Honest question you you and to those who don't like the AV hire.
Who was the guy you wanted? The unsafe hire? The unknown commodity?
Personally I think AV was the best guy available hands down after Quenneville followed the sun.
I absolutely didn't want another guy who was going to be cutting his teeth for the first time (Berube/Hakstol/Stevens) or a guy who was an AHL coach with middling success at the NHL level(Gordon) or an over rated one and done type guy (Guy Boucher).
I want the guy who has a long record of taking teams with middle of the road talent and getting them to play better than the sum of their parts. That is AV in a nutshell.
So who was the guy you all wanted?
- MBFlyerfan
Obviously, almost everyone would have been happy with Quenneville, and I personally would have been okay with Gordon (loved his analysis and plan to approach next season.) I see no point in the further criticism going on as Gordon didn’t get the job, and I would like it if he stays with the organization.
I also wouldn’t say that I’m unhappy with A.V or dislike the choice. It is odd to me that the interview process was so short with few candidates. I think the process was maybe both shorter and less extensive than I would have guessed to come to the result that Fletcher did.
That said I won’t know if I really like it for years. It is a little polarizing in the feedback. Both too much sunshine to be real and too much criticism to be valid. If for instance, Vigneault takes the Flyers to an out in the second round of the playoffs next season but they miss the playoffs the following one, we’ll talk again about this.
Personally, I don’t think this decision is just about being more competitive next season only. The goal is to win the Stanley Cup and then remain competitive to repeat. The head coach is just one of the many decisions Fletcher needed to make. I prefer to watch and see how the rest plays out before I have a better idea if I should feel optimistic or not.
