Hextall stunned to learn of his firing
VOORHEES, N.J. >> A lot of time was spent Friday retracing the steps that may have led Flyers president Paul Holmgren to depose Ron Hextall as general manager.
Hextall’s management style, Holmgren’s presidential substance, the tipping point that may have fueled what Hextall described as a 20-second dismissal decree by Holmgren. Since both of these guys were long-time Flyers, no such front-office divorce would come complete with bitter animosity.
It’s not like Peter Laviolette was involved in this one.
Rather, this surprising event Monday was subsequently underscored by the executive spin of company CEO Dave Scott and Holmgren Tuesday that the move, while difficult personally, will in the long run be good for the team.
But what about that team wasn’t good for Hextall? The answers weren’t so clear to him on that point, but there was one area of regret that Hextall gave voice to that may have had a deleterious impact.
“The one thing I felt we needed with this team was a little more juice, a little more energy, a little more of a player or two that could grind it out and grit and piss people off,” Hextall said Friday in a post-firing meeting with the media. “That was one of the things we were on the lookout for, too, was a little more sandpaper.”
“Sandpaper” in this cliched case would be the kind of hockey player trained in the art of getting under the opposition’s skin. Not exactly a fighter — this team clearly doesn’t have enough fight of any kind — but an irritant.
“Typically they drag guys into the battle,” Hextall said of his missing personnel piece. “We looked at that last summer as well, and certainly continued to look at it. It was one part we felt (was needed). They’re hard to get.”
Aside from gifted top-line bug Travis Konecny, whose scoring value is too high for him to risk too many minor penalties, that type of guy indeed seems to be in absentia in the Flyers’ locker room.
It’s a team that does hit, but doesn’t hit hard enough. A team that can fight ... but doesn’t. These Flyers don’t seem tough enough, and not just when it comes to sticking it to an opponent or sticking up for a teammate.
“Fighting is not really part of the game anymore,” Hextall said. “Once in a while, there’s probably a couple games early where you wonder, why wouldn’t they try and change the momentum of a game? ... I know some guys tried (that way).
“There’s more to it than just the obvious. But fighting is not a big part of the game.”
Hence the rising influence and greater need of what Hextall calls the guy that excels at “the sandpaper part” of the game. Someone who, even at the risk of taking a penalty, can drill someone or stick a glove in his face or (in hockey terms) “stirs the pot” effectively, thereby getting a team fired up and perhaps back into a game.
The Flyers on most occasions this season have looked like a group wondering what the postgame dinner plans might be rather than a team interested in stirring any pots.
But there are other ways to live up to your ugly team mascot’s name.
“We have to be battling for pucks,” Wayne Simmonds said at practice Friday. “You can’t be beat off a puck. “We’re not fighting anymore, but you want your players to have that “you’re never going to lose a battle” type of mentality.
“I think we have guys in here that are definitely capable of doing that, we just have to do it a little more.”
“There’s different recipes that you can win with in this league,” added James van Riemsdyk. “We don’t want to be taking penalties . ... There’s the (physical) side of the game but there’s also winning battles and obviously the fighting aspect of the game, which is not as prevalent as it used to be. There’s winning battles and playing with your structure and being dialed into your details.”
All of which takes leadership and effective coaching and a disciplined work ethic by each individual player.
“That’s a collective thing for the group,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We’ve seen a little bit more of it over the past few games. You saw it with (Scott) Laughton in Buffalo, with (Konecny) here. It doesn’t come out and manifest itself in just dropping the gloves. That’s part of it. But there’s a team grit and a team sandpaper that can continue to grow on this team.”
Maybe the new GM can address that. Presuming the team isn’t out of the playoff chase by then.
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NOTES >> Rookie goalie Anthony Stolarz, obviously not getting much of the blame in his meltdown loss in the third period to the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night, will start against the Penguins Saturday. Longinjured Michal Neuvirth will make a rare appearance as the supposedly healthy backup goalie. “Neuvy wouldn’t be in the lineup if he wasn’t ready to play,” Hakstol said . ... As for Stolarz, he’s still here because Calvin Pickard was picked up off the waiver wire earlier in the week by Arizona . ... JVR on the loss of Hextall: “In the end it’s one of those things where we knew we were underachieving as a team. It gets to the point where you expect something to happen and that was the move that was decided to be made.” ... Jake Voracek on why his team has been underachieving: “I didn’t have good enough sleep to give you an answer for that.”