COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ron Hextall is still chasing Robbie Brown across the ice inside Mellon Arena. He’s still in hot pursuit like an angry shopkeeper going after a kid absconding with a pocketful of stolen candy.
Doesn’t matter that the celebrated incident occurred 32 years ago on a night Hextall’s new boss scored five goals in the Penguins’ 10-7 playoff win over the Flyers. Doesn’t matter that the old barn, the one Hextall’s father called home for five seasons, is long gone.
The former goaltender’s meltdown in Pittsburgh, and others like them, are just a click away on any laptop, tablet or smartphone. And you can bet when Hextall was named the Penguins’ general manager on Tuesday, the old clip got a fresh run of views.
“At the time, I thought he was wheeling his arm around like they just won the Stanley Cup,” Hextall recalled this week for DK Pittsburgh Sports of Brown and his goal celebration in Game 5 of the 1989 Patrick Division Final. “And I don’t know why I thought that because, when I saw the replay, the guy didn’t hardly do anything. Maybe with so many goals scored against me that night I saw something that I didn’t really see.”
Hextall was among the best of his era. He won the Vezina and Conn Smythe trophies as a rookie in the 1986-87 season and led the NHL in goals-against average (2.17) during the 1995-96 season. He was tall, athletic, fearless. He handled pucks as well as most third-line centers, scoring two goals into empty nets.
But to a younger generation of hockey fans, he’s known for his volcanic temper and willingness to fight almost anyone on the ice. Hextall even hears it from players he’s drafted for the Kings and Flyers.
“There are places where I’ve been, Philly and L.A., where the guys will say, ‘Hey, I watched your YouTube video yesterday,’ ” Hextall said laughing. “I’m like, ‘Oh, darn, that YouTube is a bad thing.’ The problem is you see 15 years (of my career) in a two-minute video so you think, ‘Holy hell, this guy is absolutely out of his mind.’ ”
The brawling days are over. So too are the sing-song chants of 'Hex-tall! Hex-tall! Hex-tall!' that echoed from all corners of road arenas in hopes of getting the goalie off his game.
Hextall has evolved into one of hockey’s most studious and methodical talent evaluators. He might have knocked out four of Mario Lemieux’s teeth with an accidental backswing years ago, but it did not stop the Penguins’ owner from putting the future of his franchise in the hands of an old nemesis when Jim Rutherford unexpectedly resigned on Jan. 27.
“If you think you know the picture of Ron Hextall, the one of him slashing Kent Nilsson and chasing Chris Chelios, you are not even close,” said TSN analyst and former teammate Ray Ferraro. “That’s not even close to who Ron Hextall is today. That’s from a lifetime ago. In Pittsburgh, you have a thoughtful, intelligent, dedicated general manager.”
Along with new president of hockey operations Brian Burke, the 56-year-old Hextall is tasked with steering the Penguins through a tricky transition — competing for another Cup with an aging group of stars, while preparing to retool a roster bereft of top-line prospects and high draft picks this summer.
It’s a daunting mission statement, but one Hextall is eager to accept. While the fury from his playing days has been quelled, an intensity of purpose remains. Two themes run like threads from his upbringing in rural Manitoba to his new job in Pittsburgh. An unwavering passion for hockey and an unquenchable thirst for competition.
“I’m actually still chasing Robbie Brown,” Hextall said. “So if someone sees him, please let me know.”
WHEAT KINGS, PRETTY THINGS
During a 30-minute phone interview, Hextall describes his childhood with the kind of vivid detail Henry Hill supplies in his gripping “Goodfellas” soliloquy.
As far back as he could remember, Hill wanted to be a gangster.
As far back as he can recall, Hextall wanted to be a goaltender.
At age 2, he took pairs of balled socks, threw them in the air and dived up steps in the family’s home, pretending to make saves. As fellow elementary school classmates jotted notes, Hextall drew pictures of his favorite goalies, Rutherford and Tony Esposito.
His grandfather was Hall of Fame right winger Bryan Hextall Sr. His uncle, Dennis, a left winger, played 12 seasons for six teams. His father, Bryan Jr., a center, played eight seasons for five organizations, notably the Penguins from 1969-73.
It never bothered Hextall that his family frequently moved around the continent. He started school years in Poplar Point, Manitoba -- an hour's drive to the west of Winnipeg -- and finished them wherever dad was playing. Classmates came and went. Hockey was the only companion that mattered.
