The knee-jerk reaction after a game like Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to Vancouver, after a streak of harrowing mistakes and missed chances that has now extended throughout eight of their last 10 games, is to look hard at the coach.
When Ron Hextall tabbed Dave Hakstol to replace Craig Berube as his head coach three Junes ago, he lauded the “culture” that Hakstol had instilled at North Dakota, and spoke optimistically of it translating at the pro level.
Amid the Flyers’ roster upheaval and youth infusion, that has proved much more difficult for him to establish at the pro level so far.