Alberts

BOSTON — He had to practice at Boston University’s Agganis Arena Monday, which was a little difficult for Philadelphia Flyers defenseman and Boston College alum Andrew Alberts.

His teammates even managed to give him a solid razzing over the location of their practice.

Nonetheless, the veteran blueliner was glad to be back  in Boston for just the second time since the Boston Bruins shipped him to the Flyers Oct. 13 for a draft pick and an ECHL-caliber play. In 58 games played, Alberts has produced one goal, 11 assists and a plus-7 rating for Philly.

“It turns your life upside down right away and it took me some time to adjust,”  Alberts told TheBruinsBlog.net this morning after his team’s pregame skate at TD Banknorth Garden. “But once I got settled in, it’s actually been great, it’s been a great move. Things didn’t work out here in Boston, so any time you get a chance to play, you want to make the most of it. Philly, they treat you really well there. Everything’s top-notch, so I’m really happy to be there. Hopefully I’ll stay here.”

That trade deadline that looms 3 p.m. tomorrow obviously affects everyone including Alberts, but he’s done all he can to make the Flyers want to retain his services — for the rest of this season and beyond, when he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer. He admits it took him time to adjust to the new system when he arrived in Philly, just like he had a tough time adapting to Claude Julien’s strategies at the outset of last season. But his career-high in points shows that he’s found his niche with the Flyers.

“He’s been great. He’s been a good player for us,” Flyers coach John Stevens said. “He kind of keeps it simple, but he’s a big guy with good mobility and he brings a little bit of an edge to our back end there. And we think he’s really playing well.”