Brink Battling To Get Back To NHL With Flyers

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Bobby Brink found himself back in the American Hockey League (AHL) in late January after 38 games in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers and, while there's obvious disappointment for any player being "sent down" to work on their game, he's saying all of the right things out loud and looking to make the most of what is hopefully a short stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

"You get some adversity, and it's all about how you face that adversity," Brink told InsideAHLHockey.com after his first game back in the AHL, a 4-3 loss to rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

He explained that he's coming to the AHL with a good attitude and to be a part of helping his new team win, but he's also demanding a lot from himself.

"I don't have a choice. I have to come in and play well," he said.

After seeing his ice time in the NHL start to drop in the beginning of January, the Flyers ultimately decided it was best for Brink to go back to the AHL and play a ton of minutes to get not only his offensive confidence and special teams work in, but to use the increased ice time and role to improve his overall pace of play and consistency.

While Brink approached the table for the post-game media availability after that Jan 26 game visibly exhausted after playing probably close to double the amount he had been previously playing in the NHL, he wasn't going to make excuses for himself.

"It doesn't matter how you're feeling conditioning-wise, you have to be able to go out there and play hard and have legs if the coach throws you out there," Brink explained of turning the page quickly and jumping right into a top-line role in the AHL. "I mean, it's an honor to get those minutes. So you kind of have to appreciate it and do your best with the minutes that you're given."

Brink certainly made the most of his opportunities in his first weekend back in the AHL, tallying a goal in the Jan 26 loss to the Penguins before scoring two more goals the next night in a 4-3 shootout loss to Toronto.

But again, it's not about the points for Brink.

While with the Flyers, Brink was able to chip in offensively in a supporting role - totaling 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 38 games.

It was a dip in his overall pace of play, combined with other forwards emerging and playing well and pushing for ice time, that made putting Brink in the NHL lineup come into question by Flyers head coach John Tortorella and the Flyers staff.

"He leveled out here," Tortorella told Flyers media of Brink's situation. "[He] wasn't receiving much ice time, [he was] in and out of the lineup. It's not good for his development, so he goes down there and plays a ton of minutes."

So far in his current AHL stint, Brink has five points (three goals, two assists) in seven games. But it's his overall play thus far in his current demotion to the AHL that has Phantoms' head coach Ian Laperriere pleased.

"Yeah, he's great. Bobby's a great kid," Laperriere said of Brink and how he's handling this proverbial bump in the road. "He wants to have big minutes. He wants to have important minutes. And I told him, I'll give you that, but you need to play into the structure and systems that we're doing down here, and he's [doing that]."