On Wednesday, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms formally introduced John Snowden as the new head coach of the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate. The team also officially announced the hiring of Terrance Wallin and Nick Schultz as Snowden’s assistant coaches.
Snowden and Schultz are familiar faces in the Flyers’ organization. Meanwhile, Wallin is a Bucks County native who is well known both to Flyers general manager Daniel Briere and player development director Riley Armstrong. In their previous capacities, Snowden and Schultz also interacted with Flyers assistant general manager Alyn McCauley, who handles day-to-day managerial matters for the Phantoms.
Snowden spoke to assembled local media at a PPL Center press conference on Wednesday. Separately, the new Phantoms bench boss was interviewed by Service Electric reporter Kristi Fulkerson.
Fulkerson asked Snowden about his preparation for being the Phantoms head coach. The 43-year-old Washington State native served as the Phantoms’ assistant coach under Ian Laperriere the previous four season after winning the ECHL’s Kelly Cup championship as the head coach of the Newfoundland Growlers.
“There are no surprises for me now. I understand the [American] League. I understand the process of how it works from day to day. Lappy set a really good foundation here. It’s our job now to build on the foundation that he set. Work with these players to help them get to the NHL or back to the NHL. So the experience I’ve had over the last few years, it’s been massive,” Snowden told Service Electric.
Snowden said that being an ECHL head coach is a different animal than coaching in the AHL. In turn, coaching in the American Hockey League is a somewhat different paradigm than the NHL level.
“I came from the ECHL. It’s a different pace at this [AHL] level. Players are better, they’re smarter and make better plays all over the rink. They ask you the hard questions. You don’t get those questions in the ECHL. They’ll ask you why [you’re doing something]. They’ll challenge you as a coach. So being at this level for four years is a big help,” he said.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Snowden said he’s excited to work with prospective Phantoms rookies. They could range from Alex Bump (a potential NHL roster player) to players such as Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk who will make their pro hockey debuts in 2025-26.
Snowden also discussed some of his coaching philosophies and thoughts on player development. He expects longtime veterans such as team captain Garrett Wilson and younger vets such as Zayde Wisdom to help set the standard of expectations within the locker room and help the youngsters along in the adjustments to being pros.
“This is where the rebuild of the Philadelphia Flyers is going to start. It’s going to start here, and it’s going to start with us. It starts with the development process we’re going to put in place for us to win here — if we do it right, we’re going to win games — but also to help them move up to the NHL. That’s where they want to be at the end of the day,” Snowden said.
The coach said he and his staff want to implement very up-tempo systems. The goal is to prepare prospects for the NHL pace but also to be a threat to their AHL opponents.
“We will be a fast, offensively aggressive attacking team. I want to value [possession of ] the puck. I want us to hold onto the puck. If you want the puck, you’ve got to earn it back,” Snowden said.
Snowden pledged a quick transition game from the defensive zone to the offensive zone. Once in the offensive zone, if there is not a direct opportunity to attack the net, Snowden wants the forecheck to wear down the opponent’s defense by keeping them hemmed in their own zone.
The Phantoms want their systems to mirror the ones the Flyers plan to implement under Rick Tocchet. This includes similar offensive zone and neutral zone forechecks as well as breakouts. In the defensive zone, Snowden and Schultz may implement something very similar to the box-plus-one coverage style at 5-on-5 that Flyers coaches Tocchet and Todd Reirden plan to use.
Schultz, of course, played 1,069 regular season games as an NHL defenseman including three seasons with the Flyers. More recently, he has served the Flyers organization as a development coach. He specialized in forging an especially close rapport with blueline prospects.
Now, Schultz has switched to less of a behind-the-scenes role. As Snowden’s assistant, he will work day-in and day-out with the Phantoms defense and penalty kill. He replaces former Flyers captain Jason “Gator” Smith, who served four as a Phantoms assistant coach under Laperriere.
Wallin, who moves into Snowden’s old assistant role, is a very young and promising coach. The 33-year-old Yardley native comes to the Phantoms after four seasons as an assistant (one year) and head coach (three years) with the ECHL Maine Mariners.
In Portland, Wallin was initially hired by Briere when the future Flyers GM ran the Mariners. Additionally, he knows former Maine head coach Riley Armstrong quite well. Wallin played under Armstrong before making the transition from player to coach.
While the Phantoms 2025-26 coaching staff is entirely new, the instant familiarity with the key Hockey Operations figures in the Flyers organization and/or with one another can be a help in upcoming months. The transition should be pretty smooth.
