Fellow NHL coaches react to Rick Tocchet joining the Flyers: ‘Players gravitate toward him'

New York Times

21-05-2025

It was an NHL baptism by fire for Rick Tocchet 40 years ago. Not only was the winger jumping into the league just one year after he was drafted, but the 1984-85 Philadelphia Flyers were a talent-laden club led by a first-year head coach, Mike Keenan, who quickly established a reputation as a hard-nosed guy who would often employ abrasive tactics.
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Keenan already knew a little of what to expect from the 20-year-old Tocchet, a sixth-round pick of the Flyers in 1983, having seen him play for the OHL's Soo Greyhounds before turning pro. 'He was really a competitor and leader,' Kennan told The Athletic this week. 'You could see it on the ice.'
But Keenan, as he was wont to do, still wanted to press Tocchet's buttons a bit early into their relationship. He played Tocchet often in the 1984 preseason, and then, just before the start of regular season, promptly challenged him as to whether one vital aspect of his game was good enough to make it in the NHL.
'I said, 'Rick, I'm not sure if you can play, because your skating has to improve. Are you ready? Are you sure you can play?'' Keenan recalled. 'He said, 'You're f—ing right I can play.' Obviously, that was the correct answer.'
The bond grew. Keenan, now 75, could vividly recall having Tocchet on the Flyers' third line with Ron Sutter and Lindsay Carson — behind a top six of Dave Poulin, Tim Kerr and Brian Propp on one line, and Murray Craven, Ilkka Sinisalo and Peter Zezel on another.
According to the coach, Tocchet once approached Keenan after a game on the team plane, pleading for more minutes. Keenan obliged. Tocchet's steadily improving offensive output and his ever-present physicality helped the Flyers reach the Stanley Cup Final in 1985 and 1987, where they los to the dynastic Edmonton Oilers both times.
The Flyers didn't necessarily have any stars on those teams, other than maybe goaltenders Pelle Lindbergh in 1985 and Ron Hextall in 1987. They were, rather, a sum-of-all-parts squad that relied on depth and hard work.
Tocchet was one of those key cogs, and, later, after the tragic death of Lindbergh on Nov. 11, 1985, he 'had a real strong influence on the team and the leadership role he assumed,' Keenan said.
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'He took responsibility on. He understood his role. He accepted it — and then challenged the coach, which was me, to give him a bigger role. He had the confidence to do that, but he also accepted the job that he was given. That was a great understanding of the team, and that team understood their roles.'
And it's that level of understanding that, to Keenan, is what makes Tocchet an effective coach today, so many years later.
'I always had this saying, it's better to understand than to be understood,' Keenan said. 'In other words, you as the leader, you as the coach, you better understand the people that you're coaching, or teaching, or that you're working with. I think that applies to Rick. He's learned that.'
Tocchet was named as the Flyers' 25th head coach last Wednesday, and was introduced to the media and a select group of season-ticket holders last Friday. He mentioned a number of his former coaches and mentors who helped him to form his own coaching philosophy — the fiery Keenan, naturally, among them.
'Mike was an innovator. Tough guy, tough taskmaster,' Tocchet said. 'Now, there's some tactics there I wouldn't do today, but I learned a lot from him.'
Kennan hasn't coached in the NHL since the 2008-09 season — coincidentally, Tocchet's first year as a head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The league has changed since Tocchet broke in as a player, of course, but it's also changed since he first ran a bench 17 years ago, too.
Along with Kennan, and other former coaches of his, such as Jim Schoenfeld and Craig Ramsay, Tocchet mentioned a handful of his peers now in the league who also have rubbed off on him. The Maple Leafs' Craig Berube is one of his closer friends. And he got a chance to work up close with guys such as the Dallas Stars' Pete DeBoer and Lightning's Jon Cooper at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, serving as an assistant on Cooper's staff for the victorious Team Canada squad.
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Yes, they're all competing against one another during NHL regular-season play. But the coaching fraternity is a small one, and there's typically a persistent undercurrent of respect amongst the 32 individuals. Both DeBoer and Cooper had glowing reviews of their experience working with Tocchet, and observing him from afar, too.
''Toc' has a presence, and garners well-deserved respect from the players,' Cooper said via text message. 'He also has a razor-sharp eye for the game. Scenarios he would notice on the bench and adjustments he thought could be made (during the 4 Nations tournament) helped me immensely.'
Said DeBoer: 'He's got an unbelievable combination of feel, as a player who played and won at all the highest levels. And then he's also a really smart analytic Xs and Os guy, too. He's got a great blend, and I think that's what everyone is looking for is that feel and that technical foundation. On top of that, he's an engaging guy. People gravitate toward him, players gravitate toward him. He builds relationships really quickly.'
He also has experience. The Flyers will be Tocchet's fourth stop as a head coach, which, of course, isn't uncommon in the NHL nowadays.
DeBoer, in fact, may be the poster child for why NHL teams keep hiring the same men — he's reached the conference finals eight times in his career — including this season — with four different teams. The Stars are DeBoer's fifth team overall. And, yes, it gets easier with every stop, in his view.
'When I came into the league (in 2008-09, at age 40) as the youngest coach in the NHL, I didn't think experience was important,' DeBoer said. 'And as I get older in the league, now I realize it's the most important thing. Every situation you're in, you learn. Losing always teaches you more than winning. You always come out a better coach out of those situations.'
DeBoer continued: 'I think (the Flyers are) getting (Tocchet) at the right time. He's been through enough experiences, he's had some success, he's had enough failures that he's learned from them. He's in, I believe, that kind of sweet spot now as a coach where you've got enough of those experiences under your belt. He's also won, too, including as an assistant. He's got a good arsenal.'
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Since making the hire official, the Flyers have made overt references to Tocchet's history with the organization through their various social media channels. Perhaps the Flyers believe that a certain segment of the fan base that's been dormant through what has been a mostly incompetent decade will awaken with the return of one of the organization's most popular all-time players now running the day-to-day operations at ice level.
But those tweets and TikToks might be for another audience, too. None of the players on the Flyers roster were even alive when Tocchet and the Flyers made those two appearances in the Stanley Cup Final in the 1980s. Keenan figures that the young up-and-comers on the roster having a better comprehension of what Tocchet meant to the club and the city at one point in time will help them all to embrace what's ahead.
'I think the players will understand that from the history of Rick's time in the NHL, but also just as importantly his time in Philadelphia as a young player like they are — he was there at the moment they're at now,' Keenan said. 'That really, I think, brings credibility to him, but also the team has the responsibility of embracing what it means to be a Flyer.'