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Craig Berube is off to a 1-4 start as head coach of the Flyers

(Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports)

Philadelphia has seen this movie before.

An aging team with a lame duck head coach. A roster filled with big-name players that aren't producing. Delusional optimism. Bad free agent signings. Loss after loss explained away with the false idea things will turn around.

Flyers fans, welcome to "The Dream Team" 2.0.

Watching the Flyers during their 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night, it was hard to not think back to the Eagles team in 2011 that started the season with so much promise before becoming one of the biggest disasters in franchise history.

The bad news for the Flyers is that they might already have reached the low point it took the "Dream Team" two seasons to reach. At 1-7, the Flyers are off to the worst start in franchise history. As the Eagles can tell them though, things only get uglier from here.

That season, the Eagles played team's tight, but were unable to finish the deal week after week. Soon, the team expected bad things to happen, a virus that is nearly impossible to get out of the locker room once it is in there. This Flyers team is no different, as they have played teams closely before consistently falling short in the third period.

The sense of defeat was easy to pick up in the arena on Thursday night when the Penguins took even just a 1-0 lead. By the time it was 2-0, everyone - including the players it seemed - knew what the outcome would be.

Much like those 2011 Eagles, these Flyers also share an unwarranted sense of optimism when they speak to the media.

The Flyers might have talent, but until they change the culture around the team, things aren't going to change.

The Eagles are the prime example, as they entered this season with most of the same key players. Michael Vick is still (maybe) the starting quarterback. Nate Allen is still starting at safety, and the offensive weapons are all the same. During the dreadful two-season stretch the Eagles were on prior to the start of this one, many fans blamed Vick and Allen for the losing. They pointed to DeSean Jackson's attitude as the reason for losing.

The same can be said for the Flyers. They have mostly the same roster as last season, save for the questionable long-term acquisition of Vinny Lecavalier. They have even upgraded their goalie, yet the results are somehow worse.

So why have the Eagles been able to turn things around following a coaching switch when the Flyers are only getting worse?

When the Eagles made a coaching change, they went to the outside for help. The Flyers, on the other hand, reached from the same infested organization to try to turn things around. The results have been predictable, and they are very much tied to the head coach.

The differences between Chip Kelly and Craig Berube could not be more different. Kelly is energetic, funny, and optimistic - and that is just at his press conferences. He jokes with players on the field, leaning into them and laughing in the same way you see high-school friends do. He also has their respect, however, as the team has completely bought into the massive changes he brought when he arrived in Philadelphia.

Take the Eagles' recent win over the New York Giants. Things started to shift against them late in the game, with the Giants taking a one-point lead. The Eagles didn't falter, however, pulling out the win in the fourth quarter. That was a game they would have lost last year, and a game the Flyers would lose this year.

All because of Kelly.

Berube, on the other hand, comes off like a coach already tired of doing the job just five games into his NHL head coaching career. Even at his introductory press conference, it was hard to get the sense he was excited. For a player that was so emotional on the ice, he makes Andy Reid sound like a poet off of it. His explanations after Thursday's loss consistently amounted to a few words, that through different combinations always seem to add up to "I don't know what to say." He already looks defeated, much like former Sixers head coach Doug Collins did late last season.

Asked what was said in the locker room in-between the second and third period on Thursday night, Max Talbot hesitated, shrugged his shoulders and said "kind of what you would expect."

Sounds inspiring.

The Flyers need a coach like Kelly, one who excites and inspires. Berube was promoted as an enforcer who takes "no-nonsense." Teams turning things around don't need that. They need a reason to be excited again, a reason to believe. Berube clearly has not done that.

Much like the Eagles in 2011, it's hard to blame the owner for this mess. Say what you will about Ed Snider, but he wants to win. The Flyers are lucky to have an owner like that, as much as fans don't want to hear it. If Snider is guilty of anything, it is leaning on Paul Holmgren, who has made a string of bad moves - Berube being the latest. As the Eagles showed, a switch in leadership can change the perception of an organization and an owner very quickly. Just ask Jeffrey Lurie, who was accused of many of the same things Snider is being accused of now before he made the switch to Kelly.

Hopefully Snider realizes sooner rather than later that a cleaning of the house is needed. He realized it with Ilya Bryzgalov, writing a massive check just to make the goalie go away. Watching and listening to the Flyers, it's clear more is needed - a lot more.

The Flyers might turn things around. Things could start to break their way, like the Eagles hoped things would in 2011. Maybe the fumbles - or turnovers in their own zone - will stop. Maybe they will make a play in the third period - or fourth quarter - to win a game. Maybe they will be able to string together some wins while clinging to faint playoff hopes.

History, however, shows they won't - just ask the Eagles.

Follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks