Lucky Number 9 for the Philadelphia Flyers
The time to take action is now
I really don’t like to be put in the position of ‘I told you so’. One, it doesn’t feel too good. Two, it makes me look like an asshole. Three, well, it doesn’t really matter, it just isn’t a good look on me. And here we are, in the midst of a catastrophe. For the Flyers. As an organization. And for their fans. Their die-hard fans. (I’m not any of those)
So the Flyers lost their 9th straight game last night against the Detroit Red Wings. My last entry focused more on the emotional part of things. Well, now, we are going to get to down to business. I am going to write down, from my perspective, on what can be done about the situation. This, despite me not being a Flyers fan. I am just a problem solver. I look at things and see their future possibilities.
What to do, what to do Philly? Well, first off, you have to acknowledge that you have a problem. Losing 9 straight in your opening 9 matches of the season signals you have a problem. A huge problem. Therefore, hard decisions are gonna have to be made. Based on the Flyers subreddit, the powers that be at Broad Street, more specifically GM Daniel Brière, are clueless idiots. Meanwhile the head coach, Rick Tocchet, is an insufferable tool. According to the fans on the Flyers on subreddit. I am of course just paraphrasing.
There are 2 ways to approach this. One, is to go along with the status quo, where the Flyers front office are fully backing Rick Tocchet and his coaching staff. This option will lead to unwanted players being traded, only for the results to stay the same. This will lead to the Flyers finishing dead last, not just in their division but the whole NHL. Tocchet and co will finally get fired. And so will the front office as well. But hey, they get the number 1 pick in the draft.
The second option is for the front office to finally wake up and acknowledge that last season’s exploits were a fluke and that Rick Tocchet is not a good coach at all. Siding with the players means looking for a new coach that understands them and their style, leading to an uptick in performance. It will not be enough to get back into the playoffs, but it will create a great starting point for next season. They’ll still get a lottery pick and probably will attract 2 or 3 notable free agents to join.
I know right? Sounds like a sweet sweet dream. The above options are of course, just surface level jibber-jabber. Lets give it a little depth. Just a little. Lets start with option 1.
The Status Quo
The Ottawa Senators dealt the Flyers their 10th straight defeat. The Flyers faithful rain down boos and make their displeasure known. The front office, led by the embattled GM Daniel Brière decides to lay down the gauntlet and take action.
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They immediately send out a statement to the press, offering their full support to Rick Tocchet and his coaching staff. They also double-down in chewing out their players, in particular, Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett. They also openly declare that it’s open season in Philly and that nobody is safe.
Konecny, Tippett and a couple other senior players were traded by the end of the week. The Flyers finally win their first NHL match of the season, only to go on an epic losing streak soon after. The holidays come around and everybody resets. Matvei Michkov, however, comes back a bit overweight and out of shape. Tocchet gives a body shaming interview for the ages, demoting Michkov to the fourth line and taking him out of the power play unit.
The new year sees the Flyers win a couple more matches right up to the trade deadline. All seems rosy and the front office decides to stand pat and do nothing at the deadline. Then, things started to fall apart again. They finish the season with 21 wins and 61 losses, dead last in their division and the whole NHL.
Rick Tocchet is finally fired, but not before going on a rant to the press on how the players are the ones to blame and that his way is the right way to do it. Due to the ruckus caused, the ownership of the Flyers fires the front office as well. They extend their apologies to the fanbase and decides to hire a more competent front office and a coach that can reset the culture in the Flyers locker room. With the number one pick in the bag, the city of Philadelphia looks to a better future on the ice.
Fire Rick Tocchet Now
The Ottawa Senators dealt the Flyers their 10th straight defeat. The Flyers faithful rain down boos and make their displeasure known. The front office, led by the embattled GM Daniel Brière decides to lay down the gauntlet and take action.
In the post-match press conference, Brière himself announces that Rick Tocchet is let go effective immediately. He also apologizes to the players and the fans for taking it this far to take action. Everybody can rest easy and can cool it with all the trade speculation surrounding the players. Apparently, the front office has been hard at work trying to find a suitable candidate to coach this promising Flyers team. And, they found him.
Enter Kris Knoblauch, formally of Edmonton Oilers fame. He thanks everyone for the opportunity and looks forward to working with all the players available. They don’t start winning immediately. It is not until November that they finally win their first match.
This starts a somewhat patchy mix of wins and losses until mid-December. However, the morale and atmosphere is on the up and up. Then, they finally string together an undefeated run heading into the holidays. This feel good feeling continues in the new year, even though the form becomes patchy again right up till the trade deadline.
The front office decides to stand pat and focus their strategy on the NHL draft and free agency instead. This action somehow give the team a huge relief and they go on to win even more after the deadline. They finish on 42 wins and 40 losses, narrowly missing the playoffs. It doesn’t feel like defeat or a missed opportunity, but more like the beginning of something greater. To top it all off, they get the number 4 pick in the NHL draft.
And there you have it. 2 choices and their possibilities. From my POV of course. The point is, the Flyers, in particular the GM Daniel Brière, must take resposibility for the current predicament by actually making a decision instead of stalling it out and wasting everybody else’s time. The longer you stall, the worser the outcome. And, it will cost you your job. I have a feeling which choice Mr. Brière will make. But like I mentioned in the beginning of this entry/rant/blog/article/whatever, it just isn’t a good look on me. Wink.
