Philadelphia Flyers: Chuck Fletcher and Interim Head Coach Mike Yeo Presser

Alain Vigneault, who was hired to start the 2019-20 season, learned this morning that he was being removed as head coach. One of his assistant's, Michel Therrien, was removed as well, while another assistant, Mike Yeo, was promoted to Interim Head Coach. 

The following quotes were provided from the Noon presser by the Philadelphia Flyers media department, with media questions noted:

PhiladelphiaFlyers President of Hockey Ops & General Manager Chuck Fletcher and Interim Head Coach Mike Yeo

Chuck, what is different this time then the last coach of the Flyers, from the other coaches that have been fired in recent years?

CF: First before I answer that, I just want to thank Alain and Michel for their hard work. They worked hard at this and put a lot of time in. They’re good people. They’re good coaches. I’ve certainly been doing this a long time and these days are not fun.

 

In terms of your question, right now, the whole goal through this was I was hoping we could get some people back and get our group together and find out what we have. But we just keep digging a bigger hole right now. As a group, we have to find an identity. To me, our process has been off all year. I’ve asked Mike to come in. He’s a detail guy. He’s had some success in this league.

  

I just felt watching our team last night that we needed to make a change. We need to find a way to spark change with our group and in an ideal world we could have bought more time and waited, but I just felt like we couldn’t wait anymore.

 

You talked about finding an identity. Do you think you can find one with this group? Or do you think you will have to make changes in personnel?

CF: We made a lot of changes in personnel last summer. I do believe this group can be a better team. Right now, it’s everything. I just think our details are lacking right now. Obviously, our confidence is lacking. Guys are struggling. They care. They try. Right now, I just feel like Mike can help us get back to the identity we need to have to win games.

 

Was there any hesitation to pull the trigger knowing we have a back-to-back, 5 in 7, the road trip at the end of the week?

CF: Yeah, there is always hesitation. AV is a good coach. Mike Therrien is a good coach and a good friend. This is not what you’re looking for, but there is never good timing to do this. We’re all complicit. As I said last week, I’m the one who is ultimately responsible. At this point, we need to affect change. We need to play differently. Now is the time.

 

Chuck, in your evaluation, do you feel that AV had lost the locker room and his message was falling on deaf ears at this point?

CF: That’s a hard question. I don’t know that. I honestly don’t know that. I certainly know that he tried, and certainly you go back to the 19-20 season, his message was well received. We were a really good team. Right now, we have lost our way. That’s what we have to find out how good our group is. We have to get guys playing better, playing a little bit differently. Right now, I think a new voice is needed.

 

Chuck, this franchise has won 1 playoff series in 10 years, what are some of the problems that go beyond just who the head coach is?

CF:  I can only speak for the last few years. Two years ago, we did win a playoff round. We got to game 7 in the second round and lost to a pretty good Islander team. We played hard and we played with structure. I do think we have good players. We have good people here and everybody is trying. Again, I can’t speak for the last 10 years. Most of these guys haven’t been here that long. I think only Giroux and Couturier have been here that long. To me, the process right now isn’t right. We have to get back to playing the right way. Defending a little better. The details in our game have to be better and that’s what I’ve asked Mike to do. Mike, in my option, is an excellent coach in that regard and he has the ability to get these guys playing better.

 

You said the process has been off all year. Can you explain that a little more? Specifically, what’s been off and what would you like to see change?

CF: The details in our game, whether it’s our forecheck, defensive zone coverage, transition game. I just would like to see some changes in how we play the game. Obviously, coaches were trying. Everybody’s been trying, but I just think at this point we need a new voice and a new approach.

 

Are you giving Mike the chance to finish out this season or are you starting the hiring process right now?

CF:  No, I’m not starting any process right now other than trying to get this team back on track. I’ve spoken with Mike. He knows there are no promises going forward, but he has his hands on the wheel now. It’s his opportunity to help this team get going in the right direction. As I said last week, I still don’t know truly what we have here, what our group is. As we go forward, I think things will become clear on what we need to do. Going forward, the focus right now is not on interviewing people and rushing to hire a head coach. Right now, it’s to support Mike and get this team playing the right way. Then we can make the decisions we have to make at the right time.

 

Mike, I know you haven’t had a lot of time to think about it, but what changes do you think you are going to implement and who will be the power play coach?

MY:  You’re right. I haven’t had a lot of time to think about that. I can tell you, Daryl Williams will be running the power play meeting. Chuck and I haven’t even had a chance to discuss anything with staff. We both had the same thoughts – “Let’s get into tonight, let’s do what we have to do to make sure we’re ready to go and then we can talk about some of that stuff afterwards.”  

 

Is it difficult to get a chance like this?

MY:  I can tell you that I didn’t sleep very well last night. It’s a very emotional day for me. Both of those guys treated me unbelievably. AV, I have a ton of respect for him. He was really a great person to work with and my history with him goes back a long time. That part I’m still a little bit emotional about. That said, being a member of this organization is really special to me. To be a Flyer and now to have an opportunity like this, not only to stay on board, but to get this opportunity to turn things around and get things going the right way, that’s also incredibly exciting for me, too. One second my emotions are over here and the other, they’re over here. That said, again, I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity and obviously looking forward to tonight to get going.

 

Mike you were in a very similar situation to Alain a few years ago in St. Louis, what did you learn from that experience and what can you bring to help you here?

MY: I learned that it sucks. Obviously, I’ve been on both sides of it. I have experience in St. Louis, which I think could help this year in terms of I was an assistant coach, took over that year and we were able to get things going in the right direction. Get guys feeling good about themselves, build a game that we were able to take into the playoffs, win a playoff round. I think I can lean back on that experience. When I was in Pittsburgh, I was an assistant coach for something similar that happened. We ended up winning a Stanley Cup that year. I’ve been on the other side and what that allows you to do is reflect and obviously since my last head coaching opportunity, I’ve had a couple years to reflect. I would say I have a different perspective in many areas, but I also have a lot of belief in some of the things I think that I’m strong at. This is an opportunity to prove that I’ve grown and I fully believe that I am ready for that.

