Flyers Fans Crowdfund a 'Fire Tocchet' Plane Banner in Under an Hour, and the Target Date Is Perfect

If you ever needed a reminder that Philadelphia sports fans operate on a different level of intensity, well, here it is. A well-known Flyers fan on social media decided to channel the fanbase's collective misery into something visible, something loud, and something that would be pretty hard for the organization to ignore. And the response was almost instantaneous.

From GoFundMe to Goal Met in 60 Minutes

On Friday morning, a fan who goes by "Tony Escargot" on X (formerly Twitter) floated the idea of raising money to hire planes to fly a "FIRE TOCCHET" banner over Xfinity Mobile Arena during a Flyers home game. Within an hour of launching the GoFundMe, the $2,000 target had already been surpassed. By the time the dust settled, over 125 donors had chipped in a combined $2,247, with individual contributions ranging from modest amounts all the way up to $100.

The fundraiser's description didn't hold back, placing blame squarely on GM Daniel Briere, team president Keith Jones, and ownership group Comcast for bringing Rick Tocchet on board as head coach. The organizer also floated the idea of including a photo of Tocchet wearing a clown nose on one of the banners, because apparently just the words weren't quite enough to capture the mood in Philly right now.

The frustration is understandable when you look at the numbers. The Flyers dropped a 3-2 decision to the New York Rangers on Thursday night, their 14th loss of the young season. Philadelphia sits at a brutal 4-10-4, dead last in the Eastern Conference and 30th overall in the NHL standings. Fans have been calling for a coaching change since October, and the volume has only gotten louder with each passing week.

One amusing wrinkle worth noting: the flyover is planned for an indoor arena. Obviously, nobody inside the building is going to look up through the roof and spot a plane. The timing will need to be just right so that fans walking into the arena catch the message overhead. But the organizer reportedly has a knack for pulling off stunts, so don't count him out.

Why November 27th, and What Happens If Tocchet Gets Canned First

The date chosen for the aerial protest is November 27th, when the Flyers host the Vancouver Canucks in a 3 PM ET matinee. That opponent selection might seem deliberately pointed, given that Tocchet left Vancouver after two and a half seasons behind their bench to take the Philly job. But according to the organizer, the matchup is mostly coincidental. The flyover requires a daytime game to work, and the Canucks game just happens to fit the schedule.

Still, the optics are pretty rich. Tocchet departed Vancouver after the Canucks reportedly offered him a substantial contract extension, opting instead to sign a five-year deal with Philadelphia that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the NHL. The organization clearly believed he was worth the investment. Now, barely into year two of that deal, the fanbase is pooling their money to publicly demand his removal.

Firing Tocchet would be a costly decision for the Flyers, both financially and optically. Eating a massive coaching contract after just one and a half seasons would be an admission that the front office badly miscalculated. But if the losses keep piling up, the pressure from fans and media alike could make keeping him even more untenable.

As for what happens if the Flyers pull the trigger before November 27th? The GoFundMe organizer has said he would try to refund all donations or redirect the funds toward another purpose. Either way, Philly fans have made their feelings crystal clear, and they did it in under 60 minutes.