Flyers have potential to start hot under Rick Tocchet

Rick Tocchet will start his fourth tenure being the head coach of a National Hockey League team this fall when he\'s behind the bench for the Philadelphia Flyers. Tocchet, who won a Jack Adams Award with Vancouver, had previous stints with Tampa Bay and Arizona before getting the nod (and then the axe) with the Canucks. And although he had had different situations, players and teams in various stages of development, Tocchet is hoping to get off to a fast, strong start in the Metropolitan Division. Add to that a schedule that is extremely brutal for three months of the season and that task becomes a little tougher than usual. Thus it\'s important that the wins are banked as soon as possible as games in hand will be anything but guaranteed wins the longer the season goes on and the bumps, bruises and travel catches up with every player and team.

Here then is a look back at each of the previous nine seasons Tocchet has coached a team. Sometimes his first 20 games with them were in the or early part of a season when he replaced Barry Melrose and Bruce Boudreau, respectively. Most of the team he was starting with the team he was coaching. And like most NHL coaches, there are some seasons that he fared far better than others. Let\'s take a look.

Tampa Bay Lightning (2008-09)

Barry Melrose was the Lightning\'s head coach on opening night of the 2008-09 season. But he was gone before American Thanksgiving kicked in. Tocchet assumed coaching duties but his first 20 games with Tampa were bad. Tocchet saw Tampa limp through the first 20 games with Tocchet a horrendous 5-9-6 for 16 out of a possible 40 points. Or a .400 winning percentage. Tampa managed to eke out just one regulation win in its first 12 contests. The team was competitive most nights judging by the six combined shootout and overtime losses, but couldn\'t find that extra gear or goal to get them over the hump. They also scored 51 goals while giving up 64 in those first 20 contests. Nobody expected Tocchet to lead the Lightning to a 20-0-0 record, but most people expected a .500 or better stretch while he was getting used to being the guy behind the bench.

Tocchet\'s .400 was marginally better than the .394 winning percentage he ended the year with, going 19-33-14 over Tampa Bay\'s final 66 games of the year. Needless to say, Tocchet hit the ground, but he certainly wasn\'t running.

Tampa Bay Lightning (2009-10)

With a year under his belt, more experience and a proper off-season, training camp and practice time to work with the team, Tocchet kicked off 2009-10 with Tampa losing three straight (but earning two loser points). However, there weren\'t any highs or lows over the opening 20 games. Tampa never had a winning streak of longer than two games but never had a losing streak (outside of the first three games) longer than two games. Perhaps the surprising stat is that the Lightning never lost in regulation at home during the opening 20-game stretch, going 5-0-4 over that time frame. Tampa Bay scored 52 goals over the first 20 games while giving up 58 goals over that same time period.

As for the record over 20 games, Tampa Bay was better over Tocchet\'s first 20 the previous year, going 8-5-7 for 23 points in 20 games. That\'s a .575 winning percentage. The optimist could say Tampa only had five games out of 20 where they didn\'t register a point. Meanwhile the glass-half-empty section of the population could argue the Lightning only won eight of 20 games for a .400 winning percentage. Regardless, if the Flyers could somehow mirror or come close to mirroring that home record to start 2025-26, that would go a long way to Tocchet having solid footing in his new role with the Flyers while the roster gains more confidence in him leading the way.

Arizona Coyotes (2017-18)

When Tocchet took over and became the Coyotes\' head coach, he probably assumed things couldn\'t possibly go as badly as they did when he started coaching the Lightning. And he would\'ve assumed wrong. Tocchet\'s first 20-game stretch in Arizona were abysmal. The Coyotes started the first 10 games of the season winless (0-9-1), getting a lone loser point in the second game of the year against Vegas in an overtime loss. A few of the games were not close, but generally Arizona was just good enough to remain with a boxer\'s chance of winning. The team just never won. Arizona won its first game of the season against (you guessed it) the Flyers, a 4-3 overtime win on Oct. 30.

The second 10-game stretch went marginally better, resulting in a 2-15-3 record for seven out of a possible 40 points. That\'s a futile .175 winning percentage. Arizona had 44 goals for while giving up 71 over that span. Clearly, a horribly slow start that the Flyers would do anything to avoid when October rolls around.

Arizona Coyotes (2018-19)

A five-game winning streak was the highlight in the first 20 games for Arizona in 2018-19. After losing five of the first seven games, Arizona managed to steady the ship somewhat, going 9-9-2 after 20 games. The .500 winning percentage was okay for a team that imploded so quickly to start the previous year. The team was shutout on four different occasions in the first 20 games, proof that goals were hard to come by for Arizona. The Coyotes scored 49 goals in that opening quarter while giving up 51 against. Again, not the stunning start a lot of teams need to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. But not a complete disaster. Judging by some previous seasons, I think Flyers fans would be okay with it. Not happy, but not calling for heads to roll.

Arizona Coyotes (2019-20)

The fifth time\'s the charm! Tocchet saw the Coyotes chomping at the bit to start the 2019-20 season, ending up with a rather impressive 11-7-2 record for 24 points in 20 games. The .600 winning percentage. In one 10-game stretch over those 20 games Arizona was 8-2-0 with the only losses at the hands of the Islanders and Montreal. The team also had a 5-2-0 record at home over those 20 games, scoring 56 goals while allowing 49.

