Hextall says he was ‘stunned’ Flyers fired him

VORHEES, N.J. Former Philadelphia general manager Ron Hextall said he was stunned the Flyers fired him this week, despite their losing record.

Hextall, a former Flyers goalie, was fired on Monday after 4½ seasons on the job.

“I didn’t see this coming in any way,” Hextall said Friday. “I was shocked. I was stunned, yeah.”

The Flyers were 10-12-2 and in last place in the Eastern Conference under coach Dave Hakstol heading into Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh. Flyers president Paul Holmgren said he fired Hextall because it had “become clear that we no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team.”

Hextall preached patience and tried to rebuild the Flyers through the draft instead of making shortterm fixes with high-priced veterans. When the development didn’t come quickly enough, he was given the boot.

“There were a lot of things that just went the wrong way on us,” Hextall said.

Holmgren said this week the next general manager will decide Hakstol’s fate. Holmgren had few solid answers as to why he made the move, other than to repeatedly call Hextall “unyielding.”

Hextall said he took a threestage approach to trying to build a contender: clean up the salarycap mess left behind by Holmgren; watch prospects grow as a team; make a big splash through free agency or a trade when the Flyers were close to “go time.”

“I didn’t feel we were at go time,” Hextall said.

The Flyers had two first-round playoff exits in Hextall’s tenure and they show no sign this season of winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since back-to-back titles in 1974-75.

“I certainly expected (the team) to take a step this year,” Hextall said. “There’s a few more growing pains with our young players than I expected.”