Two Often Forgotten Heroes of the 2020 Philadelphia Flyers: Yeo and Therrien
There’s no doubt that the Philadelphia Flyers are having a really good 2019-2020 season thus far.
Fans and media alike are pointing to many different reasons for the turnaround over last season.
Some say it’s due to the “coming out party” of all the youngsters, some who have been here for a few seasons like Provorov, Sanhiem, and Konecny, or others who have just come up and helped more than we could have imagined like Aube-Kubel, Farabee or Myers for example. Others will say it’s due to the fact that all the acquisitions that GM Chuck Fletcher has made, have all turned to GOLD, like Hayes, Niskanen, Pitlick, and Grant.
Many say that having Alain Vigneault as the head coach of this team has made all the difference in the world and he may very well be the Jack Adams Award winner because of it.
Now those are all really good points and DEFINITELY are big reasons for this turnaround.
Often overlooked in this conversation is the importance of the work, however, is that Assistant Coaches Mike Yeo and Michel Therrien have done with this team.
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Mike Yeo
Yeo has taken the role of leading the Flyers defensively. Make no mistake, this was a huge undertaking. The former head coach in St. Louis and in Minnesota, was also an assistant coach on the rival Penguins team that went to the Stanley Cup final in 2008 (coached by Michel Therrien, more on that later) and also when the Penguins won the Cup in 2009. His pedigree has never been in question.
Alongside Vigneault and Therrien, Yeo has completely turned around this defensive corps. New arrival veterans Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun have had their careers rejuvenated since working closely with Yeo and both are having career years. Robert Hagg is playing the best hockey of his career under Yeo’s tutelage. Last year’s whipping boy is now a vital part of this year’s defensive core.
While still learning on the job, Sanheim and Myers are playing complete games and have all the confidence in the world from Yeo, as he has them playing in spots where they will be successful.
And perhaps greatest of all, Yeo has Ivan “Drago” Provorov back to being his old self again.
After a down season last year, the Provorov we all know, and love is back. He’s generating offense (check out this magnificent OT play here by him), he’s just a wall back there in his own end and you can just tell he’s back to having a good time while playing out there.
With Shayne Gostisbehere all but recovered from his nagging injuries (thanks to this time off), I have no doubt Yeo will have him back to his old self again real soon, much to the delight of all Flyers fans.
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Michel Therrien
Like Yeo, Therrien came to the Flyers with a ton of head coaching experience. Therrien led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup final appearance in 2008. He spends 4 years as head coach of the Penguins and 8 years as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens during two different stints. The job he did during his second stint with the Canadiens, in particular, was nothing short of amazing when you look at the talent (or lack there-of) on those teams. With Vigneault and Therrien being such good friends, it wasn’t surprising when Therrien was brought on to be part of the coaching staff. But what was incredibly surprising, was that Therrien was put in charge of the game on the offensive side of the puck!
Looking back, this may have been an absolute stroke of pure genius by Head coach Alain Vigneault. Therrien basically has everyone playing like Claude Giroux! Let me explain: Claude Giroux while being one of the best point-getters in the last decade, has also been one of the great defensive forwards in the game. He’s played the powerplay and the penalty kill. Same for Sean Couturier.
So, Therrien came in and has molded the offensive players into well-rounded players. While point production may be down for both Voracek and JVR, has anyone EVER seen them play this good defensively or this much of a complete game?
They are leaps and bounds ahead of where they have been in years past, and that’s primarily due to Michel Therrien. Youngsters Farabee and NAK have fit right in. They’ve contributed defensively and offensively. Speaking of NAK, Therrien has the entire bottom 6 forwards group playing as the best bottom 6 in the league. They produce goals and the opposition hates playing against them. Therrien has continued to let Kevin Hayes be one of the league’s best defensive forwards, but he also has Hayes producing with unprecedented offensive numbers as well. Under Therrien, Hayes was on pace to have his first-ever 30-goal season and a new personal high.
Yes, it took a while for Therrien’s system of “Let the offense come from the defensive side of the puck” to take shape and for everyone to completely grasp it, it has paid HUGE dividends for the Flyers. So much so, that no team has scored more goals since January 6th that the Flyers have. All 4 lines are rocking and rolling, all scoring timely goals while keeping the opponents’ quality scoring chances to lower than I can ever remember.
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The Flyers are having a great season. Sean Couturier should be the Selke Trophy winner. Alain Vigneault should be the Jack Adams winner. Hart is statistically a top 10 goalie in the league right now at 21 years of age, something that comes a little easier when playing behind that Flyers defense and the forwards putting an emphasis on playing a complete game both offensively and defensively.
Every single one of the acquisitions that was brought in by Chuck Fletcher has panned out. He should win the Executive of the Year award. Currently, they are a top 4 team in the east and will have a 1st round bye because of it.
There are many reasons that make this Flyers team so good, but none of it happens without the Flyers basically having 3 head coaches behind the bench in Vigneault, Yeo, and Therrien.
They’ve all known each other for a long time, and they are all on the same page working towards one ultimate goal: A Stanley Cup victory parade.
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