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. This one focuses on the men who brought Philadelphia its only Stanley Cups.
Fred Shero (1971-78)
Sadly, the Flyers have not been able to duplicate the true success they had with Fred Shero. Although they came close on numerous occasions, the club has yet to seal the deal since Shero last did 50 years ago.
Shero only ever called Philadelphia and New York home at the NHL level. As a player, his NHL career was brief, playing parts of three seasons (1947-1950) and a total of 145 games with the New York Rangers. His coaching career was not much longer, though it was exponentially more significant.
In 1971, he became the third person to hold the title of head coach in Philadelphia. Although that first season was subpar (26-38-14), his teams never missed the playoffs again. He took the Flyers to six straight playoff appearances, with three runs ending in the semifinals, and the other three making it to the finals.
Shero coached the Flyers to two-straight Stanley Cup championships, winning the first against Boston (1973-74) and second against Buffalo (1974-75). Both of those teams won 50+ games in each of those regular seasons. He won the Jack Adams Award after the 1974 season.
Shero was fond of leaving messages on the locker room blackboard. It has been said that some were a bit cryptic, but one went down in history as a hauntingly beautiful message:
“Win today and we walk together forever.”
That is exactly what happened. Many of the players from Cup-winning teams remained close to Philadelphia, and many either work or have worked for the Flyers at some point.
The truth is that what happened next didn’t matter in the annals of history. It doesn’t matter that he left Philly under less-than-ideal circumstances, or that he did it to go to the rival Rangers, or that things did not go well for him in New York, or that he had a drinking problem, or even that his son, Ray, was part of multiple rival organizations. No matter the noise, it is drowned out by Shero’s success and legacy in Philadelphia.
Fred Shero will forever be a god in Philadelphia, end of story.
Keith Allen (1966-69)
Keith Allen, who was hired by the organization in 1966, had a brief coaching career. He served as the first coach of the Philadelphia Flyers from 1967 to 1969. The Flyers finished first in the West Division, which was not a particularly difficult feat as the division consisted entirely of expansion teams. Philadelphia had a .493 points percentage and a goal differential of -6.
After the 1969 season, Allen became the Flyers' General Manager and was famously dubbed “The Architect.” He constructed Philadelphia’s Stanley Cup-winning teams and remains a legendary figure in the city.
Keith Allen’s coaching career was virtually nonexistent, but he was The Architect of Philadelphia’s two Stanley Cup victories. He never left the organization and remained the organization’s vice president from 1980 until he died in 2014 at the age of 90.