Phantoms’ Ian Laperrière believes a chaotic first season has only made him a better coach

Every day, coach Ian Laperrière enters the rink with a smile on his face, a coffee mug in his hand, and enough energy for everyone on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

He’s a self-proclaimed coffee addict — his mug is never far away — but he’s so consistently upbeat that it doesn’t seem to matter if he’s had one cup or five. His players say that energy never wavered even as the Phantoms went 0-5-2 in their first seven games, and won just three of their first 19 games during his first season in charge.

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Watching from afar, Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher was concerned at first for his new AHL coach.

“I just was worried that the season could really get away from Lappy and the team,” Fletcher said. “He had no prior head coaching experience, and that was a tough hand he was dealt.”

But after each loss, Laperrière returned with the same attitude, and it eventually eased Fletcher’s worries and gained Laperrière the respect of the Phantoms and the Flyers organization.

Last season, everything that could go wrong did, but Laperrière said that will only make him a better coach. And after he and his team found a way to make a playoff push, falling just short despite “unheard-of adversity,” Fletcher feels the only direction they can go is up.

When Laperrière’s players found out he was in the movie This Is 40, they all gathered in a hotel room in Charlotte to watch it. After hearing about the watch party, Laperrière bragged that he’s a movie star.

Laperrière’s “movie star” face is very distinctive. It features a broken nose that speaks to his toughness as a player, the many shots he blocked with it, and his love of a challenge.

Once Laperrière’s playing days were over, he wanted to continue seeking out challenges. He started out as a player development coach for the Flyers in 2012 before later becoming an assistant. He worked with Peter Laviolette, Craig Berube, Dave Hakstol, Scott Gordon, and Alain Vigneault, absorbing strategies and philosophies from each.

At 47 years old, Laperrière believed he was ready for the next challenge — becoming a head coach. He was eager to take everything he’d learned and apply it in his own way.

He approached Fletcher and laid out his ideas and goals. Fletcher liked how much experience Laperrière had as both a player and a coach, but the number one selling point, for him, was the way he saw players respond to Laperrière.

Laperrière is brutally honest and can be demanding. However, he always delivers his message in a way players respond to, creating an open communication that players love.

“That [honesty] means everything to me, and I think everybody on our team would say the same,” right winger Hayden Hodgson said. “He’s, honestly, one of the best coaches I’ve ever played for.”

Sold on Laperrière’s track record of developing players on and off the ice, Fletcher hired him for the job last year.

Laperrière immediately got to work, looking at the players he expected to join him in the fall. At first glance, he thought he had a pretty good team. Someone warned him that things can change quickly in the AHL — he had no idea how quickly.

Before the season even began, Laperrière lost Wade Allison (ankle) and Tanner Laczynski (hip), two guys who, if they hadn’t made the NHL roster, would have been key players for the Phantoms. From there, it just got worse, as Ryan Fitzgerald (hip) and Tyson Foerster (shoulder) also went down with long-term injuries. The Phantoms were also one of the first AHL teams to be hit hard by a COVID-19 outbreak. The team’s goalies were dealing with injuries as well.

To further complicate Laperrière’s job, when many of the Flyers were injured, a Phantom subsequently got called up. That’s normal in the AHL, but both the Flyers and the Phantoms had an exorbitant number of injuries, making it a “double whammy” for the Phantoms, Fletcher said. Some players, like Gerry Mayhew, got called up and Laperrière “never saw him after.”

The injuries weren’t spread out across the roster, either. Most were at the forward position, specifically at center, severely testing the organization’s depth from the NHL down to the ECHL.

“To lose almost 500 man-games lost last year was surreal, our team and the big team,” said Laperrière. “I didn’t use that as an excuse because that’s not the way we are. ... But the reality is a lot of key players weren’t with us all year.”

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Players were in and out, and there were nights when there were as many ECHL players as AHL players on the ice. But Laperrière continued to preach a “next man up” mentality and made it clear to every new player exactly what his role was, left winger Isaac Ratcliffe said.

“I learned that I can’t stop coaching, no matter who I have,” Laperrière said. “I was demanding. I was hard. I was teaching. But for me to be negative on those kids, I don’t believe in that. If I need to do that, I’ll quit and go do something else.”

