The Philadelphia Flyers named former player Daniel Briere interim general manager after firing GM Chuck Fletcher on Friday.
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Rumors had already been circulating for a few days about possible changes in the team’s organization chart. Also, TVA Sports journalist Renaud Lavoie said Wednesday that Brière was among the highly esteemed candidates for the CEO seat.
The Quebecer who played in the City of Brotherly Love from 2007 to 2013 has been able to practice as a leader in recent years. Having become special assistant to the GM before the 2021-2022 campaign, he acted as vice-president of hockey operations for the Maine Mariners, the Flyers’ affiliate club in the ECHL.
The medium and long term future remains to be determined. The concession wishes to have a CEO and a president of hockey operations, she said.
Not enough
For his part, Fletcher was on a tightrope, particularly due to the aborted trade with the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline, March 3. The team wanted to part with striker James van Riemsdyk, but plans fell through at the last minute.
“We have always built a team defined by hard work, determination and high standards of excellence,” Comcast Spectacor conglomerate Chairman of the Board and Chief Dealership Officer Dave Scott said in a statement. . In previous campaigns, we have not achieved these goals and today we will begin a new journey under a different leadership structure in hockey operations.
“We are grateful for his hard work and dedication. We wish him the best of luck. During his time with us, Chuck Fletcher faced significant challenges, including some beyond his control. However, we need to take another direction and approach the future with new leadership.”
The ex-GM was hired on December 3, 2018 and during his reign, the Flyers could not do better than a presence in the second round of the playoffs: in the summer of 2020, in the bubble in Toronto, they had defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the first round and then lost to the New York Islanders.
Philadelphia is in trouble this season and will likely miss the playoffs for the third straight time. Having lost 1-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, head coach John Tortorella’s squad are 24-30-11 good for 59 points and 14th in the Eastern Conference. the National Hockey League.
“Flyers fans deserve better training than they’ve seen in the past few years,” Scott said. We know this is a multi-season process and we are committed to doing it right, as we want to put this club back on the road to the Stanley Cup.”