Larry Henry Jr
Alain Vigneault believed it was up for him to figure out the Philadelphia Flyers struggles, but the veteran head coach will not have the chance to do so.
Vigneault has reportedly been relieved of his duties, the Flyers confirmed Monday morning. The news comes one day after the team suffered its eighth-consecutive loss in a 7-1 thumping at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Assistant coach Mike Yeo will take over as interim head coach while fellow assistant Michel Therrien has also been fired from his position.
Hearing #Flyers are making a coaching change. Alain Vigneault fired.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 6, 2021
The Flyers have struggled majorly over the past two weeks, being outscored 33-10 and falling well out of the top four places in the Metropolitan Division. Sunday’s home defeat was the latest lopsided scoreline for the Orange and Black since mid-November, despite the team outshooting and out-hitting the Lightning on home ice.
After starting the season strong, the Flyers have struggled for consistency in a lot of key areas on both ends of the ice. The team’s 3.19 goals-against average is the ninth-highest in the NHL while their 34.2 shots allowed on goal per game is the fourth-most. Offensively, the team is among the top-three worst power-play units in the league (scoring on only 13.4% of their opportunities on the man advantage) and their 2.32 goals scored per game is the fifth-lowest.
While Vigneault can’t be fully blamed for the below-average production from veteran players such as Sean Couturier, James Van Riemsdyk, and Travis Konecny, he hasn’t been able to change much with the squad. Injuries and COVID-19 protocols have also hampered the current roster at times during the opening 22 games with Ryan Ellis and Kevin Hayes among the absentees at points this fall.
Yeo served as head coach of the Minnesota Wild from 2011-15 and has a previous stint serving with Flyers GM and President of Hockey Operations Chuck Fletcher.
The Flyers are back in action Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche before hitting the road for three-straight games later this week.
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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