“My brother and I would go out and skate on the (Mellon) Arena ice after morning skate,” Hextall said. “Does it get any better than that? We’re getting to run around locker rooms and hang around NHL players. What a life.”
The Hextalls lived in a Green Tree apartment. Their next-door neighbor would become Ron’s idol, and later an inspiration.
“When I had extra time, I was out on the road on my knees playing ball hockey with Hexy,” recalled Rutherford, who gifted the kid a pair of goalie skates and masks. “He was determined to be a goalie. He took a liking to me and we had a lot of fun, shooting balls and talking about playing the position.”
Hextall’s greatest influence, however, was his father.
Bryan Hextall Jr., now 79, played in an age when the real work began after the season ended. There were no million-dollar contracts for players like him. He went home to Manitoba in the spring and labored in construction and trapped muskrats.
The dad taught his sons the value of hard work and the joy of hunting geese and duck. Hextall might be an NHL executive, but he still goes home every offseason to rev up the chainsaw and toil on the family’s property.
He developed into a star goalie for the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings, also in Manitoba. In his final season of junior hockey, he appeared in 46 games and racked up 117 penalty minutes.
“He was fiercely, fiercely competitive,” said Ferraro, a fellow Wheat King. “Hexy was one of our toughest guys. You were not standing in front of his net. When you scored on him in practice, he was not happy, and when I played with him on Long Island years later, it wasn't any different.”
As a kid, Hextall despised the Flyers because of his dad’s long-running battles with them in Pittsburgh. How ironic he would morph into a beloved Broad Street bully.
Bruce Bennett / Getty
Ron Hextall is is escorted to the bench after being in a fight with Chris Chelios in May 1989.
‘INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT’
Fragile is a word rarely associated with the Flyers of the 1970s and 1980s. But that’s how captain Dave Poulin remembered them being as Hextall arrived in Philadelphia in 1986.
The Flyers had reached the Stanley Cup Final two seasons earlier, losing to the dynastic Oilers in five games. They had talent, intimidation, swagger and the best goalie in the world. Then, in the wee hours of Nov. 10, 1985, Pelle Lindbergh, that goalie, lost control of his red Porsche 930 Turbo and slammed into a concrete wall. He died the following day.
“We thought we were going back to the Cup Final every year,” recalled Poulin, now a TSN analyst and budding hockey writer. “We were young and brash. But what happened to Pelle changed a lot of viewpoints on how fragile life is. It really took a toll on all of us.”
The Flyers’ management opted to keep Hextall in the minors for another year of seasoning. In the fall of 1986, coach Mike Keenan unleashed their top goaltending prospect and rode him all the way to a Cup rematch with the Oilers in 1987. While Edmonton emerged victorious in seven games, Hextall was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP. Only five players in NHL history have won the award on the losing side.
He not only stopped pucks, but handled them so well he almost served as a third defenseman with his breakout passes. Soft spoken off the ice, Hextall was a ferocious presence on it. He unnerved opponents, and sometimes teammates.
“You didn’t want to go near Hexy before a game,” recalled Rick Tocchet, Hextall's teammate with the Flyers and now head coach of the Coyotes. “You didn’t want to touch his equipment because he might slash you.”
Tocchet recalls accidentally firing a puck a bit too high on Hextall during practice — a no-no because it can lead to injury. Most goaltenders often react with an icy glare or curse word. Not Hextall.
The Flyers’ goalie stormed from his crease to confront a stunned Tocchet. Sticks were swung. Heated words exchanged.
“He mothered me and I told him to ‘eff off,’” Tocchet said. “Next thing you know, we’re ready to fight. There was no fear in Hexy, and his crease was his sacred domain. Later that night, there were six or seven guys out for dinner. Hexy’s there, and it’s like nothing ever happened. That’s just how he was. He lived in the moment and never took it personally.”
Poulin has answered so many questions about Hextall over the years that he’s formulated an easy-to-digest explanation for his former teammate’s temperament.
“Hexy had a bandwidth and, when he was within that bandwidth — and it had a wide range — he was one of the best in the game,” Poulin said. “If he was below the bandwidth, he wasn’t emotional enough to be at his best. The emotional component to his on-ice performance was so significant that if he was below it, he was an average goaltender and if he was above it, he was chasing Robbie Brown or whacking Kent Nilsson. He was out of control. As a captain and good friend, I took a great deal of pride in reading and regulating that emotion.”
