This is a two-part look at the Philadelphia Flyers, their early season struggles, and how to fix them. Look for part two tomorrow on how to fix the team on the ice.

Everything is wrong in Flyerland: Part 1

These days, it's no easy task to sit in front of the television for two and half hours watching this hockey team. Nope, not these boys. These days, nothing is fun in Flyerland. The defensemen are slow, the coach is under pressure, and the general manager is feeling the heat. How to fix all this? Well, I don't consider myself a genius here, but it doesn't take one to know what is wrong with this team. So I suppose I will try to outline what needs to be done in my "what's wrong with the Flyers?" entry today.

1. Fire Ken Hitchcock
Sure, it's a very radical move, but the bottom line is this team is not responding to anything right now. Ben Eager, Alexandre Picard, and Stefan Ruzicka showed up Petr Nedved, Niko Dimitrakos, and Nolan Baumgartner in just two games. What does that say about the coach? Is he getting the team motivated enough? Is he really lighting the fire underneath the team? There are certainly a lot of questions pertaining to Hitchcock right now, and he is giving his usual twisted answers to the media. When asked last night about what he was brought here to do, he claimed that he "was brought here to coach, not to win." One must wonder what Ed Snider thinks about these comments, and if they really get to him. There is a three-headed monster that is rearing all three of its ugly heads right now, and it's hard to understand where exactly the mindset of the front office and the coach is. Are Snider and Clarke on the same page? Is Hitchcock on the hot seat? Is it the players or the coach? These questions must certainly be answered within the next couple of days. Personally, I believe that Hitchcock's time has run out here in Philadelphia. He is a defensive-minded coach, and in the new NHL still refuses to open up the game. He is quite stubborn and if it is not Hitch's way, it's the highway. I think this is a decision that needs to come by necessity, not by choice. So who should replace him?

2. Hire John Stevens
Sure, this would be a meteoric rise through the organization for Stevens, who was just coaching the AHL affiliate Phantoms one year ago. Yet one thing that at least can be read into is very clear. The dumpings of Nedved, Baumgartner, and Dimitrakos really mean that the Flyers are going in a youthful direction. The additions of Ruzicka, Picard and Eager show that Snider (and maybe not Clarke) made the decision to move on. So therefore, if Stevens was the first guy to have his hands on these players, (Richards and Carter included) then why shouldn't he be able to take over the reins? Someday, Stevens will be a very successful coach. So why not speed up the progress and allow Stevens to take over? Sure, Snider could pull an "ol' reliable" move and hire a Mike Keenan or a Pat Quinn, but what is that accomplishing? It's replacing the old, defensive minded coach with the same old, defensive minded coach. The reason Pat Quinn brought Hitchcock onto his Canadian Olympic staff is because they both have very similar philosophies. Hiring Keenan or Quinn would get this team nowhere, and Snider should prove that they really are moving in a new direction.

3. Allow Clarke to finish the year
Right now it appears that the Flyers are being watched as closely as Kim Jong-Il is. We're just waiting for that atomic bomb that is Ed Snider to be set off. The firings of Hitchcock or Clarke could come at any moment, any day now. They could come in a few weeks. To me, it's looking like it will be a matter of when, not if they will be gone. Hitchcock though would appear to be on the shorter leash because of Snider's allegiance to the man who single-handedly brought him a pair of Stanley Cups 30 years ago. But therein lies the exact problem. 30 years ago was the last time the Flyers won the Stanley Cup. It's time to stop reliving the past and time to move on to greener pastures. Clarke should be given the opportunity to finish the season, and then part ways. It would be one thing to see a coach get fired midseason, as it would tell the players that they are the true ones at fault. It would be another thing to fire a general manager midseason, especially Bobby Clarke. Hitchcock, granted, will never rip into his players in the media. Firing Clarke midseason would give him the chance to spout off about the team and his true feelings, and that would really be the last thing these players need. It almost makes you cringe seeing Dean Lombardi, former pro scout, and Ron Hextall, former goalie and scout, in Los Angeles. Either one of those men could have been the next general manager of this team. And hey, it still could happen... because in Flyerland, everything is out of the ordinary.