Flyers prospect Mike Vecchione leaning on his bodybuilding family

The photos still hang on the wall of the house where Mike Vecchione grew up in Saugus, Mass., testaments to a mind-boggling discipline and work ethic that his parents preached to all three of their children as they found their passion.

They are striking photographs from the days in which Joe and Diane Vecchione were competitive athletes themselves. But when you're a high school kid inviting a friend over to the house for the first time, they can be a little unnerving, as well.

"They've got these photos in the front room of their cut-up bodies," the Flyers forward said the other day. "And I'm, like, 'You've got to take these down.' I bring new people in the house and it's always, 'Who's that chiseled lady on the wall? Who's the jacked guy up there?' "

"That's my mom and dad …"

Now both 59, Joe and Diane Vecchione were once competitive bodybuilders, achieving fame of their own, culminating in Diane's capturing the 1983 AAU Miss American Bodybuilder award. By then, she was no Miss, playfully posing in a string bikini for photos with her young daughter Michelle, now 38, mixing her discipline with motherhood and, with Joe, setting the template for three children who would ultimately become, in order, a school librarian, an architect and an NHL hockey player.

At least that's what Mike Vecchione was when last season ended. Nolan Patrick's fortuitous arrival and Ron Hextall's recent praise of Scott Laughton have dropped some formidable roadblocks in Vecchione's quest to carve a consistent niche with the Flyers this season. He is no longer a given to secure one of the center spots on the team. He is no longer a given to even be on the team when the season opens in San Jose on Oct.4.

"We're all holding our breath," Joe Vecchione said over the phone on Monday.

His son has been there before. Although a star at Malden Catholic, a hockey power outside of Boston, Vecchione was not yet 5-foot-10 and weighed about 170 pounds, and it delayed and diverted his dream of playing Division  I college hockey. He committed to playing at New Hampshire in a year or two, moved to Nebraska, lived with a family, and played two seasons in the United States Hockey League.

That's where Union College coach Rick Bennett saw him, liked him and eventually wooed him after UNH, with a new head coach, cooled on him.

"It was," said his father, "the best thing that could have happened to him."

As a 20-year-old freshman, Vecchione centered the Dutchmen's first line as they won the NCAA championship here in Philadelphia. He was a Hobey Baker finalist by his senior season, signing an entry-level contract with the Flyers in March, making his pro debut against New Jersey a few days later.

He's now 24, and this is not his first development camp. An invitee, he was here last year, and he was with the Bruins the year before. But it's not just age that separates him from his younger peers. It's that some of the stuff preached here — getting your sleep, training smart and eating right — are habits that were instilled in him as a child.

Joe Vecchione, who now works as an assistant deputy for the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, once owned a gym; large pieces of it can still be found in his garage, where his son has done much of his off-ice training over the past six years. Joe's Gym is also where Diane, looking for something to do after Michelle's birth, first became a bodybuilder.

A key aspect of that, of course, is diet, and at 5-foot-2, Diane had a margin of error that was, well, slim. By accident more than design, she became the family nutritionist, balancing virtually every home-cooked meal her young son ever ate, dispatching fully cooked and frozen meals to him at Union, so he could avoid some of the culinary challenges a college dining hall presents.

Joe Vecchione, too, has embraced and been intrigued by the programs Flyers trainer Jim McCrossin has sent back. After attending a group session with the team's nutritionist last week, Mike plans to meet her for a more detailed plan before going forward.

"It's interesting to see how she wants us to divide the plate," he said. "But for the most part, it's pretty similar. … Steak, chicken, pork on the plate and veggies. There was always that good protein/carb ratio. And they weren't like throwing me in the weight room, making me curl for days. They knew how to do it."

Which is what those photos on the wall celebrate. Even if, even now, their son would still like them taken down.

"We're in those bikini things, you know?" Joe Vecchione said. "I think he's proud of the accomplishments, though."