The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that Adirondack Phantoms head coach Greg Gilbert has been relieved of his duties, according to general manager Paul Holmgren. Flyers assistant general manager John Paddock has been named interim head coach of the team, and will also retain his assistant GM title and duties.
“I met with Greg Gilbert earlier this evening and relieved him of his duties as head coach of the Adirondack Phantoms,” Holmgren said. “The lack of success for the team of late is not acceptable and I believe this move became necessary under the circumstances. I think Greg is a good coach, but something needed to be done. We want to thank Greg for his service to our organization and we wish him well. John Paddock will take over as head coach immediately.”
“This is not an easy day with having to replace someone that I got to know very well over the last year and a half, but with Paul believing we need to move forward like this, I look forward to the challenge,” Paddock said. “We need to do all we can to get the team playing at a higher level.”
Paddock, 56, returns to the Phantoms bench after leading the team to a 43-30-2-5 record and a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs during the 2008-09 campaign, the team’s last in Philadelphia. He was promoted to his current position as assistant GM of the Flyers following that season.
Paddock has won five Calder Cups – two as a player (Maine, 1978 and 1979) and three as a coach (Maine, 1984; Hershey, 1988; Hartford, 2000). Three of those championships – the two as a player in Maine and the one in Hershey – came when his team was the primary affiliate of the Flyers.
Paddock is the only coach in American Hockey League history to coach three different franchises to a Calder Cup. He has a career record of 585-424-98 over 15 seasons as a head coach in the AHL, with the 585 wins and 1,107 total games coached both ranking third in AHL history. Paddock is also the AHL’s all-time winningest playof coach with 82 postseason victories. He was inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame in 2010.
Paddock has also coached 346 NHL games for the Winnipeg Jets (1991-92 to 1994-95) and the Ottawa Senators (2007-08), compiling a total record of 142-161-43.
Gilbert, 48, was named the head coach of the Phantoms on July 28, 2009. He led the team to a 32-41-3-4 record during the 2009-10 season, and a 2-10-1-0 record through the first 13 games of the 2010-11 season. Gilbert is one of 15 head coaches in AHL history with 300 career wins, compiling a record of 302-292-59 over parts of nine seasons with Adirondack, the Toronto Marlies and the Worcester IceCats.
