Rocky Thompson has been playing an coaching his entire life, thus its plain stupid to suggest he doesn't know how to coach the PP. A lot of the success or failure on the power player is on the players, their skillset, their chemistry, etc. I believe the players are a bigger problem than the coach



The last time the Flyers had a 20% powerplay was the when AV coached, and who coached the Power play then? Oh that's right, Michel Therrien, the coach you said isn't qualified to coach the power play. Kris Knoblauch had the Flyers at 20% (and mind you this is only league average) in 2017-2018. And everyone talks about the great Jou Mullen, but under his watch the Flyers were basically league average except in the 2014-2015 when they clicked at 23%. What happened after that season, did Mullin forget how to coach the power play?

No, when you look at the evidence, the players have much more impact on the power play than the coaching. That being said, this season not only did the Flyers have the worst PP in the league, they looked really, really bad on the PP. Its for this reason and this reason only I say it's incompetence if the Flyers don't replace Thompson with a new voice.
- jd250

Oh brother, did you by any chance read Bill's blog on how being a player who became a coach does not automatically make someone capable of being an effective coach? Obviously not. Maybe review that. Your comment here is the only thing that is plain stupid. Bottom line, is Rocky Thompson's entire coaching career, there is no evidence that he is a capable coach in terms of coaching the PP.

Then you go on to contradict yourself. You first argue that it stupid to suggest that Thompson doesn't know how to coach the PP and then argue that it's incompetence of they don't replace him. Can't make it up.

Danny Briere stated that in May of 2023 he had a scheduled call with Quitter and his camp and was prepared to offer him a contract at that time and have him come to camp with the intention of trying out for the Flyers. It was in that meeting when Briere stated he was informed that Quitter did not want to sign with the Flyers, and that according to Briere was the last time he and Quitter spoke.
- jd250

Correct, it was from that point on from May of 23 that the Gauthier camp broke off contact with the Flyers. Not in March of 23 as the other poster ignorantly claims.

Yeah because Friedman knows. Did ihe cite his source? No? Great. So it’s hearsay? Gotcha. Until someone from front office states why they didn’t sign him we simply don’t know for sure.

Could it have been the reason sold to some twits? Sure. But ask yourself what (frank)ing sense does it make? It’s not even logical. They could’ve made any number of moves to have his signing NOT CREATE an overage. It’s a stupid low bar excuse that only a non logical thinking person would accept.

And maybe just maybe they used that excuse with cg but again I ask you how logical is that it would’ve been the real reason when….
1) it would be very very easy to avoid an overage by making simple roster adjustments
2) wouldn’t a team (if they thought player was ready) of cg skill and talent do ANYTHING to make him happy AND get him on roster as fast as possible (if he’s ready).


Makes no sense at all the excuse Friedman says.
- Stayin alive

Why would Friedman give a source name, so someone can get in-trouble? Do reporters always give up their source names?

Rocky Thompson has been playing an coaching his entire life, thus its plain stupid to suggest he doesn't know how to coach the PP. A lot of the success or failure on the power player is on the players, their skillset, their chemistry, etc. I believe the players are a bigger problem than the coaches.

The last time the Flyers had a 20% powerplay was the when AV coached, and who coached the Power play then? Oh that's right, Michel Therrien, the coach you said isn't qualified to coach the power play. Kris Knoblauch had the Flyers at 20% (and mind you this is only league average) in 2017-2018. And everyone talks about the great Jou Mullen, but under his watch the Flyers were basically league average except in the 2014-2015 when they clicked at 23%. What happened after that season, did Mullin forget how to coach the power play?

