Ron Hextall Fired as Flyers GM After 3-Plus Seasons

The Philadelphia Flyers announced the firing of general manager Ron Hextall on Monday after three-plus seasons.

Team president Paul Holmgren issued a statement:

"The Flyers organization has decided to relieve Ron Hextall of his duties as executive vice president and general manager. We thank Ron for his many significant contributions, but it has become clear that we no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team. In light of these differences, we feel it's in the organization's best interests to make a change, effective immediately. I have already begun a process to identify and select our next general manager, which we hope to complete as soon as possible."

Philadelphia is 13th in the Eastern Conference and seventh in the Metropolitan Division, having lost of five of their past six games. The two-time Stanley Cup champions also have the second-worst goal differential in the East.

The Flyers made the playoffs in two of Hextall's first three seasons as GM but were eliminated in the first round each time. The franchise has missed the postseason only four times since 1994-95.

Coach Dave Hakstol voiced his opinion to the media on Hextall's firing:

"It's a tough morning, a tough morning for all of us. Certainly for me, personally. Ron brought me here to do a job, and I'm going to continue to focus and work at doing that job to the best of my abilities. That's what I told the players. We've got a job to do today. Let's go out and do it to the best of our abilities. We're not where we want to be. We have a better hockey team than we're at record-wise. We all got to own that."

Players seemed to be taking the news hard as well.

"I don't know what's going to be the next step, but we can tell that nobody is safe, and it's all about winning," forward Jake Voracek told the media.