Flyers hire Dave Hakstol (NCAA) as Head Coach

[seahawk]

The coaching carousel continues to spin. The Flyers have dipped into the NCAA ranks for their new bench boss. 11 years at North Dakota and 11 trips to the NCAA tourney.

http://www.tsn.ca/flyers-hire-hakstol-as-new-head-coach-1.285652

[Nik]

So Hextall hired Hakstol?

[bustaheims]

So Hextall hired Hakstol?

That was my first thought as well. It's like he hired the knock-off version of himself.

[CarltonTheBear]

First head coach hired directly from the NCAA since Herb Brooks. That's pretty surprising, I wonder why we don't see guys come from there like we do with the CHL.

[Nik]

First head coach hired directly from the NCAA since Herb Brooks. That's pretty surprising, I wonder why we don't see guys come from there like we do with the CHL.

I would guess that it's because the level of play is generally seen to be significantly lower than in the CHL. It's why we see more coaches come from the AHL than the CHL, I think. The higher the level of play you've seen the guy coach, the easier I'm guessing it might be to project how he'd do with NHL talent. 

Although I'm curious as to how salaries compare for top NCAA coaches and top CHL coaches.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

Guy never won a championship with NoDak. Hard to imagine how this is going to work out well, but hey it is the Flyers so zany is the watchword.

[Al14]

A bizarre hire IMHO, especially with all the coaches available with NHL experience.

Maybe Hextall knows something we don't, maybe not. I guess we'll see soon enough.

[OrangeBlack]

I love this hiring.  Finally, someone not an NHL retread or a Flyers organization guy.  Hakstol will give fresh perspective, & should help the upcoming young players develop.  He advocates defensively responsible forwards, & puck moving Dmen as well.  From some reports I've read, he also brings a strong intensity, & his players at UND always stuck up for each other.....this was something that was lacking under Berube (who basically neutered the team).  If he turns out to be Mike Keenan 2.0, that would be great.  We'll see what happens. 

[Nik]

After all, if you can motivate 19 year old kids who aren't making any money, don't have much in the way of pro prospects and are only playing for the love of the game...who can't you motivate?

[OrangeBlack]

After all, if you can motivate 19 year old kids who aren't making any money, don't have much in the way of pro prospects and are only playing for the love of the game...who can't you motivate?

Nik....Jonathan Toews, Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, & TJ Oshie (among many other UND alum) say hello.  :P
That was too easy....have you lost a step.  :)

[Nik]

Nik....Jonathan Toews, Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, & TJ Oshie (among many other UND alum) say hello.  :P
That was too easy....have you lost a step.  :)

The vast majority of players on any NCAA team in a given year have no real pro prospects.

[bustaheims]

Nik....Jonathan Toews, Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, & TJ Oshie (among many other UND alum) say hello.  :P
That was too easy....have you lost a step.  :)

Parise doesn't really help your point much, as he didn't play for UND while Hakstol was the head coach, but, even if he did, the fact that Hakstol had a handful of talented players in his time at UND doesn't really say anything about his coaching abilities. All the guys you mention would have been basically the same players they are now regardless of who coached them in their brief stints in the NCAA.

EDIT: As for the "many other UND alum" - the only ones who have had notable NHL careers who played for a team where Hakstol was the head coach are, Drew Stafford, Brock Nelson and Matt Frattin. There's 2 or 3 others who were drafted recently who might become something, but, for the most part, he really hasn't exactly been part of a team that's churned out a ton of NHL calibre talent. I'm sure most prominent NCAA teams can boast a similar number of notable NHL talents coming out of their ranks over the past decade.

[OrangeBlack]

Good article here, it basically states that the Flyers are ahead of the curve for once.  As well, the poll shows that 75% of respondents say this is a good hire.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20150521_For_once__Flyers_are_ahead_of_the_curve.html?304112811=Y&mr=1&submit=Vote&oid=1&pid=304112811&cid=8500281#poll_questions_top

Also, to address Nik's post, the number of former college players in the NHL during the 2013-2014 season was 305, which is actually a 20% increase from 2000.  That number is trending upward.  It only makes sense that NCAA coaches are next.  If Hakstol is successful, there will be more to follow.  It's time to stop the cycle of retreads bouncing back & forth, let's have new faces/ideas in the NHL.

[Nik]

75% of the people who go to Philly.com think that the Flyers made a good hire? Well, if you can cite an unbiased source like that, well done.

But good point on the retreads. Last thing a team would want is to hire someone who flamed out somewhere else in the NHL beforehand. You know, like Darryl Sutter or Joel Quenneville or Claude Julien or Mike Babcock.

I don't doubt that NCAA coaches can be good NHL coaches but the idea that the problem with Laviolette is that he was a "retread" or that firing him was in anyway justified is pretty laughable.