 

How and when did you tell Alain? And how did he receive it?

CF: I spoke with Alain this morning and Michel. It’s probably what you expect. You’re really disappointed. Alain came here to try to win a Stanley Cup. He’s disappointed he wasn’t able to deliver. In return, I’m disappointed, too that I couldn’t do more for him to avoid being in this situation. He’s been professional guy. He’s a classy guy. We’ll have a chance to have a more in-depth conversation later on. I think they’re both obviously disappointed.  

 

Was Alain angry or surprised?

CF: Angry’s not. We had a very rational conversation. I can’t answer that I don’t know if he felt surprised or not.

 

Why was the decision to relieve Michel Therrien of his duties as well, while keeping the rest of the assistant coaches?

CF: Again, I don’t know if there is any playbook for this. You just go with what you see. I thought we needed a new voice and just thought it was time for this to happen. We’re going to work on finding someone to come in and work with Mike and Daryl as well here over the next little bit if we can find someone to come in and help and help do some of the duties. Again, it’s just what I felt. It was a gut feeling.

 

Mike, Chuck mentioned that the process has been off all year. Having been here all year, what are some of the things that you plan to change?

MY: The biggest thing for me is having watched the Flyers, having coached against the Flyers, been on the other side when you come into this building, it’s not fun. We have to make sure that it’s not fun for other teams, whether we’re on the road or at home to play against the Philadelphia Flyers. Does that mean that we go out and fight everybody every shift? No, it doesn’t. It means that we’re very hard to play against. That can be physicality, that can be the way you defend, the way you pressure, the way you attack. The way that you play as a 5-man unit all over the ice.

 

As Chuck mentioned the word, details. There’s a lot of teams out there that maybe aren’t the most physical team in the world, but they’re very difficult to play against. That’s where we’re going to start. The way that we approach the game, we’ve got to be physically engaged, but we’re going to defend. We’re going to check and the way that we’re going to attack is going to be organized. We’re going to be on the same page. For me, I love to play with the puck. I want us to spend time in the offensive zone. I want us to grind the other team down. I want us to attack the net and when we lose the puck, we want to get it back very quickly

 

How long have you been considering this move? Has it been weeks? Days?

CF: I wouldn’t say weeks. We obviously haven’t won in 8 games. So, when you’re struggling to win games, you try to look at ways to change the narrative and get better. Certainly, it’s something that as we’ve continued during this stretch, it’s given more thought as to what we can do to change the direction. I wouldn’t say it’s been weeks or months of anything. Certainly, something I’ve been thinking about for a few days.

 

Do you think something happened during the pandemic period that made the message not translate as well as it did during the second half of the 2019/2020 season?

CF: It’s a fair point and good question. Clearly, we are chasing a lot of games right now. Whether we’re falling behind in games or we don’t have the puck enough for sure. We’re defending too much. Last year, we’ve been through it. I’m saying this in all sincerity, last year was such a crazy year. I don’t know, just the environment around the game. We obviously didn’t handle it very well. I’ve said that repeatedly. We got knocked down by COVID pretty hard. We had some players really struggle on and off the ice. I didn’t know if that was a one off. We came into this year; we made a lot of changes. I just thought we’d be able to regroup and be quite a bit better than we were last year The first 10 games as I mentioned to you last week, to me, we didn’t have the puck as much as we’d like. We were defending too much. I saw a lot of positive signs. I thought we were doing things better, whether it was goaltending, PK, defensive zone structure.

 

The group cares about each other. There’s good chemistry. This isn’t a case where the room has fallen apart. There are no fractures in there. There was a lot of positive signs I knew we had to build. Before this 8-game streak, we were in a playoff spot. We weren’t playing perfectly, but we were a decent team. A decent team that needed to get better. Now we’ve just completely lost our way. There’s process, now you’ve got confidence. I’m sure you guys saw the game last night. We gave ourselves opportunities to have all kinds of scorning chances. Guys are squeezing their sticks, maybe hesitating a second and shot gets blocked or you pass when you should shoot. Clearly there is not a strong self-belief right now. You give up a goal and you give up a second, and you can see the air come out of the tires. I don’t know. That’s why I said, really was hoping to buy some time to give this group a chance to get all the pieces, get guys going. Whether the timing is right or wrong, this is the decision I made today. This is where we’re at and I believe Mike has the ability. Like he said when he took over in St. Louis, they won 22 of the last 32 games. They knocked my team out in the first round and lost to a pretty good Nashville team in the second round. That team played well, got them playing the right way. I believe he can do that here again.

 

 Given the schedule this week, what is your plan of attack for trying to implement the changes that you have spoken of wanting to make?

MY:  We have to be smart as a staff. If we come in there tonight and show how we want to make a ton of changes, then we are going to play slow. We’re going to be thinking and reacting as opposed to being on our toes. A lot of it for me tonight is a little bit more about attitude than it is about the X’s and O’s. It’s going to take a little bit of time. We don’t have a ton of practice time coming up. Again, it’s not a matter of when you’re talking about being really good at your job, it has to be habit. That’s what we’re going to start working on, building habits. When you get that, you have trust that everybody else is doing their job. Play faster, look faster and again you’re harder to play against. Tonight, we aren’t going to make a lot of big changes just because I don’t think that’s the right approach for this game tonight. In terms of the attitude we bring, we’re going to be ready to compete. We have to make sure we have a next shift, next play mentality. If the other team scores first, we can’t just all the sudden fall apart in our game. We have to start believing in ourselves that if we compete, battle, and play the right way for 60 minutes that we’ll have the right result at the end of the night. That’s going to be more of our approach tonight. And again, the message to the players this morning and going forward in this next little stretch is this is an opportunity for us to start building our game. That’s the most important thing. We can talk about where we want to be at the end of the year, playoffs or everything else. We’re not going to get there unless we start building a game that we play consistently. When you do that, you’re going to start building confidence.

