The Mess in Philadelphia

So the Flyers always seem to do things that make for great entertainment. Especially when you’re not a fan of the team and can just sit back and watch. The latest one: firing Peter Laviolette after 3 (winless) games this season. Laviolette came to the Flyers back in 2009-10, helming them all the way to the Stanley Cup, where they lost to the Blackhawks. I will point out they got there with Michael Leighton as goalie, who is currently playing in the KHL, and had to win in a shootout in the last game of the year to even make the playoffs. I will also point out that Laviolette coached the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup victory in 2006. In a 12 year coaching career, spanning 759 games, Laviolette is 389-282-63 (with 25 ties, remember those?). Half of those seasons, his teams made the playoffs. So the guy is a fairly competent coach. 

Yet the Flyers gave him the axe after 3 games. 3 games! I mean, really, 3 games? Needless to say, it’s the quickest a coach has been fired. Why did they even keep him around after last season, one of those playoff misses. According to owner Ed Snider, the Flyers training camp was one of the worst he’s seen. But do we really want to place the blame on Laviolette? I say, let’s look one level higher, which is also the reason the Flyers off-ice activities are so entertaining. If I was a Flyers fan, I’d be calling for GM Paul Holmgren’s head. Kinda like Sabres fans are doing with Darcy Regier. Holmgren’s been flipping his teams over more than a lumberjack making a patch of pancakes. That team that made it too the Stanley Cup, of the 22 players who played in at least 10 games that playoffs, only 4 are still with the Flyers today (Braydon Coburn, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, & Kimmo Timonen). Granted, not all of the player loss was due to Holmgren’s actions – Chris Pronger has effectively retired due to injuries – but he did a lot of purging, most notably Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, who have since won a Cup together in LA. The roster’s been rotating like a circus carousel. I’m not even going to make jokes about the Flyers goaltending situation that makes Spinal Tap drummers seem consistent. But let’s remember that Ilya Bryzgalov was a finalist for the Vezina in 2009-10, as well as in the top 5 for the Hart Trophy. He was considered a rather good goalie before going to outer space, I mean, Philly. Holmgren also couldn’t get his team cap compliant until putting Pronger on LTIR. The Flyers are right up against the salary cap with a roster that’s not really showing many results. A roster largely compiled by Holmgren.

I watched the 3^rd period of the Flyers last game against the Hurricanes, and 2-1 ‘Canes win. The Flyers were down going into the 3^rd, and showed no intensity or urgency until the very end, with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. So yes, that’s on the coaching stuff. It’s their job to motivate the players. But Claude Giroux is pointless through 3 games. The same Giroux that Laviolette once termed “the best player in the world.” As does Scott Hartnell and Jakub Voracek. The Flyers have only scored 3 goals all season. The only one that wasn’t on a power play belongs to Luke Schenn, he of 18 career goals. Let’s remember, the coaches do not go out there and play.

But if they did, the new coach probably wouldn’t do much beside fight the other teams’ enforcers. With Laviolette fired, Craig Berube has been elevated to the head job from assistant coach. Berube had a long career in the NHL, 1054 games. Most of his time was spent in the penalty box, with 3149 PIM. That total has him 7^th all-time in PIM. I’m sure he knows the best way to get Philly’s offensive players on their game. I’m being unfair because I’m being skeptical. Berube’s been an assistant coach in Philly since 2006-07, though he spent the 2007-08 season as the head coach of their AHL team. He has only 86 games of head coaching experience, all in the AHL.  It’s up to Berube to prove me wrong. I think the Flyers would’ve been better with a fresh voice, but this is a team that’s big on nepotism. Ron Hextall was brought back to play goal again, I mean, to be the assistant GM, and I think it’s his turn to take over. Kinda like Brian Burke is doing with Jay Feaster in Calgary, it’s likely only a matter of time before Hextall takes over for the man he’s working under. Until then, the Flyers look like they’ll be in a ‘wandering around in the wilderness’ phase for a while. Laviolette was just the first scapegoat. Holmgren, who built this mess, will be next. How many more changes will he make before then? After Holmgren, as Puck Daddy writes here and here, it’s time to look at Ed Snider. But for the here and now, I’m holding Holmgren accountable for the mess in Philly.