It's Not All Fabulous in Philly: Is Coach Stevens' Head About To Roll?

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

Marred in a three-game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers fans are looking for answers. Where are all the questions being directed at? You guessed it, head coach John Stevens.

Ok, so this isn’t the first time that Flyers fans have come running at Stevens with an axe in their hands in hopes of beheading their teams leader—quite the contrary.

Fact is, this is a finicky bunch of fans, a loyal, if not “fanatical” group of well versed hockey people, who, if things aren’t going their way, would sacrifice kittens and kidnap your Grandmother if it meant bringing another Stanley Cup to the “City of Brotherly Love.”

Stevens has been the target of Flyer fans in the past, sometimes with good reason, sometimes out of spite and overreaction. It’s still early in the 2009/10 season and already we are hearing Flyers fans calling for Stevens’ head. Question is, are the rumors justified or just plain stupid?

Stevens' overall record with the Flyers has been decent enough. Stevens has led the Flyers to two consecutive 40-plus-win seasons and he has made the playoffs in two out of the three seasons he has been behind the bench.

Trouble is, Stevens has also been behind the bench for three 10-game losing streaks (a Flyers record) and, worse still, he was the man leading the troops when the Flyers lost playoff series to hated rival Pittsburgh Penguins in back-to-back seasons.

Making the playoffs is great, losing to Pittsburgh on any night, never mind the playoffs is a sin that most Flyers fans will never forgive. Do it once, “mehh”... do it twice, “grrrrr”...do it again and you’re likely to wake up with a horses head beside you!

Overall, Stevens' resume is impressive. He spent six seasons with the Flyers AHL affiliate Philadelphia Phantoms, leading the team to the playoffs four out of six seasons, culminating his efforts into an Calder Cup title in 2005.

Just eight games into the 2006 season, with the Flyers off to a miserable 1-6-1 start, Stevens was promoted to head coach. At the time, the move came as a surprise to many Flyers fans.

Sure, Stevens had won at the AHL level, but the Flyers fans were looking for more of the “Gucci” type of coach, someone with a long history of success. The usual suspects were high on the Flyers fans list, Mike Keenan being one of them.

At the time of his hiring, Flyers management viewed Stevens as as a innovator, someone who would command the respect of the players, the kind of coach that your organization could grow around and, with a major rebuilding of the roster just months away, they figured Stevens’ ability to tutor was more valuable than the experience that a coach of Keenen’s ilk would bring to the table.

For the most part, Stevens has delivered. Youngsters Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, and, to a lesser extent, Matt Carle, have all developed into all-star calibre players under the watch of Stevens.

On the other hand, there are many fans out there that point to the failing of Daniel Briere who went from scoring 95 points and posting a plus +17 rating as a member of the Buffalo Sabres in 2006/07 to a player who looked out of sorts in 2007/08 with the Flyers, posting 72 points and a horrible minus -22 rating to boot.

There has been plenty of talk about the Flyers goaltending, or lack-thereof while Stevens has been in charge, but that’s hardly been the cause of the majority of the Flyers trials and tribulations. Martin Biron won 59 games over the past two seasons and with save percentages of .918 (2007/08) and .915 (2008/09), Biron was hardly a “Goat.”

Further, the Flyers were ridiculed for their terrible play down the stretch in 2008/09, a stretch that saw the team essentially mail in the final six weeks of the season, costing the Flyers any chance at Home Ice advantage through the playoffs. Still, the Flyers finished the 2008/09 season with 99 points, hardly a failure.

The playoff loses to the Flyers arch-rival Pittsburgh Penguins the past two seasons still lingers in the minds of Flyers fans. Any losing streak is bound to turn into an effort to fire Stevens, even if it makes little to no sense.

The players need to step up and take responsibility for the Flyers' short comings. Clearly, the blame lays on their shoulders as well as coach Stevens'. Fly together, die together, right?

Flyers fans are fierce. They have a passion for the game that is unparalleled. They have been called rabid, they have been accused of being unforgiving and they are known to be amongst the NHL’s most boisterous/outspoken.

Perhaps that is another reason Stevens is constantly attacked. Stevens is soft spoken, he is, for the lack of a better term, the anti-Flyers. Stevens is well spoken, has a calm demeanor, always seems to say the politically correct thing, he is, well...boring!

My take on the whole situation is this. Stevens is a good coach, the Flyers are a very talented team and, as such, there are big expectations being thrust on this group, and with good reason.

The addition of veteran defenseman Chris Pronger was supposed to all but guarantee the Flyers a Stanley Cup. Flyers fans will not accept failure, they believe, with Pronger in the lineup, there are no more excuses, failure, is not an option (like it ever is in Philly).

To be fair, every team has it’s ups and downs. Teams are never as good as they appear to be when they are on a hot streak and they are never as bad as they appear when they are marred in a losing streak. The truth, is somewhere in the middle.

Coaches often find themselves being praised and looked upon as geniuses when things are going well and, as soon as things start going south they are often looked upon as monkey’s, incapable of leading a pee-wee team.

Now, to suggest that seven games into the 2009/10 season the Flyers should consider firing Stevens seems, from the outside looking in, to be an act of stupidity. Again, the players are just as much to blame for the Flyers shortcomings in the playoffs and, for the most part, they get off scot-free.

That said, stranger things have happened, we all remember last season when the Chicago Blackhawks fired then head coach Denis Savard after just four games into the 2008/09 season in favor of veteran NHL head coach Joel Quennville, but this is hardly the same situation, is it?

Stevens has been given a “stay of execution” in the past, I suspect he will be given another state of reprieve. But, make no mistake about it. Stevens is on a short leash and, while I am not one of the ones calling for his head, there are plenty of Flyers fans that sit at home, sharpening their trusty axes, waiting...

I'm fairly confident it will take the Flyers missing the playoffs for Stevens to get fired, but for now, Stevens must get this team back on track. As is the case with every Division/Conference in the NHL, when your team goes on a losing streak of three or more games, questions are asked and heads start to roll. For Steven’s sake, let’s hope his head is on tight...

Until next time,

Peace!