Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
so funny danny wanted to keep torts. speaks volumes to me.
would really love to know who the main driver was in hiring him as I believe 100% it was not fletcher. that farce of a consulting firm making the recommendation is priceless.
still shocked torts has not said 1 word over what went down. guess still hopes for 1 more job doesnt want to seal his fate lashing out.
This is going to set off some people who despite all evidence would rather wash out their eyes with acid than believe what they show them but : Bobby Clarke
Senior executives Bobby Clarke and Paul Holmgren reportedly preferred Tortorella against other candidates such as Barry Trotz, Bruce Cassidy, and Jim Montgomery. Bill Meltzer described that the two former Flyers had a “background role in the ultimate decision” for the hire. Other reports suggested that Fletcher wasn’t entirely set on the hire. Although the level of influence from all parties won’t become entirely clear in the near future, the organization now has its fiery head coach looking to restore the success of a fallen franchise.
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.
“It goes with me everywhere,” Tortorella said with a smile. “I’ve been fired a few times; I always ask for the rope back when I’m out the door.”
It doesn’t hurt that under the new CBA rules (taking effect next year) the rope test is illegal but now Torts can tug at his rope all he wants in his house. Torts coaching methods where he was abusive to players (which crossed the line) should’ve been made illegal long ago but the Flyers love that stuff.
It’s a refreshing take from Coots regarding the new coaches and makes you wonder why the Flyers kept doubling down on Torts until Torts eventually fired himself. Working on getting everyone on the same page with the new system and prioritizing the AHL team being on the same page as the big club sounds like such a basic thing but for the Flyers it’s never even occurred to them until now.
I’m not saying the Flyers will be any better this year, there’s still a huge talent and development gap to make up (plus the hype around Tocchet’s record is more aspirational than factual), but it sounds like there’s actually adults in the room this year rather than a petulant child who airs grievances and whose main coaching tool is to play harder, not smarter.
The best thing to happen to this team in 3 years is Torts quitting on the Flyers because DB/Jonesy were prepared to ride it all the way down.
Damn. Really pushing that Flyers PR narrative.
Back in 2023-24, the Flyers were in playoff position as the trade deadline neared. However, Briere did not feel the organizational rebuild was far enough along (either at the NHL level or system wide) to avoid being sellers. Consequently, the team dealt starting defenseman Sean Walker to Colorado for a first-round pick. Last year, Briere traded longtime team leader Scott Laughton to obtain a first-round pick.
DB tried to resign Walker but couldn’t. It was trade him or lose him for nothing at the end of the year, 1 year into a supposed rebuild. Despite Jones telling the players plainly that this was not a rebuild, letting a veteran walk for nothing at the end of the year might’ve been a bridge to far for the fans with blinders on especially if the Flyers ended up missing the playoffs. A rebuilding team also would’ve traded Laughton at that time but they needed another year of his leadership which resulted in an even worse team. Thank god the Leafs GM was an idiot this past tdl. Just when you think there are no more Chuck Fletchers, one more pops up. Laughton was a total no show for the Leafs playoff run. 4 pts in 20 games in the regular season with 2 assists TOTAL in the playoffs and being demoted to the 4th line. How badly do you think the Leafs want a do over? He is great in “the room” though.
>However, Briere does not think the team is currently ready to be buyers, either. He didn’t say so explicitly, but the plan seems to more or less be to evaluate the team under its new coaching staff, and then proceed. The GM will rely on internal player improvements at various positions and see where things are for the longer-term outline. A skeptic would call it a “stand pat” year. However, keep in mind that all but one offseason acquisition/ signing is on an expiring contract this season.
Hmm.. Danny’s boss thinks differently and isn’t afraid to tell the world. Just last week.
x.com/BroadStBull/status/1965797173922283577
CEO Dan Hilferty: “Now we’re adding and you only add when you think you’re in the playoff conversation.”
He said fans are buying in, the Flyers had 90 percent of the fans renew their season tickets.So who do you believe Dan “man of the people” Hilferty or DB?
