The Flyers have a reputation for serving as a graveyard for the wardens. It’s the same story for coaches as well. They never have a long life in Philadelphia, the city that is described as one of brotherly love.
• Read also: The Flyers lose an 8e match away
In the aftermath of a 7-1 thaw against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which extended the black series to eight games without a win (0-6-2), Chuck Fletcher chose to clean up. The general manager of the Flyers has indicated the exit door to Alain Vigneault and his assistant Michel Therrien.
Mike Yeo, who was one of the assistants at Vigneault, will get the mission to relaunch the team as head coach.
“’AV’ was my first big hiring as Flyers GM,” Fletcher recalled at a press conference on Monday. We had a good season in 2019-2020, but we did not manage to get back to this level. We lost our way lately. It’s not just the fault of “AV” and Michel, it’s a combination of several things. But I needed to make changes. “
Since the 2013-14 season, the Flyers will be on a sixth different coach with Yeo at the helm. There has been a significant turnover with Peter Laviolette, Craig Berube, Dave Hakstol, Scott Gordon and Vigneault.
Today Laviolette leads the Washington Capitals, Berube is with the St. Louis Blues, while Hakstol ends up with the Seattle Kraken.
- Listen to Jean-Charles Lajoie’s column with Benoît Dutrizac on QUB radio:
Vigneault will remain patient
Fired by Jeff Gorton and the New York Rangers at the end of the 2017-18 season, Vigneault bounced back with the Flyers for the start of the 2019-2020 year. Fletcher had offered him a golden bridge by awarding him a five-year, $ 25 million contract. Not even halfway through the third year of this lucrative deal, Vigneault lost his job.
With an annual salary of $ 5 million for the next two years, the 60-year-old will have time to be patient before accepting another challenge in the hockey world.
In an exchange of text messages with The newspaper, Therrien declined the invitation to comment on his departure from Philadelphia. The former head coach of the Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins preferred to let the dust settle. He still told columnist Michel Bergeron that he suspected what was going to happen.
Archive photo
Michel Therrien and Alain Vigneault will have joined forces to lead the Flyers for two and a half seasons.
Emotional yeo
The 48-year-old Yeo will begin a third term as head coach in the NHL, following the Minnesota Wild (2011-2012 to February 2016) and the Blues (2016-2017 to November 2018).
When he first lectured as a Flyers pilot, the Ontarian was not like a man who had just side-wheeled in the arena hallway.
“I didn’t sleep very well last night,” he said. It’s a very emotional day for me. I have always been treated very well by these two men. I have a ton of respect for “AV”. I found it very pleasant to work with him. And for Mike, I have a long history with him, we’ve known each other since our days at Wilkes-Barre. ”
“I’m still emotional when I think about it. But it’s special for me to be a member of this organization. I will now have the chance to lead the Flyers. I hope we can turn the ship. It is an exciting challenge. For one second I have emotions on one side and for the next second I have emotions on the other side. “
Laperrière present during a setback
Monday night, on the ice in Philadelphia, the Flyers (8-11-4) lost 7-5 to the Colorado Avalanche.
In addition, the head coach of the school club, Ian Laperrière, was called in to reinforce Yeo’s side for this duel.