Ian Laperriere Extends Tenure As Phantoms Head Coach
Former Philadelphia Flyers player and current Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere has signed a two-year contract extension to remain in charge of the Flyers' AHL affiliate.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports - Ian Laperriere Extends Tenure As Phantoms Head CoachFormer Philadelphia Flyers player and current Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere has signed a two-year contract extension to remain in charge of the Flyers' AHL affiliate.
Laperriere has been head coach of the Phantoms for the past three seasons, and has been involved with the Flyers organization for 15 years, serving as the team's Director of Player Development in 2012-13, then serving as an assistant coach with the Flyers for eight years, beginning in 2013-14.
Current Flyers players like Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, Sam Ersson, and Cam York have all passed through Lehigh Valley under his guidance.
"I love what I do," Laperriere said in a press release. "I love to work with those young guys. I want to stay here and we walked and I told them I don't want to go anywhere. I like to help the Flyers get better by working with those kids and making sure they're ready when they get called up."
Laperriere helped lead the Phantoms to back-to-back appearances in the Calder Cup playoffs, including the 2023-24 season, where they advanced to the second round for the first time since 2018.
"In his three years behind the bench, we have seen consistent improvement, and valuable experience gained from our prospects playing with the Phantoms, and they have been able to step in seamlessly to the Flyers when called upon," said Flyers GM Danny Briere. "In addition, the team has had a steady increase of success which saw the Calder Cup Playoffs return to the great fans of Lehigh Valley. I strongly believe that is a credit to Ian and his staff, and we are happy to have him lead our top development club for the next several years."
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