This piece filed just yesterday by Charlie O'Connor seems somewhat prophetic now.
https://theathletic.com/675036/2018/11/ ... e-anymore/Quote:
Hextall and the rest of the front office surely want to win. But simply sitting back and waiting for problems to resolve themselves over a larger sample size just isn’t going to cut it for this fanbase anymore. They need to be shown that the decision-makers in the organization agree that these recent results are unacceptable. Something needs to happen.
If the Flyers let every day turn into what Sunday was, I suspect they’ll find that even when the team does eventually get going, an essential part of the Philadelphia Flyers was irretrievably lost along the way. It’s not merely a season in the balance here. It’s the way that the Philadelphia sports scene views a proud organization.
DID NOT see Hextall being the first GM fired this season, and I absolutely did not see him not outlasting Dave Hakstol. Now that nice little tongue-twister is no more.
On one hand, as Sam Carchidi just posted, Hextall did a fantastic job getting the team out of the cap hell his boss, Paul Holmgren, created. How Holmgren earned a promotion (and not the "promotion" other GMs like Rutherford and Francis got in Carolina, an actual promotion) after his horrible tenure defies explanation. He also did what other Flyers GMs were unable and/or unwilling to do, and that's build from within, patiently. He also rebuilt what was a flagging farm system.
On the OTHER hand, he failed miserably to fix what is the most ridiculous goaltending situation in the league, reportedly refused to fire a coaching staff that simply isn't getting the job done (especially beguiling that Ian Laperriere has shepherded one of the worst PK units in the league and yet hasn't gone anywhere...sorry Lappy, I love ya but...), and just seemed...indecisive at many junctures.
I gotta admit, I missed crazy Philly. No other club was as good at making transaction headlines on a yearly basis than they were. But Flyboys fans shouldn't complain if, once again, they hand another club key pieces to a Stanley Cup run because they got too impatient.