Flyers Stars Excited to Work With New Coach

The majority of Philadelphia Flyers players will work with Rick Tocchet for the first time once they begin training camp this fall, but a couple got a bit of a head start earlier this year.

Defenseman Travis Sanheim and forward Travis Konecny both represented Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, where Tocchet served as an assistant coach for the country. Though their time with Tocchet was brief, they walked away with a strong belief in Philadelphia's new head coach.

"Just good interactions, good communicator, easy to talk to ... those were some of the things I came away with," Sanheim said Thursday, per NHL.com. "And I've heard nothing but good things about him from guys that have had him. Super excited to get to see what he's all about as a head coach.

"He's won before. Excited to get going with him and see what he's all about in a head-coaching role and try to take that next step forward that our team is trying to do here over the next couple of seasons."

Not only did Tocchet help lead Canada to the 4 Nations championship, but he's also won three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, one as a player in 1992 and two as an assistant coach in 2016 and 2017. While he found success on the other side of the state, Tocchet also spent 11 season with the Flyers as a player, by far the most time he spent with any one team.

"It's great," Konecny said. "Really looking forward to working with him. He seems like a great guy. I've heard nothing but good things. And he's a Flyer. That means something, and he knows that."

"He gets it, I'm sure. It means something to put that jersey on. The city loves their hockey. They love their sports in general. You've got to show up to play every night, and I think that's something that he brought and he's going to instill in the team."

Tocchet stepped down as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks on April 29 after three seasons. He previously won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year in 2023-24.

The 61-year-old will replace John Tortorella, whom the Flyers fired on March 27. Interim coach Travis Shaw led the way after Tortorella's departure.

"'Torts' brought a lot of good things to that locker room, and I'm sure a lot of the players moving forward are going to bring some of those things along that he instilled in us," Konecny said. "A lot of good things about being a pro and how you handle yourself every day around the rink. We're excited about having [Tocchet]. Don't know a whole lot at this point but looking forward to get to know more."