After just two seasons behind the bench, the Philadelphia Flyers fired head coach Craig Berube on Friday.
The move comes as no surprise following a mediocre season where the Flyers failed to make the postseason and finished with a 33-31-18 record—good enough for 84 points and 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
“I didn’t feel like he got enough out of our group collectively,” said Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall following the move. “I think in the end, a coach’s job is to get the most out of his players, and in the end that’s the conclusion that I came to, was that that wasn’t the case.”
Berube notably clashed with Vincent Lecavalier, making Lecavalier a healthy scratch for the first time ever in his career back in December. And, when the team cleared out their lockers following the end of the season, Lecavalier made it clear that he had no desire to play under Berube again. One of the main attractions for Lecavalier to sign in Philadelphia was the opportunity to play under offensively-minded head coach Peter Laviolette, who was fired three games into last season and was replaced by Berube and his much more defensive-minded style.
“When I signed here … one of the main reasons was to come and play for Lavy because of his style of play and what he thought about me,” Lecavalier said. “So obviously when you get a new boss — it’s like any company — things change and obviously it didn’t go well for me.
“I still believe in myself. I still think I can bring a lot to the team, more than not playing and sitting on the bench. To produce, I think you need a little bit of time on the ice and good opportunities, and I didn’t feel that I really got that this year at times.”
Hextall said that he will likely hire a coach by the time the NHL Entry Draft rolls around on June 26.
