The Philadelphia Flyers relieved Dave Hakstol from head coaching duties as Scott Gordon will currently serve as interim head coach.
The Flyers currently sit at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division (12-15-4) and are on a four-game losing streak. Gordon was the head coach for the Flyers AHL affiliate, Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He also had head coaching experience with the New York Islanders from 2008-10 with 64-94-23 overall record. He missed the playoffs and was later fired in 2010 with his position succeeded by former coach, Jack Capuano.
Last month, the team fired Ron Hextall from general manager and replaced him with Chuck Fletcher, former general manager of the Minnesota Wild. Fletcher wanted to evaluate Hakstol before making any official executive decisions. Hakstol led the Flyers to the playoffs two out the three seasons he coached. Despite his success reaching to the playoffs, the upper management had different views and expectations on the success of the Flyers.
Hakstol was the fifth-longest-tenured coach before his dismissal on Monday. In 2015, he was hired by the Flyers due to his success as head coach for the University of North Dakota. He produced Stanley Cup winning players like Jonathan Toews and T.J. Oshie. He even coached for former Hextall son while at UND.Â
The goaltending has been abysmal for the Flyers as they combine for a .874 save percentage this season. They used five different starting goaltenders which is a league-high. Before the announcement of Hakstol’s firing, the team recalled top goaltending prospect, Carter Hart. If Hart debuts, the Flyers would be the second team in NHL history to have played six goalies before Christmas. The first team would be the 2002-03 St. Louis Blues. Â
Last Sunday there were wild speculations about Joel Quenneville replacing Hakstol as head coach of the Flyers. The three-time Stanley Cup winning head coach and second-winningest coach in NHL history was on a lot of reports about him being the head coach of the Flyers. For now, Gordon will be the interim coach to move things forward for the organization.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers!