If Berube is fired, who would you like to see behind the Flyers bench?

[Ghosts Beer]

Hahahaha. Well, that certainly makes more sense. Nicely played.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Luke Richardson is a very interesting name I thought of myself the other day for the same reason you did: His turning down of the Ottawa job.

Pure speculation, of course, but he was a teammate of Hextall's (though I have no idea about their relationship), and it's not outside the realm of possibility he's waiting for the Flyers job to open.

Binghamton where he coaches is apparently close to Cornell University where his daughter goes to school & plays hockey as a junior. It's been speculated that's why he may be waiting out.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Binghamton where he coaches is apparently close to Cornell University where his daughter goes to school & plays hockey as a junior. It's been speculated that's why he may be waiting out.

I did hear that and agree that is probably the more likely reason. Especially after the tragedy with his younger daughter.

 

[bb12]

Is john Biebe or Judge Walters availble to pick up for coaching...They did take a group of pond hockey players to a close game vs NYR

 

[gopreds19]

Honest question from a Preds fan. Was Lavys firing a knee jerk over reaction? The honeymoon phase for him in Nashville has been good, but the scouting report was that he sours with the team after a few years. Is that what happened in Philly or do you think he would be better now in philly in hindsight?

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Honest question from a Preds fan. Was Lavys firing a knee jerk over reaction? The honeymoon phase for him in Nashville has been good, but the scouting report was that he sours with the team after a few years. Is that what happened in Philly or do you think he would be better now in philly in hindsight?

It wasn't all his fault but his time was up here. He's a big time motivating type of coach that gets results in the early goings but eventually it wears thin.

 

[ILoveStephanieBrown]

Honest question from a Preds fan. Was Lavys firing a knee jerk over reaction? The honeymoon phase for him in Nashville has been good, but the scouting report was that he sours with the team after a few years. Is that what happened in Philly or do you think he would be better now in philly in hindsight?

pretty much a mixture of the players tuning him out, and players not being suited for his system (obviously the latter is more on Holmgren)

 

[Beef Invictus]

Yep. Combo of him not making good decisions for the last year or two, a roster ill-suited for him, his own inability to adjust his own system for the roster, players tuning him out. Hartnell later said nobody really knew what they were supposed to be doing, whether they were a defensive team or a guns-out team so guys probably just gave up.

 

[Random Forest]

Honest question from a Preds fan. Was Lavys firing a knee jerk over reaction? The honeymoon phase for him in Nashville has been good, but the scouting report was that he sours with the team after a few years. Is that what happened in Philly or do you think he would be better now in philly in hindsight?

Peter Laviolette is a masterful motivator. Using only his words, he can be a major boost to a team. When he starts with a new team, the result can be truly inspiring. Players seem revitalized under him. You see energy from players you never saw before. He gets everything out of his team. I don't know if you guys have seen it yet, but when his team is reeling and he calls a time out, the change in energy and attitude of the team can be freaky.

The problem with words, though, is after a certain point, hearing the same thing starts to lose its motivational effect. Not really his fault, but that's just the way things work. It's like listening to the same song during every single workout. After a while, it gets you less and less pumped, and it's time for a new playlist. With Laviolette, after a certain period, his flaws begin to be a little more poignant. Namely his reluctance to change and difficulty adjusting become emphasized.


He's a very good coach, though, but as others have said above, he has a shelf life shorter than most. For the first season or two, he's a terrific coach and can give you some inspiring hockey to watch. The Predators' success is among the least surprising storylines of this season so far, imo. But in two years, I envision you may become a little frustrated with him after his message wears a little thin.

If you are going to challenge for a Cup, this is your year to do it with Laviolette, I think.

EDIT: So to answer your question, no, it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to let him go. The Flyers just weren't inspired by him anymore, and it's impossible to get that back once it's gone.

 

[gopreds19]

Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't expected these results, and hope he keeps it up. Philly is still one of my favorite teams to cheer for despite the Weber attempted coup.

 

[Curufinwe]

Homer was just making sure you guys couldn't trade him to the Rags.

 

[Rebels57]

Much like players, coaching can improve over the years too. A lot of people don't mention that. As others have mentioned, Lavvy is a masterful motivator. Wait until you guys hit a slump and he calls a timeout and his face looks like it's going to explode. It's pretty awesome. IF he can improve upon his reluctance to adjust lines and strategy when the going gets tough or when the dynamics of the changes, he can be a tremendous coach for a long time.

 

[Larry44]

Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't expected these results, and hope he keeps it up. Philly is still one of my favorite teams to cheer for despite the Weber attempted coup.

Guys have touched on his motivation by yelling technique, but to me Lavy's major flaw is his refusal to adapt his system. He used a stretch system in which the forwards break early. The Preds have the D to do this. Once Pronger went down, the Flyers didn't have enough.

The system leaves the D alone back there, it's not a 5 man system with close gaps.

It was a nice change at first and worked - all the way to a Final against a team that played the same way but had better Ds and Gs.

The problem was that the divisional teams catch on and beat you with the trap. And Lavy refused to adapt. He could never beat the Devils or Rangers when he was here.

Eventually his systems fail at the same time his beatching gets old, and he moves on....

