Laviolette Fired, But Blame Homer for this Mess

I was prepared this morning to write a post about how the Flyers horrid start this season is not very surprising.  I was going to point out that, this season, the Flyers have been outscored 6-1 at 5-on-5 for a goal ratio of 0.17 (which is 29th, technically ahead of the Rangers, who have only played one game, which resulted in no 5-on-5 goals for a ratio of 0.00).  I was going to point out that, thus far, the Flyers have similarly been outscored 6-1 in the 3rd period, which is dead last in the league.

I was then going to say this shouldn't be altogether surprising. because last year the Flyers were 25th in 5-on-5 goal differential (0.86).  They were -15 in the 3rd period last year, which was 28th in the league.  In short, these are old problems, and the team largely looks the same as it did in the preseason anyway.

Lastly, I was also going to say why would you fire Laviolette after 3 games?  Again, I'll refer back to my post from March stating that it was time for a change.  The thing is, deciding a change is necessary is one thing, and doing it properly is another.  Whatever reason Holmgren had for sticking with Laviolette all this time, 3 regular season games couldn't possibly have changed everything (and I've stated above that haven't really changed much of anything, actually).

The proper way to do a coaching change is in the offseason.  Then, you have the most candidates available to choose from, and the new coach has the offseason and training camp to prepare for the season.  Firing a coach 3 games into the season is basically a GM admitting he bungled the situation.  Badly.

But here we are, and I suppose I can't be too upset.  The Flyers have looked like the worst team in the NHL thus far.  On paper, they should at least be a top-20 team, so what's the worst that could happen?  Nevertheless, I have to wonder how much structural change can be brought to a team with a midseason coaching change, that also promotes a guy already on the coaching staff (Berube).

I can now watch the game tomorrow with some interest.  Watching the Montreal and Carolina games were absolutely awful, and the Flyers looked like lame ducks.  At least they'll have some new urgency.  The problem is that Holmgren is 2/3 months late in acknowledging that things were broken, and I'm not sure the Flyers can change course as necessary in mid-season with an interim coach.

(CORRECTION: Berube is not getting the interim tag)