Flyers fire General Manager Ron Hextall
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Ron Hextall is out as Philadelphia Flyers Executive Vice President and General Manager.
Team President Paul Holmgren made the announcement Monday morning.
In a statement, Holmgren says:
"The Flyers organization has decided to relieve Ron Hextall of his duties as Executive Vice President and General Manager. 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. In light of these differences, we feel it's in the organization's best interests to make a change, effective immediately. I have already begun a process to identify and select our next General Manager, which we hope to complete as soon as possible."
Holmgren, along with Comcast Spectacor Chairman and CEO Dave Scott, will speak to the media Tuesday morning.
At the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, players were shocked over news of the firing.
"I don't know what's going to be the next step, but we can tell that nobody is safe, and it's all about winning," forward Jake Voracek said.
"Anytime a coach, a GM, gets fired, us players, you feel responsible. If we win games, that doesn't happen," captain Claude Giroux said.
Head Coach Dave Hakstol, who was brought in by Hextall, says he doesn't control what will happen to him, but he does feel a responsibility concerning the firing of the general manager.
"It's a tough morning, a tough morning for all of us. Certainly for me, personally. Ron brought me here to do a job and I'm going to continue to focus and work at doing that job to the best of my abilities. That's what I told the players. We've got a job to do today. Let's go out and do it to the best of our abilities. We're not where we want to be. We have a better hockey team than we're at record-wise. We all got to own that," Hakstol said.
Hextall was fired after 4 seasons on the job and the Flyers struggling with a 10-11-2 record under coach Dave Hakstol. The Flyers are coming off a 6-0 loss at Toronto and already have used five goalies this season.
Back in 2014, Action News reporter Jeff Skversky interviewed Hextall a few weeks after he was named GM (watch the video in the player below).
"Unless I'm patient, you're not going to see a championship here. So I have to be patient, there's no other option...we've also got to make the right moves to make our team better. You've got to be very calculated. I'm not going to do something just for today," Hextall said at the time.
Hextall played 13 seasons in the NHL and had two stints covering 11 years with the Flyers. He also spent seven seasons as assistant GM with the Los Angeles Kings.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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