Press conference: ✔️ Welcome to the #Flyers, Coach Hakstol! pic.twitter.com/YbHPL784xX
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 18, 2015
The Flyers announced the 19th head coach in franchise history. The winner of Ron Hextall's search was North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol, who for 11 seasons, led them to seven Frozen Four appearances. He has a 289-143-43 record in his 11-year tenure.
For Hextall, this was a decision that carried a lot. The name Mike Babcock came up on a daily basis. In the end, it wasn't about choosing the popular candidate, it was picking the right one.
"I was never going to hire the people's choice, the popular choice," Hextall said. "I was going to hire the best coach for this franchise."
There's going to be several adjustments along the way, but I believe in the things that I do and I am not going to change that," Hakstol said. "To have the opportunity to join the Philadelphia Flyers organization is an extremely proud moment for me."
It is a move that on the surface is surprising, but in reality, should come as no surprise. Hextall's son and current minor-leaguer in the Flyers system, Brett, played for Hakstol in North Dakota. Flyers forward Chris VandeVelde was also a North Dakota product.
So Hextall had an acquaintance in Hakstol, but stated that he still had to get to know him on a personal level.
"In watching my son over the years, I grew an appreciation for Dave and the way he coached," Hextall said. "I thought about him long before this as a head coach in the National Hockey League. I believe he was destined for it. He's got a lot of pro qualities.
"As I started going through the process, the guy I needed to get to know the most was Dave. We met parts of four days, we were on the phone a lot. Everything checked out the way we hoped it would check out."
Hakstol inherits a team that is a work in progress for Hextall. In one sense, the move has a lot of bearing on the young prospects the Flyers could be bringing to the NHL in the next five years. On another, Hakstol takes on a team and leadership in an organization that is being told about patience, but at the same time, hasn't been successful in making the playoffs in two of the last three seasons.
"I'm not going to pretend that I do [have experience at the NHL level]," Hakstol said. "But I do have an awful lot of confidence in terms of knowing the game well, knowing how to relate and communicate with players.
"That's one of the first things as I get started here and one of the most important things as we move through the summer is communicating with and getting to know a lot of our players. That's going to start to build the foundation of the plan we have moving forward."
So Hextall's top choice all along was not the coach that so many predicted. Instead, he targeted his choice, kept it a complete secret and went outside the box.
"Dave is the right coach for the franchise at this point," Hextall said.
"I love the position I was in at North Dakota," Hakstol said. "The opportunity that Ron and the rest of Flyers organization have presented here is that right opportunity. A lot of that comes down to the time I spent with Ron and other members of the staff. A big part of it is the history and tradition and how much meaning that has in this city. And obviously it's an excitement about the group of players and some of the guys coming."
And so it begins for the 19th head coach in Flyers history, who will have to make a name for himself in the NHL as Hextall tries to construct the right team around him.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
