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The Timing of the David Hakstol Firing in Seattle Was Odd

Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Sirius XM NHL Network Power Play with Steve Kouleas and Andrew Raycroft and was asked about the timing of Dave Hakstol’s firing in Seattle and why it was so surprising.

** NHLRumors.com transcription

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Andrew Raycroft: “Moving out to Seattle, Dave Hakstol was relieved of his duties . I’m always curious how a coach has to do exit interviews, talk to players, and gets fired five or six days after, are you curious what the timing of this or what are you hearing on the timing of this firing?”

Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, this one. Kind of like, like San Jose, like I know San Jose’s coaching change last week surprised some of the players. I believe, you know, moving on, Hakstol will surprise some people around the league as well. You kind of maybe if you read between the lines of Ron Francis‘s season-ending press conference, there may be some suggestions there that would have you believe that maybe this was part of, part of their, their plan in their cards.

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But, you go to the second round last year and your second year in the league. Yes, you missed the playoffs this year, but things were certainly you know, moving in the right direction. But it’s what you have done for me lately league for the most part, and you know, Seattle and Ron Francis certainly have something else in mind with respect to who’s going to lead this team moving forward.

So little bit of surprise initially, but I think overall Seattle just wants a little bit of a change in direction and perhaps to be a little bit more aggressive moving forward.”