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Yeo vows to make the Philadelphia Flyers hard to play against |
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When Philadelphia Flyers president and general manager Chuck Fletcher was asked at a post-firing press conference whether Alain Vigneault had lost the locker room, he said he couldn't answer that.
"That’s a hard question," Fletcher said. "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."
But if Fletcher couldn't get a read on it, then he already had his answer.
When players support their coach, you can always tell. When it's difficult to ascertain what is happening in the dressing room, then it's past time to make a move.
Eight consecutive losses, including a 7-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Most coach firings probably are unfair, but this one was warranted.
These Philadelphia players seem rudderless, their confidence seems shattered. That's on the coach.
"Right now, we have lost our way," Fletcher said. "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."
Fletcher said he thought the team's process, the details of their games, has been off since the beginning of the season.
"Whether it’s our forecheck, defensive zone coverage, transition game," Fletcher said. "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."
Some fans would have preferred the Flyers make a splash and hire Rick Tocchet for example. Tocchet was recently inducted into the Flyers version of their Hall of Fame. He understands the team's history, the fan base, what it means to be a player.
The Canucks did that Monday, opting to hire coach Bruce Boudreau who has a national persona for a variety of reasons.
Fletcher opted to hire Mike Yeo on an interim basis.
"I’m not starting any process right now other than trying to get this team back on track," Fletcher said. "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."
One of Yeo's primary missions is to turnaround the team's power play. The Flyers rank 28 in scoring (2.32 goals per game) mostly because their power ranks 30th (13.4%).
Clearly, Yeo has an idea of what he wants to do with this team.
"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," Yeo said. "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."
According to Yeo, that's where his Flyers are going to start changing.
"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," Yeo said. "...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."
The other reason why an interim coach makes sense is that we can guess that Fletcher's performance will be reviewed after the season. The Flyers have only won one playoff series in a decade. That's not all on Fletcher. He was hired in the 2018-19 season.
However, Fletcher was hired to transform this franchise into a contender and he clearly hasn't made enough progress in that mandate. He hired Vigneault and he has made significant changes since he took over.
What we haven't seen since Fletcher took over is sustained success. If Yeo can't right this ship, Fletcher could also be out of a job. If there is going to be a new GM, then he should have the say who coaches beyond this season.
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