Alain Vigneault Named Head Coach, 4/15/19

[renberg]

AV is walking into a good situation. I don't believe that this club is the 82 point one that we saw this season. Its more like the 98 point one that was here the year before. The 17-18 team was one that we all thought that would improve on maturity alone. Add in a good year from newly acquired JVR and it should have been a solid PO team this season. This just goes to show how badly Hextall and Hakstol messed up this season.
The debacle in goal is the primary reason that this season went south. There was no way that expecting banged up goalies to be able to hold down the fort until Hart arrived was going to work. It was embarrassing to see AHL level goalies, like Pickard, Lyon and McKenna, playing here when points were on the line much the less cripples in Neuvirth and Elliott. They made every play in front of them seem that much worse. That a former NHL goalie would, as a GM, allow that to happen to his club was atrocious.
That is all behind us now and AV is going to benefit from that. Add to the lineup a couple of competent vets while jettisoning some players from the bottom six that belong in the A and the team will be ready to do some damage next season.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

just as long as this guy comes with him... he's the v in av

any ideas on av's nick name... audio visual? audio video ? the face?

Vivo

 

[dragonoffrost]

Which is why the right GM is more important than the right coach.
Sullivan was brilliant until he loses to the Islanders.
If TB goes down in 4 or 5, is Cooper still a wunderkid.
Lavi has a way of wearing out his welcome in 4-5 years.
And so on.

The right GM doesn't make panic deals at the TDL (he moves 3rd rd picks and 2nd tier prospects for the right patches) and trade away 1st and 2nd rd picks en masse - Sather basically gave away three drafts in NY, no coach can overcome that kind of hole in the talent pipeline. We saw the same thing under Holmgren, when Gorton came in he moved quickly to rebuild, accumulating up to 7 1st rd picks in three years. Hextall either wouldn't or couldn't make as drastic a shift to rebuilding.

The right GM keeps his focus on both the short and long-run, balancing incremental improvements today with keeping the talent flowing tomorrow and avoiding getting squeezed by the cap. Do that, and you can shuffle HCs and win indefinitely.

Is Fletcher the right GM?

We won't know about Fletcher for a few seasons but I bet him and AV have the same shelf life right now. If AV flames out in 3 years Fletcher might be going with him.

 

[deadhead]

One advantage of coming off an 82 point season for a new coach is that expectations are tempered, so he can be more patient, there's not the same "win now" pressure that you'd have taking over a team that had 100 points but fell short in the playoffs a couple times.

It will also make the players more receptive to a new coach and scheme, after a season like last year, they'll be motivated to buy into anything that promises a return to the playoffs.

 

[FlyerNutter]

We won't know about Fletcher for a few seasons but I bet him and AV have the same shelf life right now. If AV flames out in 3 years Fletcher might be going with him.

It’s also basically the last shot for Holmgren at this point, which is comforting to me.

What’s the saying though, a GM has two coaches? Not sure that will be the case here.

 

[dragonoffrost]

It’s also basically the last shot for Holmgren at this point, which is comforting to me.

What’s the saying though, a GM has two coaches? Not sure that will be the case here.

Technically it is Gordon and AV...

 

[macleish1974]

Sorry Dave, but the Office is pseudo-reality TV. I have enough reality as it is with life and the Flyers.
Salieri's operas are boring compared to Mozart's. Salieri did promote Mozart after his death. He was the vocal teacher for both Beethoven and Schubert. Both sucked at opera but both wrote beautiful lieder and masses.

Dave will be horrified when we sign Hayes and Hagelin.

And who wrote irregardless in a comment? Striiker......? It is a double negative.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

On the subject of assistants, Darryl Williams seems to follow Vigneault around, so he’s probably one, as he was only an ECHL assistant this year. Other assistants who have worked under AV, like Arniel, Bowness, & Newell Brown, are employed elsewhere in the NHL. I think Ulf Samuelsson is unemployed, so he could be an option. Otherwise, he’ll probably keep Rick Wilson for the D.

 

[Foggy14]

It could have been worse ...

and has been a lot worse.

 

[CanadianFlyer88]

If Keefe is getting NHL money, then he wasn't available - because they wouldn't have paid him that much to leave, it would have been with the understanding that he was the heir apparent.

The Swedish coach has never coached in NA, so if you thought a college coach is a gamble . . .

And I suspect that Fletcher had a list, checked it twice, and the coaches he wanted weren't available, so he moved quickly to make sure he got one of the few HCs on that list that was palatable.

