Hakstol confident in leap to Flyers coach

Making the transition from college hockey to the National Hockey League, new Philadelphia Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol will become the first coach to go from coaching college to the pros since 1982.

» Dave Hakstol left the college game behind at North Dakota when he was hired by the Flyers. He never stopped recruiting. Hakstol had just been tabbed as Philadelphia’s new coach inMay — eliciting a collective “Who?” from the orange-andblack-clad faithful — when he went to work on his new players. He was selling himself and his vision for the Flyers, and no stop was too distant. Not even the Czech Republic to dine with AllStar Jake Voracek. “He called me that he wanted to do dinner. I was like, ‘Sure. I’ll be in the States in July,’ and he said, ‘No, no, I’m coming over to the Czech Republic,”’ Voracek said. “I was like, ‘OK, for how long?’ He said just one night. I kind of started laughing.” So Hakstol and Voracek met nearly 4,000miles away from Philadelphia in June and dined on Czech beer and Czech food (“lots of carbs,” Voracek said). Hakstol picked up the tab and Voracek soon signed a $66million, eight-year extension that locked up the centerpiece player of a retooled franchise. Hakstol perfected his spiel over 11seasons at North Dakota, signing future NHL players Jonathan Toews, T.J. Oshie, Chris VandeVelde and dozens more who all forged the foundation for seven trips to the Frozen Four. Hakstol is making a nearly unprecedented leap from a collegiate hockey program to NHL coach. He’s the first since Bob Johnson went from Wisconsin to the Calgary Flames in 1982. Hakstol, 47, seemed at ease with his transition, even if the differences from the NCAA seemaswide as the 1,500-mile gap between Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Philadelphia.