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Stumbling Flyers fire head coach Dave Hakstol

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The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins square off as the two most recent Stanley Cup winners renew a bitter rivalry.

When Chuck Fletcher was hired general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this month, he said he wanted to understand the situation around the team before making changes, especially at the head coach position.

Well, Fletcher needed two weeks as the Flyers announced on Monday that they have fired Dave Hakstol. Their AHL head coach Scott Gordon will be behind the bench on an interim basis. No full-time replacement has been announced despite rumors over the weekend that they were eyeing former Chicago Blackhawks bench boss Joel Quenneville.

“It is my expectation that Scott will be the head coach for the remainder of the year,” Fletcher said during a Monday press conference.

Here’s Fletcher’s statement:

“After meeting this morning with Dave Hakstol and thoughtful consideration, I have decided to relieve him of his duties as head coach. As I continue to assess the team, I feel that this is the best course of action for our group moving forward. I’d like to thank Dave for his service to the team and the organization. Scott Gordon will serve as head coach on an interim basis.”

In the seven games since Fletcher’s hiring the Flyers have won only once, and their three-game Western Canada trip ended Saturday night with three losses, which included ugly back-to-back defeats to the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. They currently sit dead-last in the Eastern Conference and 29th overall in the NHL. It was pretty evident that as the team headed home change was in the air and the new GM was ready to get on with reshaping things.

“At this point, everyone is a candidate moving forward,” Fletcher said. “This will be a process.”

Hakstol, who was hired in 2015, was given plenty of rope under former GM Ron Hextall, but once Hextall was gone it seemed inevitable that Hakstol’s days were numbered as the struggles continued. As John Boruk of NBC Philadelphia notes, Hakstol’s 277 games behind the bench is third all-time in Flyers history, but a .560 points percentage (134-101-42) is outside the top 10.

''To my eyes there was a disconnect between what he was preaching and how the players were playing,’' Fletcher said. ''We need a new voice. We need to have the coaching staff [give] the message to the players and hopefully have the players receive that message and that’s why I decided to make the move.’'

The head coach wasn’t the only big move by Fletcher on Monday. The Flyers also announced they’ve called up top goaltending prospect Carter Hart, who will likely make his NHL debut Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings. After a tough start in the AHL this season, he will be netminder No. 6 for the team this season. He’s played well of late to earn this recall, helping the Phantoms to wins in four of his last five starts and posted a 1.81 goals against average and .938 save percentage.

As James detailed Sunday night, it’s been an ugly year for the Flyers and Fletcher believes this move is a chance to look toward the future.

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.