In 1989, the Flyers rebounded from the Game 5 shellacking in Pittsburgh to win the series in seven games. (Hextall was injured in Game 6 and Ken Wregget backstopped them to victory in the clincher.) Philadelphia’s chances of returning to the Cup final, however, were compromised in the next round as Canadiens defenseman Chris Chelios sidelined Flyers forward Brian Propp with an injurious hit.
In the dying minutes of a deciding Game 6 loss, Hextall sought revenge. He charged Chelios and all hell broke loose. Everyone on the ice was throwing punches. A linesman had to restrain Hextall from going after Patrick Roy. Poulin broke his hand in the melee.
“I walk into the room and Hexy was sitting in his corner and I’m looking at him and he’s looking at me,” Poulin recalled. “At first, there’s not a word said. Finally he says, ‘What?’ And I say, ‘What? You just caused an international incident out there.’ And in this totally calm voice he says, ‘Oh, I just didn’t want to shake Chelios’ hand.’ And I remember saying, ‘Well, you could have just skipped him in line or done it in a different way.’ But that was Hex—the difference between the on-ice versus off-ice persona was right there.”
The Hextall family understood how polarizing its most famous member was during his playing days and never failed to defend his honor.
Leah Hextall, 41, who works in broadcasting, and last season called an NHL game, remembers arguing on her cousin’s behalf when detractors back home made disparaging comments.
“I got into one dustup on the playground when I was really mad,” Leah said. “I almost got in several fistfights because it’s not just someone criticizing a player, it’s someone criticizing my blood. One thing about the Hextalls: Blood is thicker than water. We were raised with that saying. So when someone would criticize Ron, I would lose it.”
Her Twitter bio is more succinct: “May snap at a moment’s notice, but it’s in my genes!”
MANAGEMENT POSITION
Former NHL general manager Dean Lombardi was standing in a drafty college rink in the early 2000s when he spotted Hextall sitting alone watching pregame warmups. The goaltender had retired following the 1998-99 season and Flyers patriarch Bob Clarke put him to work in the scouting department.
Lombardi loathes the sight of NHL scouts huddled together and gabbing during games they are assigned to work.
“I used to tell my scouts, you’re not here to shake hands and get votes,” Lombardi recalled. “Let’s focus in. You have a limited time in this classroom, and you had better be paying attention.”
Hextall wasn’t doodling pictures of Esposito and Rutherford in these classrooms. Lombardi saw a former high-profile player learning his craft. Some aren’t willing to humble themselves by charting the progress of low-level prospects. Hextall enjoyed it.
When the Sharks fired Lombardi after the 2002-03 season, he joined the Flyers and immediately bonded with Hextall through five-hour drives on scouting assignments. Some ex-players don’t like to talk hockey while passing time on the road. Lombardi said it was an obsession with Hextall.
“I’m a little bit of a hockey nerd,” said Hextall, who’s married with four kids. “I’ve got two things in my life — my family and the game.”
The Kings hired Lombardi as their general manager in 2006 and he took Hextall with him to Los Angeles as his assistant. The two men became inseparable as they undertook an organizational rebuild. Hextall ran the minor-league team, but also was involved in every major decision. The duo resisted calls from ownership and the business side to add a few big names that they didn’t believe fit with the fabric of a young club.
Lombardi found Hextall’s experience as a former team leader invaluable in gauging a locker room. He understood how roster additions and subtractions could affect moods and attitudes. Even as the Kings struggled in the early seasons under new management, Hextall demanded players not accept losing, which sometimes occurs in rebuilds.
“We were dead set against some suggestions, like adding Ilya Kovalchuk, and we were prepared to be fired for our view,” Lombardi said.
Among Hextall’s best qualities is his sense of timing. As the build-through-the-draft approach started to yield fruit, Lombardi was faced with a massive decision at the 2011 NHL Draft. The Kings had an opportunity to acquire Flyers captain Mike Richards in a package that would cost them Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds. Lombardi spoke to scouts, made countless phone calls and finally sat down with Hextall.
“When it comes to putting your balls on the table, you usually have one guy,” Lombardi said. “I remember Hexy saying, ‘Deano, now is the time. Not only is Richards the right player for our room and our culture, but the timing is right. We’ve got to do this.’ ”
The Kings swung the deal and also added Jeff Carter in the middle of the 2011-12 season. Both players were part of Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014.
