Flyers New Coach Dave Hakstol Just What We Asked For

We wanted Hextall as GM of the Flyers and that’s what we got. We wanted Mike Babcock as the Flyers new coach because we wanted someone from outside the Flyers organization and he was the obvious choice. Hextall delivered. He didn’t give us Babcock, but he definitely found someone from outside the Flyers organzation in Dave Hakstol. Hakstol was precisely 1,486 miles outside of the Flyers organization as head coach of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, ND.

What do we know about him? Boston College is the only college team with more NCAA wins than North Dakota in the ten years that Hakstol was coach of UND. He’s been suspended for flipping off a refereee.

He’s a hardworking farm kind from Warburg, Alberta, which has a population of 750. His dad built a small ice rink on the farm for Dave and his brother. His favorite show growing up was Hockey Night in Canada. He’s a natural leader. He was named captain at UND in his second year of playing.  He’s been nicknamed Angry Hakstol and, at one time, an Angry Dave Hakstol twitter account is rumored to have existed. When two of his players went home to Colorado to be with their mother, he was waiting outside of the hospital room for them after she passed. (Grand Forks Herald)

This is what a bunch of us have clamored for. He has no real ties to the Flyers. He’s intense. He wins and develops young players. He likes his teams to pound the boards and pound the nets.

This is a gutsy hiring by Hextall and I wouldn’t expect anything less. Hakstol has won a lot of games in the NCAA without winning the title. That sounds a lot like Chip Kelly and Chip’s been a helluva ride thus far. This should be a nice injection of intrigue, intensity and excitement into the Flyers organzation, which had become quite stagnant and stale as of late.