Trifecta Behind The Bench
The Flyers revealed two major hirings behind the bench to assist newly appointed head coach Alain Vigneault for the upcoming 2019-2020 season. Mike Yeo, former head coach of the St. Louis Blues and Michel Therrien, former Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins head coach.
Both assistant coach positions were filled by (both) Vigneault and Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher as a strong effort to change the culture and work ethic in The Flyers camp. This news came by surprise to many as these were two big names in an even bigger and ever-growing pool of free agent NHL head coaches.
Here’s where this becomes very interesting… Mike Yeo has always coached to his strength as an offensively minded system that drives play into the other team’s zone, as Michel Therrien has a very defensive minded coaching style. However, these roles have officially reversed as Yeo has been appointed the PK/Defensive position and Therrien has been appointed the PP/offensive position in Philadelphia.
Though this move may raise a few eyebrows for Flyers fans, these were changes made by Vigneault while approved and executed by Fletcher in The Flyers front office. Even though some Blues, Canadiens and Penguins fans may have some unflattering opinions of each prior head coach, both have experienced very successful regular seasons (and for Therrien, a lot of postseason success in Pittsburgh) in their respected former hockey clubs.
The Flyers bench has, for all intents and purposes, become an All-Star coaching squad consisting of three former head coaches. Even though Therrien and Vigneault have both come up short of hoisting the cup- as Therrien was relieved of his duties behind the bench halfway through the regular season in Pittsburgh in 2009 before. The Penguins went onto their Cup win, and Vigneault coming up a few extra wins short in the Stanley Cup Finals with two different teams.
These are three well-respected coaches who have experienced success at multiple levels of the game who can help lead what is already a very talented roster back to the postseason in 2020.
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