The Tocchet fit was odd from the start because throughout his entire HC career his teams were never offensive juggernauts. Now, the argument is Tocchet really never had a chance to coach a really good team. Well, with the shelf life of HCs in the NHL lasting 2 years, one would think a playoff team would have looked at Tocchet as a must have coach to put them over the top if he was viewed that way.
For a team that relies on undersized wings to drive offensive play to use a system which is not dependent on generating speed into the offensive zone seems like a bad fit. I had no issue not making Shaw the HC over the summer. My personal choice was Ferschweiler because Carle was a pipe dream. Just because Hakstol did not not work does not mean close the door on college HCs. There were some good options at the AHL level which were intriguing. Alas, the Flyers hire a retread with 1 true playoff appearance in 9 years. Torts made 12 playoff appearances in his career. I am no fan of Torts, but firing a HC who was probably on his last HC job to replace him with a HC on probably his last HC job in a rebuild seemed like an odd choice.
That’s because it’s not a rebuild. The Flyers have been trying to make the playoffs all along. Viewed through that lens it all makes sense. Remember it wasn’t until towards the end of his final season as coach that Torts accepted that this wasn’t a playoff caliber roster. Michkov and Martone were a product of organizational failure, not planning on the Flyers part.