 

Chuck, you have now had 6 head coaches in the last 8 seasons. Is that because of the coaching or the personnel?

CF: Again, I haven’t been here 8 years, so I don’t know. AV was my first big hire. As Charlie mentioned, we had a pretty good stretch there in ‘19-20 and weren’t able to get it back. It’s combination of probably everything. I can’t go back beyond a couple years. Right now, we’ve lost our way. There’s no question. It’s not just all on AV or Michel. It’s on all of us, but I needed to make changes. This is the decision I made today.

 

Do you think this is still a playoff team?

CF: That’s certainly going to be our goal. I think as Mike mentioned, right now, it sounds like clichés, but we have to make sure the process is strong. We have to get back to playing the right way. If we do that, then we have a chance to be a good team. We’ll see. That’s certainly our goal.

 

Mike, have you been able to talk to Alain?

MY: No, I haven’t yet, no. I saw Mike very briefly. No, I haven’t gotten that opportunity yet. Again, what I would say is thank you. He was nothing but outstanding to me and I enjoyed every day that I got to work with him.

 

Is suddenly being on a losing streak built into your psyche as a head coach?

MY: I’ve been on both sides of it before. I’m not a young pup anymore. I’ve been around in the league for a long time, so I’ve seen obviously when times go poorly and why that is and how things can get turned around. What I do know is I like Chuck. I believe in this group, I really do. I believe in where we’re going to get to. For me personally, I’ve learned lessons from the past. Coaches can learn. Coaches can grow. Chuck had mentioned, I’ve had some success. For me, in my opinion, my best days are yet to come. Again, this is a very difficult time. It’s emotional, yet this is an unbelievable opportunity. That’s what all the players in the room have, is an unbelievable opportunity to turn this around. This is not a very good story right now, this season. The nice thing is we have the opportunity to change that, so let’s get to work.

Inside Access: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

 

Introductions

My first trip to the Wells Fargo Center since the virus-shortened 2019-20 season. The organization's media relations department remains, as it has always been, first-rate. The experience has held since 2011 when I was first credentialed.

Pregame as a member of the media includes a good meal (chicken Marsala, with nice sides, soup, and a chocolate chunk cookie) on the lower level, followed by setup. Looking down at the empty arena before any game is always a surreal moment, as personal hockey history, dating back to the 1970s and career sports experience, dating back to the late 1980s, collides. Use of that verb, rather than combines, felt right based on the nature of this sport.

The Philadelphia Flyers (8-9-4) enters the tilt as pressure continues to build, with seven consecutive losses (including one by shootout and another in overtime). The Tampa Bay Lightning (14-5-4). At this pace, the Flyers face a challenge remaining in the playoff hunt. The reigning, two-time Stanley Cup champion Lightning could three-peat.

Claude Giroux is the Flyers leading scorer with 18 points. The Lightning have three players at 20 points or above, led by Steven Stamkos, 26 points. Victor Hedman is second in scoring, with 23 points. That contrasts with the Flyers lack of its top D-man, Ryan Ellis, who was the key off-season addition, is reinforced as a result.

Lightning starters: Former Flyer, goalie Brian Elliott, defensemen Jan Rutta, Hedman, and forwards Alex Killorn, Gabriel Fortier, and Anthony Cirelli.

Flyers starters: Goalie Carter Hart, defenseman Ivan Provorov, Rasmus Ristolainen, Giroux, Cam Atkinson, and Sean Couturier. Also, Patrick Brown returns after missing time due to injury.

The evergreen sound of Lauren Hart, with the digital flag-waving full-ice, as the anthem plays, never tires.

A fitting moment of silence for Flyers executive Phil Weinberg, who recently passed, reminds fans of the family feel that has been a prominent part of this team's storied history. He is considered by many to be second only to founder Ed Snider as the most important off-ice figure in franchise history.

First period

Flyers with the early shot advantage (6-2), through nearly the first seven minutes of the game. A potential Lightning goal review confirmed that the puck did not cross the goal line at 7:08.

Hart's calm demeanor reflects what he's recaptured or re-instituted following last season's sidetrack. However, defensive issues continue.

Tampa goal at 8:24, scored by Ryan McDonaugh (his second goal of the season). Assists from Stamkos and Mathieu Joseph.

The lead doubled exactly one minute later, as Corey Perry scored (his fourth of the season). Assists from McDonagh and former Flyer, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

Flyers are outshooting the Lightning 12-8 with nearly eight minutes remaining in the frame.

Minimal pressure on Moose (who is 36), which he could not claim last season. The volume of games he was needed in during the 2020-21 season wore him down, with this season's move to Martin Jones (32) deemed necessary.

Shots: Philadelphia 14 - Tampa 9

Score: Tampa 2 - Philadelphia 0

Intermission Mites On Ice is always a crowd-pleaser.

Giroux Flyers offensive Time-on-ice leader (6:50) in this period. Last year of his contract and time in Philadelphia? Later season trade potential, if this team does not reverse course and Giroux (who has a no-movement clause) agrees to be dealt from the team he captains.

Second period

Tampa took it to 3-0 at the 2:56 mark. Goal scored by Taylor Raddysh (his second of the season). Assists from Hedman and Ross Colton.

Flyers had a 10-game losing streak during the Hakstol era but made the playoffs. A loss today would put them two away from a double-digit line no one wants to reach.

Game likely out of reach at 6:47. Boris Katchouk (his first of the season). Assists from Colton and Hedman.

During a Flyers power play - A misplay by Hart turned the puck over to Joseph, who scored an unassisted and short-handed goal at 8:34. The goal was Joseph's fourth overall of the season.

