Claude Giroux Talks About Coach Hakstol

Some have questioned whether Dave Hakstol would be able to connect with his players coming straight from the college coaching ranks to the NHL. This article might clear up those perceptions. Per Tim Wharnsby, NHL.com:

Giroux spoke with NHL.com about the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the Flyers, Briere and more in the following Q&A:

When the Flyers announced Dave Hakstol as their new coach, was there name recognition right away?

"I had no idea who he was. So right away I had to do some searching on the Internet. I talked with [general manager] Ron Hextall about him. Then [Hakstol] came to Ottawa to meet with me. "After I met him I was really excited and pumped to get the season started because of the way he sees the game and how humble he is. Most coaches would come into the NHL and say they know it all. But he told me that, "I’m going to learn, too, and that we going to be in this together." He wants this to be a team with everybody working together and on the same page. That's what you want."

As captain, what's the next step in the process with the new coach?

"After this I'm going to back to Philadelphia and we're going to have a series of meetings about what kind of team we want, what are we going to do to win a lot of games."