I want to see the coaching staff that gets wrapped around him. You'd think they'd need a veteran coach in there to be an assistant and guide him
- funmaster18

The assistants are nick luuko's peewee coaches

This is like Christmas Day for about 4 posters in here. They can come up in new and interesting opinions they pulled out of their asses as they act like they have any idea what they are talking about with this guy. But the consensus from all of them is that apparently this choice sucks. This is a WIN NOW franchise in their heads I guess.

Me? I had NO IDEA who this guy was 5 minutes ago. So I will reserve judgement. Though it does seem to make sense from the standpoint that we have a LOT of young kids coming up very soon.
- MBFlyerfan

That's how I see it. This guy comes from a successful program where he helped develop a lot of young players. Hopefully he can bring that to our younger players (assuming they crack the roster during his tenure).

Confused is a feeling.
Intrigued is a feeling.
- Scoob

You're not allowed to have those

His Wikipedia page must be booming right now

At least now we know hextall is running the show!
- PhillaBully

Sometimes I look at it as, you have to give new blood a chance some time. Jon Cooper in Tampa was not that well known to everyone, and he's been solid. The one thing I will say is that Hextall is not going for the win now plan.. sticking to his guns and rebuilding with a coach that will grow along with the team,.

Chip Kelly is awesome! Two years zero playoff wins! He's a genius!
- PLindbergh31

But they run plays really quickly.

So we are going to have a highly successful college coach working with a roster of mostly college age guys.
So the problem is what?

But they run plays really quickly.
- jmatchett383

They do have Sanchez and Tebow! That's a winning combination. But you can be afforded that luxury when your starting QB is chiseled out of granite.

So we are going to have a highly successful college coach working with a roster of mostly college age guys.
So the problem is what?
- nails

He's never won an NCAA championship, so he sucks.

Preaching accountability is great and all, but I'd imagine it's easier to hold college kids accountable (only have a couple seasons to get noticed by the pros, so have to maximize every appearence) than professionals sitting around with big fat contracts.

Like most here, need to learn a bit more about the guy's philosophy before making any concrete opinion

Gonna reserve all judgement until I actually know something about his tactics/methods/record.

... but I really hope the above had no bearing in the decision making.
- Tomahawk

On the other side of that coin, I'm guessing Hextall's seen enough UND games to know if he can by simpatico with the guy.

Hackstol ran an incredibly successful college program and has a great reputation. He's not an "old boy" network hire (name any ex-Flyers), a hired gun (Babcock), nor is he the new "it" coaching guy among hockey writing illuminati (looking at you, Dallas Eakins 3 years ago).

I like this hire.

You're not serious?
- Rocktane

I expect Detroit knew who he was when he coached Anaheim and beat them out of the playoffs.

The assistants are nick luuko's peewee coaches
- Just5

LOL

He's never won an NCAA championship, so he sucks.
- jmatchett383

Ah, my bad.
Carry on then everyone!

You're not allowed to have those
- PhillySportsGuy

Crap.

I am looking forward to some of the resident geniuses (no, not the one most of you are thinking of) to come in with their cut-and-pasted "knowledge" about this guy.

Preaching accountability is great and all, but I'd imagine it's easier to hold college kids accountable (only have a couple seasons to get noticed by the pros, so have to maximize every appearence) than professionals sitting around with big fat contracts.

Like most here, need to learn a bit more about the guy's philosophy before making any concrete opinion
- eayost

I'll take "Things that might have been said about Mike Keenan in 1984 for $500, Alex".

Love it now but time will tell. Hextall continues to change the attitude of the franchise and not doing things the "Flyer" way.

On the opposite side of this I don't know how he steps into a veteran team like this and gets them to buy in. You would think this would be a move with a young team.

yes we do have some youth with more coming in on D but even the youth we have on the team now have been in the NHL for several years

im gonna give the guy a chance but plz forgive me if you find me very pessimistic...

The one thing I will say is that Hextall is not going for the win now plan.. sticking to his guns and rebuilding with a coach that will grow along with the team,.
- Hextall271

Good point. Set expectations now: no playoffs next year (and that's fine as long as the trajectory is upward)

Preaching accountability is great and all, but I'd imagine it's easier to hold college kids accountable (only have a couple seasons to get noticed by the pros, so have to maximize every appearence) than professionals sitting around with big fat contracts.

Like most here, need to learn a bit more about the guy's philosophy before making any concrete opinion
- eayost

Same goes for Babcock if he was the hire. We would have to see a body of work before we formed an opinion.

Crap.

I am looking forward to some of the resident geniuses (no, not the one most of you are thinking of) to come in with their cut-and-pasted "knowledge" about this guy.
- Scoob

based on four minutes of youtube highlights, Hakstol best compares to Shea Weber, Eric Lindros, and Fred Shero.

Sometimes I look at it as, you have to give new blood a chance some time. Jon Cooper in Tampa was not that well known to everyone, and he's been solid. The one thing I will say is that Hextall is not going for the win now plan.. sticking to his guns and rebuilding with a coach that will grow along with the team,.
- Hextall271

Exactly.

This is what we said we all wanted, right?

Right?

Love it now but time will tell. Hextall continues to change the attitude of the franchise and not doing things the "Flyer" way.

On the opposite side of this I don't know how he steps into a veteran team like this and gets them to buy in. You would think this would be a move with a young team
- Pelle31

What are you talking about? This is a young team, and getting younger.

im gonna give the guy a chance but plz forgive me if you find me very pessimistic...
- JoeRussomanno

You must see the forest through the trees. The NHL is littered with coaches who went directly from the college ranks and had success at the NHL level. LITTERED.

In all honesty, the fact that he's Brett Hextall's former coach probably did play a role. I'm sure Ron Hextall talked to his son and asked him what kind of coach he was. It would be nice to get a player's personal opinion on what kind of coach he is.

Now, do any of us really think that Ron Hextall chose him solely because he coached his son? I don't. Did it play a small part? Possibly. It is impossible to be absolutely unbiased in choosing a new coach, so it may have played a small part. However, I doubt that was the main reason. Mountain out of a Hakstol.