Woof. The Philadelphia Flyers’ season started with a straight-up gut punch, a brutal 7-0 shellacking by the hated Penguins right there at home in their season opener. It didn’t get much better after that, as they followed it up with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Devils. Honestly, the only reason that second game wasn’t another total blowout? Joseph Woll, bless his heart, standing on his head between the pipes. Now, the squad’s gotta head back to Philadelphia to face the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. But before that game, we gotta talk about what’s got us truly sweating after these two awful starts.
Where’s The Fight? Where’s The Identity?
Jason M. absolutely nails it: where’s the urgency? Where’s the preparation? A few “moderately average shifts” against the Penguins to kick off the season was the highlight? Seriously? That just cannot be the standard. Urgency means winning those one-on-one battles, it means gaining puck possession, and it means driving the play deep into the offensive zone. We saw none of that. And yeah, the power play has been terrible, but that lack of fundamental urgency is the real gut punch early on.
Jacob R. is spot on too, this team has completely strayed from the core identity they supposedly established last year. In just two games, any thought of them being a team that battles hard every single night has been wiped clean. They’ve looked frighteningly complacent, letting the opposition just skate them into the ice. Coach Rick Tocchet isn’t exactly known for coaching up a high-scoring outfit, so if they can’t even hold onto that defensive identity and keep the pressure up as a collective, what’s gonna separate them from any other run of the mill team, especially in the Metro? The offensive game? It’s vanilla, man. Just totally vanilla. It makes you wonder how they’re even gonna steal games if they don’t get that firewagon gene back.
Tocchet’s Lessons And The Vanishing Offense
Brad’s got a point too, it really doesn’t seem like Rick Tocchet learned the right lessons from last season. We’re only two games deep, but seeing Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone sitting 9th and 10th in ice time among Flyers forwards is a massive red flag. We all remember the drama from last season and Tocchet’s history with certain high-skill forwards. It just feels like more of the same, and that cannot continue. There’s a serious lack of preparation right now, and while a lot of that falls on the players, a big chunk is on the coaching staff too. The offense is so bland, as Jacob R. says, it makes it feel genuinely impossible for them to win games.
So, here we are. The team’s heading home to face the Carolina Hurricanes, the freaking reigning Stanley Cup champs. If they don’t find some serious fire, some grit, some *something* against the Canes, this season’s gonna be a long, tough watch. Can they even find a way to win one? We’ll find out when the puck drops against Carolina.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Broad Street Hockey.
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