I don’t like this hire at all….uninspired. That first trade of Provy made me think Briere was forward thinking and could do a little shake and bake. He’s been Nickleback creative since….minus legit bangers (lets’ be honest). This is the last summer i’m going to say “this is the off-season he proves who he is”. Because right now it just seems like he wants to just kick it with pals and talk about when the Flyers were COOL

Did Charlie O’Connor or Kevin Bacon write this article?

On Tocchet I’m pretty solidly in the middle. Both arguments have merit and this could certainly end badly but I can also see it going well. I think it’s important that a number of his former players swear by him and I think he’s much more of a player’s coach than the perception would say (not a Tortorella clone). Also if only coaches with a stellar track record got hired then there would be a very tiny coaching pool indeed.

That said, his success as a coach is going to depend largely on the roster moves that GMDB makes in this and the following offseason. This isn’t the end of the process by any means.

It is more about getting a 1-C, a 1-D, and a 1-G than if Tocchet can lead them to a Cup, seriously. Brierre has to find elite young talent no matter who coaches this team. Or, otherwise, what’s the point? IMO, DB has to land one of these 3 needed studs, superstars, this off season, whether through trade or draft. If he fails, I would be looking for his replacement sooner rather than later. Tocchet is not going to get the Flyers a Cup, with a roster filled with 3rd liners, a few second liners, and MM, who will likely produce only as a second liner until a 1-C can be matched up with him. Then he can fulfill his immense upside. Until then, time’s yours DB.

My question is do we think that Tochett is still the coach when the 6th pick in this year’s draft makes their NHL debut?

Looking at W/L stats, I too would have found the Tocchet signing uninspiring.

But I also realize I know a lot less than NHL insiders. While NHL GMs can be wrong, the fact that Tocchet was in high demand and that his own team wanted to retain him speaks to the likelihood that he is a good coach.

“Good at developing players” is a phrase that I want to hear. This may yet prove true to be a bad hiring (this is Philly, after all – blaming the coach is our favorite pastime), but least Briere seems to have been looking for the right attributes.

For all the polemic about Torts, they’ve actually done a pretty good job over the past few years at developing prospects into serviceable NHL players (which is no small feat – no stars but they haven’t really had anyone with star potential either).

Let’s wait and see what happens with Tocchet.

Nicely done. One small correction, he replaced Tippett at Phoenix and Bruce Boudreau at Vancouver.

Entirely uninspiring. I expected better from Jones and Danny. Mediocre coach will get the team mediocre results. I’d like his team to be a contender in what’s left of my life. This gets them nowhere.

Excellent summation of both sides, Charlie.

I’m a very OG and I’ve reached the stage where things like this coaching decision are not worth worrying about. It wasn’t my decision and regardless of my opinion, Briere made the choice.

What I’d offer is this: maybe examine Tocchet’s coaching, as well as every coach’s record in respect to their goalie average. As Charlie noted, Demko was terrific and Vancouver made the playoffs. Would this season’s Flyers results be much different had the coach been Jon Cooper?

As fans, we pretty much are limited in our judgement of a HC to the team’s record. NHL insiders, like Jones and Briere see a lot more than fans as regards game management and a coach’s communication skills.

Give the decision time. After all, we really have no choice.

If you listen to what he has been saying since he was hired you clearly see how well he is suited for this job.

Much more important than records from years ago on low talent teams.

Another point on his side. He lived the life the next young prospects and hopefully stars will be experiencing here in Philly, since he was also once a 20 year old rising star playing for
the Flyers in this great but tough
sports city.