Laviolette and Berube

[wbon22]

On three different sites I have seen people lamenting that Laviolette and his "system" were no longer here/in use.

Why?

His complete lack of understanding how to handle his goaltenders and utter mistreatment of Bob lead the spectacle of playing three goalies in one series when the goalie who started game one was the best of the three...yet was given the shortest leash. This is the coach who continued to call for his team to play with "Jam" rather than adjusting to what other teams did in response. Relying on combination punching for pressure over counter punching...

The reason Laviolette burns out is as much to do with the simplicity of what he preaches. That, and he makes no allowance for the personnel. If he has 6 good skating defensemen and decent mobility on his top 3 lines, yeah...it works and keeps it interesting, but if the goalie isn't on his game, quick from post to post and unshakeable when facing lots of shots....it all falls apart. Think Cam Ward during the cup run. He stood on his head. He allowed the "system" to work. That, and the 6 mobile defensemen.

In Philadelphia he never had the mobility on the blueline that he wanted/needed. But he never adjusted his approach.

Stevens, for as much as people didn't like the pace the team played got a lot more out of less. He had an actual system to funnel attacking players into "safe" areas and allow for the goalies to see the shooters. There were a minimum of 4 different PK looks that were used interchangeably by the lineup. Stevens lost his job because there were players who thought they were bigger than the team.

Berube has reached the tipping point. He has to either do something dramatic in the next few days, or he will join Bill Dineen, Wayne Cashman and Craig Ramsey as former coaches who seemed to have some good ideas but who in the end were out of their depth.

 

[Cobiemonster]

I don't think Lavi was perfect with the shuffling of goaltending(2010-11) but I think that year when he used three goalies including Bob, I didn't think the Flyers were going to go any far anyways - Chris Pronger was hurt, Mike Richards was hurt and they had lost their mojo late in the regular season(even when Bob was still getting the workload) - they were burnt out at that point and people don't realize that they had played a tough playoffs the year before and they started off the next season so well but they just mentally fatigued that season

That being said, it's not Lavi's fault that they traded Bob and that Ed Snider was the driving force to giving Bryz that contract - I think a lot of other coaches would have done what Lavi did if he didn't have the goalies to win

We can sit here and blame Lavi for the players not being ready to go in training camp last season but isn't that on the players too? To me that shows the players don't have the leadership when it matters - they've pretty much done the same shit this season and the only reason they got it together last season was because of a new coach and more energy early on, which happens a lot with new coaches

Lavi had a lot of talent at his disposal but you have to be honest, if you're going to say there were players who were bigger than the team, then how did Lavi get them to buy in? I like John Stevens but he didn't have that next level of motivation at that point like Lavi did

This is why I don't think the Flyers have any leaders sans G and Jake(who are the best players on the team) - a team should be full of leaders and full of guys who are willing to come in and be ready for the season - that debacle in training camp last year is on the players for not being physically and mentally prepared and it tells me that there is an obvious lack of leadership in that department through the entire roster

 

[wbon22]

What is really lacking here...and this is not a knock on any of the players or coaches....is a captain/leader who is a real coaches rep the way Primeau was for Hitch or Brind'Amour was for Lavi in Carolina. When Stevens won in the AHL he had players other than Richards and Carter (and Umberger) who were the leaders. Richards and Carter were simply the gravy. Teams that win have either a preponderance of talent or a great leader and a decent team. The Oilers won with Gretzky because of the amount of talent and then later with Messier because he had learned how to lead. Same with the Rangers.

People tend to forget that Jason Smith was the captain Steven's first full season. He was the conduit. He set the tone. Calm and professional.

G may be a good leader in the room. He clearly works hard and wants to win. The question is the message from above and the application. If the message from above is simply not working or not consistent, then the bigger problems become the Coach...and that is where we are now.

 

[wbon22]

....also, the team that Stevens team had Knuble, Briere, Hartnell, Gagne, Kimmo, and Sammi Kappanen. That is a pretty amazing amount of leadership. Contrast to .... well, this team.