“That is the metaphysical side of this business that people don’t get,” Lombardi said. “They can give speeches — ‘Oh, yeah, we’re going to change the culture’ — but they don’t have a clue how to do it. Hexy gets it. He always got it.”
Hextall returned to the Flyers in 2013 and became their general manager the following year. He inherited an aging roster, depleted farm system and a club in salary-cap purgatory. As with the Kings, he took a patient approach, but managed to reach the playoffs in two of his four full seasons before being fired on Nov. 26, 2018. Among the players drafted during Hextall’s time in Philadelphia: Ivan Provorov, Carter Hart, Nolan Patrick, Travis Sanheim, Oskar Lindblom and Joel Farabee.
Teams under new management often weed out players and prospects from the previous regime. Maybe the best compliment to Hextall’s tenure is that 14 of the 23 players on the active roster were acquired during his tenure.
The Flyers have emerged as a serious contender in the Eastern Conference.
“When you leave something, you want to leave it better than when you took it over,” Hextall said. “I’m proud of that. We worked hard there. We had a great staff. We did a good job, and it’s starting to show.”
Hextall was criticized for showing too much loyalty to former Flyers coach Dave Hakstol, who had coached his son at North Dakota. The general manager said upper management and ownership never pressured him to move on from a coach who was fired after Hextall’s departure in favor of Alain Vigneault.
Some believe Hextall might have saved his job had he promoted Hart early in the 2018-19 season, but the general manager contends the outstanding goalie wasn’t ready at the time
“Did I make a mistake? I would hate to put the kid in the NHL in October when he didn’t have a great camp,” Hextall said. “And if things don’t go great, you’ve got to send him down and then he starts to question himself and all the stuff that comes with it.”
Among his legion of supporters is future Hall of Famer Ken Hitchcock, who coached him as a Flyers assistant and later served as the head coach while Hextall was working through the front-office ranks.
“He paid his dues as a player, and he saw the value in paying dues,” Hitchcock explained. “Ron has a tremendous ability to recognize the importance of not missing steps. He understood that, if the foundation is built properly, he could have success right away and that, if there was no foundation, it was just going to be a house of cards.”
Bruce Bennett / Getty
Ron Hextall and then-Flyers director of scouting Chris Pryor at the draft table in 2014.
REUNIONS AND RIVALRIES
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto recalls the “quiet, reflective” kid who grew up in his neighborhood playing ball hockey.
He never imagined having to one day root against his old elementary-school chum for chasing Robbie Brown.
“I can honestly say, in all of sports, that my least favorite team is the Philadelphia Flyers,” the mayor said. “I welcome the Hextall family back in Pittsburgh, and I can finally put away the memories of seeing Ron in orange and black.”
It’s been a week of excitement and adjustment for longtime Penguins fans. Hextall was reviled in his days with the hated Flyers, but as history taught them with the 1992 acquisition of Tocchet, sometimes Philadelphia exports can enhance the experience.
In his father’s final years in suburban Pittsburgh, Hextall lived on Orchard Spring Road in a middle-class neighborhood that was also home to Tony Dungy, Bobby Walden, the Roberto Clemente family, Lowell MacDonald and Peduto.
“I played ice hockey with Ron when he was still a forward,” Peduto said.
Hextall is amazed at how the universe operates. He’s still coming to grips with taking over a job held by another former neighbor.
“I’ve got big shoes to fill coming in after Jim,” Hextall said of Rutherford. “He’s done a terrific job here and won a couple of championships. I’ve got all the respect and admiration for him in the world.”
Hextall might be preparing for another reunion. It’s an open secret that his former Flyers assistant general manager Chris Pryor is on the Penguins’ radar. He’s currently a scout for the Predators, so Hextall would not be able to address any possibility.
Pryor was to Hextall as Hextall was to Lombardi.
“When you have all those reference points with a person, it’s hard not to think they are not going to get back together again,” Poulin said.
In the meantime, Hextall and Burke must find a way to remain in “win-now mode” with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and limited assets to make moves for one more Cup run. The challenge is immense, but the competitor in Hextall relishes the opportunity.
Imagine how his juices would flow for a potential Penguins-Flyers playoff series in the spring. Hextall might even grab a goalie stick and start clanging posts out of habit.
“I love rivalries. I love hating the other team,” he said. “It’s what makes sports special. It’s a little different sitting up top because you can’t grab the other manager or somebody from their side and go.”
Hextall has left those days behind — except, of course, on YouTube where the battles rage.
