Brind'Amour, Tocchet similar coaches at different career stages in playoffs

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Rod Brind'Amour has been back in Philadelphia before, as a player and a coach.

Standing behind the Carolina Hurricanes bench for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC) will be a new experience.

In the more than 26 years since Brind'Amour last played for Philadelphia, he's never been on the opposite side for a Stanley Cup Playoff game, when the home crowd shows a special brand of hostility toward visitors, even those who were once beloved in the city.

"It's been such a long time," Brind'Amour said, "but I'm sure I'll get it."

Standing behind the Flyers bench will be Rick Tocchet, a 62-year-old who, in many ways, was cut from the same orange and black Flyers' cloth as Brind'Amour. Of course, Brind'Amour is as true to the Hurricanes' red and black as anyone has ever been. 

The 55-year-old played 10 seasons for Carolina, captaining its 2006 Stanley Cup championship team, before retiring in 2010. Since taking over as Hurricanes coach in 2018, he's guided them to the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons.

Still, like Tocchet, Brind'Amour has strong roots with the Flyers. Brind'Amour is 11th in team history with 235 goals in 633 games during his nine seasons (1991-00). Tocchet is right behind him, tied with Mark Recchi for 12th with 232 goals in 621 games during his 11 seasons over two stints in Philadelphia (1984-92, 2000-02). 

Though there were some differences in their games -- Brind'Amour was primarily a center and Tocchet a right wing -- both were tireless workers who played with the same competitive drive. 

That has carried over into their coaching and, thus, their teams. 

"They're very similar," said Justin Williams, who played with Tocchet for the Flyers and with and for Brind'Amour on the Hurricanes. "They're both hard-nosed guys, never-back-down, never-say-die attitude type guys that are willing to fight for every inch on the ice. And you can see that now. 

"Both teams are into the second round and have higher aspirations."

Brind'Amour and the Hurricanes have the upper hand after winning the first two games in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tocchet and the Flyers will look to turn the momentum with the best-of-7 series shifting to Philadelphia for the next two games.

This is Brind'Amour's and Tocchet's first time matching coaching wits in a playoff series. They never played against each other in the playoffs either. And they weren't Flyers' teammates long enough -- less than five months during the 1991-92 season -- to compete in the playoffs together.

So, though they've competed in similar circles and are friendly, it's probably a stretch to say they're friends.

"We have the coaches' general meetings in the summer, you give the hug and talk to him," Tocchet said. "But I don't really talk to him too much, to be honest. But from afar, really respect him." 

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Tocchet, selected by the Flyers in the sixth round (No. 121) of the 1983 NHL Draft, was about to begin his eighth season with them when they acquired Brind'Amour, then 21, and forward Dan Quinn in a trade with the St. Louis Blues for defenseman Murray Baron and forward Ron Sutter on Sept. 22, 1991.

Brind'Amour, the No. 9 pick in the 1988 NHL Draft, had 49 points (17 goals, 32 assists) in 78 games the previous season, his second with the Blues. 

"I don't know why St. Louis (traded him)," said Russ Farwell, Flyers general manager from 1990 to 1994. "I think Sutter was kind of a more of a fit for them, what they wanted, so we made that trade. It was a real good trade for us."

Sutter was Flyers captain and Tocchet was quickly named his successor. Philadelphia was a team in transition, trying to get younger. Tocchet, who was 27 at the time and an alternate captain the previous three seasons, was the easy choice to wear the C. 

"Just nails, not scared of anything," former Flyers forward Mark Pederson said. "I had a lot of respect for him. He was the face of the Flyers for a long time and the passion he had for the jersey, and the leadership, definitely was unprecedented."

Brind'Amour's first point with the Flyers was an assist on Tocchet's first-period goal in a 2-2 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 6, 1991.

Brind'Amour played most of the season on a line with Pederson and Kevin Dineen and led Philadelphia with 77 points (33 goals, 44 assists) in 80 games. Pederson, a journeyman who played 169 games with four teams during five seasons in the NHL, had by far his best season playing on Brind'Amour's wing, getting 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists) in 58 games.

"Such an easy guy to play with that not only had the skills to distribute the puck, but also had the grind, had the passion, never got tired," said Pederson, who now coaches U18 AAA Bow Mark Oilers in Okotoks, Alberta. "Every shift, he was there, showed up. There was that high level of consistency in his game."

By then, Brind'Amour had already earned his reputation for his work ethic and dedication to his conditioning. That commitment has carried over to his players during his coaching career.

"The one thing with 'Roddy,' you could not outwork him," Tocchet said. "After a game, he's in the gym. Guys are going home and he's in the gym lifting. After a hard practice, he's doing extra laps. That's their team. They work. If you want to play for him, you've got to work."

Brind'Amour also saw traits in Tocchet back then that made him a natural to go into coaching after his playing days were over.

"Great leader," Brind'Amour said. "Really took care of all the young guys. I was one of those at the time. I remember that very well, vividly. Obviously, a good player and all of that, but more that aspect of it. Just he got what it meant to be a team and all that and that's why he's a good coach."

An uncertainty hung over Tocchet throughout the 1991-92 season because of a contract dispute and the obvious direction the rebuilding Flyers were headed. When it became clear they were going to miss the playoffs for the third consecutive season, Farwell made the difficult decision to trade him in a blockbuster deal with the rival Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb 19, 1992.

Philadelphia gave up Tocchet, a third-round pick in the 1993 NHL Draft, defenseman Kjell Samuelsson and goalie Ken Wregget for Recchi, defenseman Brian Benning and a first-round pick in the 1992 NHL Draft. 

"We kind of felt we needed to make that change because he was upset with us over the contract," Farwell said. "But he was driven. 'Tocc' thought he was a top line guy, and, in some ways, he was. He was scoring and he played with real drive and courage."

