Craig Berube Fired By Flyers
In a very predictable move, the Philadelphia Flyers relieved head coach Craig Berube of his duties on Friday morning. This came a couple of days after general manager Ron Hextall's press conference that almost seemed like a guarantee of moves to come. Berube finishes his Flyers coaching career with a record of 75-58-28 in 161 regular season games. The Flyers were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs last year and missed the postseason this year.
It seems like a curious firing to me, if only because the Flyers' record didn't seem that poor with Berube. Missing the playoffs is always a precarious thing for a coach to do, but it would have taken a miracle worker to get to the postseason with that blue line decimated by trades, injuries, and ineffectiveness. Berube wasn't the one who traded away Braydon Coburn and acquired Andrew MacDonald, but I digress.
Like I said, the contrast is remarkable.
This could be good news for Raffl if the new coach knows how to work the internet. Else, it'll likely be a new coach stuffing Schenn on the top line repeatedly like a six-year-old finding out about Big League Chew for the first time.
The second thing that popped into my head was "what does this mean for Steve Mason?" Not that I think his skills will diminish as a result of a new coach, but will a new system force Mason to change the way he plays? There's no doubt that a goalie adapts his style of play to that of his team in front of him, and now that he will have a new coach, does that force Mason to adopt his style a bit? He has been an amazing reclamation project for the Flyers, and a slow start for this team next year because of goalie adjustments may hurt Mason's numbers a lot (kind of like Henrik Lundqvist in Alain Vigneault's first month or so, or Ryan Miller going to St. Louis after Buffalo).
The last thing to keep in mind is if whether or not Giroux and Voracek will be separated by the new coach. There may be an attempt from whoever comes in to put his own personal stamp on this team, and that might include breaking up the top line. That would be a lot of bad news for Giroux and Voracek keeper/dynasty owners.
This is just speculation for now, and regardless of who is brought in to replace Berube, they're going to have a hard time finding more success. That blue line is a mess, and is a long way from being reputable.
Related Posts
UPCOMING GAMES
WPG
STLStarting Goalies
Top Skater Views
CGY
DAL
T.B
S.JTop Goalie Profile Views
EDM
DET
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
 PHI Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 25.6 | MATVEI MICHKOV TRAVIS KONECNY SEAN COUTURIER | |
| 20.4 | TYSON FOERSTER NOAH CATES BOBBY BRINK | |
| 19.6 | OWEN TIPPETT RYAN POEHLING DEVIN KAPLAN | |
DobberHockey Podcasts
Fantasy Hockey Life: Fluto Shinzawa Boston Bruins Preview
Fluto Shinzawa of the New York Times joins the show to break down the Boston Bruins. Jesse and Victor ask him about David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, Matthew Poitras, Fraser Minten, Charlie McAvoy, Mason Lohrei, Hampus Lindholm, Jeremy Swayman, and Joonas Korpisalo. Cat’s instincts covers prospect goalies Brandon Bussi and […]
Keeping Karlsson: First Round Fly-Bys
Elan and Brian fly by each of the eight NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs quarter-final series, highlighting stand-out performances and storylines of the first round so far.
Fantasy Hockey Life: TIDY Champs Roundtable
What does it take to win a division of our Tiered Dynasty league? Champs Sasha, Scott, Kevin, and top tier champ Mason Black join Victor, Jesse, and TIDY co-commish Simon for a roundtable chat. It’s a great dynasty strategy talk. Have a listen! Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by […]
Fantasy Hockey Life: Hot Take Review
Back in episodes 362 and 363 Victor and Jesse made hot takes about all 32 teams for the season. Today we go back to see how many we got right. Have a listen! Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by Fantrax.com. Email fantasyhockeylife@gmail.com and ask to join our free discord. […]
Keeping Karlsson: End-of-Season Beginnings, Vibesgoaliebord
Elan and Brian express their interest in players on the verge of playing their first NHL games, make some playoff predictions with no promises, and do a vibes-based draft for goalies they are willing to commit to rostering for the entirety of the next NHL season.