PHILADELPHIA – There’s been a successful transition to several changes in the Flyers’ systems this season but one thing has remained the same.
The power play is still giving off a foul odor.
That was evident through the first four games.
The new Rick Tocchet regime was hoping to get the bad numbers from previous seasons up into a more respectable range.
Heading into Saturday night’s game against Minnesota, however, the Flyers were back at the bottom of the NHL.
They were just one-for-13 with the man advantage, which is only 7.7 percent. That leaves them last of the 32 teams.
The Flyers were hoping things might change this season because they’ve been utilizing Jamie Drysdale at the point with the first unit.
In Thursday night’s game against Winnipeg, Cam York returned from injury. At Saturday morning’s skate, the Flyers practiced with York at times on the point for the power play.
In game action, nothing much has changed. The Flyers were 0-for-3 against Winnipeg, leaving them 0-for-8 in the last two games.
After the morning skate, Tocchet indicated he would probably go with Drysdale, York and possibly Travis Sanheim.
The coach said he’s a little reluctant to give Sanheim big minutes on the power play because he logs so much time in even-strength and shorthanded situations.
“So any one of those three guys, we want to give them reps,” Tocchet said. “It’s more situational. ‘Sanny’ has been on the ice a lot. He plays the other team’s best five-on-five, that’s heavy minutes.
“And so sometimes you need three guys to run the power play.”
York didn’t get much power play time last season but he’s been lobbying for more this season with a new coach in place.
“I feel comfortable and looking forward to the opportunity,” said York, who did log a considerable amount of time on the PP unit during training camp.
York was asked if there were any significant differences between the Tocchet power-play scheme and the one engineered by former coach John Tortorella last season.
“I think there’s a better plan,” York said after the morning skate. “I think the pre-game scouting is better. . .better than it has been in past years. I think it will be a good opportunity tonight.”
>Strong work ethic should be a given
The Flyers have always prided themselves on being a hard-working team. Things certainly shouldn’t be any different under a coach like Tocchet, who was known for his work ethic as a player.
“You shouldn’t have to pat people on the back for working hard,” he said. “I appreciate the fact there’s a foundation there. But there are right ways to do it. If a ‘D’ (defenseman) goes down (on the attack), somebody’s got to come back.
“Working hard, you’ve got to have a calculation in your game. That’s something we’re working on.”
>Where Olympics stand on Tocchet’s list
While Tocchet is honored to have been named an assistant ooach on Canada’s Olympic team (February in Milano, Italy), right now most of his thinking and energy are going into getting the Flyers off to a good start.
“My focus is on the Flyers,” Tocchet said. “I have a couple projects I have to do for Team Canada, a couple systems I have to do my homework on to give to ‘Coop’ (Canada head coach Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning). But there’s plenty of time for that. I’ll dedicate a day off to do that stuff.
“I’m all in on the Flyers.”
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