Flyers hire North Dakota's Hakstol as new head coach

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Once the surprise news hit Philadelphia, Flyers die-hards — heck, NHL fans everywhere — all sounded a bit as if they should have been Jeopardy contestants.

Who is Dave Hakstol?

Not even an easy clue would have given an indication on who was Flyers general manager Ron Hextall's top target to try and lead the franchise to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1975.

Hextall strayed so far off the grid with his choice, Marge Gunderson couldn't have cracked the case, especially as the usual candidates — such as Detroit's Mike Babcock — swirled in the rumor mill as potential replacements.

"I wasn't going to choose the coach that was the people's choice, the popular choice," Hextall said Monday. "I was going to pick the coach that I felt like for this franchise from today, next year, moving forward was the right coach. Dave was the right coach for this franchise."

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It doesn't really seem like they were ever in the running for Babcock. This guy is obviously unproven, but at least he isn't an ex-Flyer retread.
Hextall's son played for the guy for 3 years, so Ron certainly knew him.
Time will tell