At the time of Ron Hextall’s return “home” to the Philadelphia Flyers, it appeared as though the hockey stars were aligning.



Hextall had the requisite Flyer DNA – appearing in 499 games for the team that drafted him in 1982 – with a feistiness that belied a cerebral nature that was refined, honed working as an assistant to GM Dean Lombardi in Los Angeles as the Kings won two Stanley Cups.



“I believe in hard work, I believe in will, I believe in battles, that’s really what Flyer hockey is all about,” Hextall said as we sat in the team’s practice facility in Voorhees, New Jersey, three years ago.



“That’s not going to change, certainly under my watch. The game has evolved and we have to evolve with the game. So Flyer hockey now compared to the ‘70s, is it different? Of course it’s different because the game is different. But the foundation that this organization’s all about,...