Tocchet's Flyers Face Penguins in Playoff Showdown

0:00On April 27th, Rick Tockett made a big mark as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2014 to 2017, helping. Power their Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017. Now, he's head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, who lead three games to one over his old squad in the Eastern Conference first round playoffs. That power play he helped run was key to those championships, and he soaked up lessons from stars like Sydney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin every day. Justin Bill bonds with guys like Phil Kessel, getting the best out of him in those runs. Players still remember Tockett's edge. He was tough, relatable from his own grind. It outplaying days with 440 goals and nearly 3,000 penalty minutes. Crosby recalls slamming into him full speed in practice and barely budging the guy while Brian Rust and Chris Lattang praise how he pushed the right. Buttons through the season's ups and downs. Tochets coached other spots like Arizona and Vancouver since, but those penguin days

1:00still shape him. He draws on old handling tricks for tough spots. The core guys from back then, Crosby, Malkin, Rust and Lattang are still there facing him now. Game 5 hits PPG Paints Arena, Monday at 7 p.m., Eastern plenty of memories for Tockett, but is straight business as the Flyers chased the closeout. That wraps in H.O. News today. Talk to you with AI. I'm Corey with The Story.