Hockey Night in Canada's Scott Morrison delivers his insights into the world of hockey, on and off the ice.
The Flyers: No more writing on the wall
Comments (12)
Sunday, October 22, 2006 | 02:18 PM ET
By Scott Morrison
The writing is no longer on the wall in Philadelphia.
It's on the pink slip.
And the letter of resignation.
Not surprisingly, though a little sooner than expected and deserved, the Flyers early Sunday made a major management change, firing coach Ken Hitchcock, while general manager Bob Clarke resigned, claiming he had lost his zest for the job.
It was widely anticipated that if changes were made in the organization they would involve both men, it's just no one had figured Clarke had reached a burn-out point and would ask to step down. Once he did that, Hitchcock became a convenient and easy sacrifice to serve up to the disgruntled masses.
It was believed, as mentioned on the Satellite Hot Stove on Saturday, that with six days off between games and with a five-game homestand on the horizon, the Flyers would wait before making any changes. That is what Hitchcock believed and a coach of Hitchcock's stature, especially with a two-year contract extension at $1.25 million per, deserved the time to right the ship. But patience with coaches has not been a virtue in the Flyers organization under chairman Ed Snider, thus the inevitable became reality early Sunday.
Paul Holmgren, a good hockey man and long-time assistant to Clarke, will take over as, curiously, interim general manager, while assistant John Stevens was promoted to head coach. Stevens was made an assistant in the off season after Wayne Fleming departed to Calgary. Stevens had coached the Flyers farm team, the Phantoms, and had won a Calder Cup in the AHL. He is considered a good NHL coaching prospect.
The question, of course, is whether the change should have been made at all. The Flyers have struggled mightily, there is no question about that. A lot of nights they have been horrible. They have lost five straight, including an embarrassing 9-1 loss to Buffalo, and are off to their worst start since 1989-90 when, ironically, Clarke was fired as general manager.
Hitchcock is a taskmaster and the suspicion was the players had tuned him out. But are the Flyers a better team with Stevens behind the bench? Of course not. It has always been, and it is even more so in a salary cap world, easier to replace the coach than 20 players. But how you go from extending the contract of a coach who owns a Stanley Cup ring, who was apparently the "final piece of stability," to firing him eight games into a season is bizarre.
If, as the Flyers and Snider claim, the players are better than they have shown, so too is the coach. Hitchcock deserved time to turn the team around. Of course, that might be a trick Houdini couldn't pull off.
As for Clarke, overall he had an impressive run in his 12-year second stint as the Flyers' GM, but since returning from the lockout he has made more bad decisions than good ones. He didn't anticipate the league would maintain its crackdown on obstruction and was burdened by a big, slow defence. And the moves he made this past summer to try to get with the times have failed miserably. There is no doubt the current roster requires an overhaul and infusion of speed, but Clarke wouldn't have been able to do it the old fashioned way, by spending money.
As for Snider, after the Buffalo debacle, he said he was reviewing the entire Flyers operation.
"I'm going to look at everything," he said, "starting with me."
Somehow, we don't think there is any more writing on the wall.
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About the Author
Scott Morrison, the recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fameís 2006 Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, has been covering hockey for 25 years. The Toronto native began his career at the Toronto Sun in 1979. After spending more than 11 years as a hockey writer and columnist at the paper, Morrison became Sports Editor in 1991 and led the section to being named one of North America's top-ten sports sections in 1999 - the first sports section in Canada to receive the AP Sports Editors North American Award. Scott, a former two-term president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, joined Rogers Sportsnet in 2001 as Managing Editor, Hockey, and is currently both a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and a columnist for CBC.ca.
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Comments (12)
adelino
kingston
i have been a flyers fan for many years, have seen some good players go through the orgization, but til this day i haven't seen a good goalie since hextal was in his first few years. every year would go by with philly leaving the playoffs early and the season starting with the same goalie who flopped the year prior. i have been waiting for clarke to be FIRED since he didn't know how to manage his best player in lindros and to keep his mouth shut when talking to the press. for scott morrison to say that it was a good 12 years, i say to you what team have you been watching. clarke had chnace to make the team better by trying to go after luongo, give me a break when a team like the canucks can give a washed up player like bertuzzi and get one of the best young goaltenders in teh league. all i can say is thank god he is gone and hopefully when they find a new manger that he can see that they need a goalie.
Posted November 2, 2006 12:15 AM
Robert Harding
It's sad in professional sports that players who are ultimately responsible for their own actions can succeed in getting their coach fired.These so called grown-ups never really "grow-up".
I am not sorry for Clarke ( I'm sure he was fired ).
I lost all respect for him as a player and a person when he made that insensitive remark about Roger Neilson when Roger had cancer.
Actually, the word "karma" comes to mind.
