Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The owner-and-managerial circus continues in Philly

05/02/2014 at 10:12pm EDT

Beware: an auto-play video lurks within: There are some strange things afoot in Philly--as usual. Flyers owner Ed Snider and current GM Paul Holmgren weren't exactly on the same page as to whether Holmgren will remain the general manager on Friday, as Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia's Tim Panaccio noted:

“Of course Paul will be back,” Snider said Friday at Skate Zone. “Basically, he's the head of our hockey operations. The job he did I think was excellent. Not too many guys would have guts enough to fire a coach after three games.”

When pressed specifically about what role Holmgren will have next year, Snider said the Flyers' front office is in the process of “analyzing everybody's title” and that Holmgren will “be the head of hockey operations” before offering a wry smile.

Snider did concede that assistant general manager Ron Hextall was brought in to one day succeed Holmgren as GM.

“Paul brought in Hextall. ... That's why he was brought in [to become GM]. He didn't come in to stay assistant GM forever, but that doesn't mean tomorrow. But I've got to sit down with Paul. I expect our operation to be solid, good hockey men. We have a lot of people that are analyzing this entire situation.”

It’s Holmgren's call ... so long as he and Snider agree.

“It’s really Paul’s call. All I have to do is endorse it,” Snider said. “If I don’t agree with him, then we have a behind-closed-door discussion.”

Panaccio continues, and the Philadelphia Inquirer's Sam Carchidi clarified the situation...sort of...

About 90 minutes after Ed Snider hinted that Paul Holmgren may become the Flyers' president, Holmgren said he would remain as the team's general manager next season.

The Flyers cleaned out their lockers in Voorhees on Friday, and several players and front-office personnel spoke to reporters.

Snider said the Flyers hired assisant GM Ron Hextall last year to be the GM someday, but Holmgren said he was not ready to relinquish the job. Holmgren is the one who hired Hextall.

Holmgren also said he would give permission for Hextall to talk to another team if it wanted to pursue him as a GM. But he made it clear he hopes Hextall stays.

In other developments, veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen appears to be leaning toward playing another season. He said he will make his decision within the month, but he sounded as if he will come back.

Timonen, a pending UFA, said he would only play for the Flyers and would not consider going to another team.

CSN Philly posted a clip of Snider's comments, and this is an auto-play clip, so you'll have to deal with the commercial beforehand:

For whatever reason, the Flyers' website chopped Snider's presser into fourseparateparts, and the Paul Holmgren's comments were split into five snippets. With a little commercial before each and every 2-to-3-minute clip.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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