After Chuck Fletcher was let go as President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, speculation intensified about the future of Comcast Chairman and Flyers Governor, Dave Scott.
With the Philadelphia Flyers looking to clean out their front office, Scott’s future seemed to be in flux. Elliotte Friedman touched on the topic several times but intimated that Scott would most likely retire at season’s end, especially after the hiring of Dan Hilferty. That’s exactly what has ended up happening as the Flyers announced through a press release that Dave Scott will be retiring as chairman and governor.
“Comcast Spectacor today announced that Dave Scott, Chairman and Governor of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, has decided to retire in his 30th year working for Comcast. Dan Hilferty, who was recently named CEO of Comcast Spectacor, will succeed Scott as Chairman of the company on April 17 and as Governor of the team on July 1.”
Dan Hilferty was named Comcast CEO on the 14th of February and was set to team up with Scott. The move was an interesting one because it signaled the end of Scott who had a tumultuous tenure working for the Flyers. Alongside Chuck Fletcher, they both became public enemy number one after the moves they made that plummeted the team into the basement of the NHL.
Upon Hilferty’s hiring, Scott was quoted as saying, “Dan is one of the most dynamic and well-respected business leaders in Philadelphia, across the region, and in many industries. Comcast Spectacor has grown to become a premier sports and entertainment company, and Dan is ideally suited to take it to further heights. He is an outstanding Philadelphia-bred executive with deep experience leading multifaceted organizations. I’m thrilled he has joined us, and he will be a great complement to Valerie and her leadership.”
Daniel Brière took over as interim General Manager on the 10th of March, which signaled a changing of the guard for a Flyers team that was not only stuck in their own way, but also stuck in the past with their prehistoric diatribe.
With the Flyers having gone 78-101-31 over the course of the last 3 seasons, still being stuck in salary cap hell, and not having the best of pipelines for the future considering their low standing, Scott’s demise was the writing on the wall. The Flyers enjoyed one good season in 2019-20 that was cut short by COVID, and they returned to the expanded playoffs by finally advancing past the first round. They had the blueprint to improve, however they found a way to be a little worse in each season that followed.
One of the most important facets of Hilferty taking over is that he is a self-proclaimed Flyers and hockey fan, which is the opposite outlook from Scott. Scott did a terrific job in terms of business but when it came to the on-ice product, he was not well-informed and was also being advised by people like Bill Barber, which only pushed the Flyers further and further away.
As for Hilferty, he was quoted as saying, “Our number one goal for the Flyers will be to consistently compete for the Stanley Cup. I’m confident we are headed in the right direction with Danny Brière as interim GM, Coach Tortorella, and our hiring of a President of Hockey Operations soon.”
The changes that we have been desperately waiting for are slowly coming. Chuck Fletcher was step 1, Dave Scott was step 2, and now we wait as the cleaning out process should be swift and certain this summer.
