And the person you want conveying that message doesn’t always have to be a participant on the playing surface.
Plenty of coaches have built resumes from their active years, ones which command instant respect when they walk into a locker room.
The late Pat Quinn was one such individual. This square-jawed Irishman could shoot a glare that silenced an assemblage of players in mid-buzz.
Rick Tocchet, the new head coach of the Flyers, is another such figure.
While he might not have quite the 6-foot-3 Quinn’s physical presence, Tocchet did accumulate nearly 3,000 penalty minutes in his career.
A lot of those came in one of the Flyers’ “golden eras,” namely the mid-1980s when the team made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1985 and 1987.
Although the Flyers came up short against the Edmonton Oiler dynasty on both occasions, Tocchet and his sidekicks gave all Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier could handle.
One of Tocchet’s teammates on those squads, Brian Propp, can vouch for the qualities No. 22 put on display. Not a moment in those spectacular events did the Oilers not look over their shoulders when Tocchet was on the ice.
“He played and led by example,” said Propp in a telephone conversation on Friday just prior to Tocchet’s formal introduction at the Wells Fargo Center. “He’s a tough coach. Like he was as a player, he never backs down.”
On the flip side of that, Tocchet puts himself in the player’s skates and understands the trials and tribulations of playing in the super fast, super talented NHL.
“He communicates with all his players really well,” Propp said. “He’s like (Toronto coach) Craig Berube. He’s valued by his players. He lets them do what they have to do. Just sends them in the right direction.”
A number of coaches who have worked with the Flyers say that it’s important to appeal to a player’s strengths, rather than concentrate on weaknesses. Put a scoring player on a scoring line, put a checking player on a checking line.
“Sometimes there are guys who are followers and sometimes there are leaders,” Propp noted. “He learned from guys like (Hall of Famer) Bob Clarke, Dave Poulin and the rest of that group. He learned right from the start how to play the right way.”
Regarding Tocchet’s coaching style with players, Propp added with a chuckle: “He won’t be afraid to yell at them either.”
Only a handful of ex-Flyer players, such as Bill Barber and Paul Holmgren, have gone on to coach the team. Why haven’t more alumni made it to a spot behind the bench after sitting on it for so many years?
“I think it will work (with Tocchet) because I believe (GM) Danny Briere and (president) Keith Jones understand that Tocchet has the experience (with other teams),” Propp said. “Rick likes it in Philadelphia. He knows how to get the best out of the players. That will make a big difference.”>Shaw was a strong candidate
Flyers former interim coach Brad Shaw, who took over in the last nine games of the season after head coach John Tortorella was fired, drew strong consideration for the vacant head coaching position but Tocchet clearly had a stronger resume.
General manager Daniel Briere said Shaw was not interested in returning to his former position as an associate coach or a similar title.
“He was in it all the way to the end,” Briere explained. “It was tough. He did a good job (five wins). But we had a chance to get Rick Tocchet. It’s nothing against Brad. We just kind of felt Rick checked all the boxes.
“We’re really appreciative of what Brad has done. He helped a lot of our young guys, especially on defense. He was considered. He called me up (on Thursday) and said he didn’t feel he could fully invest himself, going through the process again, just to see if he was part of the staff moving forward.”
If Tortorella were to land another NHL head coaching position, no doubt Shaw would be considered for a position on his staff. There’s a deep loyalty there, similar to the bond former Flyer coach Peter Laviolette had with longtime assistant Kevin McCarthy.
Briere said he would be more than willing to give Shaw a positive reference for a job with another team should that opportunity arise.
>Differences between Tocchet and Tortorella
At Friday’s press conference, Tocchet was asked how his coaching style differs from Tortorella’s. After all, if there’s a big contrast in styles, that might affect roster transactions in the offseason.
“First, I thought John did a great job,” Tocchet said of Tortorella’s nearly three seasons in Philadelphia. “Saying that, I’m a different kind of coach. And that’s OK.”
In what ways?
“I love play without the puck,” Tocchet offered. “Being a creative team. You have to have a little bit of risk in your game to be offensive. That’s something you have to dive into.
“I’m going to bring in some really innovative assistant coaches to help me with that. Even right now in the playoffs, I’m studying what other teams are doing.”
Tocchet said that, in his estimation, about 85 percent of the time NHL coaches do things the same way.
“It’s the 10 or 15 percent that are different,” he said. “Practice habits, relationships with players, philosophy. It’s the 15 percent that we get judged on.”
Tocchet could have gone back into TV work but found the Flyers job too enticing to turn down.
“You know, when I left Vancouver, I wanted to take my time in the process,” he said. “I didn’t want to just jump on any team. I’ve been on some teams that didn’t have some tools. I could have gone back to TV but I just think there are a lot of tools to work with here. I don’t know where we are with the rebuild but I just feel there are some tools here to progress.”