No, when you look at the evidence, the players have much more impact on the power play than the coaching. That being said, this season not only did the Flyers have the worst PP in the league, they looked really, really bad on the PP. Its for this reason and this reason only I say it's incompetence if the Flyers don't replace Thompson with a new voice.
- jd250

That’s pretty fair. I think Thompson is probably a very good coach. Sometimes that’s not enough. Good coach’s sometimes simply don’t fit with certain players. Their message doesn’t resonate. I hope the Flyers do look to other alternatives when it comes to setting up the pp next year. Do I “pretend” to know what or who they should be ? No.

https://broadstreetbuzz.c...flyers-signs-cska-moscow/

Ivan Fedotov has signed a contract with CSKA Moscow for two years, worth 50 million rubles, or approximately $548,000 in U.S. dollars.

He was making $275k/yr (roughly) in Russia and it wasn't worth his while to play one year on a $925k/yr contract to then become a UFA and get those NHL $$$? I also think that a multiyear 3.25/yr for an unproven NHL goalie is not something he would have turned down no matter the team. I also don't think, that anyone else out there was going to outbid the Flyers.

He is now making 2x as much as the highest paid player in the KHL, guaranteed. My feeling is he played the front office and their combined 1 year special assistant to the GM years of NHL front office experience between them. Desperate people do desperate things.

Anyway, my 2 cents, the Flyers got played. It's funny they were willing to burn for Fed but not Cutter.
- Flyers_01

You can't compare to how much he was making in Russia to what he is making here.

Is 50 million rubles a lot of money over there?
Do hockey players pay taxes over there?
After USA Taxes, Fedotov will be making 1.375 million a season.

Charlie O reported that he was making close to the equivalent to 3.25 million in Russia.

That’s pretty fair. I think Thompson is probably a very good coach. Sometimes that’s not enough. Good coach’s sometimes simply don’t fit with certain players. Their message doesn’t resonate. I hope the Flyers do look to other alternatives when it comes to setting up the pp next year. Do I “pretend” to know what or who they should be ? No.
- landros 2

I think what’s most concerning is that the pp has been bad for a while now and though several coaches. I kind of think that the issue might be that we have players that have lost confidence or have just never learned how to properly execute a pp. the coaches haven’t been able to fix it. It’s a good point that bill makes that there are a lot of other teams that have less talent but decent pp. what I routinely notice is a lack of movement by players to get open. They are largely stationary and pass around the perimeter hoping for an open seam. Then if there’s a slight puck fumble, pressure comes and we lose the battle. Puck cleared. If you watch say Tampa, they confidently whip the puck around and have players in constant motion including the puck carrier. We don’t do that. It’s a mystery but that’s the best thoughts I can offer.

Since when are you the authority on everything? I was referring to his asinine comments against his opponent in the finals. Giving opponents bulletin board material needlessly because of being cocky is selfish to your teammates and coaches. Also, 99.9% of the kids who get drafted are happy to do so. They always talk positively about organizations, because they are respectful. He has not demonstrated this. If there's a business disagreement, for Pete's sake, work it out!
Cancel culture on display here.

You guys on this web site have such disdain for Flyers' management, the coaching staff. Why do you follow this team? Pick a different team, one that does EVERYTHING you like and you'll be happy. If you guys were all so right, you'd be running a team yourself. Instead, it's all bitter 20/20 hindsight. Bunch of broken records.
- BluehorseShoe64

i like this post

Since when are you the authority on everything? I was referring to his asinine comments against his opponent in the finals. Giving opponents bulletin board material needlessly because of being cocky is selfish to your teammates and coaches. Also, 99.9% of the kids who get drafted are happy to do so. They always talk positively about organizations, because they are respectful. He has not demonstrated this. If there's a business disagreement, for Pete's sake, work it out!
Cancel culture on display here.

You guys on this web site have such disdain for Flyers' management, the coaching staff. Why do you follow this team? Pick a different team, one that does EVERYTHING you like and you'll be happy. If you guys were all so right, you'd be running a team yourself. Instead, it's all bitter 20/20 hindsight. Bunch of broken records.
- BluehorseShoe64

I have this post as a nominee for post of the year!! Bang on...

