Flyers shake things up: Stevens out, Laviolette in

The rumors that he would be fired that have seemingly surrounded Flyers coach John Stevens ever since he took the job finally caught up with him today. Stevens, who coached the Flyers for just over 3 seasons, was fired by the Flyers and replaced with former Hurricanes and Islanders coach Peter Laviolette.

Stevens got the axe mostly due to how listless the Flyers have looked recently as they dropped 6 of their last 7 games. While he has gotten the Flyers to play inspired hockey at times during his tenure, Stevens' inability to get the team to play consistently cost him his job. For a team with elite talent like the Flyers, the maddening lulls they seem to go through every season are mind-boggling. While it's difficult to completely blame Stevens for the bad play, it's much easier to fire the coach than to do a wholesale changing of the roster.

Laviolette takes over the Flyers coaching position with the task of righting the ship. As a former Stanley Cup winner with the Carolina Hurricanes, Laviolette will immediately command the respect of a team filled with players who have never hoisted the Cup. While Laviolette doesn't have the greatest track record (he only got the Hurricanes to the playoffs once in his 4 plus years there), he will at least provide a fresh voice to hopefully inspire to climb out of the tailspin they are in.

John Stevens was certainly an adequate NHL coach but he wasn't likely going to lead the Flyers to the Cup any time soon. His laid-back demeanor and limited knowledge of hockey strategy kept him from getting the most out of a talented Flyers team. It's now up to Laviolette to pick up the pieces and get this Flyers club back to the top of the league where they belong.

Flyers news: Stevens extended, Therien on the radio, TV schedule announced

I haven't done a post about the Flyers in a while, so I thought it was time to get caught up with what's going on with a team whose players don't think we're front runners.

Flyers extend Stevens John Stevens, the Hockey News Coach of the Year, received a much-deserved contract extension from the Flyers. Stevens is now under contract through the 2010-2011 season. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Stevens was instrumental in the quick turnaround of the Flyer franchise, and he deserves to stay with this team for several years as they develop into a perennial Cup contender.

Therien as color analyst The Flyers have announced that Brian Propp will no longer be the color analyst on the Flyers radio broadcast and he will be replaced by former Flyer player Chris Therien. Therien, who last played with the Flyers in 2005-2006, was an analyst for Post Game Live on Comcast SportsNet, and he will now transition into announcing games with Tim Saunders on WIP. Propp resigned but will likely still have some role with the team.

The Flyers on national TV The NHL announced it's national television schedule, and the Flyers are well represented. In the U.S., NBC and Versus will continue to carry the NHL with the NHL Network also televising 75 games. NBC will broadcast 10 games, but they will rely on "flex scheduling" to feature the best games, like rivalry games between the Flyers and Rangers or Penguins. Starting with October 14th against the Penguins, Versus will carry seven Flyers games while the NHL Network has yet to announce what games they will braodcast. Other games of note on Versus include the Winter Classic between the Red Wings and Blackhawks in Wrigley Field on January 1st as well as the All-Star Game on January 25th in Montreal. Click here for the complete listing of all nationally televised games.

John Stevens = Hockey News Coach of the Year

John Stevens, head coach of the Flyers, was snubbed by the NHL when they gave Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year, but he was rewarded today by a well-respected hockey media source: The Hockey News. Stevens, who took the Flyers from the worst team in the NHL to the Eastern Conference Finals was recognized by the Hockey News as their Coach of the Year.

That Stevens didn't win the Jack Adams Award and Boudreau did was suprising, considering Boudreau coaches a team the Flyers beat in the playoffs. It was even more shocking that Stevens wasn't even a finalist for the NHL award. Stevens, along with GM Paul Holmgren, were instrumental in the incredible turnaround the Flyers had this past season. Holmgren gave him all the pieces but it was up to Stevens to fit them all together and make things click.

Congrats John Stevens, you deserve it!