The reality is they’ve been trying to make the playoffs the last 2 years despite being under the restrictions of all the 8 year contracts Fletcher handed out and then DB handed out and Ellis’s LTIR. The rebuild nonsense was just to lower expectations so the fans would keep coming to the games while they wait for the long term contracts to expire.
Flyers: Five Takeaways From Briere Preseason Press Conference
Carter Hart – It’s not a great look for the team when a guy who hasn’t played in a year and a half says they won’t touch you with a 10 foot pole.
Risto – Finally an update. Approx 2 months into the season which in Flyers medical speak means he may never play again.
Foerster – Ramping up in training camp
Bonk – Good news. Another mystery injury. That always ends well.Luchanko scrimmages, Bonk aka Happy Gilmore and more from Flyers rookie camp
“He has been dealing with a couple of things,” Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong said. “It’s good to see him back out on the ice there. … He showed some pretty good bursts of speed and some hands. He definitely belongs. I would love to see him push for a spot out of camp.
Sounds like he’s over the groin injury and the fans are being prepped for him to make the team this year.
I appreciate the article but do we really need to have 2 separate threads for the same topic.
As i posted in the other thread.
The fact that they don’t have to retain salary in the trade, for a goalie who most likely was never going to play for the Flyers again, is great but let’s not forget the history behind it.
The pivot: By March 2024, the Flyers were surprisingly holding a playoff spot. Brière seemed to change his tune, telling The Philadelphia Inquirer with a grin, “We’re inside the playoff bubble. Like all of our fans, we’re really excited about that. Getting to the playoffs—that’s the goal from now on“. (The “Flyers are rebuilding, they really are!” crowd have collective amnesia on this one).
In a bid, not for the future, for that year to make the freaking playoffs when the Flyers started fading, Briere surrenders to Fedotov’s demands. Fedotov arrives in time to save the Flyers season but posts an .811 sv% in 3 appearances as the Flyers miss the playoffs and is rewarded with an above market contract.
https://x.com/ADiMarco25/status/1782745531619369429
I know the Fedotov AAV is higher than expected, but the contract was agreed upon prior to the player coming over from Russia. I’m told that the contract had to be a certain number to get Fedotov to come to North America.
Some people would call it extortion. The Flyers call it spending corporate sugar daddy’s money but you know, as DB said, they were all in for the playoffs. or were they all in for the rebuild? lol.
Fedotov got his bag and the Flyers got … to give him his money. The contract widely questioned in the media for a goalie who flopped when given the opportunity.
A panic move by a rookie front office that was sweating making the playoffs with little actual experience behind them.
The Flyers traded Ivan Fedotov to Columbus on Sunday. There are two distinct benefits to the deal apart from receiving a draft pick in return.
Flyers Trade Fedotov: What’s In It For Philly
The fact that they don’t have to retain salary in the trade, for a goalie who most likely was never going to play for the Flyers again, is great but let’s not forget the history behind it.
The pivot: By March 2024, the Flyers were surprisingly holding a playoff spot. Brière seemed to change his tune, telling The Philadelphia Inquirer with a grin, “We’re inside the playoff bubble. Like all of our fans, we’re really excited about that. Getting to the playoffs—that’s the goal from now on“. (The “Flyers are rebuilding, they really are!” crowd have collective amnesia on this one).
In a bid, not for the future, for that year to make the freaking playoffs when the Flyers started fading, Briere surrenders to Fedotov’s demands. Fedotov arrives in time to save the Flyers season but posts an .811 sv% in 3 appearances as the Flyers miss the playoffs and is rewarded with an above market contract.
https://x.com/ADiMarco25/status/1782745531619369429
I know the Fedotov AAV is higher than expected, but the contract was agreed upon prior to the player coming over from Russia. I’m told that the contract had to be a certain number to get Fedotov to come to North America.
Some people would call it extortion. The Flyers call it spending corporate sugar daddy’s money but you know, as DB said, they were all in for the playoffs. or were they all in for the rebuild? lol.
