The Philadelphia Flyers organization has only captured two Stanley Cup victories in its nearly 60 years of existence. It has been 50 years since the last parade down Broad Street. How much have the coaches played into that?
On a few occasions, the orange and black came close to winning it all.
In 2009-10, the team managed to claw its way through the playoffs and took on the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately, that organization was kicking off a mini dynasty, winning three championships in five years.
In 1984-85 and 1986-87, they ran into the truly dynastic Edmonton Oilers, led by more than their fair share of superstars, including Wayne Gretzky.
Yet again, the Flyers had the same misfortune in 1996-97, facing the Detroit Red Wings, a team that went on to capture three championships in five seasons.
It is fair to say, Philadelphia had some bad luck, and the coaches could not truly be to blame. Although the time Terry Murray said the team was choking did not help.
What about the history of these coaches who made it to the Finals? Were they former Flyers?
Coach | Year | Affiliation | Outcome | Opponent | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fred Shero | 1973-74 | None | Won | Boston Bruins | 4-2 |
Fred Shero | 1974-75 | None | Won | New York Rangers | 4-3 |
Fred Shero | 1975-76 | None | Lost | Montreal Canadiens | 0-4 |
Pat Quinn | 1979-80 | Assistant | Lost | New York Islanders | 2-4 |
Mike Keenan | 1984-85 | None | Lost | Edmonton Oilers | 1-4 |
Mike Keenan | 1986-87 | None | Lost | Edmonton Oilers | 3-4 |
Terry Murray | 1996-97 | Player | Lost | Detroit Red Wings | 0-4 |
Peter Laviolette | 2009-10 | None | Lost | Chicago Blackhawks | 2-4 |
Of the eight times the Flyers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, the coach had a former affiliation with the team. Pat Quinn was an assistant. Terry Murray was a player. The team had a 2-8 series record under those two.
In Quinn's defense, a bad offside call in the 1979-80 series led directly to the series-clinching overtime goal in Game Six. Even their opponent, the New York Islanders, admitted it was a bad call and the play was clearly offside.
The Flyers made it to the championship series six other times under three coaches, crossing the finish line twice and making it to Game 7 once.
The team fared well under coaches with no former affiliation, but also had deeper teams in most of those seasons.
Looking back on the history of the Flyers' bench bosses, it is a mixed bag of good, bad, lucky, and unlucky coaches. Good teams helped lead the organization to the finals, but had a bad history of running into dynasties in those series.
The main takeaway, though, is that the organization burns through coaches, with an average tenure being barely over two years. At the moment, the Flyers do not have a deep team but general manager Danny Briere has stockpiled seven picks within the first 50 selections. There is also cap space to potentially sign a big-name free agent.
Things may finally be coming together for the organization. If the team can stop getting in its own way and give Rick Tocchet enough time to put a system in place and develop talent, the Flyers may once again become competitive and challenge for the Cup.