What’s in a cup? Flyers players explain their game day coffee orders.
Like so many of us, hockey players run on coffee. Here's what the Flyers drink to get ready on game days.
When the Flyers climb onto the buses before heading to the arena, they’ve got their game day suits on — and their coffees in hand.
While they might not be among the rush of the traditional 9-to-5 crowd, the Flyers need a jolt to their system before they head into work each day. From getting themselves up for a back-to-back or from a nap after morning skate, the Flyers are fueled by caffeine as they try to keep up the pace through an 82-game season.
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When they give their orders to the baristas, here’s what gets written on their cups:
‘Like his soul’
Center Scott Laughton may enjoy exploring coffee shops with his wife in his free time, but on a game day, he doesn’t go out for coffee. Instead, he heads to “Chef Greg’s coffee shop” at the rink to enjoy a nice cup of hot, black coffee made by the team’s chef.
Whether it’s an away game or an off day, Laughton’s order remains the same no matter where it comes from.
“Just a black, hot coffee,” Laughton said.
“Like his soul,” winger James van Riemsdyk said.
Fitting enough, winger Travis Konecny has a similar order with one change: he goes black, iced coffee.
That’s not coffee
Laughton may have a dark soul, but he’s the only one who’s given van Riemsdyk’s preferred game day drink a chance.
Van Riemsdyk likes to stay on the cutting edge of things that can help maintain his performance whether it be meditation, breathing exercises — or mushroom coffee.
While van Riemsdyk used to drink regular coffee, he decided to switch to an alternative that gives him energy without dehydrating him. Laughton, his best friend on the team, doesn’t use the same brand, but he does occasionally drink it.
Joel Farabee was adamant that he will not be trying van Riemsdyk’s drink of choice. For one, he prefers iced drinks, and van Riemsdyk drinks it hot. But also — it’s not coffee, as Kevin Hayes pointed out.
“Coffee is coffee beans,” Hayes said. “COFFEE. It’s MUSHROOMS.”
Copy cats
Farabee’s game day order is an iced coffee with almond milk, no sweetener.
Travis Sanheim’s order is an iced coffee with almond milk, no sweetener.
Hayes’s order used to be an iced coffee with almond milk, no sweetener.
“They all got that from me,” Hayes stated.
However, Hayes is “boycotting” Starbucks (he said, as he sipped from a Starbucks cup). Instead, he now buys the pre-made Starbucks stuff from Wegmans and makes it at home.
Owen Tippett, who is in his first full season with the Flyers after starting his career in Florida, has bucked the trend. He prefers his coffee sweeter and enjoys a nice toasted vanilla oat milk shaken espresso. Morgan Frost copies him.
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Frost likes pretty much all the drinks, so he often just gets whatever Tippett gets. Tippett said Frost might not admit that his go-to is a vanilla latte, but Frost was honest about his “basic” order.
So extravagant
Out of all the orders, Nicolas Deslauriers’ has to be the most extravagant, Laughton said. “He’s always coming in with pumpkin spiced something,” Laughton said.
That’s incorrect. Deslauriers’ is not the most extravagant in terms of sweetness and flavorings — it just has the most caffeine. He gets an iced coffee with two shots of espresso.
And on an off day? Still espresso, but he gets it shaken.
Some of the other Flyers get a little more creative on their off days.
Hayes enjoys chestnut praline. Tippett and his fiancee try to recreate their favorite drinks from a coffee shop they liked in Charlotte at home. Frost gets hyped for sugar cookie latte season — “I always ask for extra sprinkles.” Meanwhile, Kieffer Bellows likes almost all the fun drinks at Starbucks — except the sugar cookie latte.
And Farabee goes for a brown sugar shaken espresso, although he “never met a coffee I didn’t really like.” Which is a stark difference from Cam York, who’s never met a coffee he did like. He just drinks Red Bull.
In a sport where routine is everything, even the coffee orders signal when it’s time to have some fun.