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Confirmed with Link: Front Office Role Changes

occultist goat

occultist goat

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Mar 16, 2019
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Welcome to Flyerland folks... strap yourselves in.
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Jtown

Jtown

Registered User
Oct 6, 2010
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BrindamoursNose said:
The firing of Ron Hextall and the retirement of Paul Holmgren are connected

Best article I've ever read from them.

I'm buying into it.
Click to expand...


I am calling BS. Paul holmgren picked Hexy to be his successor. The only way Hextall takes that position with the ex gm still being in the front office is if Hexy has total control of personnel decisions. That is exactly what happened. Homer became the liason between the organization and the former players and the community. He led the unveiling of the snider statue, he was the one who coaxed lindros back into a healthy relationship with clarke etc etc. he had nothing to do with Hexy's firing. The easiest way to tell this was look at the press conference when they announced Hextall had been fired. Who led the charge? Who's face was beat red ? Who was spouting nonsense? All the meanwhile Holmgren was off center in a very demure meanor. Which is not very Holmgren at all.

Hextall was in the midst of not only bringing the flyers into the modern era of hockey, but he was in the helping lead a huge culture change within the organization which badly needed it. Hockey is the only sport in which fans have access to athletes. And That has been decreasing significantly over the years. The fact that Hexy wanted to continue doing that shows a modern level of thinking. What other sport allows fans to watch their practices and shit. These are professional athletes and you want to control as much of the fan interaction with them as possible because guess what. Bad things happen when fans and athletes interact.

Hextall was our only hope of getting away from the lack of out of the box thinking that has plagued this organization for too long. He had complete autonomy and we were really seeing the fruits of his labor. What I think happened was simple, Dave Scott wanted hakstol fired, and hexy said no and was subsequently fired because of it. The moment Dave Scott told him what to do, it was already over.
 
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BrindamoursNose

BrindamoursNose

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Oct 14, 2008
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Jtown said:
I am calling BS. Paul holmgren picked Hexy to be his successor. The only way Hextall takes that position with the ex gm still being in the front office is if Hexy has total control of personnel decisions. That is exactly what happened. Homer became the liason between the organization and the former players and the community. He led the unveiling of the snider statue, he was the one who coaxed lindros back into a healthy relationship with clarke etc etc. he had nothing to do with Hexy's firing. The easiest way to tell this was look at the press conference when they announced Hextall had been fired. Who led the charge? Who's face was beat red ? Who was spouting nonsense? All the meanwhile Holmgren was off center in a very demure meanor. Which is not very Holmgren at all.

Hextall was in the midst of not only bringing the flyers into the modern era of hockey, but he was in the helping lead a huge culture change within the organization which badly needed it. Hockey is the only sport in which fans have access to athletes. And That has been decreasing significantly over the years. The fact that Hexy wanted to continue doing that shows a modern level of thinking. What other sport allows fans to watch their practices and ****. These are professional athletes and you want to control as much of the fan interaction with them as possible because guess what. Bad things happen when fans and athletes interact.

Hextall was our only hope of getting away from the lack of out of the box thinking that has plagued this organization for too long. He had complete autonomy and we were really seeing the fruits of his labor. What I think happened was simple, Dave Scott wanted hakstol fired, and hexy said no and was subsequently fired because of it. The moment Dave Scott told him what to do, it was already over.
Click to expand...

Everything we know says Holmgren was very much involved in the decision, according to Hextall and Holmgren. I can't be on-board with that theory. I'm sure there was pressure from above, but I imagine Homer didn't completely disagree.
 
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Jtown

Jtown

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BrindamoursNose said:
Everything we know says Holmgren was very much involved in the decision, according to Hextall and Holmgren. I can't be on-board with that theory. I'm sure there was pressure from above, but I imagine Homer didn't completely disagree.
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If homer led the charge to oust Hexy, I would have imagine he would have been a more prominent figure at the press conference. However The most prominent front office individual since the hextall firing has been Dave Scott. He was hired to be in the same role as Peter Luukko. In Luukko's 8 years with the flyers guess how many press conferences he led? Guess how many press conferences he even attended? It doesn't take to much critical thinking to see what occurred here.
 
deadhead

deadhead

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Feb 26, 2014
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Beef Invictus said:
I'm skeptical that anyone really "led." They probably agreed that Hakstol was a enormous problem and they had a GM who refused to solve that problem. From there the solution is simple.
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Then why didn't they immediately fire Hakstol?

The problem was Hextall, not his strategy, but his inability to delegate, communicate and his paranoia (putting in an assistant coach to spy on his HC) - he simply didn't accept that working with others, especially your boss and the guys who write the checks, was part of the job. And of course, his failure to add a reliable veteran goaltender last year, which was the final nail in his coffin.

While it's understandable that he wanted to reduce distractions, he went overboard in alienating alumni, fans, the media and Holmgren.

