Pink Slip Index: We Have a Winner!

Tonight, I've called for an emergency edition of the Pink Slip Index since, as you may have heard, we've had our first coach canning of the season. WOOHOO! We have a winner! Come on down, John Stevens! It feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off the league as all those first firing betting pools are finally settled after two agonizing months. What? Nobody has a silly pool like that? Ah, well. You're all missing out.

We learned earlier today that Stevens, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers, earned the distinction of becoming the first firing of the year. How did it get to this point? Where do the Flyers go from here? Where does Stevens go? Did they have a pre-nup? What are the kids?! THINK OF THE KIDS!!!

I'm sorry, I've got to calm down. But let's address the first question as to how we all got to this point. Stevens was in his fourth year at the helm of the Flyers, a tenure which began with a young, rebuilding team in 2006-07 that was by a mile the worst in the league. The next two years saw a marked improvement and two playoff berths that ended with losses to their cross-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So how did things go south so quickly?

You've got to start with the playoff disappointment, add that to early season troubles, and we've got a situation worth watching. Before the season started, I wrote that Stevens could be susceptible to this kind of scenario playing out and that seems to be what may have occurred (but not to brag, as the full disclosure is that I didn't even address Stevens as a possible candidate for canning last week as I thought the situation had improved recently). Here's what I wrote in September:

Stevens has had a solid team for a few seasons now and has had a good share of regular season success, finishing fifth and sixth in the conference the last two seasons. ... After the additions of Chris Pronger and Ray Emery not to mention a possibly healthy Simon Gagne (although that's asking a lot), Stevens could be in a similar situation as Quenneville. If things aren't going as planned, the Flyers may look for someone to shake things up for the stretch run.

And so far this season, the Flyers have been inconsistent although to be fair, injuries have played a role. The Flyers started their season off 5-4-1, followed that up with a 7-1-0 run to open November and then closed out Stevens' tenure with a 1-6-0 mark that culminated Thursday night with a 3-0 shutout loss to Vancouver on their home ice. That's about as good a game as any to let a coach go afterward.

So now that Stevens is gone, who's next on the chopping block?

Here's an abbreviated list of the next coaches to walk the proverbial plank. Pat Quinn moves off the list this week since, well, that was just ridiculous to put him on there. Even though the Oilers only won three games in November.

No. 5: Jacques Martin, Montreal Canadiens (Last week: --). Martin is in his first season in Montreal, but the team is struggling. They're 12-14-2 and have lost four in a row including a shutout on their home ice against the Leafs on Tuesday night. This is a situation to keep an eye on.

No. 4: Todd Richards, Edmonton Oilers (LW: 3). The Wild are riding a three-game win streak but are 14th in the West.

No. 3: Paul Maurice, Carolina Hurricanes (LW: 1). Contract situation will keep him around a while; he's still on shaky ground though.

No. 2: Peter DeBoer, Florida Panthers (LW: 4). It's not a flashy job and I would think the Panthers know that. I don't see them getting rid of DeBoer too soon, but hey, it's the NHL and the team doesn't seem to be progressing like it should.

No. 1: Andy Murray, St. Louis Blues (LW: 2). The team showed a lot of guts in their comeback win in San Jose Thursday night. We'll see how much time that buys Murray. After all, it's only one game.