Rick Tocchet proves Danny Brière and Keith Jones right as the Flyers reward fans and end their playoff drought
The Flyers will face the hated Penguins in their first postseason appearance in six years, brought to you by three Flyers alums who now wear the suits.
Six years.
A fan base spoiled by decades of postseason appearances and playoff successes, rarities in Philadelphia, waited six long years to return to the playoffs.
“I feel for them,” said Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, who, like his players, heard the caustic comments. After all, Tocchet played parts of 11 seasons in Philly. “We tried to block them out. There was a lot of negativity and sarcasm. Hopefully, this gives them a little belief.”
The Flyers returned to the playoffs on Monday night thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. They did it at home, a reward for a base that slogged through the condescension of general manager Chuck Fletcher and the arrogance of coaches Alain Vigneault and John Tortorella. When their goalie denied the Carolina Hurricanes’ last shootout candidate, folks who’d trusted this process rejoiced in a return to relevance that arrived a year or two early.
» READ MORE: Flyers clinch a playoff spot with a 3-2 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes
Tocchet said the team posted in their dressing room a preseason prediction that picked the Flyers to finish in the cellar come April. Instead, they finished third in the Metropolitan Division and will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.
To be fair, even two months ago, who could have predicted this?
The guy who ended the Flyers’ playoff drought wasn’t supposed to play another game this season.
Tyson Foerster converted just the second shootout goal of his nine career attempts, but he’s 1-for-1 this year. After three teammates failed, Foerster, who missed four months with an arm injury and was expected to be finished for the season, sniped one over the right glove of Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi.
Marcus Hayes alerts
“Honestly, I didn’t think he was going to come back,” Tocchet admitted. “But he was determined.”
That goal put the season in the hands of his goalie.
The other guy who sent the Flyers to the playoffs started his 51st game in goal after never starting more than 29 in any of his first five seasons. He stopped 24 shots in regulation and overtime, including a last-second thriller, then shut out the ‘Canes in the shootout.
Dan Vladař was a career backup signed last summer for two years and $6.7 million by GM Danny Brière and president Keith Jones, who are former Flyers, just like Tocchet. Vladař was the first viable replacement for former franchise goalie Carter Hart, whose career as a Flyer ended effectively with a leave of absence in 2024, then ended decisively with his acquittal last year on sexual assault charges stemming from an incident in 2018.
Vladař, a career backup, responded with a career year.
“He’s a big part of this,” said Owen Tippett, who leads the team with 28 goals, in a massive understatement.
But before Vladař arrived in July, Brière hired Tocchet in May to replace Tortorella. In three predictably turbulent seasons, Torts first failed to galvanize a group of veterans, then was a disaster as a rebuilder. But Tocchet? Seriously?
» READ MORE: Chronically nepotistic Flyers hire Rick Tocchet to join alumni Danny Brière and Keith Jones. Rebuild over.
Tocc was a good coach, but he was 61 and an old-school, hard-nosed, win-now coach who seemed like an unlikely reconstruction architect for players such as flamboyant second-year talent Matvei Michkov, with whom Tocchet feuded for the first four months.
However, after the Olympic break, the Russian left wing responded to Tocchet’s tough love. He spent the break getting in shape, was reinstated to his preferred right wing position, and scored six goals and 19 points in the 25-game sprint to Monday night, including one of the two goals in regulation against the Hurricanes.
In between acquiring Tocchet and Vladař, Brière traded for Trevor Zegras, a former first-round pick for Anaheim who, between injury and other adversity, lost his way. He found himself in Philly, tallying 26 goals and 67 points in a season that saw him shift back to center from wing. He scored the other regulation goal Monday.
Perhaps the best move Brière made was the one he didn’t. He could have moved Rasmus Ristolainen at the trade deadline March 6, but he asked for a king’s ransom, and nobody bit.
Thank heaven.
Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim, Olympians for Finland and Canada, respectively, returned from the Games in Italy and became one of the best defensive pairs in hockey and one of the main reasons the Flyers are 17-6-1 since Feb. 26.
One of the reasons.
But then, so was the addition of 2025 first-round pick Porter Martone, who was playing wing for Michigan State just over two weeks ago. He had three goals and five assists for eight points in his first eight NHL games.
So were Foerster, and Michkov, and a resurgent captain Sean Couturier.
It took all of them, really, and it took all of them more than every minute on Monday night.
It took six long years.
» READ MORE: Flyers' playoff push validates Danny Brière and Keith Jones’ strategy
