PHILADELPHIA — About eight hours before the puck dropped on Game 1 of their season, Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet was asked what was intended to be a bit of a softball question — or at least one that seemingly had an obvious answer.

Did he get the sense that his players were more excited, or more tense in the lead-up to the opener, in terms of following up their success from the previous season?

Tocchet could have praised his team’s mentality. He could have noted that training camp had been a success in his eyes and they were ready to start strong. He could have even spouted some cliches about his guys planning to take the season one game at a time.

Instead, Tocchet let the public get a glimpse of his mind’s inner dialogue regarding the psyche of his team.

“You know, that’s a good question,” Tocchet responded. “For the last two weeks, I would say mixed bag. I would say a mixed bag, to be honest with you.”

Tocchet didn’t sound like a coach fully confident in the strength of his team’s mindset — far from it. Instead, he sounded like one who had seen enough in camp and preseason to give him some pause, to make him wonder if just maybe, his team wasn’t as ready for the opener and the season as he wanted them to be.

If he did indeed harbor those thoughts, then he was right. Because they weren’t.

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