Former Flyer Ian Laperriere returns to the Flyers front office just a week after being ousted from behind the Lehigh Valley Phantoms bench.
The Philadelphia Flyers announced this morning that Lapperiere has been hired as an advisor to Hockey Operations. In his role, he will advise both General Manager Danny Briere and President of Hockey Operations, Keith Jones.
What advice he will be able to offer is anyone's guess. As a player, Laperriere was a gritty blue-collar hero who put the team ahead of his own safety. Speed, silky hands, and a high hockey IQ were not part of his resume.
As an assistant coach with the big club, he had mixed results at best. Special teams struggled while he was there and he outlasted fans' desire to keep him as a coach by quite a bit. There is no doubt that the people in the organization respected him for everything he gave to the team, but he did not have an overwhelmingly positive influence on the team.
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were a middling team during his time as head coach. However, he never had any burgeoning star level talent to push the team forward. Lapperiere struggled to make in-game adjustments, which played a factor in the team's early playoff exit to the Hershey Bears this postseason.
So, what does he bring to the table? Is he another former Flyer charity hire? Does he have the ability to recognize talent? What is his secret sauce? Or, maybe he's another ambassador of good will who can help attract talent?
Briere and Laperriere were teammates. He and Jones crossed paths on the ice as rivals. He is an affable guy and undoubtedly respected by the front office. Unfortunately, there is no clear indication that he can help the organization from behind a desk.
Hopefully, Lapperiere can develop into something special as an advisor and truly help the team. At the current moment, it does seem that he is another former Flyer that the organization is helping. With any luck, that will not be the case.
At a certain point, one has to begin to wonder what the full impact is to keep former players employed. Are fans subsidizing it through inflated ticket prices and expensive merch? Does it cross streams into the Comcast/Xfinity world and result in jacked up cable and internet prices? It is hard to say, but that money has to come from somewhere.