After a few days of will-they-or-won't-they speculation and rumors, the Philadelphia Flyers have in fact fired head coach Dave Hakstol.
The official announcement came Monday after it was reported that Hakstol wasn't on the ice for the team's practice in Philadelphia following a painful 0-3-1 road trip. It also came one day after the Flyers denied a report suggesting that they were planning on firing Hakstol either Sunday night or Monday morning, a claim that a team spokesperson refuted with "Dave Hakstol is our coach."
That statement held true for a little over 12 hours.
"After meeting this morning with Dave Hakstol and thoughtful consideration, I have decided to relieve him of his duties as head coach," said Flyers' general manager Chuck Fletcher in a statement. "As I continue to assess the team, I feel that this is the best course of action for our group moving forward. I'd like to thank Dave for his service to the team and the organization. Scott Gordon will serve as head coach on an interim basis."
Hakstol departs in his fourth season as Flyers coach, leaving with a record of 134-101-42. The Philadelphia gig was his first NHL coaching job, having been hired away from North Dakota (NCAA) in 2015. He will be replaced in the interim by Gordon, who had been serving as head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate.
The coaching change continues the turnover in Philadelphia, where Ron Hextall was fired as the team's general manager in late November. The Flyers later hired Fletcher as Hextall's successor, and the team's senior leadership said Fletcher would be responsible for handling any coaching decisions.
An initial report of a coaching change came from the Courier-Post's Dave Isaac on Sunday, who claimed that the team would dismiss Hakstol on Sunday night or Monday morning and then hire former Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. According to the Courier-Post's report, Quenneville has already been offered (and has accepted) the job in Philadelphia.
However, Quenneville and Fletcher have both denied the report.
Quenneville, fired by Chicago earlier this season, is coming off 10-plus seasons with the Blackhawks. He won three Stanley Cups titles in a six-year span behind the bench in Chicago, leading many to dub the team a modern day dynasty. He is the second-winningest coach in NHL history with an all-time record of 890-532-214.
Quenneville, 60, is still under contract and due to collect a $6 million salary from the Blackhawks for the remainder of this season and next, so the Flyers would need to receive permission from Chicago to negotiate with him.
The Flyers were expected to be a playoff contender heading into this season but things haven't gone well to begin the year, and they've had an especially rough stretch of late. The team has lost four games in a row and currently sits in the basement of the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan division with a 12-15-4 record.
The Flyers' next game is against the Detroit Red Wings at home on Tuesday night (7 p.m. ET, available on fuboTV).