Unbelievable: Due to a setback, the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers announced his departure from the team.

Unbelievable: Due to a setback, the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers announced his departure from the team.

President of hockey operations and general manager Chuck Fletcher announced on Monday that the Philadelphia Flyers’ head coach Alain Vigneault and assistant Michel Therrien have lost their jobs as a result of their 8-10-4 record this season, which was highlighted by an eight-game losing streak.

The Flyers, who fell to Colorado 7-5 on Monday night in Mike Yeo’s first game as interim head coach, have now lost nine games in a row, one short of matching a questionable club record.

The Flyers were defeated 7-1 on Sunday night by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux stated, “I have played a lot of embarrassing games, and this is definitely one of them.” “We need to figure it out pretty quick here.”

Fletcher attempted to attribute the team’s recent losing streak to injuries sustained last week, but it was obvious that something had to change as the losses mounted.

“We let up over the last ten. Without a doubt,” he declared last week. It is now our group’s responsibility to retrieve it. It is easier when players who have been injured return. No one can fool us. We must improve.”

He continued on Monday, saying, “Right now, we’ve lost our way.”

In his third season with Philadelphia, Vigneault finished with a record of 147-74-54 and was left out of the postseason the previous year. The sixty-year-old has coached more than 700 NHL games and has previously guided the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup final.

Yeo has to figure out how to turn things around for the Flyers, at least temporarily. After spending five seasons with Minnesota, he joined the St. Louis Blues as an assistant in 2016 and was let go in November 2018. Of Yeo’s four full seasons, the Wild made the playoffs three times. He was fired 55 games into the 2015–16 season.

overhaul of the roster
“This is an opportunity for me to prove that I’ve grown,” Yeo stated.

Yeo coached the Wild while Fletcher was general manager in Minnesota, and the new coach will probably get a few opportunities to show that he can lead the Flyers to a postseason run. Later on Monday, Yeo and Fletcher were supposed to give a press conference.

“Scheduling interviews and hiring a head coach quickly is not the main goal. To help Mike, that is,” Fletcher remarked.

After Vigneault led the team to a 25-23-8 record (58 points) the previous season, Fletcher made major roster changes. Joel Farabee and Carter Hart received lucrative contract extensions from the Flyers, while Sean Couturier signed an eight-year, $62-million US deal. Fletcher signed Keith Yandle and Derick Brassard and acquired defensemen Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen. In addition, the Flyers acquired forward Cam Atkinson through a trade and signed backup goaltender Martin Jones.

Once more in Philadelphia, the adjustments were insufficient to elevate the Flyers to title contender status. Since their consecutive championships in 1974 and 1975, they have not won the Cup.

“For the past ten years, I have been unable to speak. Fletcher remarked, “Most of these guys haven’t been here that long.” “The current procedure isn’t correct. We must return to playing in the proper manner.”

Rather, the Flyers are attempting to avoid losing ten games in a row for the first time since the 2018–19 campaign.

Before Monday’s game, Giroux stated, “Last night was a good example that our game wasn’t good enough, and getting embarrassed in your own building is not acceptable.”

After making his professional debut with the Flyers in 2007, Giroux has spent his entire career with the team. He has led the team in most offensive categories during his tenure under coaches John Stevens, Peter Laviolette, Craig Berube, Dave Hakstol, Scott Gordon, Vigneault, and Yeo.

COMPANY DATA: Claude Giroux
The 33-year-old center may waive his no-movement clause and request a trade to a contending team as he enters the final season of an eight-year, $66-million US contract.

“Right now, you look at our group, and we don’t have an identity,” Giroux stated. “After we concede a goal, we sort of give up on the game. We must rediscover our confidence in this group. We have to think that we just need to keep playing our game, regardless of who scores the first goal.”

In October, Vigneault gained notoriety after former Flyers goalie Robin Lehner charged him with prescribing medication to players without a prescription.