Fedotov got his bag and the Flyers got … to give him his money. The contract widely questioned in the media for a goalie who flopped when given the opportunity.
A panic move by a rookie front office that was sweating making the playoffs with little actual experience behind them
1) The AHL is significantly better than the OHL. In fact, it’s not close.
2) You underrate Luchanko. He can fly. He’s a well above-average playmaker. (Goalscorer no, distributor yes). He’s quite advanced defensively. He has a very high hockey IQ. He was just stuck on a horrid Guelph team with very little around him. Not a great spot for a playmaking center. And he DID make teammates better but it was “silk purse/ sow’s ear” territory.
Regardless of your personal feelings about the player, do you feel he’s progressed since last year when he was an absolute embarrassment on the NHL ice? His junior stat sheet doesn’t show it so, as you have watched the player (although not for a few months because of this exceedingly long groin injury), is it your opinion that he’s made large strides in his game?
Last year, 100% he needed to go back to the OHL and they didn’t do it. The Front Office who celebrated his making the team and patted themselves on the back for being the smartest people in the room on draft day, are 2/3rds still here. If he still shouldn’t make the team this year, do you have any confidence that this time, they would do right by the kid (and by extension admit how bad they were at evaluating him last year)?
Kaprisov Turning down 16 million per. My guess is once he saw tocchet was hired he probably wants to come to Philly to play for him and with MM.
I have to say it’s extremely rare for a player to turn down what is essentially a max contract all so he can control his own future. Bravo to him.
Best guess is Chicago but that’s still just a rumor. There’s no way that the Flyers are a destination team for anyone who has a choice.
The Flyers just spent the last several years being the NHL version of Siberia (which explains why DB bribing russians or massively overpaying was the best way for him to acquire players).
Tortorella and his archaic abusive style were not what many players with options willingly walks into. Just ask York.
https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/tortorella-gone-but-many-flyers-problems-remain
From here, it means missing the playoffs, not having a true No. 1 or No. 2 center, watching too many young players regress and again searching for the dependable goalie.
Other than that, the Flyers resemble the franchise’s 1973-74 and 1974-75 Stanley Cup champs.
That’s not a slap at the current team. They try hard. They rarely get outworked. But they just don’t have the talent to compete.DB continues to sell the poop sandwich he and Jones personally built as Wagyu beef. Thank god for that “only team in the NHL to have it” Stanley Cup culture. Oh yea, that world class PR team he has behind him to spin his mistakes into PR gold doesn’t hurt.
Or as Dan Hilferty sees it, the Flyers are in playoff contention and are adding players for the playoffs.
Bad groin for over 2 months? Being cautious. Up next surgery.
Where is rizzo? Love saywer Boulton. I
Ellis was day-to-day for months. Gold standard
Jett out for rookie camp. They expected him ready for rookie camp and have now moved the goalposts to training camp.
While it does sound like he’s close, it also wouldn’t surprise me if they announced surgery next week because that’s how the Flyers medical team rolls.
Rotowire Apr 29, 2022
Ellis (lower body) is expected to be healthy by the start of next season, per interim head coach Mike Yeo, Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now reports. Yeo added that Ellis may need to get surgery in the offseason, but the procedure would evidently be relatively minor.What is tocchet going to change? He uses all the flyers talking points. They still don’t realize you need talent to win. Not try hard types.
This franchise makes it hard to root/support them. Much more entertaining watching them continue to flounder as they don’t seem to learn anything
I 100% agree that it’s the high end talent at the cornerstone positions that they need and still have not addressed. Until that happens nothing changes.
However, from a coaching perspective, and maybe it’s just words, for the first time in a long time I think the Flyers might not treat the AHL as a redheaded step child. Baby steps. Other teams may be running but the Flyers still need to learn to walk.
Q: Why do you think it’s so important for the Phantoms to play a similar style to the NHL club run by Rick Tocchet?
