Flyers Fire Ron Hextall

[2014olympicgold]

Flyers fired Ron Hextall just now.

https://www.tsn.ca/flyers-fire-gm-hextall-1.1216131

[Pengwin7]

Psh. No patience.
I think Hextall did a fine job with the direction of the organization.

Unfortunately, the ownership representation of the Flyers is not a hockey-mind (Dave Scott) and if enough fans start griping, he probably thinks he has to look active.
Probably pushed the directive down to Holmgren to fire Hextall... and whoever the next GM is will likely ditch Hakstol too (who I like).

Some knob will get the future credit for this team - but Hextall did just fine here.
I miss Ed Snider.

[Axeman33]

Wow, can't say I saw this one coming. Usually the coach gets the boot before the GM.

[2014olympicgold]

I agree completely with P7. New GM has a ton of cap space next yr and will likely over spend on a goalie (Bob, Varly, Smith, Talbot, Kinkaid) and put them in a bad position.

[Godin]

I guess they were got impatient with Hextall's patience. Way too good a roster to be playing this badly.

[Pengwin7]

Wow, can't say I saw this one coming. Usually the coach gets the boot before the GM.

Yeah... I'd speculate that the Flyers (ownership) asked for change.
Likely Holmgren pushed the word down to Hextall.
Hextall probably refused to fire Hakstol.

Hakstol has done fine with the talent he's had.
The team IS built for the future.

The statement from Holmgren is the "TELL":
"We thank Ron for his many significant contributions, but it has become clear that we no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team," club president Paul Holmgren said in a statement. "In light of these differences, we feel it's in the organization's best interest to make a change, effective immediately."

..."no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team".
Disagreement. OK.

When I read this statement, to me it says "GM refused to fire the coach. So we have fired the GM."


Hextall is a solid guy.
But I've seen in Atlanta what dumb, short-sighted, non-hockey ownership is capable of ruining.

Philly is screwed, because they'll now put a GM in place that does it the way the owner wants.
The new GM will probably make some stupid trade like moving Patrick & Frost for some expiring UFA veteran center...
That would be something they would do... Holmgren would do. (see Lecavalier, Vincent... 2013)

And PHI's rebuild will be trashed.

Stupid, stupid ownership.

[Axeman33]

Or, ownership wanted to move some kids to improve their existing roster and Hextall said to go pound sand too. One way or the other, safe to say that someone asked Hextall to do something he didn't want to do and it cost him his job.

I'd take Hextall in Edmonton any day.

[LordoftheRinks]

The TOR game (and the team's poor showing) was the straw that broke the camel's back. I believe the reason was Hextall was 'told' to fire Hakstol and Hextall refused. As Penguin said earlier, this was the first of several moves we are likely to see.

[markpiel]

What a bizarre move. Notwithstanding their slow start this season, the team is generally headed in a positive direction because of Hextall's astute drafting over the last 4 seasons (Sanheim, Provorov, Konecny, Hart, Patrick).

His biggest misstep was probably signing JVR for $7million/5 yrs. That contract may make retaining Simmonds beyond this season a difficult proposition.

Like others on this thread, my best guess is he either refused to fire Hakstol and/or was receiving significant pressure (against his recommendations) to either trade prospects/promising kids for a goalie mid-season or sign one long-term for basically any price this coming off-season.

[wscinc]

Could his refusal to utilize Hart be a reason? Arguably was their best goalie in the pre-season.

[Axeman33]

Could his refusal to utilize Hart be a reason? Arguably was their best goalie in the pre-season.

Pre-season means nothing. His AHL season to date has been less than stellar and to be honest has a lot to learn before he's NHL ready. I doubt that's it.

[Pengwin7]

Could his refusal to utilize Hart be a reason? Arguably was their best goalie in the pre-season.

Oh, totally.
The Flyers have massive goalie-issues.

So, here's what the "moderate" Flyers hockey fan knows:

1. The Flyers current NHL goalies stink.
2. The Flyers lose games because of these stinky goalies.
3. The Flyers have an elite young goalie playing in their minors.
4. The Flyers are not going to promote him too soon because.... he's too young.

[I use the term "moderate", because that's probably all the knowledge the Flyers ownership representative has towards the team.]


People with a LOT of real hockey experience know that some goaltenders have had their confidence shattered by facing NHL level shooters too soon.
It's like... would you promote your kid from 3rd grade to 7th grade because they are REALLY good in math & english.
I mean... you could...
and maybe ONE kid might excel and be totally committed to the academics
and maybe ANOTHER kid might get torn up by the social inadequacies of the whole situation and come undone.


Worth note is some comments that Carter Hart did issue recently (prior to the Hextall firing).
Check out this article on ESPN:
http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/2...motion-playing

Said Hart:
"I don't really want to follow any path that they have for me, I just want to get to the NHL as fast as I can," Hart said.
"I appreciate the fans and love the city of Philly. I want to be there as soon as I can. I don't care what path it is, I want it to be the quickest path possible."


So... am I going to pick up Hart in some of my 1-year leagues right now?
Um... maybe.

[wscinc]

Yea....that's kind of my thought process right now too. I read that article as well this morning. Sounds like he's played well the last few games, and Philly's goalie situation with injuries is absurd right now.

[2014olympicgold]

The Flyers were gonna talk today about the firing but have pushed it back till tmo at 11am. Prolly because they didn't realize how unpopular a decision this was and want to be more prepared.

[ericdaoust]

So does Hextall land another GM role by the summer? The results at the NHL level were not there but the prospect pool is solid...