Flyers Hire Dave Hakstol as 19th Coach in Team History

Things were just a little too quiet between the Flyers and highly-touted coach Mike Babcock for there to be any smoke, let alone fire.

It turns out Flyers general manager Ron Hextall was not wooing the Detroit Red Wings coach who might be an even bigger name in the free agent pool this offseason than any of the players.

Instead, Hextall was ironing out the details with his son's former coach.

Dave Hakstol, who coached Ron's son Brett at the University of North Dakota, is the Flyers' 19th coach in franchise history, replacing Craig Berube, who was relieved of his duties April 17.

"Dave brings a wealth of head coaching experience and success to the Philadelphia Flyers organization," Hextall said in a press release. "He's a proven winner and we are pleased to have him become part of the Flyers family."

Hakstol, 46, took the Fighting Sioux to the NCAA tournament each of his 11 years and reached the Frozen Four seven times. His team had a 29-10-3 record this past season, which gave Hakstol his best win percentage as coach in a single season at the University of North Dakota.