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Flyers Open Training Camp: The rope is gone
Day One of the Flyers first training camp under Rick Tocchet had one big difference from past Philly camps or the current camps in Ottawa and other cities. Tocchet and his staff introduced systems concepts right off the bat. There was no bag skate (coaches prefer “conditioning skate”) to be seen: no suicides (line-to-line wind sprints), no endless laps and, most strikingly, no rope down the middle of the ice.
“We’re actually getting into some systems, and playing hockey. It’s different than using a rope and skating laps, that’s for sure,” team captain Sean Couturier said.
Two-time reigning Bobby Clarke Trophy winner Travis Konecny laughed and said “No!” when asked if he missed the rope. He quipped that he actually had more energy for his media availability. Defenseman Cam York described the now-departed rope test as “NASCAR laps.”
NHL training camps in 2025 are the final year that the league will allow the sort Day One conditioning tests favored (even oddly beloved) by former head coach John Tortorella, Travis Green and Sheldon Keefe. Tocchet himself is big on conditioning. However, he noted even in his introductory press conference that he trusts today’s players to do their offseason homework on the ice, in the gym and with their diets.
“It shows up on the ice real quick if you don’t (keep up with conditioning). You can’t hide it,” Tocchet said on May 16.
Tocchet tells Flyers players to focus on the staples
The new head coach had the team do some basic systems work on Day One. The Group A and Group B sessions started out with a 3-on-2 forecheck. For the most part, however, Day One wasn’t primarily about systems. Rather, it’s about key principles — Tocchet called them “staples” — that he wants players to keep in mind throughout camp and the season.
“I need to get these guys [to embrace] concepts, what we want to do,” Tocchet said.
- Staple 1: Puck possession. The head coach noted that the team was good on the rush in recent years but poor at maintaining possession. The Tyson Foerster-Noah-Cates-Bobby Brink like was an exception. Day One drills stressed the need to not throwing pucks away on low-percentage plays. Players in drills had to battle to keep possession. Meanwhile, linemates had to be in proper support spots.
- Staple 2: Off-puck structure. Tocchet’s signature Box+1 defensive system was not a central focus on Day One. However, the central purpose and team-wide expectations got mentioned right away. There’s leeway to be creative when the team has possession and a player has space to make a play. However, when the other team has possession, structure applies.
- Staple 3: Half the net. This relates directly to Staple 2. Tocchet wants the goaltenders to be able to focus on the strong side as much as possible. It’s skaters responsibility to kill back-door scoring chances as much as possible. The head coach said that when the goalie focuses on protecting half the net and needs less post-to-post coverage, it cuts down leaky goals as well back-door slam dunks.
- Staple 4: Battle to get inside. Tocchet noted that regular goal scorers most often get to the “home plate” area between and below the dots. The coach said he’s particularly impressed by how hungry Matvei Michkov is to find scoring areas. The Russian winger battles for real estate, especially when he sniffs a possible scoring chance. (Michkov still needs work on Staple 2.)
Group A personnel
Alex Bump – Trevor Zegras – Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin – Sean Couturier – Matvein Michkov
Lane Pederson – Jack Nesbitt – Garnet Hathaway
Rodrigo Abols – Jacob Gaucher – Devin Kaplan
Travis Sanheim – Spencer Gill
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Ty Murchison – Luke Vlooswyk
Dennis Gilbert – Austin Moline
Goalies: Dan Vladar, Aleksei Kolosov
Group B Personnel
Alexis Gendron – Jett Luchanko – Owen Tippett
Tyson Foerster – Christian Dvorak – Denver Barkey
rotation — Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
rotation – Karsen Dorwart – rotation
Rotating wingers: Nicolas Deslauriers, Samu Tuomaala, Anthony Richard
Cam York – Helge Grans
Egor Zamula – Emil Andrae
Hunter McDonald – Noah Juulsen
Adam Ginning – Ethan Samson
Goalies: Samuel Ersson, Carson Bjarnason
Injured and Absent Players
Tyson Foerster wore a purple no-contact sweater during Thursday’s practice. This was planned and expected. The play remains on a daily ramp-up plan while he rehabs from an elbow infection. Foerster tested him with some contact despite his separate jersey.
Rasmus Ristolainen (out until November) skated on his own between the early morning Group C session. Group C consisted of a mixture of Phantoms veterans, Reading Royals candidates and 2025 Draftees except for first-rounder Jack Nesbitt.
Rookie defenseman Oliver Bonk did not skate on Thursday. The 2023 first-round pick underwent imaging to assess an upper-body issue that has bothered the player since Rookie Camp.
