Entries with the tag: john+stevens

Stevens Getting Contract Extension

by Paul on 08/14/08 at 02:19 PM
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from the Philadelphia Daily News,

John Stevens, who in his first full season as coach of the Flyers led them to the Eastern Conference finals, has agreed to a contract extension, a source told the Daily News.

Details are being finalized, but an announcement is expected today.

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Stevens, Holland Honored By THN

by Paul on 07/21/08 at 06:02 PM
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from Jason Kay of the Hockey News,

Our NHL coach of the year is being recognized for what we believe is an underrated turnaround.

John Stevens’ Flyers went from last overall in the NHL in 2006-07, to sixth in their conference, posting a points improvement of 39.

The only coach who came close to matching the feat in 2007-08 was Washington’s Bruce Boudreau (plus-24). That the Flyers toppled the Capitals in the first round of the playoffs, then upset the No. 1-seeded Canadiens in Round 2, carried significant weight in our decision....

Our executive of the year, Red Wings GM Ken Holland, is quick to reference some of his best decisions have been about team-building…in the front office.

He is surrounded by an elite staff of advisors, including assistant GM Jim Nill, vice-presidents Jimmy Devellano and Steve Yzerman, consultant Scotty Bowman, Euro super-scout Hakan Andersson and an exceptional coach in Mike Babcock.

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Flyers Coach John Stevens After Game 5 ECF

by Paul on 05/18/08 at 06:28 PM
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Q.  Someone comes up to you two months from now and says “how do you remember this season?” what will you say to them?

COACH STEVENS:  I just told the guys that I have been in the game a long time.  Working with this group has been one of the more enjoyable experiences I’ve had in pro hockey.  It really has been.  We’ve made tremendous strides this year, and we’ve come an awful long way.

And if you look back, we played the one, two, three season in the East in the playoffs and I thought we did a remarkable job.  You give Pittsburgh credit.  To me they were the number one seed in the East in terms of what I’ve seen.

And they’re very deserving of moving on.

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Questions for John Stevens

by Alanah McGinley on 05/16/08 at 01:56 PM
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Some questions for Philadelphia Flyers coach John Stevens today.

Q.  Can you talk about what Kimmo will mean not just on the ice, but off the ice in the room if he does come back and play on Sunday?

COACH STEVENS:  Well, he’s a huge part of our team.  I mean, through this year he’s progressed and in the playoffs he’s really taken his game to another level.  I think just his presence around our team all year, he’s got deep respect by all his teammates.  He just has composure all the time.  I think that’s infectious on our team.

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Game Day with Flyers’ Coach John Stevens

by Alanah McGinley on 05/15/08 at 11:42 AM
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Some questions this morning for Philadelphia coach John Stevens.

Q. What is the status of Braydon Coburn?

COACH STEVENS: Coby’s out today. We were hopeful yesterday. He got on the ice a little bit, but still not ready to play. I think he’s getting closer, but definitely not playing tonight.

Q. So are you going to keep Ryan Parent?

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Questions for the ECF Coaches

by Alanah McGinley on 05/14/08 at 02:34 PM
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Pittsburgh Penguins coach Michel Therrien and Philadelphia Flyers coach John Stevens were both available for some questions today. 

Below are the transcripts from their respective Q&A sessions.

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Interview with John Stevens

by Alanah McGinley on 05/13/08 at 12:39 PM
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An interview with Philadelphia Flyers coach John Stevens. 

Q.  What can you do to get Prospal going?  Have you thought even of changing the wingers on Danny’s line?

COACH STEVENS:  Well, I think as a coach, you look at all situations.  But to me that line has had times this year where they’ve had a lot of success.  The ingredients are there.  To me, it’s just in the hands of the player right now.  We need Vinny to step up and be a good player for us.

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Conference Calls with the Philadelphia Flyers

by Alanah McGinley on 05/07/08 at 04:16 PM
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Today, the NHL set up a series of conference calls with the media, in part featuring:

• R.J. Umberger—Philadelphia Flyers, Center
• John Stevens—Philadelphia Flyers, Coach

The transcripts of their individual Q&A sessions are available below.

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On Flyers’ Coach John Stevens

by Alanah McGinley on 05/03/08 at 01:52 PM
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From Elliotte Friedman at CBC,

“His brother owned the one gym in town,” Roloson said. “And we would meet him there to work out. John took it very seriously, and eventually we did, too.”

“I believe his nickname was Rambo, because of how hard he worked out,” Blake said.

Stevens is still in excellent shape and expects nothing less from his players. During the off-day between Games 3 and 4 of this series, the Flyers didn’t skate but did have a weight-training workout.

But his impact extended beyond the exercise room.

more from Dwayne Roloson and Rob Blake on how the Flyers’ coach impacted their own early careers

Escalating the War of Words

by Alanah McGinley on 04/28/08 at 01:07 PM
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From CBC,

Kostopoulos earned a two-minute roughing minor on the play, but the war of words has escalated ever since.

