Philadelphia Flyers
Former Flyers Coach Advances to Stanley Cup Final
For the Philadelphia Flyers, the 2024 Stanley Cup Final will be a Flyers reunion in all the wrong, painful ways. After defeating the Dallas Stars, 2-1, on Sunday night, the Edmonton Oilers have advanced to the Finals, meaning even more former Fly Guys will be jockeying for hockey’s ultimate prize. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is one of them.
For those who might not recall, Knoblauch, now 45 years old, was once an assistant coach for the Flyers, serving under former head coach Dave Hakstol in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
On July 29, 2019, Knoblauch was hired by the New York Rangers to run the show for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Coincidentally, in 2021, Knoblauch coached the Rangers for one game with then-head coach David Quinn on the shelf for COVID-19 protocol. The game, which took place on March 17, 2021, was against the Philadelphia Flyers. Knoblauch’s Rangers won 9-0.
The former Flyers assistant continued to serve as the Wolf Pack’s head coach until the Oilers came calling in November, as former head coach Jay Woodcroft left Edmonton flailing in the midst of a 3-9-1 start. Knoblauch, getting the nod for the first head coaching job in the NHL, had his hands full.
Fast-forward seven months later, and we can safely deduct that Knoblauch was equal to the task.
Indeed, current Flyers head coach John Tortorella did an excellent job managing the team this season and getting the most out of his young players, but it’s always amusing to see former Flyers players and staff succeed elsewhere after the team got gutted at the first inkling of adversity.
For example, Sergei Bobrovsky was rock solid in his first NHL season, and then the Flyers went and signed 31-year-old Ilya Bryzgalov. After a 23-year-old Bobrovsky struggled, he was shipped off to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Russian netminder immediately won the Vezina Trophy the following year.
Such is the history of the Flyers.
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I said this before, but this is such a maddening trend that people with Flyer affiliations (be it a player, coach, or Front Office) leave us, and win elsewhere. This trend lives to see another year.
Instead of having a 50-year celebration of when we won our First Cup…the Club should move forward, and have a day recognizing everyone once-affiliated with the Flyers Organization, who won Cups elsewhere. The range can go back 10 and as far back as 50 years (in time for when they won their 2nd Cup)…there are plenty of people to choose from.
I’ve watched most of these playoff series, and saw teams built for today’s NHL, on and off the ice. Shrewd drafting, timely trades…and controlling the salary cap (not letting cap control the team’s fortunes) are common traits to a team’s success.
The Flyers? They’ll be in ‘CAP-Hell’ for the foreseeable future, with no immediate help coming from our affiliates.
I really hope that Michkov comes sooner than later, but then what? Is there a plan to build around him, and draft/develop players that can complement his skills? We all know that the team has such a ‘stellar’ record of drafting (note the sarcasm). Time will tell,.
I just hope Briere learned from his horrendous predecessors (that includes you, Bob Clarke), and has a plan to help Michkov flourish with the team. If the team pins all of their hopes on him, that could lead to disaster.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but ….GO PANTHERS!
We in Philly should be thankful for the creation of the WHA in 1972. If no WHA, the Flyers would have no Cups. It depleted the Bruins of it’s talent taking McKenzie, Sanderson, Stanfield and Cheevers away and it allowed the Flyers to get Parent back.