That led to Hart's pull from the game, with Jones replacing him.

Strong teams know how to sink the knife on a weakened opponent. Flyers need to regain composure and try to outscore Lightning from here on out to gain something from this game.

Philadelphia out-shooting Tampa Bay 19-17 through slightly over thirteen minutes into the period.

Nothing to show on a power play, as the Flyers' offensive zone confidence was shaken weeks ago.

A goal review took place, with the position of Scott Laughton's stick, when he touched a puck that then crossed the goal line, being in doubt. It was determined that a high stick was used. So, no goal. Yes, it is one of those games for Alain Vigneault's squad.

Shots: Philadelphia 23- Tampa 18

Score: Tampa 5 - Philadelphia 0

Another Mites On Ice gave the crowd something to cheer for.

Third period

The sixth goal was scored by former Flyers' property, Pat Maroon (his fifth of the season) at 5:29. Assists from Perry and Hedman.

A brawl ensued shortly after behind Elliott, with the fans offering a 1970's style cheers. Flyers gained the man advantage at 6:38, hoping to avoid the shutout. And they did, as a deflected goal by Atkinson (his eighth of the season), on a shot by Giroux, made the score 6-1 at 7:04. The other assist went to Keith Yandle.

Atkinson ended a goal drought that dates back to the Flyers last win, on November 16, 2021, against the Calgary Flames. His tally was the OT game-winner.

Perry got his second of the night at 14:15, to make it 7-1. Assists from McDonagh and Colton.

Sean Couturier was hit by a puck in the mouth in the second period, which caused significant bleeding. He returned and was wearing a cage.

Shots: Philadelphia 39 - Tampa 27

Score: Tampa 7 - Philadelphia 1

After the horn sounded

Vigneault and General Manager Chuck Fletcher have not made injury excuses. This team and others have battled that challenge.

Fletcher did change and arguably lengthen the roster in the off-season. But he is still building depth. So, injuries have reinforced organizational challenges that persist. 

The following quotes from the post-game presser are courtesy of the Flyers Media Department, with media questions noted:

Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault

 

You couldn’t have asked for a better start in the first 5 minutes of the game, what happened after that?

That’s a good question. I really liked out energy and we talked about setting a fast-paced game against a team who played last night, which we did initially. I think we still kept going at them hard after their first goal and their second goal for whatever reason hurt us. They were able to find the back of our net after their first couple chances. It didn’t go well for us, and we will have to regroup here since we don’t have a lot of time before we play tomorrow.

 

What do you tell your team after a game like this?

At the end of the day no one is going to feel sorry for us. We had two good practice days and I thought we came out hard, but obviously everything that unfolded after their second goal wasn’t very good. We will get back at it here tomorrow and have a couple quick meetings and get our guys focused on what we need to do on the ice and hopefully we can bring the energy and execution against a really solid team.

 

Are you and the team just struggling for answers right now?

We are looking for solutions to our situation. We all have a job to do and need to get to work and do our part. The guy that is the leader of this group who has both his hands on the steering wheel is me and I have to find a way to get this group to play better. We are in a bad skid right now and we need to end this. We have an opportunity tomorrow night and hopefully we will play better.

 

Will Jones be in goal?

Yes.

Philadelphia Flyers G Carter Hart

 

Is it hard as a team to keep out negative thoughts?

I mean obviously not the result we want, but I think we are trying hard. Just things aren’t going our way right now. It’s tough, but we just have to stick with it. It can be hard to do that when things aren’t going our way, but we just got to keep working. We started off hot and came out hard, but they got a couple early and it went from there. 

 

What happened on your final goal?

I mean I just turned it over and they put it on the net. 

 

Were you okay leaving the crease or do you think you should have stayed?

I mean I was trying to get it off the boards and I didn’t, and it was put in the net. It was a tough break and I have to make a better play. 

Philadelphia Flyers LW James van Riemsdyk

 

James, you guys had basically the start you wanted in the game. When things are going the way they are, how easy is it to have negative thoughts?

Like you said, I thought we got off to a good start. They bent but didn’t break. Unfortunately, when they got a couple, it seemed to snowball on us. It seems to be the way it’s been going for us lately.

 

Does it feel a lot like last season when one thing went wrong, it became part of that downward spiral that you talked all training camp about avoiding. Does it feel like that?

Yeah, it’s hard to say. Certainly, tonight it went that way for sure. I don’t know. It’s hard to really put your finger on it.  Obviously not good enough and I think we’re capable of a lot better.

 

It seems like some guys are passing up opportunities on some pretty good chances or overthinking it. Why do you think that is and how do you go about fixing that?

I think we have a lot of guys in there that really care and want to do well. When it’s not going our way like it is right now, sometimes that can creep in a little bit. I think as hard as it can be, we have to do a good job of staying positive and just sticking to playing direct and try to play with your instincts. That’s usually when you play your best. Obviously, we know we’ve dug ourselves a little bit of a hole here, but we have a big game tomorrow night. We have to have the mindset and the attitude that it starts tomorrow and have a good game, good first shift, good first period, and then build off that.

 

Philadelphia Flyers RW Cam Atkinson

 

AV said he’s the one with his hands on the steering wheel, is it a little embarrassing when you come out and perform like that and he’s the one who has to take the heat?

Absolutely, it’s not a little embarrassing, at the end of the day it’s the players that have to dig deep, and obviously stick together. I’ve been in a lot worse situations than this. At the end of the day, we have to take a little pride in coming to the rink and battling. It’s ultimately the players that are going to dig ourselves out of this. I think we had a good conversation after the game. Luckily, we have another opportunity tomorrow to just play the right way- play hard, play for each other.

 

Do you think you guys are over-passing, overthinking certain plays in the offensive zone?

