Can Flyers coach Scott Gordon get past ‘interim' status? | Sam Donnellon

Halfway through Monday night’s 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, Flyers forward Phil Varone broke a scoreless tie with the kind of greasy goal the Flyers have spoken about all season but have rarely been in position to convert.

A fourth-line energy guy, it was Varone’s second goal since being promoted from the AHL Phantoms on Dec. 7. It was made possible through the hard work of rookie Mikhail Vorobyev, who returned to the team Sunday after an early-season demotion earlier due to uneven effort and a perceived on-ice indifference.

That estimation, by the Flyers' former coach, Dave Hakstol, was not disputed. And no one had a problem with Vorobyev’s return to the team after reclaiming his reputation down below as the kind of heady playmaker he proved to be while assisting on Varone’s goal.

The common denominator is Flyers interim coach Scott Gordon. When new general manager Chuck Fletcher sought to send a message to the underachievers on the big club, Gordon endorsed Varone, a minor-league journeyman who seems to improve with each season he has played under Gordon. And it was under Gordon that Vorobyev’s reclamation began, as it had for Travis Sanheim before him, and Scott Laughton before that.

Nolan Patrick has played better recently. Oskar Lindblom has played better, too. Gordon’s AHL goalie during the first 2 1/2 months of the season, Carter Hart, is ahead of expectations, his calm and competitiveness resetting a team that was literally falling all over itself for most of this disappointing season.

That word doesn’t crop up as much anymore inside the Flyers' dressing room. Now it’s all about reclamation and renewal, playing for the slightest chance of still making the playoffs, playing really because of an ingrained pride of craft.

That might be the most impressive of Gordon’s influence on the Flyers so far.

“It’s about short-term goals,” he was saying before Monday’s game. “Let’s try to look at the teams who are right in front of us, two or three points ahead of us, and see if we can leapfrog them. You do that, you’re going to move a little closer to the other teams. And then you’re going to get yourself in situations where you could be looking at a team that hasn’t hit their slump or maybe they get some significant injuries. Right now we just have make sure we put ourselves in the ballpark …”

Said Fletcher: "We’re working together every day and I’ve been very impressed with the job he’s done. Scott is very demanding, but he does it in a very professional way. He’s a strong communicator. The players know exactly what he likes and what he doesn’t like.

“He’s not afraid to take ice time away and to give ice time to players who do the right things. And I think that’s what you have to do. I think the players respect that. No one is confused as to what the expectations are. And he’s working hard on trying to give up fewer chances. Trying to fix how we defend. Habits, details away from the puck. Positioning … And that’s going to pay dividends for this franchise going forward.”

The question is, will it pay dividends for Gordon as well? When Fletcher was hired to replace Hextall on Dec. 3, there was widespread speculation that former Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville would follow shortly. When he didn’t, when Fletcher’s first few weeks were accompanied by the awful losses that marked his predecessor’s three-plus seasons here, Gordon was given what most deemed a no-win task.

His title reflects that. And to hear Fletcher speak Monday, will continue to, no matter how the final 33 games of this season play out. His litany of praise was in response to a question I posed, asking if there was anything Gordon could do to have that ``interim’’ tag removed.

That he didn’t answer was, in my view, an answer.

Fletcher wants to pick his own guy, and he should have that chance, as his predecessor did.

But the lesson Monday night was to not overlook the overlooked, to judge what you see in front of you rather than the resume that might have preceded it. Gordon had a tough go of it in his first go-round as an NHL coach with the Islanders a decade ago. That team was a mix of first- and second-year players and thirty-somethings, and he perhaps was missing the skill set that players like Claude Giroux have cited as the root of their reclamation.

“He’s about details,” said the Flyers' captain. “We do a lot of video to make sure everybody’s on the same page. Especially with a new coach, it’s important to be sure everybody’s on the same page.”