Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said the teams he's played on or coached have a history of players not being afraid to challenge each other in a good way. He wants his current squad to take that step.
Philadelphia Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said he wants some players on his tight-knit team to challenge each other.
"I'm not saying you have to yell or scream… but don't be afraid to make your friend accountable," Tocchet told reporters after practice Tuesday.
The Flyers pulled off a 7-3 win on the road against the Colorado Avalanche, the NHL's best team. They followed that up with a flat 4-0 home loss Monday to the New York Islanders.
Tocchet took accountability for the team now sitting at 3-10-4 following regulation victories this season, but now, he wants his players to hold each other accountable as well.
This stance comes after Tocchet coached the Vancouver Canucks, which dealt with dressing room drama last season when J.T. Miller was accused of being too hard on Elias Pettersson.
"Sometimes, you're all buddies, and they're scared to say something," Tocchet said. "I find that a little with this team. The teams I've played (on) or coached, the leadership gets on each other in a good way. That's probably the next level for this team."
For a lesson, the Flyers can look at the players who won the only two Stanley Cup championships in the franchise's history, way back in 1973-74 and 1974-75.
Like the current Flyers, those players were extremely close (and still are), but if they saw someone's game slipping, they weren't afraid to tell that person.
Before the Flyers beat Boston in Game 6 to clinch the Cup in 1974, for instance, captain Bobby Clarke chewed out Rick MacLeish for his lackadaisical play in Game 5.
"Ricky was dynamic in Game 6 and scored the only goal," Bill Clement, who was on that team, said recently. "He came to play. I have no doubt that the message delivered by Clarke was the reason."
Tocchet thinks that in the second half of the season, he has to help the leadership group to an extent, 'but then the room has to take over. The coaches are less and less involved."
Tocchet was asked if it is difficult for struggling-but-hard-working captain Sean Couturier – who hasn't scored in his last 24 games – to preach to his teammates while he battles a slump.
The coach said it wasn't, explaining if you play hard and do the right things on the ice, "you'll have credibility and can say those things" to teammates.
After a gargantuan win over Colorado, maybe the players got too complacent against the Islanders?
"Guys were excited about the win," Tocchet said. "I like that. I want them to enjoy it. But you've got to get back to Planet Earth really quick."
The losses after wins are maddening to the players, too.
"It's on us to find different ways to try to win a game," defenseman Travis Sanheim, an alternate captain, told reporters.
"The leaders in the room, I think, need to speak up," hard-nosed defenseman Nick Seeler said. 'We have a young group, so those are lessons to be learned."
The Flyers need to learn quickly if they want to avoid a sixth-straight playoff-less season.
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