Ken Hitchcock is the new St. Louis Blues coach and Davis Payne has been replaced. Gutsy move by the Blues, but definitely the right move.....
A good friend in St. Louis texted me, "Please tell me something that will make me like this move."
Well here goes.
Why they did it NOW....
#1. The Blues may have done this early, but in my opinion I believe the timing is perfect.
a. The Blues are in 13th, but only 1 game below .500. There is time to get back into this thing.
b. Hitch is the best NHL coach not currently with a team and while I haven't heard Hitch was heading to the Blue Jackets, I had someone text me midway through the Columbus debacle in Philly last night asking, "Is Hitch going to be behind the Jackets bench in the third period?'
But that wasn't what my friend asked me....why to like this move?
It is time for Ken Hitchcock to get these guys to another level...
Before his last season in Philly, during training camp I was fortunate to get to go out to a few breakfasts with Ken Hitchcock. Talking to him then I was quickly made aware of the guy's hockey sense. Ken is a lifer. He knows this game and players know he knows this game. He is one of those coaches who lets NOTHING slip through the cracks. He will try anything he believes will help his team or get something more out of a player.
Where Hitch is at his best, and he would probably admit this, is when he is working with young players who have fallen short of what everyone says they should be accomplishing. Players with talent who are individuals and have yet to learn how and what it takes to truly succeed at this next level. Hitch is a teacher. He is a team first coach who will do whatever it takes and let the players see his work ethic in hopes that they take on the same ethic and creed. The creed that is simple. This league and your time here...is entirely about one thing. Finding a way to win a Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues. Sometimes it means learning to play an all-around game, and sacrificing your personal numbers...but ask Mike Modano if he would trade his Cup for another 100 point season. He wouldn't.
What made Modano's Cup winning season with the Stars remarkable weren't his numbers. It was how amazing Modano played in the Cup Final when he was badly injured. He played when most players wouldn't even consider playing. He did whatever it took...and THAT is vintage Hitchcock.
Hitch collects army memorabilia, especially Civil War stuff, and even participates in re-enactments. He doesn't love war. He loves strategy.
The NHL has changed a great deal since Hitch won a Cup and I know some are going to lump Hitch with the Old School NHL. There are coaches like Hitch who I believe the game has passed by...but Hitch is different he is never afraid to admit he never stops learning. When he lost his gig in Philly I spoke to him at length and was amazed at how analytical he was about it all. He was learning.
I remember him saying, "One thing you learn Ek is these players are different. Even in a few years the average NHL player has changed into a player concerned far more with themselves." and we talked about it as the "ESPN Sportcenter-ization of the NHL player." We discussed how ESPN didn't cover Sports or Teams anymore. It covered individuals. At the time it wasn't Eagles News or St. Louis Cardinals News, it was Terrell Owens and Mark McGwire news...
We talked about how we were seeing the first generation of Athletes who had ALWAYS known Sportcenter on ESPN, so in some ways it wasn't surprising to see these players taking more of a selfish path. Hitch got fired from Philly...I remember some of the players complaining that Hitch couldn't "understand them" because he never PLAYED the game.
Two things about that....#1.Scotty Bowman and 2. Those same players who got Hitch fired didn't last much longer in Philly. There is no "I" in team...but there is a mixed up backwards "me..."
Hitch WILL get the Blues into the playoffs. That is what you will get here. A playoff team. I remember him saying something to the effect of "The goal of making the playoffs is boring and you need to get that goal out of the way."
Does Hitch Come with an Expiration Date?
Sure he does. No question. But what coach doesn't come with an expiration date. Give me a coach who makes his team much better short term and then burns out his players and gets fired any day over a coach who is mired in mediocrity until the team just fires him because they haven't seen any success.
It's better to burn out than to fade away...
The Blues just got a serious bump and they are going to be better..they are going to be much better...and if they burn out on Hitch in a few years, so be it. At least they got to the dance.
All wine goes bad eventually...so why drink crappy wine.
Enough metaphors...Blues fans should be excited tonight...
Looking for info between blogs or when the next blog is coming?>
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW ME ON GOOGLE+. 
Join the Discussion:
»