Similar could be said of Brind'Amour, who continued to thrive with the Flyers after Tocchet's departure. Farwell signed off on another blockbuster trade at the 1992 NHL Draft to acquire center Eric Lindros, kicking Philadelphia's rebuild into overdrive. 

By 1995, the Flyers were back in the playoffs. In 1997, they reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1987 with Brind'Amour scoring twice, including the winning goal, in a series-clinching 4-2 victory against the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final.

The Flyers were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the Cup Final, though, and their continuing search for the right combination to help them win their first Stanley Cup championship since 1975 eventually led to them trading Brind'Amour to the Hurricanes on Jan. 23, 2000.

Philadelphia sent Brind'Amour, goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier and a second-round pick in the 2000 NHL Draft to Carolina for center Keith Primeau and a fifth-round pick in 2000. He finished his Flyers career with 601 points (235 goals, 366 assists). Lindros was the only player with more points (643) during Brind'Amour's time in Philadelphia.

"It was a great opportunity to come into when I did," Brind'Amour said. "We were kind of a young team at the time, and I actually loved every minute of it -- the fans, the environment, kind of the mentorship that they have there."

Less than two months after Brind'Amour was traded -- March 8, 2000 -- Tocchet returned to the Flyers in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes for forward Mikael Renberg. It would be the last stop on his 18-season NHL career before he retired in 2002.

Tocchet had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 18 playoff games in 2000 to help Philadelphia reach the Eastern Conference Final before it lost to the New Jersey Devils in seven games. Then he became a valuable mentor for younger players when the Flyers started retooling their roster again.

"Tocc, I couldn't have asked for anyone better to help me my first year," Williams said. "He took me everywhere with him. He paid for most of my meals as a rookie. When summer came and we got knocked out (of the playoffs), he said, 'Hey, you are coming with me to California to train this summer.' 

"Just everything of how to be a pro and showing me the ropes of how to be an NHLer, he was awesome."

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Tocchet and Brind'Amour have each gone on to successful coaching careers. Brind'Amour won the 2021 Jack Adams Award voted as NHL coach of the year in with Carolina. Tocchet won in 2023-24 with the Vancouver Canucks. 

Like when their paths crossed as teammates, Brind'Amour and Tocchet intersect as coaches at different stages of their tenures. For Brind'Amour and the Hurricanes, this season is about winning the Stanley Cup or bust after they reached the Eastern Conference Final three times (2019, 2022, 2024) under him but were unable to advance beyond that round.

The Stanley Cup is also the goal for Tocchet and the Flyers. but qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and prevailing in the first round against the Penguins has already made his first season as coach of this young team (average age of 27) a success.

Tocchet got his start in coaching as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche (2003-2004) and Arizona Coyotes (2005-06) before getting his first NHL head coaching job with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2008-10). He returned to the Penguins as an assistant (2014-2017), helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017, before getting another chance to be head coach with the Coyotes (2017-20).

Tocchet went from the Coyotes to the Canucks (2023-25), but left Vancouver after last season, opening the door for his return to the Flyers as their coach this season.

"Tocc I always thought he would excel at (coaching)," Williams said. "He had a great personality about him, a great aura, a great understanding of the game, a leadership mentality. As does, Roddy, but Roddy took me a little bit by surprise because he wasn't always very vocal in the dressing room.

"Obviously, he had the kind of respect when he did speak, but he didn't speak all too often, so that's why I didn't really feel like he would go right into coaching, but he did."

After retiring in 2010, Brind'Amour worked briefly in player development for the Hurricanes and then joined their coaching staff as an assistant in 2011. He spent seven seasons as an assistant before being promoted to head coach in 2018, inheriting a team that had failed to qualify for the playoffs in nine consecutive seasons.

Carolina has not missed them since.

"He was such a driven guy to be a player, and that's how he coaches," said Farwell, now vice president of hockey operations for Seattle of the Western Hockey League. "What he did after playing is exactly what he was showing us when he first came to us."

Unlike Williams, Farwell said "it's no surprise at all" to him that Brind'Amour went into coaching because of that competitive drive. Conversely, he said, "I wouldn't have guessed at the time" that Tocchet would become a coach.

"But watching him evolve since then, I can see it," Farwell said. "He has shown since then that he's totally into the game. A lot of star players aren't prepared to spend the time to be coaches, but he's done that and he's done a good job."

Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall, who played for Tocchet with the Coyotes in 2019-20, said the one similarity between Tocchet and Brind'Amour in their coaching styles is their attention to detail, but otherwise, "I'd say they're pretty different."

"They're obviously hockey guys that had amazing careers, but as far as coaches, I think Tocc is a bit more intense," Hall said. "Rod might look intense, but he's a little bit different. I would say that say Rod is calmer than he looks."

Although different in their approaches, Tocchet and Brind'Amour have gotten the buy-in from their players necessary to have success in the NHL, particularly in the playoffs. Williams suggested that their track records as former top players have played a role in that.

Tocchet finished his NHL career with 952 points (440 goals, 512 assists) in 1,144 games. Brind'Amour, who won the 2006 and 2007 Selke Trophy given the League's top defensive forward, had 1,184 points (452 goals, 732 assists) in 1,484 games.

Tocchet dropped the gloves more often, as evidenced by his Flyers-record 1,815 penalty minutes. Brind'Amour, who had 1,100 penalty minutes including 563 with the Flyers, didn't shy away from that side of the game either.

"They're very similar in the fact of what they expect from their players," Williams said. "They expect them to give everything they've got every single time they're out there, and they have a certain element of respect and aura around them that no one can say, 'You never did that. That's not the way you played.' 

"It's just that extra added exclamation point at the end of everything that they say and that they expect from their players because that's exactly how they played."