Flyers head coach Scott Gordon told reporters, including Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer that he has yet to hear anything about whether or not the team is interested in removing the interim tag for next season and beyond. While Philadelphia is likely to come up short of making the postseason, they have performed quite well since relieving Dave Hakstol of his duties, compiling a 25-17-4 record under Gordon’s tutelage. While there are some notable veteran bench bosses that will likely be looking to get back behind a bench this summer, how the 56-year-old has fared with the Flyers could help generate some interest from other teams if GM Chuck Fletcher opts to go in a different direction.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot is still dealing with multiple injuries, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. He still hasn’t fully recovered from the shoulder issue he had three months ago while his broken toe still isn’t back to 100% either. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Ottawa decided to give him a rest down the stretch or at least try to scale back his ice time. It’s expected that he will get an invite for the upcoming World Championships but Chabot indicated that he’ll need to be fully recovered before agreeing to go.
- The Sabres could have center Evan Rodrigues and defenseman Jake McCabe back in the lineup on Saturday, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald (Twitter link). McCabe was effectively ruled out for the season earlier this month when it was announced that he’d miss five-to-six weeks with an upper-body injury but he’s clearly ahead of schedule as it has barely been three weeks since then. As for Rodrigues, he missed Thursday’s game with an upper-body issue of his own.
id say they should give gordon serious consideration for the turnaround this team executed. question is whether it was because they just were mismanaged by Hex, or Gordon unlocked something in them, because this team certianly had the talent to contend for a playoff spot all year, just looked asleep under Hex.
I had to double check that Gordon was 56. Looks closer to 36 than 56.
Mismanaged by Hextall or Hakstol? The biggest difference to me has been that they’re finally getting average goaltending. Hart has impressed, but he’s inconsistent for now, which is obviously okay considering his age and Elliott has performed well since returning to the crease. The reality is that this team has a pretty serious lack of forward depth. Combine that with the simultaneous step backs of Gostisbehere and Provorov, and it’s not surprising that they’ve had the troubles that they’ve had. A trademark of the Flyers over the past few years has been an inability to close out big games, poorly timed penalties, and, most importantly, inconsistency. This year alone, there were quite a few stretches where they were considered both a top-10 and bottom-10 team in the league.
I wouldn’t say they lack forward depth. The top 6 is really good and Raffl and Laughton are both solid for the third line. Plus Farabee, Bailey, and Frost will be getting playing time next year so it looks a lot better.
If the Flyers has a good goalie all year they would have made the playoffs. They will only miss by a few games and the first 6 goalies they used played well below average