Occasionally, Laperrière’s positivity slipped — but only once he had left the rink. At work, he continued to preach patience and the importance of structure and practicing hard, saying it would pay off. Privately, he worried that the players weren’t seeing any rewards for their hard work.

“I think that’s where he earned the respect the most from the locker room, just the consistency that he brought,” Ratcliffe said. “Just coming into the rink every day with a smile on his face, no matter what situation we’re in.”

Eventually the hard work started to pay off, as the Phantoms closed the season on a 26-21-10 run, something not lost on Flyers assistant GM Brent Flahr.

“Right from the start of camp, we were decimated,” Flahr said. “And then it kept getting worse and worse. ... I just told him to hang in there ... and they did and almost crawled right back into it.”

For every player called up to the NHL, there was added stress for Laperrière but also incredible amounts of pride and joy.

Winning is important, and Laperrière would love to make the playoffs, but his No. 1 goal is to prepare players for the next level.

“That’s what I like about that, it’s like I’m a big brother to them, trying to help them out,” Laperrière said. “Yes, I’m their coach, and I’ll be strict with them, I’ll be hard with them, I’ll be honest with them. But what rewards me at the end of the day is seeing guys going up and doing well and playing the right way.”

The first time Ratcliffe saw Laperrière after he was named head coach, Laperrière pulled him aside and promised he would do what it took to get Ratcliffe to the NHL. At times, his methods were harsh — he sat Ratcliffe at the start of the season — but they paid off. Ratcliffe made his NHL debut on Jan. 29 and went on to play 10 games for the Flyers. He attributes his success to Laperrière’s “brutal honesty” and tough-love methods.

The injuries also allowed Laperrière to find some “diamonds in the rough,” like Hodgson, who had been bouncing around the ECHL for years. Hodgson had confidence in himself, but having the confidence of a coach like Laperrière made all the difference. He quickly became one of the team’s top players and later made his NHL debut as well.

Both Ratcliffe and Hodgson said one of Laperrière’s greatest skills is recognizing a player’s best path to the NHL and helping him develop the skills to succeed in that role. Ratcliffe learned to use his size more and become more of a checking-line player, which combines his physicality and his offensive skill. Meanwhile, Hodgson learned how to play within a structure.

In all, six Phantoms made their NHL debuts last season, something Laperrière said he hopes his staff is proud of. And despite his busy schedule, Laperrière made sure he watched every single shift his players played with the big club.

“I know he’s really excited to play a part in all of our careers,” said Ratcliffe, who added that Laperrière is everyone’s biggest cheerleader.

After being named Flyers head coach, John Tortorella made his rounds. He exchanged handshakes with each person he met, but then he encountered Laperrière.

“They were hugging it out right away,” Fletcher said.

Tortorella is a self-proclaimed Laperrière fan. Having coached against Laperrière during the latter’s 16 seasons as a player, he’s well aware of his hard-nosed, tough style of play, including his propensity for blocking shots, something Tortorella has often been teased about for stressing.

Hired a season after Laperrière, Tortorella was chosen for many of the same reasons, Fletcher said — his directness, his communication skills, and his connection to players. They’re also both tasked with a similar goal next season: get the organization back into playoff contention.

Laperrière’s first season is hard to critique, having been affected by so many uncontrollable factors. On paper, it might not look great, with a 29-32-15 record and a last-place finish in the Atlantic Division. But during exit meetings, rather than criticism, Fletcher expressed his gratitude to Laperrière for keeping the team together.

Looking at each of the young players Laperrière worked with, Fletcher saw marked improvement in every one. He’d like the Phantoms to make the playoffs next season, as would Laperrière, but his main goal for Laperrière will be to continue to develop the organization’s youth.

There aren’t too many directions to go but up for the Phantoms after Laperrière’s first season. They’ll have time to get healthier, and a large group of players will be returning who are familiar with Laperrière’s systems.

The Flyers will also have a large group of players turning pro (eight), which is where Laperrière shines. These young players will hopefully bring in the skill that was missing last season, and their growth could infuse hope into an organization coming off a historically bad season.

“In the short term, they’ll help Lehigh Valley, but we really need him to help make a lot of these players good players for the Flyers down the road,” Fletcher said.