“Kostopoulos, he’s a tough kid and I’ve got a lot of respect for him and [Steve] Bégin,” Philadelphia head coach John Stevens said. “But to go up and blindside sucker Kimmo Timonen on a play at the end there, that’s cowardly, in my opinion.”

Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau has been anything but quiet about the criticism of his player.

“That’s one team that shouldn’t talk,” Carbonneau said of Stevens’s comments. “They played 82 games and had the most suspensions in the league.”

And over at the Philadelphia Daily News, Rich Hofmann also expects things to get nastier in this series, citing this quote from Carbonneau:

“I think [Timonen] deserved it.  That’s why they didn’t call any (major) penalties on it.”

Good For Stevens

by Paul on 04/23/08 at 09:09 AM
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from Rich Hofmann of the Philadelphia Daily News,

The leaping, joyous emotion Stevens showed on the bench after Joffrey Lupul won it, won Game 7 in overtime, was back wherever Stevens stores such things. If you could read the relief on his face, hear it in his voice, it wasn’t obvious.

Stevens was just himself - the coach of a team that rose from the depths last season and learned something, learned how to win.

“I’m just happy,” Stevens said. “You just love to see a group have some success . . .

“You keep talking about success, and getting to where you want to go. To win a series, it’s great to see the excitement in the players and the whole organization, especially after last year.”

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Flyers Coach Stevens Has Done A Good Job

by Paul on 04/04/08 at 08:52 AM
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from the Courier-Post,

Speaking with a small group of reporters Thursday, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said he would be “very disappointed” if his team missed the playoffs. But when asked if the status of his coaching staff depended on the results of the Flyers’ final two regular-season games, Holmgren responded, “Absolutely not.”

“For a young coach who had a lot of new players at the start of the year, I think he’s done a good job,” Holmgren said of Stevens, who has a 40-29-11 record this season and a two-year career record of 60-71-21.

“I think John’s still young (41) and there are areas he can get better, just like a young player. But overall, I think John has done a good job.”

read on

Flyers Coach Points To His Players

by Paul on 02/15/08 at 10:02 AM
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from Mike Sielski of Philly Burbs,

“Subconsciously or consciously, we didn’t respect the game plan,” Stevens said. “We came in here trying to outscore the other team instead of checking the other team.”

Asked if there were anything he himself could do to shake his players out of this funk, Stevens didn’t hesitate to put the onus on them.

“In my opinion, we’ve got to show up and play,” he said. “Do what? Stop passing the puck to the guy in the other jersey? It’s ridiculous. We’ve got to come out with the kind of urgency we finish games with. We’re in a fight for our life.”

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Report- Flyers Coach Stevens Agrees To Extension

by Paul on 12/21/07 at 12:14 PM
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from TSN,

Another Philadelphia Flyer has agreed to a contract extension. This time, it’s head coach John Stevens, who has agreed in principle to a one year extension.

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Penalizing Philly

by Alanah McGinley on 12/18/07 at 11:32 AM
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From Ed Moran at the Philadelphia Daily News,

As of yesterday, the Flyers were second in the league in penalty minutes with 605, topped only by Anaheim, which has 706. And watching games like the win in Minnesota, where the Flyers were flagged for nine penalties compared to the Wild’s three, it would seem the Flyers are constantly on the wrong end of the whistle.

The fact is, a lot of those minutes have to do with the game misconducts and majors that came with those five big incidents. And in 31 games, the Flyers led in penalties only 17 times and won 10.  Still, coach John Stevens would like to start trimming the time his team is shorthanded.

“I don’t know what the final total was, but you’ve still got to play the game hard,” he said after the Flyers’ loss to the Devils Sunday night. “We’re still trying to sort through what is and what isn’t a penalty. The one guy gets his stick knocked out of his hands [slashing] and, I don’t know, that’s just a battle for the puck.

more including injury updates on Gagne and Timonen

Stevens Shoots Back

by Paul on 12/13/07 at 10:38 AM
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from Philly Burbs,

Coach John Stevens was still somewhat annoyed by Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien’s post-game comments suggesting the Flyers ran up the score (by using their first power play unit) and resorted to rough-house tactics.

It should be noted the Penguins scored eight goals twice against the Flyers last season and finished 8-0-0 against them.

“When you [Pittsburgh] take running head shots at guys, breaking sticks [over bodies] away from the play and running your goalie ... I would be disrespectful if I didn’t put those guys out there,” Stevens said. “I have a lot of respect for the Penguins, but not for what he had his players do. If you’re going to take those kinds of penalties against us, why wouldn’t we try to score?”

more on the Flyers…

Flyers/Bruins Meet Tonight

by Paul on 11/26/07 at 09:37 AM
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from the Courier-Post,

Tonight at the Wachovia Center, Jones is likely to be the topic of conversation on the Bruins bench when they take the ice against the Flyers for the first time since the hit that jeopardized Bergeron’s season.

“I knew the time was going to come,” Jones said when asked about possible retribution. “I’m not worried about it."…

Flyers coach John Stevens said he is not sure what to expect when the Bruins and Flyers take the ice tonight, but he probably won’t take any chances.

Enforcers Riley Cote and Ben Eager are expected to be in the lineup.

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