Oh brother, did you by any chance read Bill's blog on how being a player who became a coach does not automatically make someone capable of being an effective coach? Obviously not. Maybe review that. Your comment here is the only thing that is plain stupid. Bottom line, is Rocky Thompson's entire coaching career, there is no evidence that he is a capable coach in terms of coaching the PP.

Then you go on to contradict yourself. You first argue that it stupid to suggest that Thompson doesn't know how to coach the PP and then argue that it's incompetence of they don't replace him. Can't make it up.
- MJL

It's only contradicting to a cement head like yourself. There are a lot of good and knowledgeable coaches in the NHL. But this does not mean every coach is the right fit for a group of players. It can be true that Rocky Thompson is a very knowledgeable and good coach, which I believe he is, and that he is also not the right fit for this group of players. Clearly Torts and Shaw are not coaching the power play, so it falls on Thompson, thus he has to take the fall for orchestrating the worst PP in team history.

I have this post as a nominee for post of the year!! Bang on...

- Phillywhiteout

I have this one from 2050 as Post of the Year"

No, they don't have to be coddled. The old school techniques of calling players out in the press, repeated scratching and brow beating just aren't effective anymore. Players just want to be treated fairly and professionally. In many instances, Tortorella fails to do that.
- MJL

Posters just want to be treated fairly and professionally. In many instances, cliff fails to do that.

That’s pretty fair. I think Thompson is probably a very good coach. Sometimes that’s not enough. Good coach’s sometimes simply don’t fit with certain players. Their message doesn’t resonate. I hope the Flyers do look to other alternatives when it comes to setting up the pp next year. Do I “pretend” to know what or who they should be ? No.
- landros 2

Agree 100% .. but it's humorous to me others on this forum think just by hiring another coach all the problems will be solved. Still, the flyers have enough talent to be a league average power play, and that would have been enough for them to be a playoff team this year.

I think what’s most concerning is that the pp has been bad for a while now and though several coaches. I kind of think that the issue might be that we have players that have lost confidence or have just never learned how to properly execute a pp. the coaches haven’t been able to fix it. It’s a good point that bill makes that there are a lot of other teams that have less talent but decent pp. what I routinely notice is a lack of movement by players to get open. They are largely stationary and pass around the perimeter hoping for an open seam. Then if there’s a slight puck fumble, pressure comes and we lose the battle. Puck cleared. If you watch say Tampa, they confidently whip the puck around and have players in constant motion including the puck carrier. We don’t do that. It’s a mystery but that’s the best thoughts I can offer.
- Hextall271

There’s a lot wrong with what they do or try to. I couldn’t agree more about the movement. I still think the Flyers have the Players to be a mid range PP…say 18-19 %. Confidence is huge, but if you are constantly stationary and working all your plays to the perimeter I’m not sure that’s ever going to have short or long term success. Most good PPs have a simple concept….create odd man advantages and filter pucks to the net with a presence there.
If your bad at it at least try to create some chaos at the net.

It's only contradicting to a cement head like yourself. There are a lot of good and knowledgeable coaches in the NHL. But this does not mean every coach is the right fit for a group of players. It can be true that Rocky Thompson is a very knowledgeable and good coach, which I believe he is, and that he is also not the right fit for this group of players. Clearly Torts and Shaw are not coaching the power play, so it falls on Thompson, thus he has to take the fall for orchestrating the worst PP in team history.
- jd250

LOL, if we look at the PP, what do we see. Do we see a clear strategy. A clear objective of what they're trying to do? Are they trying to isolate mini 3 on 2's down low. Are they trying to get traffic to the net and put shots on goal. Is there good puck movement to create openings such as cross ice goal mouth plays or passes to the bumper position? No, what we see is confusion, hesitation with the puck. Perimeter passing with no objective behind it. Weak plays that have little percentage of succeeding. We saw this not in short spurts but in the entire time over multiple seasons with Thompson coaching the PP. While we can certainly look at the talent available as a reason. We also see the lack of structure and strategy on the PP. We see that it has not been improved in his tenure as the coach of it.