A: Yeah, I just think it takes the thinking out for the players. And that’s a lot of what Tocc and myself were talking about. It’s like 80-20, it doesn’t have to be 100% the same. It’s more like when they come up to play and they can jump into the game, and we don’t have to talk to them about D-zone coverage, because that’s an intricate thing, right? … And when you have two different systems that are very different, it takes a lot, and you’re going to miss reads, especially in the NHL, just because you’re not used to playing the structure.Once again, the org and their representative Torts did not give 2 poops about the AHL team or developing players so I will take whatever positive i can from that quote because I’m not used to a Flyers coach making sense.
Flyer Rule
I can’t believe Dan said the Flyers are in the playoff conversation. Then again, DB said that over a year ago and people ignored it because fans want to believe. Believe that this new era of orange is more than a slogan. After the meltdown last year people swear that DB is rebuilding and was never concerned about the playoffs.
https://www.inquirer.com/flyers/flyers-nhl-trade-deadline-danny-briere-sean-walker-20240308.html
“We’re inside the playoff bubble,” Brière said last Friday, grinning, and perhaps a little incredulous. “Like all of our fans, we’re really excited about that. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling. Getting to the playoffs — that’s the goal from now on.”
As we enter the NEW new era of orange people will once again hit their heads against the wall to convince themselves that the Flyers haven’t been trying to make the playoffs the last 2 years and are indeed rebuilding.
Where to begin .. Hilf “man of the people” erty.
The biggest thing Flyers players anticipate for the start of camp: a couple of brisk practices before the preseason opener in Elmont. They are also glad to see the end of the “rope test.
Another flyers gold standard fallen by the wayside and apparently now illegal. I can’t figure out why more teams don’t emulate the Flyers and their training methods. Go figure.
“It goes with me everywhere,” Tortorella said with a smile. “I’ve been fired a few times; I always ask for the rope back when I’m out the door.”
The rope can join Torts in retirement where Torts can tug on it all he wants while remembering the good old days.
The coach himself typically delegated most of the preseason games to divide bench coaching duties. That was not lost on his players. They’d just scrimmaged several times in a couple days. Their head coach, meanwhile, had the assistants coach all the preseason games until near the end.
He even let the assistants coach a few times for him during games, an NHL first while he sat in the press box with DB eatting popcorn. How much work did Torts actually do besides press conferences, setting the lineup and yelling at players?
The gold standard franchise didn’t see a single red flag with Torts and still wanted to bring him back for this year, that should scare everyone. He did as little as possible for as long as possible while getting paid as much as possible and complaining about everything.
They are truly the gold standard team everyone should be emulating.
I always felt it was Vigneault who hated Ghost and wanted him gone. As was said, he wasn’t used correctly by AV, and playing on two bad legs didn’t help. Ironic AV was gone a short time later. I hated the trade then, I hate it even more now.
This is what I’ve always disliked about the “playing through injuries” mentality. If you play through injury but play poorly or if you get injured again because you didn’t take time to recover properly, that can end up defining you as a player and becomes your reputation.
Since Ghost left the Flyers he’s averaged 76+ games a year and roughly 50 points/yr and almost 20 min/game. His nearly 200 points over the last 4 years is more than any defenseman on the Flyers in that time period and they had to give ARI a 2nd and a 7th to take him off their hands.
That world class medical staff, coaching, and front office decision making the Flyers are known for. The Flyers way.
Fletcher didn’t get fired for being bad at his job, he got fired because the fans stopped coming to the games.
They never seem to hit on those later round skill players. Sometimes I wonder if it is just an organizational failure that they cant seem to nurture these types of players, getting the most out of the skill they do have instead of trying to make them in to something they are not.
Wonder no more. It is an organizational failure. Torts tenure alone, he dgaf about the AHL team, the system they played or anything else. They were happy with Ian LaPerriere doing his own thing as long as he didn’t bother the triumvirate. That’s on top of as you said, trying to make players into something they are not. To watch the Flyers is to know this.
Let’s hope Tocchet and company change this, at least they talk a good game about working in tandem.
