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Musings and Quick Hits: Laperriere, Sandström, Phantoms, Showcase & More

June 11, 2021, 10:05 AM ET [152 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Thoughts on Laperriere Hiring in Lehigh Valley

The Flyers recent announcement of the transfer of Ian Laperriere from an NHL assistant coaching role to the head coaching job for the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms did not come as a surprise. The move was widely rumored from the day that Scott Gordon was not retained as Phantoms head coach.

Laperriere, 47, has never been a head coach at the professional or major junior level. However, he has nine years of coaching experience within the Flyers' organization, first as a player development coach working one-on-one with prospects and then as a Flyers assistant coach. It is likely that Laperriere's Phantoms assistant will be someone with previous head coaching experience who can assist him in making the adjustment.

Laperriere has always been very well-liked and well-respected by the players with whom he's worked. As an assistant coach, he pushed and challenged players in a good-cop type of manner, as players could also knew they could confide in him. He worked very hard and didn't take himself too seriously. He knew when to keep things light and when it was time to buckle down. The role of a head coach is different. There's less day-to-day personal interaction with players (although there's still more of it at the AHL level than the NHL) and more of a macro-focus.

It remains to be seen how Laperriere fares in terms of implementing systems, running practices and making in-game adjustments because he will be a first-time head coach. Some longtime assistants, such as Craig Berube, make the transition just fine. Others struggle with it. If Laperriere fails, it won't be for lack of working at it.

I do want to make a comment on Laperriere's work during the time when his tasks included running the Flyers penalty kill. There were some years when the PK struggled most of the year and a couple years where it was above 80 percent. The high-water mark was actually Laperriere's first season on the job, when the Flyers posted an 84.9 percent PK success rate (ranked 7th in the NHL) in 2013-14. The percentages thereafter largely plummeted, except for 2015-16 when a very strong second half of the season (83.2% from Jan 1 to the end of the regular season after clocking in at 77.6% from opening night through the end of December) lifted the team to a final 80.5% mark.

The problem was never that Laperriere "couldn't coach a penalty kill". It was first and foremost a matter of personnel decline during the time period.

The 2013-14 Flyers PK had at its disposal the likes of a still-effective Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, a healthy and productive Matt Read, a 24-year-old Michael Raffl, faceoff-and-PK specialist Adam Hall, Nick Grossmann before his knees went and a 20-year-old Sean Couturier, the rotation was deep and effective. Combine that with a strong season of goaltending from Steve Mason and Ray Emery, and the team PK was in the top one-third of league.

Fast forward to what happened thereafter, with Timonen out of the mix for health reasons, Coburn dealing with injuries and then getting traded, Read declining after 2013-14, Hall retiring from the NHL, Grossmann slowing down significantly and the goalies facing tougher chances and coming up with fewer PK saves. Combined with some of the PK regulars such as Read and Grossmann declining as players and/or departing, the new personnel that came in during the Ron Hextall years, such as a late-career R.J. Umberger, Chris VandeVelde, Ryan White and Roman Lyubimov largely did not perform on the PK to same level as their predecessors. To be fair, a few additions such Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Radko Gudas individually played in their roles well along with holdovers such as Couturier and Raffl.

You also can't have it both ways in terms of judging the role coaching played. If you are going to primarily blame Laperriere for the years the PK struggled, then you have to correspondingly give him primary credit for 2013-14 and the second half of 2015-16. If you are going to completely dismiss the notion that coaching had anything to do with the periods when the PK was strong, then it is illogical to put the down years.

The same thing, by the way, applies to current Flyers PK coach Mike Yeo. If you are going to primarily blame Yeo for the Flyers' PK struggles in 2020-21, then you have to equally assign primary credit for the major improvements the PK made the previous year.

The truth of the matter is that, while coaching obviously is one important piece of the equation, it is ultimately the players who have to perform. Two examples: Kevin Hayes was a PKing force in 2019-20, but struggled this past year. Matt Niskanen was not adequately replaced in the Flyers' line up. It was largely the same thing during Laperriere's tenure. That does not completely absolve the assistant coaches for ineffectiveness in their attempted adjustments in down times.

There is no head coaching body of work off which to judge Ian Laperriere at this time. His task with the Phantoms will be three-fold: 1) assist young players in their development toward the NHL; 2) Implement systems that are similar to what the NHL staff utilizes (an occasional criticism of Gordon was that his systems were not aligned closely enough with Alain Vigneault's preferences); 3) Build off the Phantoms' strong 2020-21 season to give prospects a taste of playing in a winning environment at the pro level while balancing the roles of AHL veterans and NHL prospects (which is often easier said than done).