Apparently though according to you though, it's due to not being the right fit for these players. That he knows how to coach the PP but he's just not good at it? LOL
And I'm the blockhead. Is that another term of endearment. Remember now that in recent posts you've called me an idiot and a blockhead. When your stupidity is called out and you're called an idiot or worse, don't whine and female dog like a little schoolgirl and claim that you want to keep it to hockey.

Agree 100% .. but it's humorous to me others on this forum think just by hiring another coach all the problems will be solved. Still, the flyers have enough talent to be a league average power play, and that would have been enough for them to be a playoff team this year.
- jd250

What's actually humorous is that you think that anyone has said that they think that by hiring another coach all the problems will be solved. Nobody has come close to saying that. What are you talking about?

Posters just want to be treated fairly and professionally. In many instances, cliff fails to do that.
- Robert's Plant

Cliff just states the same thing everyday for years, often multiple times a day, not only do they want to be treated fairly, but people get sick of the same old schtick. How many times have we heard him criticize Torts....over/under 1000 times? He really brings nothing new to the convo, except for trying to be critical of others posts.

Oh brother, did you by any chance read Bill's blog on how being a player who became a coach does not automatically make someone capable of being an effective coach? Obviously not. Maybe review that. Your comment here is the only thing that is plain stupid. Bottom line, is Rocky Thompson's entire coaching career, there is no evidence that he is a capable coach in terms of coaching the PP.

Then you go on to contradict yourself. You first argue that it stupid to suggest that Thompson doesn't know how to coach the PP and then argue that it's incompetence of they don't replace him. Can't make it up.
- MJL

up early trolling again cliff....what a machine

That’s pretty fair. I think Thompson is probably a very good coach. Sometimes that’s not enough. Good coach’s sometimes simply don’t fit with certain players. Their message doesn’t resonate. I hope the Flyers do look to other alternatives when it comes to setting up the pp next year. Do I “pretend” to know what or who they should be ? No.
- landros 2

based on what? i dont see anything that stands out

It's only contradicting to a cement head like yourself. There are a lot of good and knowledgeable coaches in the NHL. But this does not mean every coach is the right fit for a group of players. It can be true that Rocky Thompson is a very knowledgeable and good coach, which I believe he is, and that he is also not the right fit for this group of players. Clearly Torts and Shaw are not coaching the power play, so it falls on Thompson, thus he has to take the fall for orchestrating the worst PP in team history.
- jd250

he has to take the fall as he is part of the problem.

Agree 100% .. but it's humorous to me others on this forum think just by hiring another coach all the problems will be solved. Still, the flyers have enough talent to be a league average power play, and that would have been enough for them to be a playoff team this year.
- jd250

to keep the same coach is beyond dumb

based on what? i dont see anything that stands out
- hello it's me 2050

The fact he has a job in the NHL for starters.

Cliff just states the same thing everyday for years, often multiple times a day, not only do they want to be treated fairly, but people get sick of the same old schtick. How many times have we heard him criticize Torts....over/under 1000 times? He really brings nothing new to the convo, except for trying to be critical of others posts.
- bradster

agree never names names never puts himself out there.

It was an epiphany that unfortunately didn't come to them until after the season. That they could have a round table with some special advisors and scouts and collaborate on a fix for the PP. They just didn't think of doing that during the season. They have a plan in place now. This is cutting edge thinking that will become the norm in the league as the Flyers are trend setters. Just as it will be with the triumvirate arrangement. It's cutting edge stuff that is the future of the NHL.
- MJL

The fact he has a job in the NHL for starters.
- landros 2

loyalty and nepotism is a great thing

to keep the same coach is beyond dumb
- hello it's me 2050

100%, doublling down on a mistake isnt a good strategy, or is the strategy to get a high pick next year lol

100%, doublling down on a mistake isnt a good strategy, or is the strategy to get a high pick next year lol
- bradster

not part of the equation in flyer land. playoffs is the goal next season. They will be in for a rude awakening.