The Philadelphia Flyers Have Disappointed The City of Philadelphia For The OnsMost Times
Parker S. Freedman. Getty Images.The moment the Philadelphia Flyers have even an ounce of pressure on them, this team pisses and shits all down their leg. It's been that way for years, so I guess we should have seen this coming. Any time the Flyers get a shred of attention on them, they crack and turn into the worst hockey team ever assembled.
We're only 4 games into the 2026-27 NHL season but they have thrown away any interest the city had in this team after that quick playoff run last season.
0-2-2 out of the gates. They have been outscored 17-5. Even worse, they have a shot differential of -82 THROUGH JUST 4 GAMES.
They're giving up 40 shots a night, and they are only taking 20. That is horrific even by Rick Tocchet standards.
You would think the Flyers would be getting better offensively. They have high level skill guys on the roster now like Zegras and Michkov. Foerster and Tippett should be taking those next steps in their game that make them a nightmare to deal with in the offensive zone. They've added a guy like Porter Martone who has the chance to be one of the great power forwards in the game. At the very least, he is going to be one of the biggest shit stirrers in the game.
But for some reason, this team can't even complete a pass. They can't enter the offensive zone with possession, they can't sustain any pressure, they can't get the puck on the net, and it just seems like maybe the fucking idiot whose teams have all had some of the lowest shot totals in the league over the last 6 years could be to blame for that.
It's 4 games into the season but at some point you need to accept the fact that the sample size is already there. Rick Tocchet doesn't just stifle offensive development with whichever team he is coaching. He brings it to a screeching halt. And the Flyers are simply not good enough defensively to make up for a team that can't get a single thing going on offense. In fact, the defense is easily the worst part about this team. They aren't going to win games 1-0 or 2-1 when you have guys like David Jiricek out there just serving up some hot n' fresh pizzas straight out of the oven like this.
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The Flyers do not have the the roster to play Rick Tocchet's style of hockey. Hell, I don't think there's any team in the NHL who should want to play Rick Tocchet's style of hockey because it's just not the way the game is set up anymore. Rick Tocchet is a great coach if you want to develop one of the most underrated and under-appreciated 3rd line centers in the game. Anything other than that, he is completely useless to your hockey team. But he has buddies in the media (cough cough Chiclets cough cough) who would never shit on him, and then there's never enough outside pressure on the Flyers to move on before its too late.
4 games into the season and nobody in Philly cares about the Flyers anymore. That is a new world record. They usually at least come out of the gates hot and inspire some false hope in the city. But 4 games into the season and they have disappointed up for the onsmost times.
P.S. -- Usually it takes me writing a blog about a team being dead for them to finally turn it around and make me look like a dumb dickhead at the end of the season. I am fully willing and able to wear that label if the Flyers figure out how to actually play hockey over the next 80 games. But something tells me this is going to be a long season.