As a player, of course, Laperriere was tough as nails and crafted a 1,000-game NHL career out of doing the unglamorous but vital traditional fourth-line tasks of killing penalties, backchecking with gusto, establishing a physical presence on the forecheck, paying the price to block shots and, as needed, dropping the gloves.

"Lappy" had once been a prolific scorer in junior hockey (even by high-scoring QMJHL standards, he racked up a lot of points) and a solid offensive performer early career minor leaguer but realized that he wasn't gifted enough to be a long-term NHLer as a scorer. He wholeheartedly embraced a very different sort of role in the NHL and made a lengthy career out of it until post-concussion issues ended his playing career.

Below is a transcript of Laperriere's post-hiring press conference.

You’ve worked alongside Scott Gordon in the past. How would you say your style is different or similar to his?

I worked with Gordo for a couple months there. I guess we’re different. He’s a really, really smart hockey guy. Coming from the two months we’ve worked together, he knows the game well. I won’t comment on [styles] because I only worked with Gordo for two months. We all have our style. I know what kind of guy I am. That’s not going to change. I’m going to be the energy guy who’s going to bring life at the rink every day and going to make sure we’re on the positive side. I think that’s what the young guys need. They need a leader that’s going to direct them towards the right direction. To find a chair for those guys, especially those young guys coming up from juniors that just don't know what kind of player they should be as a pro. When you get to this level, everybody was pretty good in junior or in college. I feel like my job and my staff’s job is going to be to find the right chair for those guys to be successful for the Phantoms. And if they are successful with Phantoms, they can move to the next level.

Are there a few guys on the Phantoms roster that might be ready to crack on the NHL roster?

I started watching [video of] games last week, just to get to know those guys. I see them in training camp with the Flyers, but we see them for a week or so. Usually we focus on our main guys and maybe if the guys are on the bubble, like Frosty was last year. You kind of look at him and you're like, “Okay, I'll keep an eye on him.” There's so many guys in camp that I'll talk to them, I'll see them on the ice and everything, but I don't really focus them. I do have all summer to focus on them, look at their game and what kind of players I think they should be.

I have started working around with our Development crew there (Kjell Samuelsson, Nick Schultz, Chris Stewart, Brett Hextall, Brady Robinson). We do have five, six guys and ask them what they feel about all the players we have down there. I will make my own opinion this summer. Maybe there'll be one or two guys that will make the Flyers team next year. For me, when I'm going to come down here full time, it's going to make sure those guys are become the best version of themselves and to give themselves a chance to make it to the next level.

What did you learn over this past year with the pandemic? Do you think there can be permanent changes? Just do you think any of the restrictions or procedures you had would carry forward into next season?

I don't think so. I think at the rink especially, it's going to get back to normal. With the Flyers, we did get tested every day. And yes, we had to wear masks. At the end of the day, we were at rink doing what we love, practicing and playing games. That didn’t change that much other than the mask and testing.

It was away from the rink. For our players and even our coaching staff to go home and not being able to go out or do anything. That was the toughest part. I feel like we're going in the right direction. The world's going in the right direction. The US is going in the right direction. I feel like next year, by the time the season starts, it's going to be back to normal. If anything I learned from the pandemic, you got to enjoy life even more, because you never know what's around the corner. And that's why when I found out the job was available two weeks ago, I'm like that's my chance to take a step and have a new challenge in my life. I always like to challenge myself, physically and mentally. And that's my next big challenge.

Have you found that you like the development side of coaching in your many roles?

I love working with the young guys. You know what, it's what I did as player development director. Being an assistant coach, I was always like... not the buffer, but the guy who played and could relate with those young guys. I took that role and I love that. It's one thing that now I get a chance to do it as a head coach. I won't change my mentality. I like to work with those young guys.

Just going through player development and an assistant coach for that long, it really helped me prepare myself for this role. And there's one guy I mentioned earlier and I didn’t mentioned to you guys. I just want to give him a little shoutout there, Paul Holmgren. Without him, I wouldn't be here. He's the guy who signed me, and he asked me what I wanted to do after and I told him what I wanted to do. He helped me from Day One. And you know, you meet so many people in hockey, some you forget.

Paul Holmgren, that's the guy I'll never forget. He's the guy who will give me all my chances and I can't thank him enough.

How do you anticipate going from an assistant coach role to a head coach role?

Well, it's going be an adjustment for me and for the players around me. At the end of the day, I'll be myself. It's taken me this far in life. I'm not planning on changing. There's one thing I do have control of the ice time and that’s the thing I've never controlled before. The players have to know that. And I want to bring the way we're going to play and the style of play. I'm going to bring the structure that me and AV are talking about. There's a lot of stuff that won't be negotiable in the system.