The interesting thing is Fletcher really hasn't done much differently, Hayes is similar to signing JVR but a better fit, the additions of Niskanen and Braun aren't a big stretch (only gave up #41), the draft was a "Hextall" draft. However, it's obvious that Fletcher is a much better communicator, less rigid, less threatened by strong personalities with deep resumes (look at his coaching staff). He's maintained Hextall's emphasis on youth and the draft while placating the "powers that be" - which suggests that Hextall would have survived if he was more flexible.
 
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Ghosts Beer

Ghosts Beer

I saw Goody Fletcher with the Devil!
Feb 10, 2014
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To quote from Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Blink” (which is overrated but has a few worthwhile insights amidst a bunch of thinly supported conclusions):

“The overwhelming number of people who suffer an injury due to the negligence of a doctor never file a malpractice suit at all. Patients don’t file lawsuits because they’ve been harmed by shoddy medical care. Patients file lawsuits because they’ve been harmed by shoddy medical care — and something else happened to them. . . . What comes up again and again in malpractice cases is that patients say they were rushed or ignored or treated poorly.”

Analogously, I believe, Hextall got fired because he combined a lack of success with treating those around him with disregard. That makes people upset. And from everything I’ve read, there was a strong uprising against him from alumni & others in the organization who felt like they were being ignored & treated like dirt.

Whether Holmgren advocated for Hextall’s removal or not, I don’t know for sure, but I strongly suspect he listened to the many complaining & supported the firing.

I never bought the story that Holmgren picked Hextall to replace him, either. That was all Snider. I don’t think Homer ever wanted to step down. Just weeks before Hextall took over Holmgren was interviewed & indicated he had no desire to leave the GM role.
 
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Beef Invictus

Beef Invictus

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deadhead said:
Then why didn't they immediately fire Hakstol?

The problem was Hextall, not his strategy, but his inability to delegate, communicate and his paranoia (putting in an assistant coach to spy on his HC) - he simply didn't accept that working with others, especially your boss and the guys who write the checks, was part of the job. And of course, his failure to add a reliable veteran goaltender last year, which was the final nail in his coffin.

While it's understandable that he wanted to reduce distractions, he went overboard in alienating alumni, fans, the media and Holmgren.

The interesting thing is Fletcher really hasn't done much differently, Hayes is similar to signing JVR but a better fit, the additions of Niskanen and Braun aren't a big stretch (only gave up #41), the draft was a "Hextall" draft. However, it's obvious that Fletcher is a much better communicator, less rigid, less threatened by strong personalities with deep resumes (look at his coaching staff). He's maintained Hextall's emphasis on youth and the draft while placating the "powers that be" - which suggests that Hextall would have survived if he was more flexible.
Click to expand...

Because too much turnover too quickly is bad. Because it would have put the new GM in an extremely difficult situation as he came to grips with the whole organization. It says everything that Fletcher had clearly already decided to fire him since Hakstol asking for an assurance led to it instantly happening.

This has been explained to you, it's very simple and easy. I know that for some reason you refuse to accept any proof that Hakstol wasn't very good though.
 
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deadhead

deadhead

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Feb 26, 2014
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No, I just don't think Hakstol was the reason for Hextall's firing. Separate issues.

Just because HF posters hated Hakstol doesn't mean the FO did, especially coming off a 98 point season and a playoff berth with 90 point at best talent (below average goalies, below average defense, below average bottom six forwards in 2017-18).

And there has never been a story that Hextall refused to fire Hakstol and therefore was fired.
This just sounds like something you made up out of thin air.
 
deadhead

deadhead

Registered User
Feb 26, 2014
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You know Toronto is guaranteed to win the Cup next year?
First Berube . . .
 
Embiid

Embiid

Off IR for now
May 27, 2010
32,689
21,010
Philadelphia
Holmgren, Hextall and Hakstol.....The Three Stooges are gone....cause for celebration. Fletcher to me is a bit of a mirror to Holmgren though and Scott is a stooge himself. As I keep saying ....wait and see attitude with this new regime. I do want to see a winning culture and identity restored. Since Berube , I didn't know wtf I was watching when I watched which in the last couple of seasons was pretty infrequent. They have been so lame....only Hart got me back to watching.
 
BackToTheBrierePatch

BackToTheBrierePatch

Nope not today.
Feb 19, 2003
66,272
24,657
Concord, New Hampshire
Jtown said:
If homer led the charge to oust Hexy, I would have imagine he would have been a more prominent figure at the press conference. However The most prominent front office individual since the hextall firing has been Dave Scott. He was hired to be in the same role as Peter Luukko. In Luukko's 8 years with the flyers guess how many press conferences he led? Guess how many press conferences he even attended? It doesn't take to much critical thinking to see what occurred here.
Click to expand...

Well Holmgren didn’t want to fire John Stevens as well. Before Mr. Snider stepped in. He may not have been happy about as I am sure he was close to Hextall, but he knows it is a business. Changes needed to happen.
Holmgren was never my favorite, but good for him if he wants to spend time with family.
 
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