Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Scott shows he’s more than just the business boss
PHILADELPHIA >> It may have come with some personal regret, but Ron Hextall’s unceremonious removal from the Flyers’ front office essentially doubled as Dave Scott’s public unveiling as the man at the top of the Flyers’ pyramid.
Scott, originally a replacement for Ed Snider’s top lieutenant Peter Luukko five years ago, not only assumed Snider’s role and title since the team chairman’s 2016 passing, he made clear his power in overseeing team president Paul Holmgren’s reluctant removal of Hextall.
A move that apparently was sudden as it seemed.
“These decisions are not easy, but I wanted to tell you that Paul and I have been in constant communication in the last several weeks and really pondering the team’s performance,” Scott said as he opened a day-delayed Hextall firing press conference Tuesday at Wells Fargo Center. “The bottom line is, we just thought we needed to make more progress. So we made the change. I do want to acknowledge Ron Hextall. I talked to him yesterday. These things aren’t easy, but we’re all working through it.”
Scott, chairman and CEO of parent company Comcast-Spectacor, has been perceived in recent years as the company’s business leader. A beancounter boss if you will.
Meanwhile, Hextall essentially ran the hockey department and Holmgren attended to business duties while acting as a team governor and liaison to the league.
That popular perspective has turned out to be short-sighted. No one really expects Scott to orchestrate team trades and free agent signings quite in the hands-clenchedon Snider way, but his imprint was all over this early season upheaval that, in the long run, he believes will be good for the club ... and the business.
“The timing of this was so important,” Scott said later in a post-presser talk. “It’s early enough, there’s lots of hockey to play . ... We’re still where we were, but (the goal) is get deep in the playoffs and all the way if you can do it. We have time to get there.
“I talked a lot about progress, but to me, it’s 2012 since we got into the second round (of the playoffs), and that’s a long time. So we’re going to go for it.”
In assessing the team, Scott revealed his knowledge of player personnel moves and possible future moves that had the ring of an educated hockey boss. If he’s done his homework over the past few years, more power to him.
The decision to fire Hextall “was Paul’s recommendation and I supported Paul,” Scott said. But there was much speculation that ultimately this was a business decision, made by the business leader.
The dots can easily be connected there when you noticed how many empty seats are at Wells Fargo Center on every given night. Of the Flyers’ 13 home games this season, only three have been sellouts. And that includes a lot of unused but previously sold corporate seats.
NBC is the power broker behind Comcast’s subsidiary businesses. NBC is also the U.S. network rights holder for NHL games. Declining popularity in one of their traditionally top-rated American hockey markets isn’t what they want the ledgers to show, no matter how much better the Flyers’ farm system has gotten under Hextall.
Also, there is the ongoing construction of more luxury boxes at the building, and the much discussed and never forgotten expansion plans for the company’s restaurant and bar business which currently only occupies one Live corner of the parking lot.
Scott sort of shrugged off any direct connection to the club’s daily decline and Hextall’s dismissal, saying “sales are pretty good. We’re down maybe low-hundreds” in average ticket sales.
“This is a town that likes to win,” Scott added. “Our fans, especially, are geared that way. I’m sure they’d like to see it happening faster. But we have to be careful.
“In Paul’s era, we traded a lot of the future away. Maybe that was one side of the pendulum and we’re probably at the other side now. So I think there’s some middle ground here now that we can work with and make some hay.”
Scott’s take on the job Hextall was doing included the opinion that the ex-GM could have been less autocratic when it came to intra-office decisions.
“The GM really has to have the autonomy to do their job. I feel really strongly about that,” Scott said. “But at the same time they have to be willing to listen, and hear what people are saying. That’s important and that’s all I ask for, that somebody is hearing our voices. With the GM, that’s the goal. Get the right leader in there, make the evaluation. And I think we’re all here as sounding boards. I think that’s what I’m looking for.”
While Holmgren, a long-time working ally and friend of Hextall’s for some 35 years, found it difficult to put his disappointment with Hextall’s acts of autonomy into words, Scott laid it out in clear, calculating style.
Along the way, he showed that this firing wasn’t just another line item on his business docket.
“I worked with Ron for five years. We would typically, in-season, (usually) every other week at a home game, have like an hour meeting,” Scott said. “It was all hockey. Just challenging him. I’d say, ‘How do we make the team better now? I understand what’s coming in the pipeline but what can we do today?’
“We’ve certainly got a younger team now. We’ve got cap space. We’ve got a good farm system. We’re feeling very good about that. I could tell you, Paul and I, we’ve worked together closely and our number one priority going forward is getting this new GM hired.”
As for the one he left behind, Scott would offer a respectful farewell.
“This was year five for him, there was more pressure on him to perform,” Scott said of Hextall. “So I’ll give Ron this: He was very consistent and very confident in his own judgment. I sat through a lot of meetings with him, and definitely his plan was his plan, and I think we’re hoping for a little more openness going forward.”
To contact Rob Parent, email rparent@21stcenturymedia.com; on Twitter @Reluctant SE