Rob
Posted October 24, 2006 06:19 PM
mike
i agree with everyone something needed to be done bobby clarke has no clue what it takes in the nhl today speed kills not goons and im not feeling one bit sorry for clarke!
Posted October 24, 2006 01:03 PM
Joe Bearson
Tampa
I don't think the whole story has outed. Clarke has been acting oddly for some time, but I cannot see how a guy like him could ever loose his passion for the game or his devotion to the Flyers. For him, giving up this job must be like giving up an arm. I believe that he was fired by Ed Snider (to save face, he was allowed to resign). This,
I suspect was even more painful for both parties, because their special relationship over the years.
As for Hitchcock, he lost his job in Dallas, the Stanley Cup victory notwithstanding, because he "lost the room" owing to his personality problems and had to be replaced.
And, here he goes again! Hitch is one of those guys who gets about three years with a club before the players quit on him - tactically and strategically, he seems a smart coach, but he has difficulty relating to and motivating players.
I see Holmgren (who has fought his own personal devils in the past) and Stevens (who has no headcoaching experience at this level) as being on trial in their new jobs. They may already carry the "temporary" label
in the back burner of Ed Snider's mind. I'd be surprised if the Flyer owner did not really consider these moves to be stop-gap measures and was not already thinking about more like permanent replacements in those positions.
Finally, I don't think anyone believes that we've seen the last of Bob Clarke or Ken Hitchcock in the NHL.
Posted October 24, 2006 11:45 AM
Tom
A common theme throughout most of the previous postings highlights the Flyers need for a top-notch goaltender. While their defence is sluggish, an elite goalie would go a long way to curing what ails this team. Mr Clarke didn't, or wouldn't, acknowledge this fact and he's now seeing the consequences of his inaction.
Posted October 24, 2006 09:20 AM
john
vancouver
flyers should try getting tellqvist thru trade, and they should sign bondra and/or leetch to see if it helps.
Posted October 23, 2006 08:48 PM
darryl baxter
this was very predictable for me. just as toronto had to retool starting at the top so to does philly as well as some other teams. the next one to go should be wayne gretzky. phoenix is horrible. bringing in guys like roenick and nolan to help is not the direction of the new nhl. speed, skill, and youth is the way of the future - not character only. sorry wayne and hitch, you were great leaders in the past but that is where it should end - in the past. good-bye and thanks for your past contribution. time to pass the torch
Posted October 23, 2006 04:07 PM
The Bambino
Finally the Flyers organization made a good move.
It is about time that the powers that be stepped aside for some new blood. The 70's broad street bully days are gone and now so is the man who has been holding on to those glory days for so long. Ed Snyder should've realized sooner than now that Mr. Clarke has tried and failed too many times. Sure he was a proven winner when his skates were on the ice, but in the booth he was just a loudmouth that only made headlines when he had riffs with his players.
Hitchcock is a very respected man around the NHL, it's too bad he will be remembered now as a member of a failed Flyers organization. He'll get work elsewhere in the near future. Just a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. A proven winner. How a bag of holes like Esche can make comments about anyone is ludicrus. The only thing he's ever won is the rights to the title of the NHL's worst goalie. Snyder would be better off going to a local rink and checking the bulletin boards for a rent-a-goalie.
Nedved a has been and never will be, Dimitrakos didn't produce, and Baumgartner must be bad not to play behind Hatcher and Rathje. See no evil and hear no evil I refer to them as. During the Buffalo 9-1 shellacking, on several occasions, the Sabres went down Hatcher's wing on purpose and went around him like a can opener. What a waste of money. In the 'New NHL', speed is the key, not 6'5 defenceman with the foot speed of Franklyn the Turtle. Hopefully John Stevens will start from scratch and, I'd like to say trade these pylons, but who would want them?
Posted October 23, 2006 07:47 AM
Tony Manz
When Clark could freewheel with the cash he was able to build a respectable team. He never did figure out that it also takes solid goaltending. New NHL doesn't fit his personality, cash restrictions and an eye for affordable, quick talent. He couldn't figure out how to do more with less like Buffalo, Minesota.
Posted October 23, 2006 03:44 AM
Geoff McColgan
Ottawa
Where does or where will Terry Murray fit into the new equation? Will he simply continue on as an assistant or will he take on another position in the Flyers organization?
Thanks
Posted October 22, 2006 11:05 PM
Brandon
Everyone knew this was coming, we've been on about it the last few das well ever since the flogging handed out by the Sabre's. it still won't change the way the team play's well tha's yet to be seen, but they need to make changes to the line up as well, its not all coaches and managers who cop the fine for the teams preformance, its the teams preformance that is lacking...
Posted October 22, 2006 10:55 PM
jim dennett
about time for clarke no comment on hitchcock lets hope holmgren and stevens know how to pick a goalie jim
Posted October 22, 2006 04:27 PM