Players will make mistakes. Coaches will make mistakes. That I can live with, but you have to stick with the system, with the structure that we talk about and hard work. I mentioned it upstairs. I'm a big believer in fitness. Players that are going to play for me are going have to be in shape or I'll get them in shape. They know that. Guys that know me, guys that I coached for the Flyers that will play for me next year here, they know that. I'm sure the words going to spread around. For me, to be a pro, you got to be a pro 24 hours a day, inside the rink and away from the rink. It goes from nutrition to the way you act around town. You represent the logo. I'm a big believer in that. That's my job to make sure everybody is on the same page.

What’s the difference at the AHL level as opposed to dealing with the kids at the junior level?

Well, when I was dealing with the junior kids, we didn’t have the same kind of job to do. It was more like I’ll come up every two weeks watch you play and talk, get to know that kid more than anything. I didn't want to coach when I did player development. Well, I wanted to coach but, say I went to see Ghost at Union, I wouldn't tell him how to play D. That’s his coach at Union was responsible for that.

My role was more to get to know those guys for the future, what kind of kids they were. I met mom and dad and just to get to know that kid. When you come to the American League, it's different. Now I have hands-on every day on you, just going to do whatever I think it's best for you. I do have a great staff from the player development and management to help me out in that regard to get to know those kids little bit better on the hockey side. The staff that we're going to hire is going to be guys that think like I do. They have development at heart first and after that, whatever. That's the difference between being player development and worrying about the junior kids and being in my position today.

Do you have aspirations to being a NHL coach one day?

Right now, my goal is to make those kids better. I'm a guy who goes day by day. I did that all my career as a player. I did that all my career as a coach. And that hasn't changed. Yes, the NHL is a great league and everything. My goal now is to help the Phantoms compete and have those kids get better every day. At the end of the day, if I can do my job by doing that, we’ll compete at this level. And that's the way I'm focusing right now. I got enough to focus on right now. I don't have time to think about the NHL. I'm worried about the kids I'm going have next year and I do have a lot of work to do.

What do you feel at the AHL level is key to balancing creating a winning environment, integrating young players with the veteran players on the roster and developing those young players to be NHL-ready?

Yeah, it’s one thing I'm going to learn. I won’t lie to you. I don't know much about the American League. I know by watching it and being around people that coach there and play there. There is a fine line for sure. At the end of the day, it's going to go back to the way I want the team to play and back into the structure. I want to have those kids buy in into that structure. And if they do get better, it won't be a free ride. If they don't play in your structure, they won't play. I go back to the only thing I control is the ice time. One big thing I control, it's the ice time. It’s part of being a pro. If you do the right thing, if the coach is asking you to do this and you don't, well there's consequences. It comes with if we have more guys doing it, we will win more games than lose games.

We'll see what kind of team we're going to have next year on paper. It doesn't matter what team I get, I'm going to have to make them better. If they are a Flyers prospect or not, if you wear a Phantoms jersey, I'm going to help you be better as an individual. If I do and we do as a staff a good job, we will win more games than lose, for sure.


Do you know who might your assistant be? Who was your biggest mentors in the coaching business?

Well, I'll start with that. Chief [Craig Berube] was my first coach I coached with. I like the way he is. He never changed. I had him [as a player] as an assistant coach. I coached with him when he was a head coach. Just he was himself. That's my goal. I'm going to be myself. It took me this far in life and I'm not planning on changing that. As a player, I learned a lot from teammates I played with. As a coach, I did the same thing. Every coach I coached with, I learned from them. Okay, I like this, I don't like that. I'll keep this if I ever coach. It goes through my mind. I feel that's the way I played that long. I'm planning on using what I learned from all the coaches I coached with and make myself a better coach.

I'm in the process right now [of looking for an assistant coach]. We feel like if I went into July, there would more candidates, like top notch candidates out there. I do have names in my head. For me, what a perfect staff would be a D coach who played the position before and does have AHL experience and a forward, more like a skill player, who does have AHL experience. I’m in a tough position to hire a guy who never coached. I want guys that are better than me in certain areas just to make everybody better.

I'm not afraid of hiring strong people and people with more knowledge than me. I believe that's what makes a good staff, when you have people with different opinions around you. That's my goal. We'll see. I'm going to wait. I know there'll be head coaching jobs available around the league and some of those coaches are going to go for those jobs. I feel like at the end of June or beginning July, there'll be big names out there. And we'll see.

