Flyers Fire John Stevens
Peter Laviolette New Philadelphia Head Coach
In a move that arguably no one in the Flyers’ organization wanted to make, the club dismissed head coach John Stevens after just over three seasons behind the bench, and replaced him with former Islanders’ and Hurricanes’ coach Peter Laviolette this past week.
Stevens, who spent his entire professional career as a player and coach with the Flyers’ organization, had a 120-109-34 head coaching record, but his club lost seven of their last eight games before his dismissal. If the regular season ended today, the Flyers, predicted by some to win the Stanley Cup this year, would fail to even make the playoffs.
Firing Stevens a Surprise; Hiring Laviolette Even More Surprising
Stevens’ departure comes as a bit of a surprise. Even he admitted himself, earlier in the week, that his job was on the line during the Flyers’ latest losing streak, but there weren’t any immediate indications that he would actually be fired. And the hiring of Laviolette, who has no ties to the Flyers’ organization, comes as an even bigger surprise.
Laviolette’s Impressive Coaching Resume
By hiring Laviolette, the Flyers get a coach with a Stanley Cup on his resume, guiding the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes to the league championship. Laviolette also is a former AHL Coach of the Year and led the Providence Bruins to the American Hockey League title in 1998-99. In additon, he also coached the USA Olympic Men’s Hockey team in the 2006 Winter Olympiad.
In Laviolette, the Flyers hire a tougher, more demanding coach than Stevens, whose style was far from beng a pushover but more one of a players’ coach. Ironically, when the Flyers dismissed Ken Hitchcock as head coach in 2006, one of the reasons cited was that he was too demanding of his players, and not necessarily player-friendly. So the Flyers then hired the more player-friendly Stevens, and after that ultmately not working out, they then revert back to hiring the more demanding Laviolette. So maybe what this current group of Flyers might need to get out of the Atlantic Conference basement is a coach like Laviolette.
Flyers’ Lack of Offense, Emery Struggling
What has been the biggest problem for the Flyers thus far this season is a lack of offense. As a team, the club, through December 7th, has scored 79 goals and given up 80. Ray Emery hasn’t been much better as of late, getting pulled in two of his last five games. In their last 10 games, the Flyers are an underwhelming 2-8-0, losing their last five in a row. In retrospect, with numbers like these, and as much talent as the Flyers have on their roster, maybe it isn’t such a shock that Stevens was fired after all?
Capitals Crush Phladelphia In Laviolette’s First Game, 8-2
Traditionally teams respond well to coaching changes immediately after they are made, case in point last season, when after dismissing Michel Therrien, then-interim coach Dan Bylsma led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup. But in Laviolette’s first game with the team, they were drubbed at home by Washington, 8-2, leading some to question if this Flyers' squad is just not as good of a team as many in the game thought they would be.
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