Laviolette vs. Hitchcock
Yesterday's Flyers Team of the 2000s poll to select a head coach figured to be a two-horse race between current coach Peter Laviolette and former bench boss Ken Hitchcock. Indeed it was, but Laviolette ended up winning by a substantial margin, collecting roughly 50 percent of the votes to Hitchcock's 40 percent among 1,900-plus voters. John Stevens finished a distant third with four percent of the vote, followed by Bill Barber and Craig Ramsay.
I expected Laviolette to win the vote but not by such a comfortable margin. The Flyers are coming off a down year -- albeit in a lockout shortened season -- and there has been speculation that the head coach could be on a short leash if the team gets off to another slow start in 2013-14. There has also been a lot of hand-wringing over whether Laviolette's attack system has left the team too vulnerable defensively.
When all is said and done, however, I think the vote was primarily carried by Laviolette getting the Flyers to the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals -- and within two wins of the championship -- whereas none of Hitchcock's teams got that far (falling one win short in 2004). Laviolette's Flyers have won a combined five playoff series, getting at least to the second round in every year between 2010 and 2012. Hitch's teams won a combined three playoff series in 2003 and 2004 with a first-round exit in 2006.
Something else that may have played into the vote is the fact that Hitchcock had the reputation in Philadelphia of lacking the patience to develop young players; a criticism that is not unmerited but is interesting in light of the fact that he got onto the professional coaching radar in the first place because of his long track record of success as the head coach of the WHL's Kamloops Blazers in the mid-1980s to early 1990. During his Flyers tenure, however, Hitchcock showed reluctance to place trust in some of his young players, with the case of a stagnating Patrick Sharp being dumped off to Chicago being the hindsight example that's mentioned the most often.
I think that both Laviolette and Hitchcock are good coaches with different systems and different personalities. Each have their respective strengths and weaknesses.
Hitchcock is much more defense-oriented and knows how to coax players (however reluctantly) to buy in to a D-first system. He's been accused at times of stifling the creativity of skill players. Laviolette favors more of an up-tempo game that maximizes the ability of mobile and creative players. The flip side of the coin is that Laviolette's variation on the left wing lock style might not work as well with roster compositions that are not suited that particular style, especially in terms of backchecking with gusto.
Both coaches are known for being very demanding on their players, and perhaps a bit unflexible at times. Every coach has a shelf life, and both Hitchcock and Laviolette are workaholics who expect their players to show equal passion and devotion.
If I had to make a call between the two coaches, I might give a slight nod to Hitchcock. It has nothing to do with the fact that Hitchcock tends to be more media-friendly than Laviolette. Rather, I just have a personal belief that a defense-first style is less prone to hot and cold streaks over the course of a full season. With Laviolette, I'd like to see the team be able to win more of the games on nights where they might only score two goals. That said, I think Laviolette's teams tend to be more entertaining to watch and have definitely been better on special teams than some of the Hitchcock clubs.
It would be fascinating to take this same poll again a year from now. I think the fate of the 2013-14 Flyers will go a long way toward either making Laviolette the Coach of the 2000s by a landslide or else might get people to reconsider the success level of his tenure.
************
Team of the 2000s: Final Forward Spots
Today, we are doing a run-off poll for the final four forward spots -- three starting spots and a reserve -- for the Flyers' Team of the 2000s. As of now, these are the players who have been chosen:
Centers (3): Claude Giroux, Keith Primeau, Mike Richards.
Wingers (6): Simon Gagne, John LeClair, Mark Recchi, Mike Knuble, Scott Hartnell, Jakub Voracek.
Defensemen (5): Kimmo Timonen, Eric Desjardins, Chris Pronger, Kim Johnsson, Derian Hatcher.
Goalies (2): Roman Cechmanek (starter), Brian Boucher (backup).
Cast your vote below, selecting 3 forwards. The fourth-place finisher will be the 13th (reserve) forward on the roster. You may select any three from the list but I recommend selecting one center and two wingers.
************
Former Flyers forward Ian Laperriere, now the organization's Director of Player Development, will be participating in the Ironman Mont-Tremblant: North American Championship on August 18. Apart from competing in the triatholon, Lappy is raising funds for a variety of charitable causes: the IRONMAN Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation and Go4theGoal Foundation- Tunes4Teens. Laperriere has set a $10,000 fundraising goal. For more information or to make a donation,
click here.
Kindle users: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Click below to follow me on Twitter:
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»