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On the NHL | Flyers bolster coaching staff

On the day that the Stanley Cup was won by the Anaheim Ducks, two other things occurred in the world of hockey.

Jack McIlhargey will be joining the Flyers staff from Vancouver.
Jack McIlhargey will be joining the Flyers staff from Vancouver.Read more

On the day that the Stanley Cup was won by the Anaheim Ducks, two other things occurred in the world of hockey.

Alexei Yashin was shown the door on Long Island, and the Flyers made a carousel of coaching changes designed to strengthen both their own club and the Phantoms.

Our take on the Flyers' shuffling is that this seems intended to give a young inexperienced coach - John Stevens - more veteran NHL help behind the bench while stabilizing the feeder club that was weakened with the promotion of Craig Berube to the Flyers' staff last October.

Berube will someday be an NHL coach. He has a sharp mind. Going back to the Phantoms is not a demotion for him. It might actually be his best route back to the NHL as a head coach.

Joey Mullen and former Flyers tough guy Jack McIlhargey need no introductions. Mullen has to get the woeful power play back to NHL respectability. Friends of his who worked with him in Pittsburgh say he'll do that with his offensive strategies.

That brings us to McIlhargey, the most intriguing hire of the group. He has a ton of experience in Vancouver, where he worked under Marc Crawford, a guy who is respected everywhere in hockey.

Appearances can be deceiving, but it seems that McIlhargey is now in place in the event Stevens falters.

Between the draft and free agency, the Flyers intend to make some dramatic moves to improve the club. The impact comes in free agency.

Forget Chris Drury. Every indication is he will end up in San Jose. Forget Danny Briere. He's really the wrong fit for the Flyers. And if Buffalo loses Drury, the Sabres have no choice but to re-sign Briere at any price.

Look for Scott Gomez to be wearing orange and black next season. He's an ideal fit for the Flyers, both offensively and defensively. The Flyers don't resemble the Sabres, a team that is all offense and a goalie.

Gomez fits their needs of a two-way player. This is all part of the help Stevens will get on the ice.

Comcast president Peter Luukko and club chairman Ed Snider aren't going to tolerate another disastrous October and another non-playoff year.

Stevens will be under the microscope the first two months of the season. Regardless of what club officials say, patience is not going to be a virtue this season. Stevens has to win. The Flyers can't afford otherwise.

Luukko voiced support for Stevens.

"We're not even thinking in terms of a short leash," Luukko said. "This was our way of supporting John with a stronger staff. To me, a short leash would imply we have no confidence in John. Our decision process was, 'What do we do to give us a better bench?' "

Luukko said that he would never tolerate a short leash on any employee.

"If I got a guy with a short leash, then I'm going to fire him, and that's not the case here," Luukko said.

Maybe so, but at the Stanley Cup Finals, the perception among NHL brass - current and former - is that Stevens can't afford a poor October and November.

If he does, chances are McIlhargey will have his job.

Larger nets

When members of the old guard NHL general managers predict that larger nets are going to be reality someday, you take notice.

Ottawa's John Muckler predicted on Monday that it's just a matter of time before it happens.

Nashville GM David Poile and Buffalo's Darcy Regier are spearheading a drive for the larger bowed nets to increase scoring. That the GMs agreed to continue discussion indicates they are serious.

"We're influenced by the big picture," Poile said. "Coming out of the lockout, we made all those rule changes. Everybody feels really good at what we got. However, we're back where goal scoring is down a bit."