After firing the general manager early Monday morning, the Flyers left fans with many unanswered questions, which they tried to answer today.
Paul Holmgren and Dave Scott sat in front of reporters Tuesday morning to help shed light on the most recent decisions inside the organization. The recommendation to fire Ron Hextall came from Homer, who had the backing of Comcast CEO Dave Scott. For Scott, he said it came down to one question;
“For me, do I think we could do better as a team now, not 2-3 years from now, but now and I think that answer is yes… I felt it was necessary in order to push our team forward.”
Indeed, the last few years have been disappointing for fans and the Flyers brass alike, and it was ultimately Hextalls inability to trade for the right pieces that got him fired. The goaltending fiasco has made winning very difficult in Philadelphia, and not firing a coach that fails to get his team ready to play every night probably had the biggest impact on their decisions.
As much as I rip on Hextall for not trading to make the team win now, he has set the future in stone, and has drafted many prospects which leave the Flyers with one of the best farm systems in the league. This is quite the opposite from what we were looking at before Hextall stepped in, so give credit where it’s due.
Maybe what Hextall was doing would have working for another team in a different city, but Philly fans are impatient and most importantly, we are educated in sports. After five years of the same mediocre play, the fans made their voices heard, whether it was on Twitter or not attending games. I think the higher ups in the franchise saw and heard what was being said and talked about, and as long as Holmgren is in a position to make moves, he will do what Ed Snider did for 40 years.
The new general manager will most likely bring in a new coaching staff, which I think is desperately needed for a locker room that looks like it doesn’t care anymore. There are some good pieces here in Philly, with Giroux still playing at an elite level and I believe that adding a few more players will turn the team around.
Although many questions went unanswered, the goal was clear with these two men; they want to win now, and are going to make changes to express this view. The Flyers are known for this mentality as Ed Snider constantly made it clear that the brass won’t sit back and let things happen. “The Flyers are a world-renowned organization and a banner franchise,” Holmgren said. To continue being a banner franchise, a change was needed and although I would’ve gotten rid of Hakstol first, this is a step in the right direction.
