thankful for having that opportunity. It was a great weekend.”

As the Flyers traveled down the West Coast, they encountered plenty of familiar faces along the way. First, after they arrived in San Jose the day before their game against the Sharks, a group of players had dinner with former Flyer and current Shark Oskar Lindblom.

When the Sharks traveled to Philadelphia earlier this season in October, Lindblom said he didn’t have much free time to spend with his old teammates. The meal afforded Lindblom an opportunity to see his friends and catch up before they became enemies on the ice the next day. Following the game, a 4-3 Flyers overtime win, Lindblom said he didn’t receive many chirps on the ice from the visitors.

“I thought there was going to be more of that, actually,” Lindblom said. “But it was fine. I thought TK [Travis Konecny] was going to be a little more under my skin, but he was fine to me.”

Anaheim ushered in homecomings for a pair of players, winger Nicolas Deslauriers, who played there from 2019-22, defenseman Cam York, who grew up in the area. Following morning skate the Monday before the game against the Ducks, Deslauriers said he hadn’t seen many of his former teammates aside from forward Troy Terry.

But that morning, Deslauriers saw some of his favorite Honda Center employees, including a security guard named Paul who greets players upon their arrival at the rink. Deslauriers called their reunion “emotional.”

“He’s a good man,” Deslauriers said. “He’s been through a lot, especially the last few years with COVID and some family issues. But seeing him and seeing the smile and the little tears was something good.”

York enjoyed an early 22nd birthday gift (his birthday was Thursday) in Anaheim, playing in front of a crowd of friends and family in the Flyers’ 4-1 win over the Ducks. After the game outside of the visitor’s locker room, he met up with his former Anaheim Jr. Ducks coach Craig Johnson, who is now an assistant coach with the Ducks.

“He was my first legit coach when I was really young,” York said. “And to be honest, I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. So I owe him a lot.”

The Flyers practiced at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Dec. 30, the day before their Saturday matinee against the Kings. After a typical practice at home, players aren’t predisposed to lingering in the locker room. But on the road, they have nowhere else they need to be, so plenty of Flyers sat in their stalls and talked to their teammates and members of the training staff.

Winger James van Riemsdyk, however, wasn’t doing any sitting. Shortly after he removed his gear, he laid on the floor on his back with his legs bent and propped up on the seat of his stall.

» READ MORE: How State & Liberty and James van Riemsdyk are changing the NHL fashion game

After each skate, whether it’s a practice or a game, van Riemsdyk likes to take five to 10 minutes to do breathwork. He typically prefers some place quiet, but on the road, he takes what he can get. In Los Angeles, van Riemsdyk turned on the fans on the floor of the locker room to drown out the chatter.

“I have been kind of reading into more about breathing stuff and [have] gotten into that a little bit over the years, and [I am] trying to do it a little more consistently because I feel like it’s something that helps when I do it more consistently,” van Riemsdyk said. “I notice a difference in overall recovery when I do stuff like that. You just feel more present, I guess, with what you’re trying to do.”

Van Riemsdyk discovers different breathing exercises on Instagram, then will share them with people he trusts to see if they would be good fits for him. He has received plenty of strange looks from his teammates, but given his early adoption of other performance- or nutrition-related endeavors in the past, he’s confident that some of them will join in eventually.

“The evolution of it usually goes, I’ll get chirped by guys at the start when I’m trying something that maybe looks a little different,” van Riemsdyk said. “And then maybe like a week or two later, someone will ask me, ‘Oh, so what were you doing there?’ And then maybe a few weeks or a month later, someone will jump in and join and try some certain things out.”