Update: Vegas is good at this.
Andy Reid was fired by the Eagles on December 31. Doug Collins and the 76ers parted ways on April 11. Charlie Manuel was fired by the Phillies on August 16. If the Vegas bookmakers are correct, we’re going to go four-for-four on fired coaches this year.
According to oddsmaker Bovada, Peter Laviolette is the NHL head coach most likely to be fired first this season. The odds are 2/1. Joining him on the list are Flames coach Bob Hartley (5/2 odds), Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller (3/1), Wild coach Mike Yeo (4/1) and Jets coach Claude Noel (9/2). That’s not good company.
I’m personally optimistic that the Flyers are a playoff team this year, and I don’t think Peter Laviolette will get fired as a result. That said, if things do go south early in the year, or if the Flyers miss the postseason again, I think we can all safely assume that Lavi will be gone. If you’re setting the line in Vegas, these odds for Lavi do indeed make sense.
Laviolette is third all-time amongst Flyers coaches with 269 regular season games. He needs 51 more to pass Mike Keenan for second all-time.
