The Philadelphia Flyers are stuck in the midst of an ugly nine-game losing streak. Despite five of those nine losses resulting in a charity point for the Flyers, the team is still sitting in the basement of the Metropolitan Division with a modest 8-10-7 record.
Logically, confidence should not be high during this kind of losing streak. Apparently no one told that to team general manager Ron Hextall. Losing streak aside, Hextall still believes his team is playing well and is capable of securing a playoff spot.
As seen over on The Score, Hextall doesn’t think his team should change too much.
“We’re not playing poorly. To look objectively at our team right now, to say we’re playing poorly? No. Are we shooting ourselves in the foot at times? Yes, we are.”
“I still believe we’re a playoff team. We need to be better at some critical moments. But part of it, we need to continue to do what we’re doing because we’re doing a lot of good things.”
It’s kind of bizarre to hear someone say a team needs to keep doing what they’re doing when they’re suffering through a prolonged losing streak.
Hextall may sound delusional (we won’t take an official stance on that one), but he may have a point.
As mentioned above, the Flyers lost five of their past nine games after regulation. When Hextall made his comments, the team was just six points out of a playoff spot. That’s an easy gap to close with over 50 games left on the 2017-18 schedule. His comments are also exactly what the Flyers need to hear as they try to get on the right side of a result for the first time in nearly three weeks. Hearing the GM bash you probably won’t help anyone regain their confidence on the ice any quicker.
Still, this is one hell of an ugly tailspin. The Flyers were booed off the ice after their ninth consecutive loss, and fans have been chanting for the team to fire head coach Dave Hakstol.
"Fire Hakstol" Chants start up#Flyers #SJSharks #SJSvsPHI #NHL #HockeyFightsCancer pic.twitter.com/fBFa1C5Ht6
— David Malandra Jr (@djmjr788) November 29, 2017
Though the Flyers haven’t been as bad as their record may indicate, that reality won’t appease angry fans who just want to see a win. Philadelphia has managed to claw along and pick up points to avoid falling too far behind, but one has to wonder how much longer this team can afford to stumble along before the hole gets too deep.
