For the second straight year, the Edmonton Oilers will play the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final. Consequently, the 2025 first-round Edmonton pick owned by the Flyers dropped in the draft order. The pick now falls in the bottom four of first round. Meanwhile, in Sweden, Tyson Foerster scored his first goal at the 2025 IIHF World Championships.
Simultaneously, the dust in Philly has settled from new head coach Rick Tocchet’s introductory press conference. On Tuesday, the Flyers Alumni Association has a special meet-and-greet (free to attend) in Conshohocken.
All of this in your Flyers Quick Hits for May 18, 2025.
Tocchet’s Systems
During his press conference on Friday, Rick Tocchet said that he’s not the type of head coach who pontificates about his preferred systems. He believes that systems should be relatively straightforward with clear expectations about positional assignments. Tocchet said that execution by personnel is more important than the systems themselves.
“You can win with different systems. I don’t really stand up and preach systems. There’s a lot of smart coaches out there and good, smart players. Different ideas. Different ways of doing this or that. But what’s a good system? Play well without the puck. Stay connected. Don’t be afraid of some mistakes. The details can be different. But with any team that has success, you have to be working for the same purpose,” Tocchet said.
Nevertheless, it’s helpful for fans to know the basics of how Tocchet arranges his systems. There’s nothing revolutionary about them, as many teams use similar approaches to their up-ice forecheck, neutral zone assignments and defensive zone coverage. Tocchet’s systems require a lot of its centers (an area of need for the Flyers). As Tocchet says, he’s not trying to reinvent the wheel.
On the special edition of the Snow the Goalie podcast I recorded on Friday with Chris Therien and Anthony SanFilippo, I gave a very basic description of what Flyers fans can expect in terms of five-on-five systems. I didn’t go into the power play or the penalty kill in the short segment we recorded before Danny Briere and Dan Hilferty joined for the main portion of the pod.
In regard to special teams, in particular the power play, Tocchet believes in collaboration with the assistant coaches (something he valued as an assistant coach himself). The Flyers will focus next on hiring the assistant coaches to comprise Tocchet’s staff.
IIHF World Championships
Team Canada remains unbeaten (5-0-0) with a 28-2 goal differential through their first five games at the 2025 World Championships in Sweden and Denmark. On Saturday, Canada cruised to a 7-0 blowout of Slovakia. Flyers winger Tyson Foerster tallied his first goal of the tournament. Travis Konecny assisted on a Sidney Crosby goal. Meanwhile, Travis Sanheim logged 17:56 of ice time.
Elsewhere in Group play at the World Championships, Team Sweden (6-0-0, 25-3 goal differential) also stayed perfect on Saturday. Tre Kronor blanked France, 4-0, as Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (15 saves) cruised to his second shutout of the tournament.
Flyers Alumni Association: free meet-and-greet
On Tuesday evening, the Flyers Alumni Association will host a meet-and-greet event at the Great American Pub in Conshohocken. The event is free to attend (no tickets, no cover charge, no fee for autographs or photos with attending Alumni). A quick rundown of the activities:
May 20, 2025: Great American Pub (Conshohocken, PA)
6 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT.
- Meet Flyers Alumni (attendee list announced on May 20)
- Meet the service dog-in-training puppy Flyers fans named in an online vote (name to be announced at the May 20 event)
- Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Stanley Cup Parade I
- Sign up for the Walk, Run Ride event for the Charity Classic weekend (6/22/25)
