VOORHEES, N.J. — Looking for a way to get an NHL coach in a bad mood in a hurry?
Just take a few – no, wait, five – stick-related penalties in a game against a team with a losing record and then watch his face turn red.
The Flyers started off their season by incurring five penalties in each of their first three games. That got coach Rick Tocchet’s temperature up a bit.
They straightened things out for awhile. But then, in Thursday night’s game at Ottawa, they went back to their old ways.
Five trips to the penalty box, almost all caused by some sort of stick-generated infraction, played a big role in a 2-1 loss to the Senators.
Lazy play might be too harsh a way to describe how these hooking, high-sticking, tripping, etc. penalties come about. Poor positioning is probably a better way of putting it.
Noah Cates has some suggestions about how to avoid problems with the tools of the trade.
“Details, discipline, move your feet,” Cates said after Friday’s practice at the Flyers Training Center. “We’re up among the league leaders in penalty minutes. It’s little things like that which hold you back.
“We don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot. This league is hard enough as it is. You can’t be hurting yourself and taking penalties.”
Taking unnecessary penalties creates several problems. Even if an opponent doesn’t score, the shorthanded situations wear out your penalty killers. By the time the third period rolls around, the extra minutes can take their toll.
Tocchet believes the problem can be solved if the players are receptive to instructions on how to avoid such situations.
“Anticipation is part of it,” Tocchet said. “I think we’re one of the worst teams in the league in terms of stick infractions.
“It has a domino effect. Guys don’t get on the ice, the fourth line doesn’t play. Some of the penalty killer guys don’t get on the ice. There’s never a good penalty but there are ‘good’ penalties.”
In other words, it’s OK to trip someone if he’s getting ready to make a breakaway inside the blue line. It’s not OK when the opponent is standing a hundred feet away from your net.
“The penalties we’re getting are a lack of focus,” Tocchet said. “It’s not moving your feet and it’s frustration. Someone might take the puck off you and you hook the guy. That’s frustration. You don’t win your battle. It’s cumulative. We’ve just got to get it out of our game.”
As of Friday, the Flyers were sixth in the NHL in penalty minutes with 87 in seven games.
“We had five penalties in each of the first three games, that’s 15 total,” Tocchet said. “Got better, now last night, a winnable game, we give them five penalties again. It’s hard to win in this league when your giving teams that much momentum.”
Spending that much time in the box can also have negative impact on the Flyers’ offense, too.
“It’s puck possession,” Tocchet pointed out. “This team has struggled over the years with puck possession.
“We’re trying to put people in position where you’re going to come up with loose pucks if you listen to our concepts. You’re going to beat your guy to the puck. If you’re standing around all the time, you’re going to be looking for that pretty play.”
Which often ends up with a bad penalty.
>Big homestand
The Flyers open a big five-game homestand Saturday afternoon when they play host to the New York Islanders, who are off to a decent start. They also will be home for games against Pittsburgh, Nashville, Toronto and Calgary.
This will be a chance to get more rest, work on home ice in practice and build some momentum.
“We’ve been pretty good at home (3-1),” Cates said. “Just keep that up, play hard, play our way, get our identity. We have to be consistent and do some damage in these games.”
>Monitoring Vladar’s workload
Goaltender Dan Vladar has been sensational so far. He’s among the league leaders in goals-against average and save percentage. He has yet to allow more than two goals in any of his five starts.
The question now is whether he can continue to shoulder the load. He’s started the last three games. Keep in mind, he’s never started more than 29 games in any of his seasons in the NHL as he was used as a backup for much of his tenure in Calgary.
Tocchet said he’s basically going to play it by ear.
“His past history, has he played four or five in a row,” Tocchet said. “Things like that come into play. But you still have to build up ‘scar tissue.’ I think playing him three in a row was the right call. He didn’t drop off.
“We’ve got to get ‘Sammy’ (Sam Ersson) in for sure. He’ll probably play the next game. Are you cognizant of that? Sure. Can he do five or six in a row. I don’t know. If you don’t try, how will you know?”
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