It is one of the oldest sports cliches out there. A team tanks and it’s the coach that gets replaced. And it seems like Philadelphia teams go through coaches like there is no tomorrow.
However, I’m starting to feel more and more that with the Flyers, a coaching change is necessary. Last year, was one of the worse seasons in franchise history, and that is no exaggeration. In the past year and a half, the Flyers have made many changes. Veteran players and leaders Eric Desjardins and Keith Primeau, the team captain at the time, were lost to retirement. After the poor start to last season, which was a foreshadowing of the rest of the season, GM Bob Clarke and Coach Ken Hitchcock were replaced with Paul Holmgren and John Stevens respectively.
As the abysmal season progressed, Holmgren began to retool the team, trading away veterans for youth. Under Stevens, Mike Richards, RJ Umberger, and Jeff Carter increased their contributions to the team. With Holmgren at the helm, the team acquired promising young talent like Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent, Braydon Coburn and Lasse Kukkonen. However, the biggest hole the Flyers had, was a lack of leadership. Mike Richards seemed the most promising as a team leader, but was still a bit young.
During the offseason, the Flyers made some significant moves. The first was acquiring the rights to Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell, then signing them prior to the start of free agency, next was signing high profile free agent Danny Briere. The biggest move in my opinion was sending inconsistent defenseman Joni Pitkanen to Edmonton for Jason Smith and Joffery Lupul. Timonen, Briere, and Smith had all captained their former teams. This filled the leadership void.
The Flyers came charging out of the gate at the start of this season, however that wouldn’t last. This season became like a roller coaster, with inconsistency being at the root of it all. There have been periods were it felt like this team could not be stopped. And then others, like right now, where it feels like the Flyers could not stop a pee wee league team.
I feel that the reason why the team has performed the way it has has a great deal to do with John Stevens. It frustrates me to no end how he constantly juggles his lines. How can the players generate any chemistry and consistency when they are playing with someone different almost every shift? It seems that if a line can’t generate a shot on goal, he starts to shuffle his lines.
My next issue with him is his roster management. I don’t know what Kukkonen has done to piss off Stevens, but he is constantly scratched in favor of another, usually underperforming, defenseman. First it was Jim Vandermeer, everyone knows my opinion of him. Now it’s Jaroslav Modry. Any forward with speed is able to turn this guy inside out and blow past him. Kukkonen is a steady defenseman who is not afraid to block any and all shots that come his way.
The Flyers are an extremely talented group of players. It has been a complete mismanagement of players that has caused the inconsistency, which makes them a bunch of underachievers.
I know a lot of people will say that it’s the players that play the game, not the coach. It’s the players who are responsible for what happens out on the ice. Look at it from a business perspective. When a company tanks, it’s the CEO and other high level executives that get axed. Why? Even though they are not the ones actually doing the work, it is their responsibility to lead, direct and guide the company and its employees to success.
1 response so far ↓
John Stevens has been coach for his second season, after joining last year about 8 games in. I think it is a bit early for thebroadstreetblog.com to make the call of kicking out the coach. Maybe Stevens doesn’t have what it takes, but the Flyer’s franchise seems trigger happy with coaches, which indicates to me that the problem is in the franchise upper management that is handicapping a coach with potential, and making them jump from one foot to the next to make a miracle happen!
At least under coach Stevens the Flyers stopped holding on to under-performing veterans, now getting rid of them for younger potential stars! Is it because of Steven’s? Who knows, but maybe he knocked some sense into the shirt and tie stiffs.
Give it another season or maybe two.