Can you talk about how different your role changed when working with three head coaches the last few seasons?

Oh my role changed, we all know that. I went from being a part of some special teams with Chief and Hakstol. When AV took over, I went up [into the press box]. I love this organization. I was willing to do whatever it takes they felt they need me to do to make this team better, I would have done it. I was like that as a player and it’s in my nature. I don't regret it because I learned so much and everything. Last few years when I went up there, I saw the game differently. Two years ago, well, this year, I came back on the bench full time. AV gave me more [tasks], like pre-scouts and everything. I learned a lot and that's a quality I have, just learning from every position they put me in and make myself a better coach.

Chief was Chief. Again, I talked about Chief. He is a guy that I respect a lot. I respected him a lot as a player. I had no choice or he would beat me up. As a coach, I liked because he never changed. He was himself. That's what I plan to be. I'll be myself but I'll be the head coach. I do have more power than I had before as an assistant coach. I will bring positive energy and positive feedback. I don't believe in putting people down deeper when they're down already.

I'm a big believer of staying positive. Coming to the rink should be fun. I’ve been in the game for 27 years in the NHL level. I love coming to the rink and it's contagious. I know that and I'm going to make sure players feel the same.

Sandström Signs One-Year Contract

Earlier this week, Finnish Liiga team TPS Turku put out a press release on their official website to announce that they had signed goaltender Felix Sandström to a one-year contract. Less than 48 hours later, Sandström signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Flyers.

Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher deemed the previous information an "erroneous report". It would be rather odd for a team to report on its official site a signing that it hadn't made. What likely happened is either:

1) Sandström, like many European players, works with two separate agents: one based in Europe plus his NHL agent. With Sandström an impending NHL restricted free agent (prior to re-signing with the Flyers), the European agent struck a deal with TPS but Sandström himself opted for the NHL deal that was reached shortly thereafter; or

2) If Sandström actually did sign on the dotted line with TPS, the deal had an escape clause window before he was locked in with TPS for the 2021-22 season.

The announcement from TPS came as quite a big surprise, given that Sandström's ambition has always been to play in the NHL. He struggled at the ECHL level in 2019-20 and also struggled with injuries and subpar play in very irregular playing opportunities for much of the 2020-21 season. However, during the latter part of the abbreviated AHL season, he was finally healthy and got his first extended action, playing very well over several weeks. Leaving North America now to go back to Europe would have been a questionable career move especially with an opportunity to enter next season as the Phantoms' No. 1 goalie and No. 3 on the Flyers' depth chart if he has a good training camp.

Liiga is no longer what it was before Jokerit Helsinki exited the league to join the KHL. Even before that, the circuit had slipped in caliber from what it was in the latter 1990s to early 2000s when clubs like HIFK and Jokerit competed at a high level and TPS and Kärpät Oulu were veritible NHL prospect factories. At its peak, the old SM-liiga's top clubs played roughly AHL caliber hockey. Nowadays, Sandström leaving the AHL to sign with a Liiga club would be more like voluntarily going back to face something akin to ECHL-caliber competition again.

Fletcher indicated earlier this week that he is undecided about whether the organization will attempt to re-sign impending unrestricted free agent Alex Lyon. With Sandström re-signed and with highly regarded Samuel Ersson coming over the North America starting next season --plus Kirill Ustimenko on the comeback trail after missing this past season due to hip surgery -- there does not seem to a spot for Lyon anymore unless Ersson started out in Reading with Ustimenko.


Flyers Alumni vs. Flyers Warriors Showcase Update

VIP tickets are sold out for the Flyers Alumni vs. Flyers Warriors Showcase fundraiser at IceWorks in Aston, PA on June 27. The VIP package includes a private viewing area for the game, a postgame reception with the Flyers Alumni and a live band. However, general admission tickets ($20) are still available; supplies are limited, so it's recommended to pre-order the tickets.

Below is the confirmed Flyers Alumni roster for the game. There are still several other potential additions, who are not listed here.

Goalie: Robert Esche.
Defense: Joe Watson, Mark Howe, Chris Therien, Kjell Samuelsson, Jeff Chychrun, Brad Marsh.
Forwards: Danny Briere, John LeClair, Mike Knuble, Ian Laperriere, Adam Hall, Dave Brown, Todd Fedoruk, Riley Cote, Scott Daniels, Jesse Boulerice, Lindsay Carson. Mitch Lamoureux, Carl Mokosak.
Coaches Jim Watson, Paul Holmgren, Steve Coates.

Additionally, Lou Nolan will serve as public address announcer and Lauren Hart will sing the national anthem. Gritty will also make an appearance.
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