Philadelphia's Management Tumble
posted 10/23/2006 9:08 a.m.

Rank Team Rating
1 ATL 124.29
2 MIN 118.28
3 TOR 110.90
4 ANA 105.89
5 VAN 105.40
6 DAL 98.09
7 TBL 92.83
8 BUF 92.22
9 CAR 89.94
10 NJD 89.47
11 FLA 88.43
12 NYR 85.45
13 NSH 83.77
14 DET 83.16
15 CHI 82.40
16 LAK 81.93
17 PIT 81.08
18 EDM 79.01
19 SJS 76.67
20 NYI 74.75
21 CGY 74.50
22 COL 73.18
23 STL 70.19
24 PHX 69.05
25 WSH 66.34
26 PHI 66.24
27 MTL 64.43
28 OTT 63.65
29 BOS 63.63
30 CBJ 55.29

Yesterday, Sunday the 22nd of October, the Philidelphia Flyers fired their coach Ken Hitchcock and the General Manager Bobbie Clark stepped down.

From a points-earned perspective, the Flyers are dead last in the league. From the The HockeyRating.com Team Rankings, which are calculated by taking the total of the top 10 rated skaters plus the ratings of 2 goalkeepers on each team, (see sidebar) the team ranks 26th.


Rank  Player Posn Games Goals Assists Points +/- Penalty    TOI   Rating
24 JONI PITKANEN D 8 0 6 6 -6 8 26.56 8.02
143 MIKE KNUBLE R 8 3 4 7 -3 8 19.20 6.24
151 SIMON GAGNE L 8 5 1 6 -3 2 19.40 6.17
167 DERIAN HATCHER D 8 0 0 0 -10 4 23.56 6.03
299 PETER FORSBERG C 7 2 4 6 -2 10 16.42 4.72
384 SAMI KAPANEN R 8 1 1 2 -4 2 13.53 3.86
466 PETR NEDVED C 6 0 0 0 -7 4 14.31 2.68

Joni Pitkanen is the only standout on the team and the only player to rank in The HockeyRating.com 's top 100. Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble were rated 29th and 30th respectivley last season but seem to be struggling to find that same form this season. A lighter Derian Hatcher has already accumulated a -10 plus/minus rating and Petr Nedved, once an accomplished goal scorer, is struggling with a new defensive role and is pointless thus far.

But the biggest surprise of course, is Peter Forsberg languishing in 299th place of The HockeyRating.com . Forsberg is considered by many, including this writer, to be one of the premier players in the NHL.

When a team, particularly one stocked with marquee players, under-achieves it is common for the Coach and/or the General Manager to pay the price with the loss of their jobs, That is what has occurred here.



Trevor Seeney
TheHockeyRating.com
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