Yeah, sometimes or most of the times it looks like we’re trying to pass the puck into the net. We need to shoot the puck. That’s where you get rebounds. I think we’re trying to be a little too cute. We score all our goals in the dirty areas. We’re not in position to try making those plays. The more shots, the more opportunities we’re going to get. Sometimes when you get those opportunities, it goes off your shin pad, or off your skate, whatever it is.

 

You said there was a conversation between the players after the game. What was the theme of that conversation?

I think, I said in the first question, just play with pride, play for each other. Obviously, we’re embarrassed. There’s no question about that. Our fans are, they support us, and to lay a goose egg like that in front of them, it’s embarrassing. Take a hard look in the mirror and we have another opportunity tomorrow. Let’s get back on track.

 

Philadelphia Flyers C Claude Giroux

 

AV talked about how you guys had two good days of practice and liked where everyone was. The you have a game like tonight, how do you reconcile those two things?

We started well and had some good shifts. They scored the one and they played the right way.

 

Do you get the sense that right now this is a fragile team, where one thing goes wrong and it snowballs?

I mean if you look at the game tonight, yeah. I think that is pretty accurate. I have played a lot of embarrassing games, and this is definitely one of them. We need to figure it out pretty quick here.

 

Cam said you guys had a good conversation in the locker room after the game, what was the theme of that conversation?

Well obviously, that is going to stay there. Personally, I have been on a team here where we lost 10 in a row and made the playoffs, so I know it may be weird to say but we do have confidence in each other. We can be a dangerous team and we know we can win some hockey games. Right now, we just need to find our swagger, compete and play 60 minutes. Right now, we just aren’t doing that.

Tampa Bay Lightning G Brian Elliott

 

After spending so much time here, was this an important experience/game that you win?

Anytime that you come to a building that you’ve played a while at, you want to have success, you want to shake off the demons. It’s something that you definitely circle in the calendar and if you get a chance to play you want to do your best. We’re coming off a game that we probably didn’t play our best, in Boston we got two points and back-to-back while they were waiting for us. It’s sometimes the recipe for disaster but I thought our guys responded, saw some big goals from the young guys coming through with fresh legs. Get seven, hopefully get a win.

 

Did you hear some of those Moose calls in the stands?

No, you never know if it's a ‘boo’ or a ‘moose’, so you try not to listen to them. It was the same when I was playing here. You try to zone it out.

 

First five or so minutes of the game you had to be really sharp coming off the back-to-back, until your team got their legs going, how aware of that are you as a goalie and can you talk about that first stretch there for you?

They’re a desperate team over there, I’ve been in that situation with the same team. It’s not a good feeling when you’re not getting the results you want. We knew they were going to come hard with a bit of a push. I thought we did a really good job weathering it and moving on from that. It shows the maturity and the culture in our room to be able to do that. It’s a big two points to bag and move on to the Canadian leg of our trip here.

Philadelphia Flyers - Patience Is the Temporary Key

 

The Philadelphia Flyers have fallen on hard times in recent weeks. The seven-game losing streak is a cause for concern. 

The Flyers negative goal differential (50 goals scored, verses 65 allowed) is meaningful. Those simple numbers mean that Alain Vigneault's injury-impacted squad ranks 28th in the National Hockey League in offense and 19th in defense. 

The immediate road ahead is tough. But seasoned General Manager Chuck Fletcher struck the right tone at his recent presser. He is practicing temporary patience. 

Of course, it is much harder for the fan base to do so, as expectations for a playoff berth were in mind when the season started. That is still possible but becomes more challenging as the division plays out and the schedule unfolds.

Philadelphia Flyers Encouraging Start Makes Sense

The Philadelphia Flyers went 2-1 on the road trip. There have been good starts in several games this season despite being blanked (4-0) by the Calgary Flames. 

It is fair to attribute the Flyers .643 winning percentage to this point in the early season (4-2-1) to Alain Vigneault's ability to have regular practice sessions with his club. The head coach mentioned the inability to do so last season, with that point of explanation not representing an excuse.

President, Hockey Operations and General Manager, Alternate Governor Chuck Fletcher earned the ability to sport the titles that precede his name. That experience and his assertive style allowed a significant change to the club's roster in the off-season. 

AV has a roster that includes several veteran additions. Their experience and production to date are noticeable. The four lines and defensive pairings are deeper and productive. Goaltending has been solid as well. 

There are issues to work on, including taking unnecessary penalties and ranking twentieth on the PK. 

The Flyers were 4-2-1 to start last season. But this one feels different so far. That is purely subjective, as is much of life. 

Interesting Head Coach Contrast: Alain Vigneault and Dave Hakstol

The expansion Seattle Kraken's early-season appearance allowed an interesting glimpse at the contrasting in-game and post-game presser styles between current Philadelphia Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault and former head coach Dave Hakstol. 

Of course, Hakstol is Seattle's first-ever bench boss, with the appearance in Philadelphia serving as Seattle's fourth game in its inaugural season. 

The following is provided courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers Public Relations Department...

Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault

Obviously it’s still early in the season, but is this kind of like a road map of how you want this particular team to play?

Well I definitely liked a lot of things about tonight's game, again in our start we made two major mistakes and we got two big saves right off the hub. A breakaway, a tip, and not two but three great saves, and then the one where Carter just threw himself. I mean that’s basically the difference of whether they score and they get a little confidence and a little more energy.  If they don’t score, they come right back and the next 10 minutes we’re in their zone and we score three. That was not the whole game there, but without a doubt it set us in the right direction.

 

What does it do for a team when a guy sticks up for his teammates? 

I mean, any team that has success in this league has got that ”'I’ve got your back” mentality, and there’s no doubt that everyone had their back, from Seels doing what he had to do, to Tommer, I mean that’s a tight knit group and that’s what you need to have to have success. 

 

Going back to the first period, is that the difference between that game on Friday and this one where you’ve got a lot of good play, dominant play in the first period, but you don’t get much you get the one goal, then this time you get 3?

