Hextall victim of ‘unyielding’ Flyers vision
The Philadelphia Flyers feel they need a new look and a new direction.
Hours before the Flyers faced the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Center, president Paul Holmgren and Comcast Spectacor CEO Dave Scott met with local media to explain the decision to fire general manager Ron Hextall a day earlier.
The Flyers aren’t happy with where they sit a quarter of the way through the season and felt Hextall wasn’t going to be the man to help them take the next step. Hextall had a plan in place and had been given five years to execute it, but ultimately he lost his job because he refused to deviate from his direction.
Hextall was lauded for clearing cap space and setting the team up well, but that’s the only praise he received.
“I got to the point I felt it was necessary to push our team forward to have a different mindset in that chair,” Holmgren said. “Are there things (Hextall) was thinking about doing for the team? I don’t know. He was unyielding in his plan and remained that way.
“Good for him. He’s a wellthought-out, deep-thinking guy and he put us in a better position moving forward.”
Scott said the Flyers haven’t made enough progress under Hextall.
“He was very confident in his plan and his vision and Paul said it: he wasn’t going to waver from that plan. But to me and to Paul, this is the fifth year and you guys look at the same data we look at and we thought it was time for a change,” Scott said.
There have been no shortage of names as possible replacements.
Former Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher is a top candidate along with ex-Carolina Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis, who is close with Holmgren from their days with Hartford Whalers. Florida Panthers executive Chris Pronger, a former Flyers defenceman, has also been mentioned.
The Flyers don’t want to hurry the process, but they’re not going to waste time, either, and Holmgren insisted he’s had no shortage of interest. Scott added they hoped to have a replacement in “weeks, not months.”
“We’re going to go through a thorough process and talk to candidates. I said earlier (they need) a fresh outlook and fresh approach,” said Holmgren. “I don’t know how to explain it any more than that.”
The future of coach Dave Hakstol is now clouded, though Holmgren denied he talked with Hextall about the possibility of a change behind the bench. The reality is whoever takes over the Flyers is going to want their own person and Hakstol hasn’t exactly produced a boatload of success.
Holmgren met with Hakstol Monday after the decision was made to fire Hextall. The Flyers have made the playoffs twice in his three-plus seasons behind the bench and were eliminated in the first round both times. They went into the game against Ottawa with a 10-11-2 record in 23 games. “Look, the players know, the coaches know and we all know it’s about winning and we haven’t been winning enough games lately,” Holmgren said.