PHILADELPHIA — Flyers general manager Ron Hextall did not ask one player for a review or recommendation at the year-end meetings on embattled coach Craig Berube.
He didn’t need any.
Another empty season without a Stanley Cup fueled by players who failed to meet expectations told Hextall all he needed to know.
It was time to move on.
The Flyers fired Berube after two seasons on Friday, just the latest in a four decades-long list of coaches who could not deliver a championship. Hextall made the announcement two days after a press conference where he left Berube’s fate in limbo.
“I didn’t feel like he got enough out of our group collectively,” Hextall said.
Berube went 75-58-28 (.553) with the Flyers and took them to the playoffs last season. He had one season left on his contract.
Berube had 20 goals and 54 points over parts of seven seasons with the Flyers and spent six seasons as a Flyers assistant. He has spent 18 seasons with the organization as a player, assistant coach and head coach, doing all three with both the Flyers and the minor league Phantoms.
The Flyers went 42-27-10 under Berube last season and lost a seven-game playoff series to the New York Rangers. The Flyers players gave mostly lukewarm reviews this week of Berube following a 33-31-18 (84 points) season.
Hextall said he’d like to hire a coach by the June 26 draft.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock, Boston’s Claude Julien and San Jose’s Todd McLellan could be on the market, former Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma won a Stanley Cup with the Penguins, and even former Flyers coach John Stevens could get a second look after a successful run as an assistant in Los Angeles.
Thumbnail photo via James Guillory/USA TODAY Sports Images