Yeah I mean, two different games because in the one on Friday, in my estimation, we got in a lot of trouble in the second period. Tonight, we got those big saves right off the hop.  Carter was tested. He wasn’t tested last game really in that first period. He was tested, made the saves, gave confidence to our group, we scored, and in the second period we were able to get two early there. It’s a tough league but to come back from 5 is very challenging and our guys were playing well and I thought we played well for the whole game. 

 

How did you assess the penalty kill tonight? 

We didn’t give up much. Our guys obviously have been spending a lot of time, Mike Yeo has been spending a lot of time with our group there that we used to kill penalties tonight. Confident that it’s going to be a confidence builder for our group and we’re going to need to continue.

 

Alain, did that fight from Seeler really tell you a lot about him?

Right now in our group he’s our seventh defenseman.  He usually plays maybe 50 games or more, so he’s going to play for us. Our scouts and our management knew what we were getting. He didn’t play last year, but they identified him exactly how he is. A very good skater, plays the game hard, stands up for himself and his teammates, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen so far. 

Seattle Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol

There were many scoring chances and after that the team didn’t really much look like the team we have seen in the first three games. I am wondering what you saw from the bench with regards to their energy level and the chances they had after those.

We had a really competitive start in the first ten minutes and we did have a couple of good scoring chances. Like I said we had a good competitive start and we gave up our first goal from 200 feet away which was a theme tonight on probably four of their goals. We got beat up. After that first goal we got back on our heels and we really didn’t regain any consistent push.

Was it a matter of effort or just overall energy?

There are a lot of things it looks like. We were out of sync. We couldn’t put ourselves back on the right track. That is the end result

Was it a tough decision at all to pull Grubauer and make that change?

No, and you know what if I had a do over I would have gotten him out of there one sooner, so no. Not indicative of his play whatsoever. He has played a lot of hockey for us and he has been outstanding.

The guys we just spoke to earlier they were saying the things that have been normal staples of our game: communication, forechecking and all those things weren’t there for us tonight. When you hear your players being that self-aware what does that tell you going forward? Not much really needs to be said on your end or how do you asses that?

That’s a positive thing there is an understanding of that. We have to look at it and we obviously don’t have a lot of time, but we will look at those things and we have to get back into our game really quickly. There is a dropped puck 20 hours from now in New Jersey. I look at the goals we gave up and like I said there were at least four of them from at least 150 feet away that began through a turnover or some other type of play up ice and then those plays ended up in the back of the net.  Those are things that absolutely can’t happen.

There is the context that this is a group still trying to figure things out I mean this is only game 4 of the season, game 4 of your whole existence do you think about that context or do you not think about that context?

I think of the perspective that we have a job to do and that’s what we are here to do and tonight we didn’t do that. You have to turn the page quickly yet you still have to take what we can from this game here tonight. Can’t just wipe it off the slate you have to take the lessons out of it. If there is a growth opportunity for our team we have to grab it and most importantly we have got to be a better hockey team tomorrow night.

Inside Access: Philadelphia Flyers End of Season Presser - Chuck Fletcher & Alain Vigneault

The Philadelphia Flyers 2020-21 season didn't prove out as expected, as a playoff birth wasn't achieved. 

Philadelphia Flyers President and General Manager Chuck Fletcher and Head Coach Alain Vigneault met with the media today. I did not attend today's presser, but am providing this information for Insight reader's reference. The follow transcript is provided courtesy of Flyers media relations staff: 

Can you go into the reason behind the slide this season?

 

AV: I think I have a couple of theories. After starting the season where we got of results-wise to a good start, mainly due and a lot due to we had some real solid goaltending. Our team started to play better. Our goaltending slipped a little bit. COVID hit us and after COVID, all we basically did was play games and not practice. I think this group because we’ve got veteran players, just a small group of players in that middle age frame of 27-28 and a lot of younger players. Those younger players when the game slips a little bit were not quite executing the way we need to have success. You have to practice and we didn’t have any practice time. I’m not saying that’s the reason. A lot of things happened, but I’m going to need some time to reflect on it. But I do think that played a part in our game slipping and our season going the way it did.

 

Your number one priority is probably looking for a right-handed defenseman. What would you say your number two priority is in the offseason?

 

CF: I think we have quite a few priorities. Looking outside the organization certainly we could upgrade everywhere, up front, defense. Certainly we’re going to have to take a look at our situation in goal, which has kind of been a constant struggle here for years. We have different areas we have to look at. We also need a lot of our young players to be better. I would say with the exception of Joel Farabee that the majority of our players plateaued or took a step back this year. That’s a big concern for me. Since 2014, this franchise has put a lot of time and effort into drafting and developing young players. Frankly, for us to take a step forward, we’re going to need that group of players to take on a bigger role, play better, and help us win games. We’re going to have to look outside the organization, but certainly it’s difficult to replace the whole team. You’re going to need your young players to take a step and be better. They have a big summer ahead of them. Hopefully as things normalize, this offseason hopefully it’s easier for many of these young players to skate, train and prepare more normally than maybe they were able to do last offseason. We’re hopefully that we’ll see an energized group of players come training camp.

 

When a team goes into a slide like that, someone has to step up and try to salvage the season. Because that didn’t happen, does that give you concern about the mix of players in the locker room and that no one was able to halt that for you guys?

 

CF: I think that’s something we’ll take a look at. I don’t know that I’m sitting here questioning our leadership. I thought our leaders played hard this year.  If you look at the last couple months, nobody played harder than Claude Giroux. Sean Couturier played really hard on his line, carried our team early in the season. Jake Voracek led our team in scoring again, or tied for the lead. A lot of these players that have been here a while I thought did their part. Hockey’s a team sport. Twenty players on the ice. I don’t know that one guy giving a speech in a dressing room or doing something can turn a season around. We had tough March, there’s no question. We had 17 games in that month. I’ve never been on a team that played 17 games in a month. I think I’ve been on a team that played 16 maybe once. Typically you’re playing 15 games a month, so it was tough. There wasn’t a lot of time to reset. A lot of other teams went through it. It was probably a harder time to go through when you’re struggling, you don’t have much time to practice or reset as AV mentioned. To me, I’m not sure leadership is the first thing I’m looking in this group, but we’ll take some time over the next few weeks here to look at every angle. Find a way to plug the holes we need to plug.

