After tumultuous year with Sharks, Rocky Thompson finds home with Philadelphia Flyers

SAN JOSE – Former San Jose Sharks associate coach Rocky Thompson, who stepped away from the team in September 2021 after one challenging and turbulent season, has found a welcoming new home with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Less than a year after he left the Sharks following one season on the bench with former coach Bob Boughner, Thompson was hired by the Flyers in July to be a part of John Tortorella’s staff and is running the team’s power play.

“One of the most intelligent hockey guys I’ve met,” Tortorella said Thursday of Thompson at SAP Center. “I’ve learned so much from him in the short time I’ve coached with him and some of his philosophies. It’s been pretty cool for me.”

Thompson, 45, was hired by the Sharks prior to the start of the 2020-2021 season, Boughner’s first full year as head coach, to coordinate the team’s power play and coach the defensemen.

The Sharks’ power play finished that year ranked 29th in the NHL at 14.1 percent, down from 17.5 percent the year before, but Thompson was still set to come back to San Jose the following season.

Before the 2021-2022 season, though, the NHL required that all club personnel in close contact with players be vaccinated against COVID-19, and Thompson opted not to return, saying in a Sharks news release that “due to a medical exemption that prevents me from taking the COVID-19 vaccine, under the new League protocols, I am not permitted to fulfill my duties on the Sharks coaching staff at this time.”

The league lifted its vaccination requirement before the start of this season. The Flyers denied a request by this news organization to interview Thompson, as they do not allow assistant coaches to speak with reporters.

“He’s a great coach. A lot of fun to be around. I think he broke the coffee machine when he was here, too,” Sharks winger Kevin Labanc said about Thompson’s supposedly large coffee consumption. “He’s a great guy. Really cared about his players.”

This summer, Tortorella, based on the advice of his former assistant and current Columbus Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen, spoke to Thompson, along with several other individuals, about an opening on his staff.

Tortorella had some coaches back for second interviews when Larsen called again, warning him not to lose Thompson, an enforcer throughout his 10-year pro career, because other NHL teams were ready to pounce.

“Rocky and I continued to talk and I was more and more impressed,” Tortorella said. “I was kind of trying to get (Flyers general manager) Chuck (Fletcher) to move on him, because I was afraid we were going to lose him.

“Terrific teacher. Terrific demeanor. He’s going to really help the organization.”

The Flyers’ power play ranked last in the NHL last season at 12.6 percent. It hovered around 20 percent after the first month of the season but has since slipped to 15.2 percent as the Flyers entered Thursday ranked 31st in the NHL on the man advantage.

The Sharks’ power play, with new coach David Quinn, entered Thursday ranked 14th in the NHL at 22.8 percent.

“He’s done a good job so far,” Flyers forward Owen Tippett said, “and he’s made it pretty clear what he expects.”

Tippett said he and the Flyers heard about an incident between Thompson and former Sharks forward Evander Kane, now with the Edmonton Oilers.

Kane in January told TSN, without naming Thompson, that a Sharks assistant coach challenged him to a fight after a power play meeting.

“We were just giving our opinions on what we can do better, and I gave my opinion at one point in time, and I think our assistant coach, he maybe didn’t agree with it,” Kane said with a small laugh. “Anyway, the meeting was over, we’re all kind of getting ready, chatting afterward, and he comes back into the locker room with his shirt off, flexing and kind of being all hype and whatnot, and challenging me to a fight.

“So it was interesting. I actually didn’t respond. Some of the guys are laughing, thought it was funny. I thought he was joking around, to be honest. I didn’t think he was being serious. It was surprising for an assistant coach to do that.”

Boughner downplayed the incident when he spoke to reporters after the segment aired. Asked this week what he remembers about the incident, Labanc said everyone was feeling added stress that whole season because of COVID restrictions and the team’s subpar performance.

Kane never played another game for the Sharks after that season, in which they went 21-28-7.

“Honestly, it feels like it was so long ago, I don’t even know,” Labanc said. “During that time, just being quarantined, I think we all got on each other’s nerves a little bit. I just remember it being a tough year, just mentally. Constantly ordering DoorDash and being locked in your room. Just tough times and honestly, I don’t even want to think about it.”