PHILADELPHIA — Rocky Thompson is comfortable as the center of attention. He became used to it as a mostly minor-league brawler who racked up nearly 2,000 penalty minutes in the American Hockey League over parts of 11 seasons. His flowing, frizzy hair flopping this way and that while wildly throwing meaty fists toward an opponent’s jaw kept him employed as both an enforcer and a crowd pleaser.
So when he got up to present to the NHL Coaches’ Association in 2015 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ahead of the entry draft there, he was at ease strolling into a room full of established NHL coaches (some of whom attended out of sheer curiosity, considering Thompson’s playing career) and talking them through various offensive-zone tactics. His presentation was so impressive he immediately became a hot coaching prospect. The OHL Windsor Spitfires essentially hired him on the spot to become their new head coach.
Nine summers and a few jobs later, Thompson made another presentation. As the Flyers assistant coach in charge of the power play, dead last in the league for each of the last three seasons (two of them under the current coaching staff), Thompson offered a room full of team personnel a detailed overview of that part of their game this summer. There were statistical models, examples of what’s gone wrong, suggestions on what could be done better and thoughts on specific personnel and how they could be utilized — all aided by visual examples.
“I was really impressed with Rocky’s presentation,” said John LeClair, hired as a special adviser to hockey operations in 2023, and who was invited to the meeting. “It was very well thought out, very professional, and it was good — really good. He brought examples that were really clear cut; you didn’t have to imagine anything.”
Another invitee, special adviser Patrick Sharp, agreed that the presentation was “very detailed. Rocky has a great understanding of what’s going on: the personnel, and how we want to attack it going forward.”
General manager Daniel Briere relayed in his 2023-24 season-ending presser that the organization was going to utilize everyone it had at its disposal to offer input on the team’s dreadful power play, which finished with just a 12.2 percent success rate last season — nearly 3 full percentage points behind 31st-ranked Columbus (15.1 percent).
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