The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t necessarily show much patience in firing Peter Laviolette just three games into a new season. However, the decision may have been a long time coming.
Laviolette was let go by the Flyers on Monday morning, after his club’s second 0-3-0 start in as many years. It was a bit of a surprise to many, but it did come just a year after the Flyers finished one point out of the Atlantic Division cellar. Philly general manager Paul Holmgren, who decided to give Laviolette another chance after last year, decided that three games was enough of a second chance before axing Laviolette.
“Looking back, you think lockout-shortened year, we didn’t have a training camp, we had a lot of injuries,” Holmgren told reporters at a press conference to announce the news. “I thought it was important that Peter had another shot with our training camp. … I think there was some excitement about our team going into training camp.
“Right from the first day of training camp I was worried about how the team looked. We have a long way to go this season, but it’s about how we played and it was unacceptable. It was a gut feeling that I had to make a change.”
The Flyers lost those three games by a combined six goals, and Holmgren says he made the decision following the team’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night.
“I’m not … 0-3 is 0-3. We’ve still got a long way to go, but it was more about how we played. It was unacceptable. We don’t look like a team at all. I felt just a gut feeling that I needed to make the decision.”
Assistant coach Craig Berube was chosen to take over for Laviolette.
