When Chuck Fletcher took over as the General Manager of the Flyers, he envisioned a long-term commitment to the Draft, while preaching a swift moving rebuild. Fletcher is committed to keeping prospects, but wants to win asap. He has inherited a young Flyers team that is just flat-out inconsistent, and they needed a new face. Well, today it begins as Fletcher has fired former Head Coach Alain Vigneault and has relieved Michel Therrien of his duties as Assistant Coach of the Power Play Unit. Mike Yeo will serve as the interim Head Coach temporarily.
Vigneault (NHL coaching record 714-479-35) was hired by Fletcher on April 15, 2019, as he formerly coached the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, and the New York Rangers. Vigneault eventually groomed Roberto Luongo, Kevin Hayes, and Henrik Lundqvist. However, in year three of his tenure as Head Coach of the Flyers, they are inconsistent once again early in the season, in a season the orange and black were supposed to take the next step in terms of their rebuild. Vignuealt said last night:
“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.” – Alain Vigneault
The three year coach of the Flyers in Vigneault forced Fletcher’s hand into making this coaching change mid-season. After being pummeled 7-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, and enduring a never ending eight game losing streak it appeared. Moreover, the Flyers were supposed to ahead of two of these teams they lost to (New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers) in terms of the rebuild process. The timing of this change is right, and hopefully the orange and black can move in the right direction now.
Hopefully, Fletcher can right the ship, and eventually lead the Flyers proud organization to the promised land. It may take a year to two, but who knows, right? The Flyers finally made a move, and this puts everyone on notice, to include the players. The players share some responsibility for the lack of success this season too, not just Vigneault and his staff. One thing is certain Flyers fans, time will tell how this move pans out.
