Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall said Wednesday that he didn't want to make a "knee-jerk" decision on the fate of head coach Craig Berube.
It seems that given a couple of days to mull it over, Hextall decided that Berube wasn't the man he wanted leading the Flyers into their next phase of rebuilding.
Hextall, as reported Friday by Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly, has fired Berube as head coach of the Flyers.
"I'm going to do everything I can to do the due diligence that's appropriate to make the decision. Once I get there, then we'll let people know. I'm not going to make a hasty decision and look back and regret it," Hextall said on Wednesday, per Frank Seravalli of The Philadelphia Daily News.
Now, with Berube's fate officially sealed, Hextall and Philadelphia owner Ed Snider must begin the search for a new bench boss. Where will that search take them?
How about current Detroit Red Wings head coach and pending free agent, Mike Babcock?
"Sources close to Babcock, 51, say he would like the Flyers to make an offer this summer to make him the highest-paid coach in league history, but the odds are still on him to stay with the Red Wings," reports Seravalli. "Toronto will also be interested in his services. Babcock is 527-285-19-119 (.627) with a Stanley Cup and two other Stanley Cup Final appearances."
Darren Dreger of TSN reported that sources tell him Babcock and San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan are the Flyers top choices.
Nick Cotsonika of Yahoo! Sports also expects the Flyers to go after Babcock this offseason.
Under Berube, several Flyers seemed to take steps backwards, and the team as a whole underachieved. It's certainly fair to say that former Flyers GM and current President Paul Holmgren left Berube in a lose-lose situation, but it's also fair to say that a better coach may have been able to adjust quicker and make better use of much of the talent that was available to him.
Other possible free agent head coaches currently available to Hextall and Snider include Dan Bylsma, Guy Boucher, Mike Keenan and Randy Carlyle.
McLellan may become available as well depending on the direction San Jose goes, and Claude Julien's situation with the Bruins certainly bears watching.
