19 Games In, Rick Tocchet Reflects on What He’s Liked, and Where He Goes From Here

With the Philadelphia Flyers now around a quarter of the way into the season, Flyers’ head coach Rick Tocchet, in his first season with Philadelphia, had a lot of good to reflect on at Tuesday’s season ticket holder event, as he feels this team is right where they need to be at this point in time, as the Flyers hold a record of 10-6-3.

Tocchet mentioned a lot about the developing culture of the Flyers.

“Individuals, yes, it’s art, it’s our job to develop these guys, make them the best version of themselves,” Tocchet said Tuesday evening. “But it’s got to be a team game, there’s individual moments in a game, but it’s a team game.”

Especially with a group of young athletes who continue to rise, the culture on and off the ice is important, as the team’s morale is the root of their success and development.

Tocchet continues with his plan of being a team player, rather than an individual. “We’re trying to get an identity about being a selfless team, and that’s something we’re trying to do every day.”

Along with developing players and teaching them plays, the Flyers’ coaching staff pays close attention to these intangibles. The team being a whole seems to be the message in the locker room, which has turned out well, considering this group is over hockey .500 in mid-November.

Regarding his coaching staff, Tocchet is proud of them and wants them to continue how they work with athletes so young.

“Great coaches, they’re teachers,” he said. “You need teachers because we have some young players, you’ve got to spend a lot of time with them.”

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The Flyers are not going to be a first-place team right now. Tocchet knows this.

“We’ve got to walk before we run, and we’re at that stage,” he said. “And if you ask me, I’m really proud of the guys.”

The Flyers, although nowhere near the top of the standings in the Eastern Conference, have to feel good, as the boss’ plan is absolutely going accordingly.

Tocchet seems to be very satisfied with his club, and wants to develop each player the same way he develops the team, and visions the season, the same way general manager Daniel Briere wants his club to go “Brick by Brick.”

Tocchet was aware of the players who have struggled, but knows that the improvement is a process like the others. “There’s some holes that we got to plug, but as a coach, if you try to plug every hole, it really gets dangerous,” he stated. “I think we’re just trying to plug one hole at a time, and that’s our approach.”

The other important aspect of development he mentions is working on using their bodies and showing their presence down the stretch. Tocchet explains how the guys on the ice tend to play the man with the puck, rather than the puck itself. They tend to skate back and tense up.

“Sometimes it’s human nature, I guess you want to be safe,” Tocchet explains. “I don’t want them to be safe, I want them to be aggressive.”

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When asked how he would describe coaching the offseason acquisition of Trevor Zegras, Tocchet had a lot of positives to say, whether it is his move in the shootout or his comic relief for the hockey club.

“I can’t take credit for [the shootout], Tocchet joked when asked about Zegras and the Flyers’ success in the skills competition. “You bring in Zegras, [Matvei] Michkov… the way he takes some of his [shootout attempts], just very creative…so we’re lucky in that.”

Tocchet is most definitely grateful for his new weapon for the regular season in the shootout, as he knows his guys are ready to go. He often acknowledged that the team meets up to work on moves for the shootout, which harkens back to his philosophy regarding culture.

Not everything with Zegras had been perfect, as Tocchet explained his teaching method when Trevor had a bad start in St. Louis.

“In St. Louis, [Zegras’] in first three shifts, he was awful, he was terrible,” Tocchet said. “I whispered to him to start skating with the puck. If you give me two more shifts like this I can’t play you. So he goes out there and does something unbelievable, he had three points. We talked after the game.”

Tocchet is proud of his team and their ability to respond, which is a result of his refraining from yelling and using the play and state of the game to teach his players, something fans can feel relieved about after experiencing John Tortorella’s relationship with Michkov last year during his rookie season in the NHL.

Tocchet has also appreciated Zegras’ ability to joke and make the game fun. A locker room presence on the ice as well as off the ice is essential for the morale of the team, someone like Garrett Stubbs, who provided that energy during the Phillies’ last couple of playoff runs.

The moment Tocchet admired the most was Zegras’ reaction to his shootout goal on Blues’ goaltender Jordan Binnington.

“When Trevor scored, he looked at [Binnington], and kind of whistled something. He did something kind of funny, so I actually kind of liked that, it was funny.”

Many players and fans appreciate having a guy in charge who likes the team to go off of each other and have fun while still going to work, something the Flyers seem to be doing very well as of late.

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Overall, Tocchet made a lot of good points regarding the state of the Flyers and why fans should not panic at the 10-6-3 record, or cry for a tank for next year’s NHL Draft.

Tocchet’s ideas of camaraderie and culture really reflect when you see what the team has done up to this point. The Flyers have been able to stay in games against tougher opponents such as the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and more to come. His reflection on Zegras also shows how he’s a coach who celebrates the small steps of players and wants to act as a father figure to the 23-man Flyers roster.

This team, after a quarter of the way through a season, is thankful for the work Tocchet has put in so far, and Tocchet is thankful back.

“For me, it’s coming back to Philly, working with sincere, great people. An organization that helped me become a man.”

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