Ad Disclosure
Rick Tocchet Says Flyers “Not Giving Up” on Tyson Foerster
Published:
Rick Tocchet was asked on Tuesday morning about Tyson Foerster, who hasn’t looked very good in this Flyers/Penguins series:
“He’s a really good hockey player. We’re trying to stick with him. It’s (not) just him, we’ve got some other guys there that we need a little bit more from. But it is tough, hitting a wall, to be able to play at that pace and all of that sort of stuff. Maybe he’s hit the wall a little bit. But 24 hours or 36 hours off, resetting your brain can do wonders for a guy. Usually guys like that, they find their way. So we’re not giving up on Tyson Foerster, he’s too good of a hockey player.”
Naturally, there’s more Matvei Michkov chatter out there on Tuesday morning after he was a healthy scratch in Game 5. People want to know why Michkov has to take a seat while a guy like Foerster gets to play through it, and it’s a fair question. It seems to be the crux of the Michkov talk now. It’s not that people disagree with Matty Ice needing to take a seat, because he hasn’t played well, but they want to know why guys like Foerster get to reset their brains and “find their way” while remaining in the lineup. Especially when those other guys aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire.
It’s true that Foerster came back from injury not THAT long ago but he makes more money than Michkov and also hasn’t scored in this series. Tocchet even mentioned needing more from Travis Konecny, who hasn’t had a great series either.
So it’s a classic “double standard” argument. Accountability for thee, but not for me. It seems like there’s one set of repercussions for Michkov and another set for everyone else, and that’s why the pro-Michkov crowd is always pissed off. And even if there’s legitimacy to their complaints, it creates a really exhausting and toxic environment.
That being said, Michkov has been behind the play more often than not this series, but the Flyers power play is currently impotent and maybe bringing him back into the lineup and putting him on PP1 gets something going there. Sitting Foerster for Game 6 and keeping Alex Bump in the lineup wouldn’t exactly be decried by the majority. But none of that will be a big deal on Wednesday night, since the Flyers are winning at home to put this series to bed.
FLYERS IN 6
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com