 

[PerdFan]

Much like players, coaching can improve over the years too. A lot of people don't mention that. As others have mentioned, Lavvy is a masterful motivator. Wait until you guys hit a slump and he calls a timeout and his face looks like it's going to explode. It's pretty awesome. IF he can improve upon his reluctance to adjust lines and strategy when the going gets tough or when the dynamics of the changes, he can be a tremendous coach for a long time.

The timeout thing has already happened 3 times this season. Preds were playing like crap, Lavy calls time out (once within the first 8 min of the game!) and the boys turned it around after that in a hurry. I like that if Lavy doesn't like what he sees, he calls the players over, let's them "re-group", and they look totally different after that.
He lights a fire under 'em no doubt.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

The timeout thing has already happened 3 times this season. Preds were playing like crap, Lavy calls time out (once within the first 8 min of the game!) and the boys turned it around after that in a hurry. I like that if Lavy doesn't like what he sees, he calls the players over, let's them "re-group", and they look totally different after that.
He lights a fire under 'em no doubt.

give it 2 seasons... his "same ol same ol" tricks will wear thin quickly...

hes wayyyy to stubborn to stay employed on 1 team for long.

 

[phlocky]

Babcock, his contract is done at the end of this season. Pay him the 5-6 mil he is seeking and maybe, just MAYBE, we could actually have some type of system.

 

[Appleyard]

What is starting to worry me is getting lost in a coaching shuffle. I imagine they have someone in mind but the Babcock sweepstakes could leave them up **** creek without a paddle.

MacLean and Tippett are the only other guys who really appeal to me. Obviously MacLean is available right now and Tippett could well be available either soon or at the end of the season.

Timonen did say the other day that he is interested in a coaching career and has applied for a green card...

 

[flyguy]

What is starting to worry me is getting lost in a coaching shuffle. I imagine they have someone in mind but the Babcock sweepstakes could leave them up **** creek without a paddle.

MacLean and Tippett are the only other guys who really appeal to me. Obviously MacLean is available right now and Tippett could well be available either soon or at the end of the season.

Timonen did say the other day that he is interested in a coaching career and has applied for a green card...

I would seriously target Tippett if he's available. Plus he's got history with the franchise, so if he's available, Hextall should be eyeing him closely.

He did really well in Dallas and made a Phoenix franchise that didn't have ownership and was a last resort for free agency a serious playoff contender. In both places he coached in a stacked conference. On top of everything, he's a defensive minded coach who I would love to have here. Get a good offensive mind for an assistant and this team would be headed in the right direction IMO.

 

[Striiker]

Is there any real reason to expect him to be available though? Arizona is pretty used to being a bad team so it's not like they're going to panic and fire him, right? Plus, didn't he just sign a new contract last year? I doubt a budget team would want fire the coach with a bunch of years remaining.

 

[GingerFetish]

Need a person who lives, breathes, sleeps, eats hockey and who will not tolerate fat slobs. A Chip Kelly of the NHL preferably.

#BringBackKeenan?

 

[Gert B Frobe]

He may have been a not so good player but he's found some good success as a head coach down in the AHL these last couple of years & appears to be on the cusp of an NHL gig. He's been with the Sens organization for six years now first three as an assistant with the big club & the last three including this current season as the head coach with the farm team.

Given his connection with the Flyers & Hextall it wouldn't be shocking if his name comes about if Berube is let go this summer.

Richardson was a pretty good player when he was young. His battles in the corners against Forsberg in the 96 playoffs were awesome. Although he did lose a lot of those battles - but so did everybody against Forsberg back then.

 

[Gert B Frobe]

Is there any real reason to expect him to be available though? Arizona is pretty used to being a bad team so it's not like they're going to panic and fire him, right? Plus, didn't he just sign a new contract last year? I doubt a budget team would want fire the coach with a bunch of years remaining.

Imagine how bad Arizona would be with cement head Berube coaching them... they have so much less talent than the Flyers

 

[StandingCow]

Am I alone in thinking this isn't Berube's fault? Grant it he isn't the best coach... but I don't think anyone could turn the team around right now... it was known by everyone that the team wouldn't be good, the defense is just terrible.

I say ride the year out, see if we can sell off some of our bad contracts, get a good draft pick and see what coach we can pick up over the summer.

 

[BillDineen]

Am I alone in thinking this isn't Berube's fault? Grant it he isn't the best coach... but I don't think anyone could turn the team around right now... it was known by everyone that the team wouldn't be good, the defense is just terrible.

I say ride the year out, see if we can sell off some of our bad contracts, get a good draft pick and see what coach we can pick up over the summer.

This is a bad team, which is worse this season without Timonen and Hartnell, but last year they had a pulse and had multiple comebacks. This year they have given up playing for themselves or their coach. He has lost them which is on him for the most part.

What do you think Voracek is thinking when Rinaldo plays a minute more than him at even strength? What is Couturier thinking when he sees the fourth line getting multiple offensive zone starts? What are the D thinking about his dubious rotation?

We all see his idiotic moves and the players must as well. A large part is Berube's fault.

 

[Coffe]

I want anyone who doesn't play Rinaldo 1 minute more at even strength than the leagues leading scorer.

But I'd settle with a sack of potatoes.