Not too many. But few coaches had more pressure on them. GM Holgrem thought he had the missing pieces for a long run in the playoffs by bringing in Chris Pronger and Ray Emery. He was sure he could compete with the Penguins with this lineup. Instead the they are in a fight just to make the playoffs. I think you will see more of these types of firings. Teams rebuilding are less likely to waste money by firing coach and having 2 on the payroll. With the cap, you can't make trades to shake up your team. It's a lot easier to fire the coach.
The Flyers are now 10th in the conference and have gone eight periods without a goal, plummeting to ninth in average goals-scored per game (2.96). They're on a 3-7 skid.
The Flyers have 10 games in the next 17 days; all of them in the Eastern Conference, and all but two of them against teams that are ahead of them or tied with them in points. It's an absolutely critical time for the team to snap out of its slump.
Stevens is just not the right guy for a pressure cooker environment like Philadelphia (it's not just Toronto that is a tough market to coach in). Peter Laviolette is much more appropriate and may be more able to light a fire under this team.
12 years ago
