Ian Laperriere consults with Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux during his time as an assistant coach with the Flyers in 2014. (Photo: Eric Hartline, Imagn Images)
If the Philadelphia Flyers learned one thing from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' Calder Cup push, it's that they cannot seriously consider Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere for their head coaching vacancy anymore.
Laperriere, 51, guided his Phantoms to a 36-28-6-2 record this season and a third consecutive postseason appearance, but they've yet to make it past the second round.
That could have happened this year, as the Phantoms quickly stormed back to take a 2-1 series lead over the Hershey Bears after dropping Game 1 by a score of 3-0. Incumbent starting goalie Parker Gahagen suffered an injury in Game 3, but Cal Petersen was able to stop all 15 shots he faced in relief.
Laperriere turned to Petersen in Game 4, only for Petersen to allow six goals on 27 shots (.778) in a 6-4 loss. A few saves could have made the difference and sent the Phantoms barreling into the third round with aplomb.
Instead, Petersen was shredded, and after that performance, Laperriere elected to give the veteran goalie, who is assuredly leaving the organization in the summer as a free agent, another nod in goal ahead of 19-year-old goalie prospect Carson Bjarnason.
As the story goes, Petersen spotted the Bears a 3-0 lead, and the Phantoms lost Game 5 by a score of 4-2.
The stakes were high in this Calder Cup playoff series from a professional standpoint and from a player development standpoint.
For a Flyers organization with a very sparse pool of projectable goalie prospects, the experience, win or lose, would have been great for Bjarnason, whose playoff run with the WHL Brandon Wheat Kings was disappointingly cut short due to injury four weeks ago.
In 16 total AHL games, Jett Luchanko has yet to score a single goal. After scoring at least a point in each of his first three AHL games, Alex Bump went on a six-game pointless streak, recording just four total shots on goal across the final four games of his season.
Hunter McDonald was the only Phantoms defenseman to record a goal in the series against the Bears, and the Phantoms went 2/21 on the power play in the series against the Bears.
Also of note is the fact that Laperriere's Phantoms teams are horribly undisciplined. In seven postseason contests, Lehigh Valley racked up 151 penalty minutes, which presently leads all Calder Cup teams by 28.
In the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs, the Phantoms had 136 penalty minutes in six games, which ranked fourth-highest amongst playoff teams. Only the Milwaukee Admirals, the Bears, and the Coachella Valley Firebirds had more, but all of those teams played 15 games or more. The Phantoms played... six.
We can also point to the fact that Flyers forward prospects Alex Ciernik, Massimo Rizzo, and J.R. Avon didn't play in this series against the Bears, which was peculiar given the injuries to wingers Alexis Gendron and Samu Tuomaala.
That, combined with the decision to roll with Petersen, a player with no future with the Flyers, over Bjarnason in Game 5, brings us to where we are today. There has been no discipline, no ambition, no risk-taking, and very little player development in Lehigh Valley.
Laperriere was not particularly loved amongst Flyers fans during his stint as an assistant coach (especially towards the end), and his continued shortcomings in the AHL have left fans desperate to break free of the chains of the endless cycle of hiring old buddies and bringing old Flyers back to the Flyers.
With Rick Tocchet seemingly trending towards leaving the mix and Laperriere's hopes crumbling, they may have their wish granted at long last.
That would leave Flyers interim head coach Brad Shaw and NCAA champion Pat Ferschweiler as the de facto top two remaining options, and Shaw may have the inside track for the sake of continuity with a group of young players alone.
Whether it's Tocchet, Shaw, Ferschweiler, or someone else, the Flyers need, above all else, a coach who is not afraid to experiment, be bold, and chase results.
A folly of the fired John Tortorella was that he could only coach one way, meaning he could not and would not give players bigger opportunities for the sake of giving them (i.e. Jakob Pelletier) a chance.
That same snake bit Laperriere when he opted to go with Petersen over Bjarnason, and the results might have permanently tarnished his audition with the Flyers.
