The Flyers Fire John Stevens

The Flyers haven't exactly had a smooth ride of late, losing seven of their last ten games and being shut out in their last two. Today, they made a move to address their recent slide, firing head coach John Stevens.

Stevens finished his coaching career in Philadelphia with a 107-98-33 record in just about three seasons, leading the Flyers to the playoffs in the past two seasons. However, with the Flyers sitting just two games above .500 in a competitive division and missing out on the playoffs right now, it seems like a change had to be made. I think most Flyers fans saw this coming, regardless of how they felt about Stevens. With the talent that the Flyers have, they should be playing better than they are right now, and since you can't fire the players, the management has no other option than to fire the coach.

This team has the talent to go far in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, and there's still time for them to make a move, if they can. Last year, the Pittsburgh Penguins were in the Flyers' shoes, and after they fired their coach, all they did was win the Stanley Cup. It's only a third of the way through the season, so anything is possible, but it's time for a change at the top of the bench, since Stevens wasn't getting the job done like he needed to.

It also seems like the Flyers have already made their choice on who is going to replace Stevens. According to Philly.com, Peter Laviolette will be introduced at a news conference that will take place very shortly. Laviolette last coached in the NHL last year as the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, who he led to the Stanley Cup in the 2005-06 season. His career record is 244-188-25-30 in just over six years with Carolina and the New York Islanders. Personally, I like this choice. Laviolette has gotten a team to the Stanley Cup, and he's had more success than Stevens, even if he couldn't get the Hurricanes to the playoffs after they won a championship. At this point, I feel like just about anyone is a better choice than Stevens, and that's exactly what Laviolette is. He's a breath of fresh air that should help motivate this talented team once again.

I don't know what the rest of this season has in store for the Flyers, but hopefully, they can manage to pull out of this funk and at least get into the playoffs. If they can get there, who knows what can happen.

ESPN.com: Flyers fire John Stevens
Philly.com: Flyers replace Stevens with Laviolette