So it may be impossible to criticize the move, but it is just as impossible to get excited by another swing of the endless good cop/bad cop teeter-totter.
The real question here is whether the Flyers are any closer to winning a championship today than they were before Stevens was dismissed Friday. And the answer sure looks like a great big No.
The Pittsburgh Penguins still have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury. The Washington Capitals still have Alexander Ovechkin. The Flyers will be fighting for the right to be the third-best team in their conference until their young, up-and-coming nucleus actually performs according to expectations.
The group, led by Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, had its chance to become an elite team with the coach hand-chosen for their comfort and development. Stevens, one of the truly decent and honorable men you will find in this or any other sport, had worked with a lot of the current Flyers when they were mere Phantoms. He was a sound choice as coach after Hitchcock was deemed too mean and demanding for the sensitive buds and blossoms on the roster.
Well, those players now must cope with the fact that they got their guy fired. If Laviolette lives up to his reputation, these guys will look back on Stevens' tenure as the good old days. Their comfort zone has been shut down and sealed off with crime-scene tape.
The risk of firing a coach to shake up players is obvious. Sometimes the players answer the wake-up call and respond with passion and renewed focus. But just as often, players decide they are bulletproof. Why worry? If things go wrong, it will be the coach, not them, taking the fall.
