Tag: Mike Yeo

Does the entry of Barry Trotz into the coaching free agent market change things for the Flyers? There are cases for both answers.

The problem with each of these possibilities is that they are rooted in hope. Hope that the injured players return as advertised and stay healthy. Hope the young players take that big step everyone has waited for. Hope that you can perhaps manufacture some hockey trades or free-agent signings to plug in the holes that the team is lacking for speed and skill and make it all work.

Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher held his end-of-season availability on Tuesday, first confirming that Mike Yeo would not be returning as head coach of the team. He also discussed the meaning of an “aggressive retool,” how youth factors into the future, and some injury updates.

According to a report from ESPN and NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes, the Flyers will “move on” from Mike Yeo in a head coaching role.

It wasn’t all that noteworthy to hear players speak of the frustrations of the season, the losing streaks and such that made this a historically bad season for the Flyers. There were a few players that addressed it in a way that rang through louder than others.

The offseason will present its challenges for a team in need of an overhaul and massive improvements at every level of the organization. There will be plenty of stories to come as next season’s team is constructed. For now, here’s one last look at the 2021-22 season with five takeaways from the season.

It’s not about whether Owen Tippett has the ability in him. That’s what got him drafted 10th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. It’s about if he can consistently have noticeable performances like the one in his Flyers debut on Sunday, especially if the opportunity for ice time and an increased role is there. 

Giroux took his lap around the Wells Fargo Center ice, waved to the crowd, and darted off the ice, only to return for a curtain call, another final lap around as he was named first star of the game, and exited up the tunnel. His teammates all lined up to hug him. The emotion started to show. This felt like the end of an era.

At this stage of the Flyers season, now 55 games in with 27 still to go, the results are essentially meaningless. It’s not about wins and losses at this point. Despite that, when a head coach addresses playing with passion, accountability, and having a winning attitude as areas of concern, it raises eyebrows. He’s not the first to do it either.

Two third-period goals were enough as the Flyers held on for a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in an entertaining game.

Wednesday’s Flyers press conference with Dave Scott and Chuck Fletcher was another example of just how far the Flyers are from an identity and a sense of direction. It presents more questions than answers, and it runs through a range of emotions that rival the five stages of grief – some congruent like anger and denial and others like irrationality and delusion.

It’s really become a familiar pattern for a team that is consistently fragile, just waiting for the next thing to go wrong rather than doing the things that can help it keep going right. Just like on Thursday night, the Rangers skill and talent levels became too much in a game that was certainly competitive, but not deserving of the final result.

It has reached a new level for the Flyers. This is essentially one great, big reality show. The play on the ice is only one part of the equation, and at this point, the things happening off the ice are becoming bigger headlines, most recently comments from Flyers legend Bobby Clarke on the Cam and Strick Podcast regarding Ron Hextall’s time as GM.

The end result was a 6-2 defeat, certainly no surprise given the circumstances. But it also goes down as another embarrassing showing in front of the home crowd. It’s another game where the Flyers fell behind early and never recovered. And it left the interim head coach with some harsh words regarding compete level in his postgame remarks.

The law of averages essentially caught up to the Flyers. Out of the break, they were lucky to get a win in Seattle and stole a point in San Jose. Deservedly, they have nothing to show for a defeat that featured more sloppy play, more poor puck management, and continued lapses in defensive coverage.

Injuries, COVID, and everything else aside, the Flyers are not clicking the way they need to. They may be turning the corner in terms of results, but they may be turning into a head-on collision with some of the best teams in the league still ahead on the schedule.

Again in the third period, as they have many times before, the Flyers were in a position to grab two points. A quick response and another overtime winner ensured they did come away with just that, as their points streak hits six games with a 5-0-1 record.

Tuesday’s Flyers-Capitals game has also been postponed. The Flyers will enter the holiday break another day earlier as a result.

The guys are back, and they have a lot to talk about. Topics include Claude Giroux’s pursuits of history, a five game points streak, and the looming threat of a shutdown.

It wasn’t pretty, and against another of the NHL’s bottom-feeder teams, the mistakes being made and the habits continuing to take center-stage are still troubling. But the Flyers also have strung together wins and points, and that’s what was needed against these teams. Now they need to continue to form better habits and apply it, perhaps as soon as next week against some tough Metro Division competition, if the schedule allows.

The Flyers 3-2 shootout loss to the Canadiens makes the performance from Tuesday more of an anomaly. It kills the momentum that this streak was building. It doesn’t help create more of an identity for a team that desperately needs one. So you can throw the positives and good vibes out the window.

Another offensive surge for the Flyers, hats on the ice for Cam Atkinson, and lots of smiles in a dominant win for the Flyers over the Devils to bring their winning streak to three games. But there was also a dose of reality that hit the Flyers in regards to what is plaguing the sports world across the nation.

The Flyers didn’t snap their fingers and suddenly become a force to be reckoned with. There was plenty in their process in this game that left a lot to be desired. But as we’ve done with numerous wins already this season, the Flyers can turn to their goalie and thank him for being the catalyst that ended this streak.

A pair of power-play goals in the third period proved to be the difference, as the Flyers held off the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3, on Friday night, snapping a 10-game losing streak.

The Flyers losing streak reached 10 games with another lifeless, boring, and uninspired effort. That’s beyond concerning for a team that should be prepared for much more change and uncertainty over the next few weeks if nothing changes.

In the immediate, it was a move that had to happen. Something had to be done, and a coaching change is certainly an easier way than most to make a change. It’s far from the only change that needs to be made though.

Mike Yeo will be behind the bench serving as head coach in the interim, as the Flyers try to avoid a ninth straight loss against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

The Flyers have fired head coach Alain Vigneault on Monday. Assistant coach Michel Therrien was also fired. Mike Yeo will take over as interim head coach.

The Flyers announced the new addition on Monday, naming Darryl Williams to the team’s coaching staff alongside head coach Alain Vigneault and assistants Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo.