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Flyers GM: ‘Peter Laviolette is the coach’

Peter Laviolette, Paul Holmgren

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, right, listens to head coach Peter Laviolette speaks during a hockey news conference on Thursday, May 27, 2010, in Chicago. The Flyers play the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday, May 29 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

AP

While Ilya Bryzgalov was venting two seasons’ worth of frustrations on the Philly media on Sunday, Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren took another opportunity to state that head coach Peter Laviolette will be back in 2013-14.

“Peter Laviolette is the coach,” Holmgren said. “I don’t know where all this [expletive] came from.”

He praised Laviolette for his deftness with X’s and O’s as well as his ability to rally the troops.

“Our team played hard until the end,” he said. “Peter is a strong motivator and a strong tactician. I expect him to lead our team back into the playoffs next year.”

Still, there’s that word: expect.

The Flyers organization hasn’t always been particularly patient with coaches, which partially explains the speculation. CSNPhilly.com’s Tim Panaccio points out that Laviolette’s 269 games behind the bench only trails legend Fred Shero (554) and “Iron” Mike Keenan (320).

Then again, maybe Holmgren isn’t making promises because he’s not 100 percent about his job security, either.

Here’s video of Holmgren’s commentary, via CSNPhilly.com: