Chuck Fletcher
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.
In a 7-1 rout by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers losing streak reached eight games, with now three of those losses coming at the hands of the back-to-back champs. And the takeaways from this one are pretty simple. It can’t be much longer before more changes start coming. There isn’t much more to say about the play on the ice that hasn’t already been said during this streak. A season that was all about making the playoffs and getting back to winning has become the opposite in a hurry.
Alain Vigneault’s postgame press conference lasted about two and a half minutes. But it was his tone and clearly visible frustration that told the story. The Flyers coach and his staff may have received a vote of confidence of sorts from Fletcher just a day earlier, but the veteran bench boss knows when the ship is sinking and he becomes the first guy on the chopping block.
Fletcher leaned on the difficulty of the team’s schedule and injuries over the course of the first 20 games of the season, placing more emphasis on a few early-season successes and less on the noticeable struggles the team has had over the last couple of weeks.
There’s really no end in sight for the Flyers losing trend, not without some serious adjustments. That was fully evident in the most recent defeat, a 5-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night.
Now at 34 years-old, 15-year NHL veteran Derick Brassard is making an immediate impact with the Orange and Black, scoring five points in his first three games with the team.
Before the puck drops on the Flyers 2021-22 season, their busy offseason and several new faces bring about a number of storylines. Let’s take a look at 10 storylines that are worth watching this season for the Flyers.
The Flyers claimed forward Zack MacEwen from the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. To make room for MacEwen on the roster under the salary cap limit, the Flyers placed Kevin Hayes on long-term injured reserve.
GM Chuck Fletcher had called the week between the preseason finale and the regular-season opener a critical one on Thursday. For the Flyers, the final preseason game showed a lot of areas that need to be worked on in the upcoming week and just how critical it will be for them to be ready.
Chuck Fletcher spoke on Thursday morning and explained the decision to send Morgan Frost to the minors. The Flyers also announced two new inductees to the Flyers Hall of Fame.
