Photo Credit: Our very own Michael Reaves
Tyson Foerster had one goal in mind last Summer…to win a spot on the Flyers roster on opening night. Foerster remained in Voorhees, NJ for the Summer in preparation of the upcoming season, much like he did this Summer.
It wasn’t all roses for him scoring wise, but he managed to finish tied for third with goals by a rookie with 20 goals. He also played very well defensively. Even so much so, he was involved in the play more often than not, his skating became a strength believe it or not. That was evident when he clearly negated and icing call against the New York Islanders just a few months into the season. The ref failed to see otherwise, however, on instant replay it showed Foerster negating the icing call, and it was made by strong skating strides and determination.
That same mentality gave the rookie a shot in the shootout, and he made no mistake with a nifty move and putting the puck in the back of the net. In the end, the Flyers beat the New York Islanders 1-0 in the shootout, thanks to great goaltending by Samuel Ersson and determination by Tyson Foerster.
Maturity
At only 22-years-old, Tyson Foerster is starting to show maturity at such a young age on the ice. Tyson is a strong playmaker and has a shoot first mentality. Foerster is unlike most Flyers prospects with his unique goal scoring abilities, coupled with his good playmaking skills, “I feel like I still have to work. Work my tail off and try to earn myself a spot on this team,” Foerster said back at training camp.
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New Arsenal
Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella said yesterday that he wants both Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett to play on the penalty kill. With Flyers rookie Jett Luchanko seeing time on the penalty killing unit in his first game, it only makes sense that the orange and black are trying to save the services of some veterans from killing penalties, ;like Sean Couturier most notably.
Foerster and Tippett would bring a dynamic scoring threat with the Flyers short-handed. Foerster has a first shoot mentality, as does Tippett. Both can skate, and make plays.
In Foerster’s case, he has been killing penalties in the first two games of the 2024-25 season. He has accumulated a total of 3:06 in ice time in terms of penalty killing thus far. Foerster has looked confident in this new found role, and maybe that’s because of Tortorella.
The Case for Owen Tippett to Penalty Kill
Owen Tippett came to Philadelphia with some unknowns. One thing that has remained constant is his talent. Sometimes it takes prospects longer to bloom, and this was the case for a former first round pick. In some cases it’s tough getting selected in the first round, players are supposed to produce and produce right away in some cases, as opposed to a second round pick, etc., etc. where prospects are giving more leniency to succeed.
“Seeing how great of a city Philadelphia is, sports city, fans are awesome, all the history with the organization. Obviously, going into those contract talks was pretty special,” Tippett said at exit interview day this past year. “Being able to do it for eight years is something that I was really looking forward to and it was an easy decision to go long term.”
This was the case for Tippett. He came to Philadelphia after so-so years in Florida, where he was seen as a reclamation project in the Claude Giroux deal. He hasn’t looked back since, rather Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella has unlocked some of his talent. Even so much so, Tortorella wants to start using Tippett on the Penalty Kill.
The one part of Tippett’s game that has grown the most are his defensive skills. Maybe this is due to confidence, or it might be the John Tortorella effect, regardless it’s great to see him taking that next step in his game. Tortorella wants to see Tippett grow, so utilizing him every situation makes sense, especially with him being a scoring threat.
He just needed confidence, and the Flyers are trusting him. That goes a long way when building confidence, for a player that needed a fresh change of scenery.
