Personally, I'd like to thank Ron Hextall for making this post happen. When you make a move so out of the box (a box that typically only surrounds Voorhees with this franchise, mind you) that it hasn’t been done in three decades, most people are going to have something to say about it. So without further ado, here are some of the hottest and freshest Dave Hakstol takes from around the Internet.

We’ll break this post up into two sections, local and national.

Local

Is new Flyers coach the next best thing to Mike Babcock? Frank Seravalli, Philadelphia Daily News

Pretty much everyone was on Babcock Watch until the Flyers pulled a fast one and hired what looks to be like the college version of the Detroit Red Wings coach. It didn’t reach Marcus Mariota levels of interest and speculation, but most observers thought Hextall would at least make a strong push for Babcock:

The buzz around Philadelphia yesterday was partly negative, not necessarily because the Flyers hired a coach with zero professional hockey experience, but simply because it was not Babcock. His yearlong flirtation with free agency fabricated a dream of him turning around a Flyers franchise desperate for direction. Yet, as Hextall went through his checklist, he said he found the only box left unchecked was NHL experience.

GM Hextall takes fresh approach by hiring Hakstol: Mike Sielski, Philadelphia Inquirer

Make no mistake: Hextall is the captain now. As Sielski notes, he’s got the keys to the car after making such a unique hire for what is an important move:

Before Hextall, the Flyers' general manager, began answering follow-up questions about his decision to hire Hakstol as the team's head coach, his predecessor, Paul Holmgren, approached him. The two had carpooled to the news conference from the Flyers' practice facility in Voorhees, and Holmgren grabbed Hextall's left hand, turned it palm-side up, and dropped a ring of car keys into it. "I'll drive myself back," Holmgren said to him.

Why Dave Hakstol's lack of NHL experience isn't all that important: Travis Hughes, Broad Street Hockey

Remember how many of the talk radio callers of the world/national media wondered how Chip Kelly would translate to the pros? The question has more validity when centered around Hakstol simply because the transition happens far less frequently in hockey. Like Hextall, Hughes doesn’t think the lack of NHL experience is a very big deal, specifically because Hakstol was the head coach (that’s key) of a storied college program:

Being in command of a hockey team -- especially a college program like North Dakota, which is about as "NHL" as it gets at the college level -- is a very valuable thing. Sure, assistant coaches in the NHL learn from their head coaches, and they learn the NHL style -- everything from the lifestyle to the personalities to the spotlight -- from by coaching at that level. But do they learn how to truly manage a team, and how to manage an entire coaching staff?

Much is made of NHL experience, but look at it like this: In October 2013, was Craig Berube better suited to take over the Flyers coaching job than Dave Hakstol is right now? Berube played in the NHL and was an assistant coach in the NHL, but does that automatically make him more qualified to be a head coach in the NHL? Hakstol, meanwhile, has been a head coach at a major college program for 11 years, with their NHL-style facilities, NHL-level talent, and a fan base that's more rabid than most in the pros.

What Can Flyers Expect from Dave Hakstol? Plus Sam Morin Wins QMJHL Title: Bill Meltzer, HockeyBuzz

(Quick side note: Morin looks to have bounced back from a disastrous opening game to help lead his team a junior title in Quebec, which is an encouraging sign.)

Mike Keenan is a name that was brought up yesterday because the Flyers hired him straight out of college (though it was The University of Toronto, which obviously isn’t an NCAA school). Meltzer writes that although Hakstol has that already famous icy stare down, his players shouldn’t expect any of Iron Mike’s coaching tactics:

Ultimately, the player relations aspect will be primarily determined by wins and losses: If the team is winning, the players will buy in to Hakstol's approach. If the team isn't winning, there will be finger-pointing and sulking.

Hakstol is not a Mike Keenan clone -- he won't play mind games with his players or deliberately rip anyone's confidence down for sake of rebuilding it under the coach's own terms. He has been more like a collegiate version of Mike Babcock in his dealings with players. He has a specific way he wants things done. He won't crack many smiles at work and he won't hesitate to lace into his players but he's not going to embarrass someone for the sake of embarrassing him.