Gronberg has about a decade of Junior, minors, and college coaching experience in North America, for what it's worth.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Here's a crazy thought: In the last 13 years the Flyers have essentially had one established NHL coach, for just over three full seasons. Since Hitchcock was fired we've put up with Stevens, Berube, Hakstol, and Gordon, with a small slice of Laviolette in between. In his brief sliver, Laviolette coached in the same number of playoff series as the other four combined, and won five of them (Stevens' trip to the Conference Finals were their only other series wins in that stretch).

So, let's lose in the second round next season. It'll be a drastic improvement.

 

[FlyerNutter]

It could have been worse ...

and has been a lot worse.

Alain looks like he just felt something poke him in the rear.

Who is the culprit?

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Is Fletcher the right GM?

That's a good ****ing question.

 

[Foggy14]

The “skeptical” article was written by Mike Sielski, not Sam.

"Coaching is timing. So much of it is timing. And fit. And
circumstance. And a whole host of factors that poke holes in the miracle-worker image that coaches love to create about themselves and that people are happy to believe in."

Is Sielski the worst writer in the world, or just in the English language?

 

[Robert Wills]

Was he my first choice? No, but he has a pretty good track record of success at the NHL level so let’s give him a chance. At the very least it’s a major upgrade from Mr Roboto and Mimsy.

No way man, he will fail

 

[Ghosts Beer]

"Coaching is timing. So much of it is timing. And fit. And
circumstance. And a whole host of factors that poke holes in the miracle-worker image that coaches love to create about themselves and that people are happy to believe in."

Is Sielski the worst writer in the world, or just in the English language?

I don’t hate Sielski but I agree that’s a poorly written passage.

 

[Rich Nixon]

I don’t hate Sielski but I agree that’s a poorly written passage.

The last sentence is pretty good and the setup is pretty bad. If he doesn't repeat "timing," drops either "hole" or "whole," and makes it all one sentence, and punctuates it, and adds some alliteration (because why not) he could get some nice cadence going: "Coaching is timing, and fit, and circumstance, and a whole host of factors that defy the miracle-worker image that bench bosses build around themselves (and that people are happy to believe in)."

It's the sort of section that happens when you're trying to write with ~štÿlę~ but aren't like naturally good at that and are trying to get your takes out into the marketplace of takes in a timely fashion

 

[Strawberry Fields]

Confession, I don't really care for The Office.

Never watched it, never had any interest in it

 

[deadhead]

Gronberg has about a decade of Junior, minors, and college coaching experience in North America, for what it's worth.

Where was he a HC in NA?

 

[deadhead]

The last sentence is pretty good and the setup is pretty bad. If he doesn't repeat "timing," drops either "hole" or "whole," and makes it all one sentence, and punctuates it, and adds some alliteration (because why not) he could get some nice cadence going: "Coaching is timing, and fit, and circumstance, and a whole host of factors that defy the miracle-worker image that bench bosses build around themselves (and that people are happy to believe in)."

It's the sort of section that happens when you're trying to write with ~štÿlę~ but aren't like naturally good at that and are trying to get your takes out into the marketplace of takes in a timely fashion

There are natural writers (a blessed few) and then the workman dorks like myself.
I've written three books and numerous articles, but it took decades to become a decent writer, and the trick I learned was simple: write as fast as possible (to avoid writers block by agonizing over each sentence), then edit, edit, and edit some more until it becomes readable prose.

I think the writer in question is used to throwing it up against the wall and tends to skip the "edit and edit some more" steps.

 

[magnumpi]

Here's a crazy thought: In the last 13 years the Flyers have essentially had one established NHL coach, for just over three full seasons. Since Hitchcock was fired we've put up with Stevens, Berube, Hakstol, and Gordon, with a small slice of Laviolette in between. In his brief sliver, Laviolette coached in the same number of playoff series as the other four combined, and won five of them (Stevens' trip to the Conference Finals were their only other series wins in that stretch).

So, let's lose in the second round next season. It'll be a drastic improvement.

TThere was a time when the thought of a 2nd round lose caused me dread.

Now I would welcome it, at least we'd be relevant for a spring

 

[FlyerNutter]

You know who also never watched the office?

Dave Hakstol.

Don’t be a Dave.

 

[Ruck Over]

Gronberg has about a decade of Junior, minors, and college coaching experience in North America, for what it's worth.

Also has much, much better hair.

Look at that salty beard!

 

[Rich Nixon]

Never watched it, never had any interest in it

It's perfectly adequate entertainment with good ha-has here and there, nothing life-changing or worth going out of your way for. Parks and Rec was the better of the two from the little I've seen.

 

[SuchySays]

It's perfectly adequate entertainment with good ha-has here and there, nothing life-changing or worth going out of your way for. Parks and Rec was the better of the two from the little I've seen.