 

Alain, did this season cause you to think about not coming back next year?

 

AV: I came to Philly to win a Stanley Cup. I told Chuck last week or the week before when we were officially eliminated that I sort of felt like I’ve let everyone down here, from him to ownership to our fans to our players. Just after the start that we had, got the team playing better, and then like I mentioned goaltending, COVID and no practice time. I wasn’t able to put the ship back on track. I’m going to need some time obviously on a personal level to reflect on the season. Like the rest of society, it’s our first pandemic that we go through. There’s obviously some things reflecting on that we might want to change how I handled and how I did things. On a personal level, I’m going to need some time to get the emotion out of the way and analyze this properly. Another thing I did say to Chuck because talking about our young players and Joel Farabee taking strides. The difference between Joel Farabee, an American who stayed in the States and was able to train, and our Canadian players, all the ones that went back to Canada. G had a good year. More experience. Coots, in my estimation, had a good year but didn’t have a Coots-type season like he had with me last year. If I look at all the other players that went to Canada, they struggled. Whether its’ because of lack of training possibilities, lack of skating possibilities. One of my questions when meeting with the players this afternoon is what are you doing this summer.  If things stay the way they are right now in Canada, they’re going to have to make some adjustments to their summer plans. This is just our team. I can’t reflect throughout the rest of the NHL, but our team, the Canadian players that went back to Canada had a challenging time.

 

What does the coaching staff leave you with when you see the young players take a step back like this?

 

CF: That’s why, to be honest with you, I’m happy we have this experienced coaching staff. AV, Mike Therrien, Mike Yeo and Ian Laperriere, they’ve seen a lot of different scenarios during their time in the league. I’m fully confident that they’ll have the best approach on how to bring these players back. Some of it has to fall on the players. It’s up to the players to be prepared to come into camp next year. As AV alluded to, a couple of those kids that did go back to Canada, I remember speaking to them in October and November, they were having a hard time getting ice time. They were having a hard time, gyms were shut down. Some of them had some adjustments to make and were having a tough time doing the training they normally do. Our expectation is that they will be able to find a better path to train this offseason. Certainly there’s some personal responsibility for every one of us in terms of how we perform and how we do our job. Having a veteran coaching staff gives me comfort that we’re going to find the right solutions to get these players back to where we need to get them to.

 

You’ve mentioned about doing things differently based on things you learned this year. Is there a silver lining that since you didn’t have the practice time that you learned about the way the players process the game and how they need to be coached?

 

AV: There’s no doubt that knowing your players more is beneficial. You know what makes them tick. You know what can help them and what’s not going to help them. At the end of the day, what I need, Chuck can’t give me. Society can give me though. I need a normal season. I need people to go out and get vaccinated, so that we can have a normal season next year.  I’ve been here two years and we haven’t had one of those. I want guys coming into camp, having trained in a normal way in the summer. I want to go through a normal camp. I want to go through a normal season that’s 82 games worth. I want to go through normal playoffs where you play in front of your fans. You feel the energy. You feel the passion. You go on the road, tight knit group. You try and win on the road. Chuck can’t give me a normal season, but society can if we do our part. Hopefully we can all get there for next year.

 

If you had to pinpoint the most glaring hole on the roster, what would it be? Do you think you can address it during the offseason?

 

CF: We’ll certainly try. We’re going to take time here over the next month to meet with our group. We’ll analyze everything between now and then. We’ll have good meetings. Look, we finished 31^st in the league in goals against. I’d say the last 15, 16 years for this franchise, we’ve had a tough time keeping the puck out of our net consistently. Since I’ve been here, we were 27^th in the league defensively, I believe, my first year. Last year, we climbed to 7^th and this year we fell to 31^st. It’s clear that when you give up the number of chances and the number of goals we did this year, you’re going to have a tough time winning hockey games. We need to improve our ability to keep the puck out of the net and everything that goes with that is what we’ll look to do this offseason.

 

Where do you see the improvements that Carter Hart needs? How is he medically?

 

CF: The second part, I believe he’s fine. He’s been on the ice a few days. I think he’s basically back to full health. In terms of the first part, I’m not a goalie coach or a goalie expert. I don’t know that that’s for me to speak to. I think Carter’s no different than a lot of 22 year-old individuals. Every walk of life, whether you are in college, working or in sports, he’s a young man that’s finding his way. We’ve asked a lot out of Carter. He’s a precocious talent. He’s climbed the ladder very quickly. This year didn’t go the way he had hoped, the way we had all hoped, but there’s a lot of talent there. I think our expectations is that Carter will make the adjustments necessary and come back, be the goalie we all want him to be and that he expects to be. He’s a top-end talent. It’s a tough league, but he’ll make the adjustments he has to make and he’ll return to form.

 

How much did the goals against average accumulate over time weigh down the offense?

 

AV: There’s no doubt it was a very challenging season in the aspect that we were chasing most of the games. At the end of the day, that’s on me, it’s on team preparation. The players have their responsibility also in the sense that they have to get in themselves in the right mental state to go out there and be able to execute and make the right plays.  Our starts made it very challenging. Always chasing the game is a challenge. When you score the first goal, I think the percentage of you winning that game are over or close to 75 percent. In all aspects our offense sort of dried up towards the end there. Our defense as much as we improved from the beginning, we weren’t giving up as many shots or scoring chances. We just had a hard time keeping the puck out of our net as a team and then our offense dried up. At the end of the day, it led to the season that we had.

