Garnet Hathaway’s first press conference as a Philadelphia Flyer went viral, but not for reasons the organization wanted. After signing a two-year deal with the Flyers on the first day of free agency, Hathaway answered questions from assembled media in an introductory Zoom meeting on Tuesday.
When it was Giana Han from Philadelphia Inquirer’s turn, she asked Hathaway what drew him to join a team that is in the midst of a clear rebuild. As Han asked her question, a member of the Flyers’ staff was caught ridiculing her on a hot mic in a since-deleted stream on the team’s social media.
“How many times is she going to ask this f$^% question?” asked an unidentified staffer.
Though the original video has since been removed, Lights Out Hockey reposted the clip on Twitter, where it’s since garnered more than four million views and over 700 retweets.
Someone from the Philadelphia Flyers organization is getting fired 😬 pic.twitter.com/gSCy6SodpC
— LIGHTS OUT HOCKEY (@Lightsouthky) July 11, 2023
Another staff member can also be heard mocking Han’s question, though she’s cut off by Hathaway’s answer. “The Flyers suck, why do you [want to be on the team,]” she seems to say. Neither member of staff has been identified, and Han has not spoken publicly about the incident.
Flyers new president of hockey operations Keith Jones apologized for the staff members’ behavior in a statement posted to Twitter.
“Any disrespect towards reporters is completely unacceptable, especially when they are simply doing their job,” he noted.
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 11, 2023
General manager Danny Briere also spoke about the comments on Wednesday during a radio appearance on the 94WIP Morning Show.
“I think the Flyers organization were completely embarrassed by that and it’s completely unacceptable what was said there,” Briere said. “It’s not our views. It’s not what we think of the reporters, especially Giana, who has worked extremely hard to get to where she is.
“I’ve reached out to Giana myself to express my regret with what happened and I hope she’s doing better today. But the thing is, we want to continue to create an environment where there’s respect between our staff and the media.”
This week’s episode comes amidst a larger shake-up in the Flyers’ front office. Former GM and president of hockey operations Chuck Fletcher was fired in March after five seasons in the role. The team hired Jones to take on the hockey ops job, with Briere promoted into the GM position.
Since then, Briere has openly begun a rebuild, trading away defenseman Ivan Provorov, forward Kevin Hayes, and shopping bigger names like Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton.
Screenshot: Philadelphia Flyers/YouTube
