John Stevens

John A. Stevens (born May 4, 1966) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and is the current assistant coach of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is a former head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Playing career
A skilled defensive defenceman, Stevens was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the third round, 47th overall, of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Stevens followed up a junior career with the Oshawa Generals by playing four seasons for the Hershey Bears and earning call-ups during the 1986–87 and 1987–88 seasons, playing in a total of 9 games with the Flyers. He was signed by the Hartford Whalers in 1990 and reassigned to the Whalers' farm team, the Springfield Indians, which he captained to the franchise's seventh and final Calder Cup that season. When the Indians' franchise moved to Worcester in 1994, he was the first captain of its successor franchise Springfield Falcons, where he played for two additional years (for a total of six seasons in Springfield).

In 1996, Stevens signed once more with the Flyers, and was named the first captain of its expansion farm team, the Philadelphia Phantoms. In his second season as captain, Stevens led the team to its first Calder Cup championship. He was named to play in several AHL All-Star games throughout his career.

As a player, Stevens played in 53 NHL games for the Flyers and the Whalers scoring no goals, ten assists and recording 48 penalty minutes. In the AHL, he played in 834 games, scoring 20 goals and 166 assists for 186 points. Ironically, given his low scoring output as a defensive defenceman, Stevens scored the first goals in franchise history for both the Falcons and the Phantoms.

Coaching career
Stevens was forced to retire as a player in 1999 due to a career-ending eye injury but remained with the Phantoms as an assistant coach. He then became the club's second head coach in 2000 when Bill Barber was promoted to the Flyers. During his six season tenure as coach, the Phantoms made the playoffs four times and won their second Calder Cup title in 2005. Stevens was himself promoted to the Phantoms' parent club as an assistant coach after the 2005–06 season, and on October 22, 2006, was named as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers after Ken Hitchcock was fired. On October 26, Stevens coached his first NHL game, a 3–2 win over the Florida Panthers. On November 20, the Flyers announced that they had signed Stevens to a 2-year contract.

His first season with the Flyers saw his often injury-depleted team set a franchise record for consecutive losses (10 games) and finish the 2006–07 season with the club's worst record in its 40-year history. The Flyers set an NHL record for the biggest drop off in points from one season to the next – 101 points in the 2005–06 season to 56 points in the 2006–07 season for lowest point total in the league.

However, as stunning as their fall from grace was the previous season, Stevens guided the Flyers to an immediate renaissance in 2007-08. The Flyers won 42 games and amassed 95 points in the regular season under Stevens guidance. In the playoffs, the Flyers beat the Washington Capitals in the first round and upset the top-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the second round before falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals. For this, The Hockey News honoured Stevens with their Coach of the Year award.

Awards

 * 1988 - Calder Cup Hershey Bears (Player)
 * 1991 - Calder Cup Springfield Indians (Player, Team Captain)
 * 1996 - American Hockey League All-Star Game (Player)
 * 1998 - Calder Cup Philadelphia Phantoms (Player; Team Captain)
 * 2005 - Calder Cup Philadelphia Phantoms (Head Coach)
 * 2007 - Philadelphia Phantoms Hall of Fame inductee
 * 2008 - The Hockey News Coach of the Year

Records

 * 1994 - Scored first goal in Springfield Falcons history
 * 1996 - Scored first goal in Philadelphia Phantoms history
 * 2006 - Most consecutive losses in Philadelphia Flyers history (10) (Head Coach)
 * 2008 - Tied 2006 record of most consecutive losses in Philadelphia Flyers history (10) (Head Coach)