 

Why do you feel like you will be able to make the changes needed this offseason when you haven’t been able to make them in the past?

 

CF: Well, we’ll see.  We’ll have to look at a few different areas to improve, but I anticipate there being some players available. We’ll have to go out and see if we can add the right player. Certainly last offseason, we looked at a lot of different options. Some cases didn’t break the way we’d hoped and in some cases it wasn’t the perfect fit for the type of player we were looking for. We’re going to have to be creative and find a way to improve where we can.

 

Can you give a medical update on the players? Also, do you know which players are going to the World Championships?

 

CF: I really don’t know on either as of right now. Our players will continue doing their medicals later on today and doing some imaging today and tomorrow. We’ll have a better answer on that with respect to offseason surgeries probably over the next few days. I don’t have a full update yet on the World Championships. I know some players were still mulling things over as the season came to an end. Hopefully we’ll have a better idea on that too as we meet with the players over the next day or two.

 

Is Nolan Patrick’s season a product of being away from the game for a year and not being able to get into a rhythm? Also, is it a concern that his tentativeness will be tough to overcome down the road?

 

CF: I think on a positive front, Nolan was able to physically get through this season. After missing the 18, 19, 20 months, whatever it was of not playing, I think it’s a positive that he was able to complete the season. He took some big hits. He played. From that standpoint, that’s something he can build off of. He wasn’t fully cleared to play until just prior to camp. He’s one of those players that I’m not sure had a normal offseason. Personally, I believe there’s another level to his conditioning and strength he can get to as he can train. I think he wasn’t skating the same, particularly in back to back games. You could see a drop-off in his skating. I do think there’s some things that could be improved just by being healthy and having a normal summer. I think we’ll have a better feel where Nolan’s at into next year. Our expectation is that he has a great summer, gets a little stronger, and gets a little more explosive. Comes into camp in a type of condition that he wasn’t able to achieve this year. That in turn will allow him to play the game in a higher level.

 

What did you see from Nolan this year? Was he worried about getting hit in the head?

 

AV: I didn’t know Nolan from before. He didn’t play last year. The only thing that I can really say is that there’s no doubt that he had a challenging year. Positively, like Chuck mentioned, was the fact that he was able to play the whole year. Hopefully with a season under his belt and a normal summer of conditioning, training and skating, he comes back next year. He’s a good player for us. This year there’s no doubt was very challenging.

 

How differently do you assess this season compared to a normal season with all the situations due to COVID?

 

CF: It was really challenging. Maybe some teams handled it better than we did. I think of the 28, 29 players that were around our team this year, counting the players on the taxi squad, 20 players over the course of the last five or six months had COVID. We got hit pretty hard at various times. Some players seemed to come back stronger. I give Giroux a lot of credit, Voracek. Some of these guys came back and seemed to get better. Other players seemed to struggle. Other players got hit in November and December right before camp, which wasn’t ideal for coming into a shortened camp in top shape. Every team had to deal with it. We did the best we could. On a personal level, I will not be tired of living the protocols every day. They were necessary but it seemed like we spent an awful lot of time making sure that we were following protocols and doing things right, trying to keep people safe and healthy versus managing your team. It was necessary. It was so important that we played hockey this year. It was great from a league standpoint that we were able to play hockey. There were definitely a lot of challenges.

 

What is your level in confidence with Carter Hart being the guy going forward? Should he be one of the Canadians that need to stay state-side in the offseason?

 

AV: My level of confidence in Carter is very high. He’s a good young man. He probably went through the first time in his life, his career, adversity. You have to go through adversity to get better and to grow. He’s gone through that. He’s playing the toughest position in hockey. He’d only played a small sample, a couple of games his first year, twenty-some what. A lot of those games, meaningless in the sense that the team was out. Last year, played and had a good season. He was real good at home, improved on the road, then we went into the bubble. He played well for us there. This year, he got off to a good start and then it became challenging. He faced some adversity. I think that adversity is good. It’s going to make him better. He’s still a very young player playing a real tough position. With the right mindset, the right attitude and the right work ethic moving forward, he’s got all the capabilities to become a real solid goaltender. Now he’s got to go out and prove it.

 

Are you saying that if we don’t have normal conditions for next season that you won’t be back? Or are you saying that if there are normal conditions, you definitely will be back?

 

AV: No, I came to Philly to win a Cup. I believe that last year we took positive strides. Its’ not always on the upswing. There’s ups and downs to win a Cup. You just look throughout history, the Tampa Bays and the Washington. To get to the ultimate goal, there’s some struggles and there’s some adversity. We’re going through some. It’s going to make us better. It’s going to make our group better. I haven’t changed my mind that I can accomplish my goal. We can all accomplish our goal because Chuck has the same goal I have. Ownership has the same goal. Our fans have the same goal. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and that’s what were going to do. We’re going to take a little down time here. This has been a challenging year. We’ll get right back at it here in the next little while and make sure we’re better next year. I’m just stating that I’d like to coach the Flyers in a normal year. With everything going on in the world, I don’t want to make it sound like I’m complaining because it’s been hard on everyone. I would really enjoy coaching the Flyers in a normal year and in a normal setting.

 

In training camp, you said that making the playoffs was non-negotiable. How much does that bother you that you didn’t make playoffs?

 

AV: There’s no doubt that it’s very hard to take. Like I mentioned, I feel like I’ve let people down. I’m going to regroup, analyze and come back better next year. It didn’t go the way we anticipated. It’s adversity. If adversity can help Carter Hart become better, adversity can help Alain Vigneault get better. Adversity can help the Flyers get better. Maybe the Flyers have been through a lot of that in the last little while, but it’s our job, Chuck and I, to get these players to play up to their full potential. That’s what we’re going to do starting next year.

-----End of transcript.

(On a personal note - I've been credentialed since 2011. The Flyers media relations staff has been and remains first class. My thanks to everyone for their consistent professionalism.)