Ed Snider: Why so surprised by Flyers' hiring of Dave Hakstol? Tim Panaccio, CSN Philly

No matter how much Ed Snider says this is Hextall’s show, there’s always going to be a question of how much influence the owner is exerting on the team’s direction. For now, though, the 82 year old seems to be very much on board with his general manager’s decision:

“I think everybody is an unknown quantity until they get here,” Snider said. “Even recycled coaches are unknown quantities because they lost their job somewhere else. Bottom line is he’s a coach, he didn’t lose his job. It took a lot of talking for him to leave there.”

Snider said the club needed a “fresh approach,” and Hakstol represented that under Hextall, who is making it known things will be different. There is obviously a complete break from the Flyers' legacy of recycling old players and old coaches who were part of their past. Hard to think the “old” Snider from the 1980s or even 90s would have looked toward anyone outside the Flyers’ family but he keeps saying this is Hextall’s club and not his.

National

What were the Flyers thinking with Dave Hakstol hiring? Greg Wyshynski, Puck Daddy

Hextall was plenty familiar with Hakstol, as his son was a member of the Fighting Sioux hockey team for four years:

Hextall knew him a bit, as Hakstol coached his son Brett at North Dakota for three seasons from 2008-2011. He had kept Hakstol in mind in the years since then, believing he was “destined” to coach in the NHL one day. So when he fired Berube, he revisited Hakstol as a candidate.

(Hockey Dads: Next time you’re impressed with yourself for getting your kid an extra shift or two by slipping the coach a six pack of beer, let it be know that this Hockey Dad just hired his kid’s coach for the Flyers job. The bar has been raised…)

UND's Hakstol resigns, accepts job in Philadelphia; Brad Berry to become next head coach: Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald

Never heard of the Grand Forks Herald? Me neither, but they’ve chronicled Hakstol for the last decade while hardly anyone in Philadelphia knew he was. As much as Hextall probably had to sell Snider on the move, he had to sell Hakstol (who had a pretty darn good thing going for himself) first:

Three weeks ago, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall called Dave Hakstol about taking over the head coaching job with the NHL organization.

Hakstol didn’t go for it. The general manager tried a second time. Hakstol declined again. But Hextall wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“I want you here. I want your culture. I want what you have at North Dakota and to bring it to our place,” Hextall would tell Hakstol.

Finally, on the third attempt, Hextall was able to convince college hockey’s winningest coach of the last 11 years to leave his perch atop the storied UND men’s hockey program and dive into a new challenge at the sport’s highest level.

Toews, Oshie think college coach Hakstol will be good for Flyers: Jason Brough, ProHockeyTalk

Hakstol has coached a lot of great players at the collegiate level, and Jonathan Toews and T.J. Oshie are at the top of that list. Here’s what Oshie had to say about his former coach:

“With how many coaching changes there have been in the last couple of years, I was actually surprised he hadn’t been hired yet,” Oshie said. “It’s not going to take long for the players to respect what he brings to the table and to want to play for him.”

The challenges ahead for Flyers coach Dave Hakstol: Craig Custance, ESPN Insider

Don’t want to tease this one too much because it’s behind a paywall, but Custance talked to a lot of hockey people (players, coaches, management) about the mystery man from North Dakota. Here’s what the St. Louis Blues’ Chris Porter, a former UND player, had to say:

“He’s not afraid to pat you on the back for the little things – taking a hit to make a play, blocking a shot,” Porter said. “I agree he is tough but in the same sense, I think his players love playing for him. You know what you’re going to get every day when you go to the rink. ... Players know that as long as they play hard and put their best foot forward, mistakes are going to happen. He understands that. That’s a great quality in a coach.”

New Flyers coach Dave Hakstol now under hot spotlight: Allan Muir, Sports Illustrated

Muir writes that the chances of future NCAA coaches making the jump to the NHL are riding on how Hakstol pans out in Philly:

It’s not just about shepherding a team in transition along the path to respectability. It’s about representation. If he succeeds, Hakstol opens the door for other promising NCAA coaches to be considered as immediate options moving forward. If not, well, we could be waiting another 30 years for the next one to get his chance.

It’s a lot of pressure. But in a league that too rarely thinks outside the box, it’s exciting that Hakstol will have the chance to live up to it.

In case you missed it at PhillyVoice:

1. Al Morganti took a look at how Hakstol's hiring ties into the recent ones made by the other three Philly teams.

2. Matt Mullin went to the press conference yesterday and had three major takeaways:

Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann