Things Are Already Going Great For Flyers' New Head Coach Dave Hakstol, Has To Pay $100,000 For Leaving UND
Source – Although it had been almost 30 years since an NHL team hired a coach straight from the college ranks, UND athletic director Brian Faison was prepared for that possibility. When negotiating coach Dave Hakstol’s last contract in 2012, Faison put a clause in the contract that specifically outlined a penalty fee if Hakstol left UND for an NHL head coaching position.
The Philadelphia Flyers hired Hakstol to be their head coach last week. According to Hakstol’s contract, he will owe the school $100,000 for leaving his contract before June 30, 2015, for an NHL head coaching job.
That bastard Mike Babcock is getting paid $50 million to go coach in Toronto, meanwhile Dave Hakstol is paying $100,000 to come coach in Philadelphia. Unreal. But this is actually a great thing for everyone involved except for Hakstol’s wallet. I don’t know how many other college coaches have that clause in their contract but I have to imagine it’s not many. This means that the University of North Dakota realized what caliber coach Hakstol was and had to make sure that they got themselves some insurance for when he inevitably left to go to the NHL. At least that’s what I’m getting out of this. I mentioned it before when the Flyers first hired Hakstol but the man never had a season at UND under .600. He knows how to win and hopefully he can carry that over to the Flyers locker room. Also, this means that Hakstol is all in here. I’m sure whatever his contract ends up being with the Flyers will make this $100,000 fine look like chump change but it’s still a hundred grand that he’s willing to pay out of his back pocket to come coach for Ron Hextall and the Philadelphia Flyers. That’s a guy I can get down with. There’s obviously a ton of unknown heading into this season, but the more time that passes by, the more I’m excited about the Hakstol era to start in Philadelphia. Viva La Hakstool
Some More News Around The Flyers Locker Room:
- The Flyers still need to figure out what to do with Michael Del Zotto who is a restricted free agent. I understand that there’s no rush here and that there’s a 99% chance that they re-sign him, but I’d really enjoy the blogging material soon.
- Last week the Flyers signed 32-year-old Russian defenseman Yevgeny Medvedev and 25-year-old American RW Aaron Palushaj who has most recently been playing in the KHL. Honestly, I’m hoping that neither of these two make the team because both of those names are impossible to say and spell correctly. Stop trying to make my job harder, Ron.
- Former Flyer and NHL great Donald Brashear is now in the business of making hockey sticks which are meant to top-of-the-line performance wise but still affordable since other companies think it’s cute to sell sticks for $300. Here’s to hoping that his sticks incorporate some new-age technology that make them hurt a little less if some maniac decides to use it as a baseball bat and come for your dome piece.
– Viva La TastyKakes shirts still aren’t for sale but they should be.
