In this Coaching Benchmarks series, we will take a look back at what happened to the former coaches of the Flyers after they stepped out from behind the bench in Philadelphia. The "Oh, No" Group was involved in a moment you would rather not have experienced.
Roger Neilson (1998-00)
Neilson was a Hall of Fame coach, behind the bench for precisely 1,000 NHL games. He led the Flyers to postseason berths in both of his seasons, improving the team's record and playoff performance each year. In February 2000, Neilson stepped away from coaching to undergo cancer treatment. When he was ready to return for the playoffs, the Flyers’ brass pushed back and ultimately informed him that he would not resume his coaching duties.
The Ottawa Senators hired Neilson as an assistant coach for the 2001-02 season. With two games remaining, head coach Jacques Martin allowed Neilson to coach the final two games, enabling him to become the ninth person in NHL history to coach 1,000 games, spread across eight different teams.
Neilson succumbed to cancer on June 21, 2003.
Neilson was a terrific coach whose time in Philly was cut short due to cancer. After treatment, Bobby Clarke would not let him return for the 2000 playoff run. He died three years later.
Dave Hakstol (2015-19)
Hakstol was the first coach to make it from the NCAA to the NHL since 1982 when he was announced as the next head coach of the Flyers. He coached the team to two playoff appearances, both of which ended in first-round exits. After being fired in 2019, he was hired as an assistant coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2021, he was announced as the first coach of the new expansion team, the Seattle Kraken. The Kraken finished with 100 points and made it to the second round of the 2022-23 Stanley Cup playoffs, and he was announced a Jack Adams Award finalist.
On more than one occasion in Seattle, the Kraken refused to play for the organization’s only head coach to that point. Per Sports Illustrated:
"I was told at the exit meetings, a handful of players—pretty significant players—made it clear to management, 'I don't want to play on this team in the future if Dave Hakstol is the coach.'"
Hakstol had a decent career since leaving Philly, including a Jack Adams Award nod, and he deserves some applause for that. His players disagreed.
John Stevens (2006-08)
Stevens was a Flyers draft pick who captained the Philadelphia Phantoms to their first-ever Calder Cup championship. He paid his dues in the AHL, coaching the Phantoms to their second-ever Calder Cup championship in 2005. He moved up to the big club as an assistant coach the following season and was abruptly promoted to head coach eight games into the Flyers' 2006-07 season. The Flyers made the playoffs twice under his watch, flirting with 100-point seasons each time.
In 2010, Stevens joined the Los Angeles Kings as an assistant coach. Two seasons later, he briefly served as interim head coach for four games before returning to his assistant role. He was part of two Stanley Cup-winning teams in Los Angeles. In 2017, he was promoted to head coach of the Kings, a position he held for a little over a season before joining the Dallas Stars and then the Vegas Golden Knights.
As an assistant coach in Vegas, he was part of his third Stanley Cup-winning franchise in 2023. That season, the Golden Knights broke the Flyers' five-decade-long record as the fastest expansion team to win a Stanley Cup.
After leaving Philadelphia, Stevens became part of three championship teams. In 2023, when he was an assistant in Las Vegas, the Golden Knights knocked the Flyers off the top spot of fastest expansion team to win a Stanley Cup. Thanks for rubbing it in, John.