Rick Tocchet is the new coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. But he also played for the Philadelphia Flyers, for over a decade across two different stints.
And to a certain, and vocal, subset of the fanbase, that's already a bad combo, one even taken as far as already doomed to fail.
It's uninspired and insular, the logic goes. Here's another former Flyer in Tocchet, hired by other former Flyers in Danny Brière as the general manager and Keith Jones as the president of hockey ops, here to preserve "The Flyer Way," to bring back the good ole days of the Broad Street Bullies from the 1970s, but only to leave the franchise further stuck in mediocrity trying to chase after an era that has long since passed.
It's cynical, it's defeatist, and just as much, a shallow perspective.
Because, yes, Tocchet did play for the Flyers. But that he did isn't the reason why he's the head coach now, nor will it be the reason why his turn behind bench succeeds or fails.
It's his coaching experience away from the Flyers that brought him back, and how he uses it to propel a young and building team forward over the next several years that will decide if this actually works.
Go back to Tocchet's introductory press conference at the Wells Fargo Center last Friday.
Yeah, the past was brought up, but if anything, more time was spent talking about Tocchet's time playing and then coaching for the Coyotes – a team that doesn't even exist anymore – than any of his previous ties to the Flyers.
And even then, the bulk of that press conference steered in the direction of the future, of player development, of all those draft picks coming up, of Tocchet's ability to foster positive connections, and with that, how he can make Philadelphia a destination for players when the time finally comes for the Flyers to take the leap and start spending.
The focus was aimed forward for the Flyers that day, not backwards, and it was because of the time Tocchet spent in Tampa Bay helping to get a young Steven Stamkos established in the NHL, of when he ran the offense and power play as an assistant for those Penguins teams that won back-to-back Stanley Cups, of when he got a developing Clayton Keller started and got a thin Coyotes team into the playoffs in the COVID bubble, and when he pushed the Canucks to the second round of the playoffs a year ago all as Quinn Hughes was becoming one of the best defenseman in the league.
So yeah, Tocchet is a former Flyer, and at some point, in a unique and connective sports town like Philly, that does count for something.
But he's not the coach of the Flyers now just because he used to play here.
Rick Tocchet is the coach of the Flyers now because of all the years spent building his reputation away from Philadelphia, and where that reputation develops next, alongside the team, will be the actual make-or-break.
"The fact that he played here before, for me, had no bearings," Brière said in a media scrum right after last Friday's press conference. "Now, it's a nice add-on. It's a nice plus that he's played here, that he shed blood for this organization, that he has a connection to the fans, those are all pluses.
"But going into it, to me, that's not what was going to sway me one way or the other. I wanted the best coach available, and one of the top coaches in the NHL. That's what I feel that he is. It's a nice plus. It's a nice add-on, and I think it's great for our fans, but he was, in my mind, clearly the best coach."
And former Flyer or not, Tocchet has to make good on that belief now.
MORE: Tocchet is here to help rebuild the Flyers, and recruit for them
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