Flyers fire coach, Hakstol
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — It took less than two weeks as general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers for Chuck Fletcher to see what he needed to see with coach Dave Hakstol.
The Flyers were still making too many mistakes, still not playing up to their talent level and it was all too clear the message wasn’t getting across from their fourth-year coach.
With the team mired in a four-game losing streak, Fletcher fired Hakstol on Monday and Scott Gordon was named the interim replacement.
“To my eyes, there was a disconnect between what he was preaching and how the players were playing,” Fletcher said. “We need a new voice. We need to have the coaching staff (give) the message to the players and hopefully have the players receive that message . . . .
“That’s why I decided to make the move.” Not much has improved since the team fired general manager Ron Hextall just after Thanksgiving. The Flyers have lost five of six, 11 of 14 and are in last place in the Eastern Conference.
They went 1-3-1 on the road trip through Western Canada that Fletcher said he’d use to evaluate Hakstol, the rest of the coaching staff and the team in general.
Hakstol is the fifth coach fired this season. Hired by Hextall from the University of North Dakota in 2015, Hakstol took the Flyers to the playoffs twice in his three full seasons, but they lost in six games in the first round each time.
Under Hakstol in 2016-17, the Flyers became the first team in NHL history to miss the playoffs after having a 10-game winning streak, and last season they were also the first to make the playoffs after a 10-game losing streak.
The inconsistency ultimately cost Hakstol his job. Hakstol’s final game was a 5-1 loss at Vancouver on Saturday night.
It was not immediately clear when the Flyers would hire a full-time coach, though Fletcher indicated he expects Gordon to work through the remainder of the season.
Three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Joel Quenneville was fired by Chicago last month, but Fletcher said he has not gotten permission from the Blackhawks to speak with Quenneville and hasn’t talked to him in roughly two years.