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PHILADELPHIA — Call it a Ron Hextall experiment that didn’t work the way he had planned.
Buried in last place in the 16-team Eastern Conference, the fading Flyers (12-15-4) cut ties Monday with fourth-year coach Dave Hakstol, the man Hextall daringly hired out of the University of North Dakota in May 2015.
Phantoms coach Scott Gordon has been named the interim coach.
Chuck Fletcher, named the Flyers’ general manager on Dec. 3, met with Hakstol on Monday morning and gave him the news.
“After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to relieve him of his duties as head coach,” Fletcher said in a statement. “As I continue to assess the team, I feel this is the best course of action for our group moving forward.”
Fletcher thanked Hakstol for his service.
“You never want to hear about a coach getting fired,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “I think we have to take responsibility for that. On that road trip, there were a lot of areas we need to be better and should be better.”
The Flyers went 1-3-1 on the recently completed trip and allowed a total of 22 goals (5.5 per game) over the last four games, all losses.
“We have to figure this out and get back on track here,” Sanheim said.
They will try to revive their season under Gordon, a former Islanders coach who coached many of the current Flyers with the Phantoms.
“Obviously, there is a good group of us who have comfort because we played for him in the American League,” Sanheim said. “He had a lot of good teams there and it’s good to see him come up and get that chance. I’m excited for him.”
Joel Quenneville, who won three Stanley Cups with Chicago, has been speculated as a potential coaching candidate. But he doesn’t want to coach until after the holidays, a source said.
Quenneville, 60, who was stunningly fired by the Blackhawks on Nov. 6 after a 6-6-3 start, is the second-winningest coach in NHL history. In 22 seasons, he owns an 890-532-77-137 career record with St. Louis, Colorado and Chicago.
By firing the stoic Hakstol, club president Paul Holmgren and Dave Scott, CEO of the Flyers’ parent company Comcast Spectacor, continue to sever ties with Hextall’s associates. Hextall was fired as the Flyers’ general manager on Nov. 26. Two days later, assistant GM Chris Pryor and assistant coach Gord Murphy were dismissed.
Hakstol, 50, had a 134-101-42 record and a .560 points percentage in three-plus seasons as head coach. Two of his teams made the playoffs, but both were eliminated in the first round.
This year’s team has just a .452 points percentage and one of the NHL’s worst home record (5-7-2).
The Flyers signed free-agent winger James van Riemsdyk in the summer and, with their younger players expected to show improvement, looked to build on last season’s 98-point campaign (42-26-14 record) and third-place finish in the Metropolitan Division.
But van Riemsdyk missed 16 games because of a knee injury — he returned Nov. 15 — and the teams’ top two goalies, Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth, have played in only a combined 16 games because of injuries.
The injuries, the regression of young defensemen Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere, and awful play by their special teams have contributed to the Flyers sitting at the bottom of the Metro standings. Ditto a shoddy defense (3.74 goals-against per game, 29th in the NHL) and a sporadic offense that has been shut out or scored one goal in 10 of 31 games.
Poor starts to games — a trademark under Hakstol — also doomed the coach. The Flyers have allowed the first goal in 21 of 31 games. In those 21 games in which they have surrendered the opening goal, they have just six wins.
Playing with a noticeable lack of confidence, the Flyers have lost five of their last six games, including the last four, during which they allowed a total of 22 goals (5.5 per game).
They have dropped eight points behind Pittsburgh, which is third in the Metro, for the final playoff spot. The Flyers have a game in hand on the Penguins.
When Hakstol was hired after a successful career as a college coach, club chairman Ed Snider called it a “gutsy” move. Hakstol became the third person to go directly from the college ranks to the NHL as a head coach.
“We needed a fresh approach,” the late Snider said at the time, adding he was “hoping we have another Mike Babcock,” the highly successful coach who is now with Toronto.
Hakstol compiled a 289-143-43 record at North Dakota, and seven of his 11 teams reached the NCAA Frozen Four but never won the national championship. Hextall’s son, Brett, a winger, played three seasons for Hakstol at North Dakota.
“I grew an appreciation for Dave, the way he coached,” the elder Hextall said when he hired Hakstol in 2015.
In an ongoing poll on Twitter that had over 6,000 responders by Monday morning, only four percent of fans said they wanted Hakstol to remain as the head coach.
Hakstol had a little over 1 { years left on a five-year deal that reportedly paid him $2 million per season.
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