Ron Hextall Wasn’t Looking for the ‘People’s Choice’

Fanfare hasn’t much interested Flyers general manager Ron Hextall.

That’s been evident since he got the reigns a year and a week ago from Paul Holmgren, who is now the team president.

He’s been calculated and quiet in his decision-making, from whom he’s drafted to whom he’s traded to picking Craig Berube’s successor as head coach.

While most of the rest of the hockey world was looking at Mike Babcock, Detroit’s coach that is testing the free-agent pool, Hextall was wooing University of North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol.

He was officially announced as the Flyers’ 19th coach in franchise history Monday morning.

“I wasn’t gonna choose the coach that was the people’s choice, the popular choice,” Hextall said. “I was gonna pick the coach that I felt like for this franchise — from today, next year and moving forward here — was the right coach. Dave is the right coach for this franchise at this point.”