Flyers Notes: Berube feels safe as coach

Flyers coach Craig Berube is signed through the end of next season, but he knows that doesn't guarantee he will return.

The Flyers, futile on the road and against the league's weaker teams, are going to miss the playoffs, and general manager Ron Hextall said he will evaluate Berube after the season, which ends Saturday.

Berube was asked if he thought his chances were good that he would return.

"I'm confident, but I don't really think about it," he said Thursday after the morning skate at the Wells Fargo Center. "I've told you guys before, there's no sense worrying about things like that. I just do my job, enjoy my job. It's unfortunate where we're at right now, for sure."

The locker room is divided on Berube. Some players are unhappy by his seemingly endless lineup changes and benchings and they want a new coach.

Others blame the poor season on the players.

"You look at where we are now, it comes down to the guys in here," defenseman Nick Schultz said. "We have to be better on the road, better in shootouts and in overtime. That's what it comes down to."

"If you don't make the playoffs, it's not the coach, it's not two or three players [to blame]," veteran defenseman Mark Streit said. "It's the whole team."

Schultz, whose career has been revived under Berube, said the coach has been "great for me. I've been on teams that have changed coaches and there's always an adjustment, and it doesn't always go the way you thought you planned it."

"It's been a rough year for the whole team and the coaching staff," Streit said. "We've gone through a lot of ups and downs; we've had some really good moments where you see the capabilities of the team, and on the other hand you see a totally different phase of the team. But [Berube] kept his cool. He was always in control, always positive, and found the right words. I think he did a good job."

Right winger Jake Voracek said he would like to see Berube back, "but it's hard for me to answer the question" - on whether he should return - "because I'm not Hexy."

If Berube doesn't return, Mike Babcock, provided he doesn't go back to Detroit, and former Penguins coach Dan Bylsma are among the candidates Hextall probably would consider. Former Flyers captain Kevin Dineen, now a Chicago assistant, is another candidate.

For the first time since he was acquired from Tampa Bay last month, rugged defenseman Radko Gudas skated with the team. He is making a comeback from knee surgery and won't play until next season. Gudas became a first-time father about two weeks ago when his daughter, Leontyna, was born. . . . Backup goalie Ray Emery started Thursday against Carolina in what could be his final appearance with the Flyers.