Confirming an earlier report, the Philadelphia Flyers have officially named Paul Holmgren the team’s new president while promoting Ron Hextall into Holmgren’s former position as general manager.
Reporting to chairman Ed Snider, Holmgren will now oversee the business and hockey operations of the Flyers. Hextall, meanwhile, will report to Holmgren and be responsible for the day-to-day management of the club’s hockey ops.
“Over the past eight seasons, Paul has done an outstanding job,” said Snider in a release. “He picked up the pieces of our disastrous season in 2006 and immediately made changes that took us to the Conference Finals the very next year, and we have consistently been in contention ever since. He’s been a Flyer for 35 years and has earned the opportunity to run our entire organization.
“Ron is one of the league’s bright young stars on the management side, and we’re very fortunate to have him. He’s had success in Los Angeles and will now put that experience to work for us as General Manager. We all remember the enthusiasm, work ethic and personality he had as a player, and we’re excited to watch him bring those qualities to building a team that will contend for the Stanley Cup.”
Today’s announcement comes as a bit of a surprise, as last week the Flyers announced that Holmgren would be back as Philly’s GM next season.
It’s possible that Hextall’s candid ambition to become an NHL GM sped up the succession process, as he had reportedly been “in the mix” for the GM opening in Vancouver, and could certainly have been a candidate to replace George McPhee in Washington.
“I’m extremely excited about this new opportunity to manage the Philadelphia Flyers,” Hextall said in the release. “I look forward to working closely with Paul in our new hockey structure and working towards our ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”