Head on over to CSN Philly for the third of a four-part Q&A with Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, who had the following to say about Philadelphia’s chances of breaking its Stanley Cup drought in 2014-15:
“The thing I look at and my focus right now is to get us into that elite group. I will say I don’t think we’re with that elite group but that doesn’t mean we can’t win. You can fricking win. It comes down to will and everything else. The Rangers are a good example. Are they in that group right now where we say, ‘OK, these are the top few teams in the league that can win the Cup?’ … We want to get into that elite group and I believe we are headed in that direction. It’s tough to put a time [table] on it.”
All in all, a pretty fair response. The Flyers have a good deal of talent up front, but there are legitimate question marks on the blue line and in goal. Hextall knows that. But he also knows his team plays in the Eastern Conference, which doesn’t boast the number of “elite” teams the West does. A run to the Stanley Cup Final would be a bit of a surprise, sure, but not a complete shock.
Hextall also had this to say about a Flyers organization that’s lost six times in the finals since last winning the Cup in 1975:
“This has been a successful franchise. Don’t lose sight of that. I won’t name anybody, but there are other franchises that have not won for a long time, never won and never been successful. That’s where if I were fan, I’d be frustrated. Not the Philadelphia Flyers … This organization is 100 percent committed to winning. If I am a fan, that is the important thing.”
Related: Hextall is looking for more offensively from Couturier