PHILADELPHIA _ New Flyers coach Alain Vigneault is a hockey lifer, but spending a year away from the sport and its brutal traveling schedule agreed with him.
He watched some hockey but didn't go overboard. Instead, he spent more quality time with his two grown daughters, reconnected with close friends, and basically enjoyed himself and his freedom.
"I made the most out of my time away from the game," he said. "I spent some time with my family. I bought a place in Florida and played a lot of golf and tennis and lost 10 pounds. I watched hockey, but I was watching more as a fan than anything else.
"I rejuvenated myself, mentally and physically," he added. "I feel reenergized."
Now his job is to reenergize an organization that has missed the playoffs four times in the last seven years, hasn't won a Stanley Cup since 1975, and has alienated a sizable portion of its fan base with a ticket-price increase and the hiding of Kate Smith's statue.
"I don't care about the past," Vigneault said about the Flyers' long title drought. "... That doesn't matter."
All he cares about is molding the Flyers, a team that has a good mix of veterans and youth, into Stanley Cup contenders.
It won't happen overnight. The Flyers have deficiencies and appear short on offensive firepower unless the power-play units rebound and some of the young prospects blossom quickly. They also have a rebuilt defense, and it will take time for the players to learn the intricacies of Vigneault's fast-paced, forechecking-happy system.
"We have size and good skill," Vigneault said. "... I feel good about this group. I like the skill set. I like the youth that's pushing up."
The Flyers, he said, remind him of the 2006-07 team he took over in Vancouver _ one led by the young Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik _ and helped the Canucks make a 13-point improvement in his first season and playing two playoff rounds.
"It was a young team on the uprise; they were making changes. They brought in (Roberto) Luongo in goal, and it was a team that sort of needed direction in building," he said, his French Canadian accent making the words almost melodic. "It took me five years before bringing it to the Stanley Cup (finals), but we built it and we came one win shy from winning it all. This has a lot of the same components."
