If Ken Hitchcock gets let go from the St. Louis Blues, should he be the next head coach of the San Jose Sharks?
He certainly wouldn’t be a bad option, that’s for sure. Hitchcock is a decorated coach who has over 700 wins in the regular season. The knock, at least recently, is that he struggles to get teams through the post-season. It’s hard to ignore his 5 first round exits in his last 6 playoff appearances, but it’s not all on the coach in the post-season. Some things you can’t control – like your goaltender laying an egg, over and over.
Let’s look at Hitchcock’s goalie performances in the playoffs for the last three teams he coached – Philadelphia, Columbus and St. Louis.
Unless you have a roster like the LA Kings or Chicago Blackhawks, or a lot of luck, 86.6%-92.0% just isn’t going to cut it in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Getting below average goaltending in the playoffs is hard to overcome and while the Blues had good teams, they didn’t have Kings or Hawks good.
Hitchcock’s three Philadelphia playoff appearances and the lone Columbus appearance were met with putrid goaltending. Twice he had an even 92% in St. Louis, once the Blues managed to get out of the first round with it.
The only year Hitchcock got Cup-worthy goaltending was in 2012-2013 when the Blues had a 5v5 save percentage of 93.8. Unfortunately for them they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, shooting a miserable 4.1% at 5v5 during that post-season round. That 4.1% is Maple Leafs biblical collapse bad.
So, after looking at his goaltending quality in the post-season I’m going to give him a pass on the whole “can’t win in the playoffs… thing that will follow him out of St. Louis. He’s a good coach. His teams play good hockey. The problem for the Sharks is Hitchcock won’t fill the holes on defence or in goal so hiring him without filling those holes isn’t going to bring some magical success. If that’s the sole reason for hiring Hitchcock then the Sharks will be disappointed – if that’s the reason for hiring any coach in San Jose the Sharks will be disappointed.
Hitchcock is a guy that can get teams to play great hockey, he’s good with young players and veterans, and he’s won a Stanley Cup and Olympic Gold. He’s got the credentials to make you salivate in the desert – but without fixing the blueline and goaltending he’s being set up to be hurled under the bus in a few years.
That’s not to say I don’t want Ken Hitchcock as the Sharks head coach even if the Sharks don't fill holes – because I’d take Hitchcock or Blashill in a flash in any situation – but I just want to throw it out there that there is no savior coming behind the bench by itself. It has to be a combined effort of coaching + hole filling.
As of right now, it’s Blashill or Hitchcock for me. What say you? Who is your top choice(s) for the coaching position in San Jose?