Also, the Coyotes road record over this first 20 games was very strong in terms of their road record, going 7-3-2 in that time frame. This included getting three of four points in Alberta against the Oilers and Flames while also going 3-1 in a four-game East Coast tilt against the Islanders, Rangers, New Jersey and Buffalo. In terms of goals for and goals allowed, the Coyotes scored 58 goals over the first 20 games. They gave up 49. Four games over .500 heading into the second quarter of the season wouldn\'t be bad at all.

Arizona Coyotes (2020-21)

In looking back at the pandemic and the ramifications the NHL had due to its reach, the season logs for each team will be one for the record books. For example, Arizona played St. Louis SEVEN CONSECUTIVE TIMES in their first 20 games of the year. That is only supposed to happen in the playoffs. The Coyotes played just six different teams over those 20 games of the 56-game schedule. They managed to muster a 9-8-3 record over those contests. They only had a three-game winning streak once but, like Tocchet\'s season with Tampa back in 2009-10, didn\'t have a prolonged winning streak or losing streak over that stretch. Oh, as for St. Louis, Arizona went 4-2-1 in those seven games.

The schedule was also quite friendly to Arizona in the opening 20 games as they played at home 14 times. Their record was a rather less-than-scintillating 6-5-3 at home. They were 3-3-0 on the road. Again, it was an oddity for the league doing the best they could with the dilemma facing everyone in all sports. But one that Tocchet and his team muddled through. Also, 54 goals for and 58 goals against. The season would also mark the end of Tocchet\'s tenure with Arizona.

Vancouver Canucks (2022-23)

After Bruce Boudreau was fired 46 games into the season, Tocchet assumed the role of head coach for the Canucks. The Canucks ebbed and flowed in the first half of the 20-game stretch under Tocchet, but thanks to a five-game winning streak to end the 20-game mark finished 11-7-2, identical to his stretch with Arizona back in 2019-20. The Canucks won five of six on a lengthy homestand to get four games over .500 for that time span, ending up with 24 out of 40 points for a .600 winning percentage.

The Canucks of that season was also responsible for the most offensive production by far Tocchet seen from any of his teams in their opening 20 games with him at the helm. Vancouver scored 72 goals in those 20 games. They also gave up the most amount of goals Tocchet saw in his opening 20 games with any one team, allowing 69 over that stretch. In short, Tocchet was freewheeling with the roster that he had. It\'s a possibility Tocchet could simply let the Flyers play run and gun, but it might not be the best way to measure success.

Vancouver Canucks (2023-24)

Tocchet\'s 2023-24 year was great if the Jack Adams Award afterwards wasn\'t evidence enough. The Canucks were the equivalent of Secretariat, leaping out in front and daring the competition to come anywhere close to them. Vancouver amassed a stellar 13-6-1 record over the opening 20 tilts. A five-game winning streak was the highlight as well as a few shorter streaks equally impressive. Only once were they shutout in that 20 games (courtesy of your Philadelphia Flyers) but buried Edmonton 8-1 in their season opener and then demolished the lowly Sharks 10-1 later in October.

Tocchet saw Vancouver score 80 goals in the first 20, or averaging four goals per game. And they only allowed 51 goals by the same token. That\'s a +29 goal differential, a rather lofty statistic! It demonstrated that Tocchet was able to keep Vancouver running and gunning but somehow curtailing the mistakes in their own end far more often than in 2022-23. Vancouver went 50-23-9 overall, winning a playoff round (Tocchet\'s first and only playoff series victory as a head coach) before bowing out in the second round. If Philadelphia went this red hot to start the season Tocchet might be seeing the Jack Adams Award a lot sooner than later.

Vancouver Canucks (2024-25)

Tocchet, much like the Canucks, had a huge undertaking entering this season, namely be better after having a terrific regular season the year before. The 82-game season was basically supposed to be the appetizer to what was expected to be an extended playoff run. However, as has been well documented, things fell apart between the players and between the players and Tocchet. A messy ending. However, the opening 20 games here were again quite good as Vancouver opened up the season 11-6-3 over that time. A four-game winning streak and a three-game winning streak highlighted the start. On the other side a 6-0 pasting by New Jersey and a 7-3 loss to the Oilers were the low points.

Another aspect of this 20-game segment was how well Vancouver played on the road, going a near perfect 8-1-0. In fact they lost their road opener to Tampa Bay 4-1 but were flawless after that. Vancouver scored 63 times while allowing 62. The start was perhaps the highlight of the Canucks year as they floundered most of the season, rarely going on extended losing streaks but winning fewer games than they did the previous year. Having 14 points from losing in overtimes or in shootouts didn\'t help getting Vancouver to the playoffs as they were on the outside looking in when the season concluded. And Tocchet was done.

So what do these starts mean for Philadelphia?

Over the course of Tocchet\'s nine seasons running an NHL team, there have been seasons where his team looked terrible to start the year. Other seasons they muddled just over the .500 mark but not by a lot. And then there were seasons like the 2023-24 season in Vancouver where he was lights out.

A lot of that start depends on the Flyers themselves. If they get off to a great or solid start, then that takes a bit of the heat off Tocchet as well as a few of the new guys on the roster, particularly Trevor Zegras. It\'s doubtful Tocchet is going to be fired after one season, but it\'s probably clear that Tocchet\'s honeymoon phase in Philadelphia will be the shortest by far of any of his previous teams, including Vancouver. Ideally, Philadelphia hit the ground running, enabling both the coach and the team to move forward in the hopes of making the next logical step in the rebuild when the 82-game season ends: a playoff spot.

Talking Points