Philadelphia Flyers
Tocchet’s Call For Energetic Flyers Crowds
Philadelphia is one of the best sports cities in the country, if not the world. South Philly gets packed with a passionate fanbase night in and night out, supporting their team.
Citizens Bank Park and the Linc have some of the best atmospheres in the country. For the Flyers, the Wells Fargo Center, scratch that, Xfinity Mobile Arena, has not been the same.
Now, every once in a while, you’ll see a packed house. I’ll never forget one of my first games on the beat was Cutter Gauthier’s return to Philly, and that was one of the loudest arenas I had seen. But that was far from the norm.
The Wells Fargo Center was rarely sold out, never too loud, and lacked any sort of imposed fear for opponents.
New Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet wants to change all of that.
In an interview with NHL Network, published by NHL.com, Tocchet recognizes how significant fan impact can be.
“I believe the fans in Philadelphia really help players,” Tocchet said. “Can we use the fans this year as juice? That’s something we want—to get them on our side.”
Tocchet is calling for fans to come back in full force and make the building feel like it used to. What will it take for fans to pick up the call?
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What Would it Take to Get Crowds Back for Flyers Games?
The Flyers haven’t given fans much reason to pack the house in recent history.
As a team, the product on the ice has not been great. They have not made the playoffs since 2020, have not made any significant acquisitions, and aside from Matvei Michkov, they have not promoted any big-time prospects. There isn’t much to be excited about.
However, that feels like it’s starting to change. Tocchet is bringing a new energy behind the bench. The Flyers’ prospect pipeline all of a sudden looks promising. The team brought in Trevor Zegras, who may not be an 80+ point scorer, but is exciting, flashy, and has tons of untapped potential.
Is that enough to pack the arena?
Fans play such a critical role, not just in hockey, but in every sporting environment. Flyers fans have shown time and time again that they can be as passionate and loud as any. Things are slowly getting better, but not all the way there.
What will it take to get the crowds back for Flyers games?
Read More: PhHN Flyers Fan Summer Survey
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Cheaper tickets?
Winning is always a good start.
He’s right, buy that’s a lot to expect from a fanbase paying top $s for a product that’s been underwhelming to down right crap for a decade.
How about winning? And not being content to simply be a mediocre team? I’m not sold that Tocchet is going to bring the fans back. Talent on the ice will do that.
I’ve been a fan of Tocchet since he was a rookie even though I am a Red Wings fan. My team is rebuilding as well and you need a second mortgage to afford tickets. Unfortunately, Wings fans will pack LCA. For the Flyers scenario:
How about a “buy one, get one” ticket promotion?
Have Flyers alums at games signing autographs for no charge.
Open a practice and/or scrimmage to the public free of charge, but fans would have to purchase concessions.
The Wings always do a red carpet walk with the players opening night, how about an “orange carpet” walk for the players to meet & greet fans on the way in? No game ticket required.
I could go on, but I’m not on the marketing team!
Winning, yes, but there’s an underlying issue here that I don’t think Tocchet gets. The game has been made into an entertainment spectacle, with the gimmicks they use to appeal to a wider variety of people, like little kids, casual “fans”, 20-30 somethings who happen to make enough money to afford the games as a night out entertainment/social gathering. These people are not as knowledgeable about hockey nor as interested as fans were in the 80’s let’s say, so you just don’t have the same passion as fans did before, when it was mostly about the hockey. Many more authentic fans have been priced out or don’t want to put up with the gimmicks and they’ve been replaced by the casual crowd who aren’t that into it.
Yes please I would like everyone going to training camp and game to listen to Evil Nine’s track We have the Energy make it the PP song! It will get you amped go Flyboys ps can we get a WPHL team I need the Philly Phenoms in my life ( Flyers symbol reversed and Pink and Black or Purple and Black color scheme 😉
Sure if this wasn’t coming from a head coach who was getting paid top dollar but it is. This guy has some nerve not even playing a game yet but wants more crowd noise. I mean if he took less money they would have a better product on the ice, does he know this? But no, he’s selfish and wanted a huge contract. So no Rick, show us some winning hockey and we’ll show you some love. But right now you look like part of the problem not part of the solution!
There is nothing I’d like more is to see our building come alive, but he has seem to forgotten about “the plan”. They are carrying albatross contracts for 1 more year, which means they couldn’t add significant talent from either free agents or trades. This ties to having 1 more year of drafting possibly in the top 12 before they start aiming for a playoff spot. So it’s 1 more year of purgatory. I went online a couple weeks ago to buy a few games, had severe sticker shock. First time I haven’t bought any games in years.