Ian Laperrière is one of my all-time favorite Flyers. You'll know why if you've been watching this team over the last 25 years. The sixteen-year vet played just one season, his final one, as a member of the Flyers. He scored just three goals. However, that's not the Laperrière you know. This is why you remember him
In the final game of the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs against the New Jersey Devils, Laperrière took a puck to the face after he laid out to block it. He broke his orbital bones and suffered a concussion. He missed the next series against the Boston Bruins but would return to play against the Montreal Canadiens in the fourth game of the Eastern Conference finals. This was also the second time he had received a puck to the face that season.
Laperrière had intentions of playing the following season, but lingering concussion symptoms, plus nerve damage to the eyes, forced him to call it a career. However, much like Aaron Rowand crashing into the wall at Citizens Bank Park, Laperrière became a fan favorite because he is a guy who laid it all out for the team. His playing career in Philly may have been short, but his impact was huge, and he was rewarded for it.
Shortly thereafter, he was hired by the Flyers as a director for player personnel. The following season, 2013, he was named as an assistant coach of the Flyers. This culminated in being named the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in 2021. All in all, he is a Flyer through and through.
Why He Should Be The Flyers' Next Coach
Someone with deep Philly roots like this could and should be thought of as a candidate for the Flyers' head coaching position. He's put in his time and paid his dues. He knows a lot of the young players and has an established relationship with them. He also has a working relationship with Daniel Briere, a former teammate, and Keith Jones.
Also, this is not the Flyers recycling the same old candidates. NHL teams like to reshuffle the same old deck and play with the same cards (coaches) over and over again. Run a team into the ground as a coach or GM, and someone is bound to give you a second or third, or fifth chance.
This is a new guy who bleeds orange and black. He is the epitome of toughness and, by all accounts, was a great teammate. Again, he broke his face twice in the same year for his teammates. That kind of unselfishness is rare and is beloved in the locker room. We covered this back in 2022 when the Flyers were last looking for a head coach.
Why He Shouldn't Be The Flyers Next Coach
In 2022, I was skeptical of him becoming a head coach because of his inexperience at the helm. I felt he needed more time behind the bench as a head coach. This was also because in his first season at Lehigh Valley, the team finished in last place.
Since then, the team has improved, but only slightly. In the last two seasons, the team has finished in sixth place (out of eight teams), made the playoffs, but didn't last long. They were bounced in the first round by the Charlotte Checkers after just two games in 2023 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs last year, but fell to Hershey in four games. This year, the Phantoms have clinched a playoff berth, but again are a lower seeded team.
In three years, the prospects that have arisen from the Phantoms haven't been very impressive. They've been ok, but they haven't set the hockey world on fire either. Which forces us to ask the question, "How much of this falls on Laperrière?"
After all, he's supposed to have been the guy who led their development. Of course, the Flyers have also been in a sea of turmoil. Poor drafting classes by former general managers Ron Hextall and Chuck Fletcher have put the Flyers in the predicament that they are currently in.
You can only do so much with what you have, and the Flyers haven't had a lot to work with over the last few seasons. Is that because the prospects selected, and therefore called up, have been of poor quality, or have they been ill-prepared to face off against NHL-level competition? I don't have the answer for that.
Final Verdict
I will never question the work ethic of Laperrière. A guy who plays as tough as him will bring a lot out of his players. A guy who plays like he did would never do a half-rate job as a coach.
With that said, I bring into question the record of the Phantoms. Again, maybe he is doing the best with what he has had to work with. However, I don't think he is ready for the NHL level yet. Now, if you want him to be the bench coach and give the new coach an insight into the abilities and skill sets that some of the young players can bring to the team, then by all means, sign him up. He'd be a great bench coach or assistant coach. Maybe he can help finally solve why the power play has been so anemic for the last decade.
At this time, however, I am unsure if Laperrière is the right man for the job or if he is ready yet. I think his time will come in Philly. I think he will be an integral part of this team. I just don't think he should be the head coach of the Flyers at this moment.