St.Louis Blues

[miller76 463]

link

[Cajanek_Spielmacher 47]

Davis Payne was relieved of his duties tonight at 7:55 CDT. Ken Hitchcock has signed a contract thru the 2012-2013 season. No more Payne in St. Louis! http://blues.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=599200&navid=DL|STL|home# Guess the kids need a hardass coach again!

Edited November 7, 2011 by Cajanek_Spielmacher

[Travis 576]

Ken and Mick hinted at the possibility of Hitchcock joining the Blue Jackets the other night. Guess that's not happening. Good for Ken.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

The unemployment rate among fast-food workers is about to plummet in St. Louis.

[RedWingsRox 614]

Looks like St. Louis beat Columbus to it. Now what is Columbus going to do ... call the ever revolving Marc Crawford?

[Ram 240]

I personally was not one who thought the Blues were in rough enough shape for a coaching switch, but I think Hitchcock has a long history of coaching that the Blues may be looking for. It's good to see that the franchise is hungry, I've seen them as being on the cusp with the young talent they have there.

[P. Marlowe 748]

Good for Hitchcock. Blues has some promise but at least to me Blue Jackets are hopeless.

[Hiei 192]

I think this is a Hulsizer move more than anything. He says he likes and follows hockey, what more than to go and get a coach who does have a winning resume, even lifting columbus to their first playoff appearance.

[St. Michael (the Red Wing) 422]

He might be able to make a difference in St. Louis. If let's say he went to Columbus as rumored, it would have been an hopeless journey. Good for Hitchcock

Edited November 7, 2011 by St. Michael (the Red Wing)

[Hockey13Playa 240]

Always liked Hitchcock since his days in Dallas! Best of luck to him.

[achildr1 255]

St.L is really on the upswing. Lots of good young talent with a couple really good veteran leaders in Arnott and Langenbrunner. If Halak goes all 2010 playoffs on us they could be a scary team.

I wonder if having Hitchcock will hold back there mobile D guys (Pietriangelo, Shattenkirk) from offense though.

Edited November 7, 2011 by achildr1

[VM1138 1,921]

St. Louis is one of those teams that should be better than they are. Maybe Hitch in charge will be what the team needs to finally click on all cylinders.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Just saw on Versus that the Wings are only 1 point ahead of the Blues in the standings.

[Kira 451]

I honestly thought that Columbus would have been the first one in the firing mode. I'm a little surprised at this. But good for Ken Hitchcock. I wish him luck.

[P. Marlowe 748]

MLive

Hitchcock back in division

Babcock said he is thrilled for Ken Hitchcock, hired Sunday as head coach of the St. Louis Blues, but not excited to see him in the same division again.

"He’s got a good mind for the game, he works hard at the game, he’s done a great job to get himself really healthy," Babcock said. "I wish he was in another division, but that’s just the way life is. They hired themselves a real good coach and a real good man."

Hitchcock was one of Babcock’s assistants on the 2010 Canadian Olympic team. Hitchcock’s last coaching job was in Columbus from 2006-2010.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

St.L is really on the upswing. Lots of good young talent with a couple really good veteran leaders in Arnott and Langenbrunner. If Halak goes all 2010 playoffs on us they could be a scary team.

I wonder if having Hitchcock will hold back there mobile D guys (Pietriangelo, Shattenkirk) from offense though.

They've been 'on the upswing' for years now. At this point people are expecting more results than St. Louis is producing. That team's loaded with talent (and has been for a while now). I suspect their management is getting a bit antsy about the lack of tangible results on the ice.

[evilzyme 769]

Hope those boys are ready for some change, i've heard Hitchcock still uses old school coaching styles and isn't scared of some hazing to get their minds straightened up. Like it.

[miller76 463]

I have always liked Hitch. I can't think of an opposing coach that was so intrigued by Detroit, more than him. He always has plenty to say about Detroit, the system the Wings employ, and the class of the organization. I can't help but wonder, when he was at Detroits training camp. Wishing he wasn't still under contract in Columbus and taking a job as an assistant here. Oh well.

[Red Wings Addict 787]

The unemployment rate among fast-food workers is about to plummet in St. Louis.

What is St. Louis' version of Little Caesar's? As in, does their owner also own a food chain?

[cprice12 117]

I, like most Blues fans, was leery of the move at first. I thought Payne wasn't given enough time to do his thing...only one full season. I liked Payne...but he hadn't gotten over the hump yet.

Hitchcock is a winner...and the Blues have underachieved the past couple years and haven't been great out of the gate this year.

The Blues GM was quoted as saying the team won't have any excuses now.

After hearing Hitchcock in some interviews, hearing Hull talk about how good of a coach we just got, and hearing other former players talk about how this Blues team will definitely be prepared to play every night, etc...I like the move more and more.

He said he understands the game has changed since he won a cup...he's learned a lot from his time in Columbus and time off since. He's scouted, watched and analyzed every team in the NHL since leaving Columbus' head coaching job and understands his game needs to be played at more at both ends of the ice instead of a defensive-heavy scheme.

Maybe it's just a matter of "saying the right things" when hired...but it was good to hear nonetheless.

He was asked about how long it will take to fix the Blues (then last in the NHL with only 3 goals on the PP) power play...and he said, "Oh, we'll have that fixed in one practice." And sure enough...the first PP against the Hawks last night, and we score a nice goal...and go 50% on the PP for the night. Hilarious...gotta love that.

The talent is supposed to be here. This is supposed to be a good playoff team this year. Hopefully Hitchcock can get them on track with a more consistently solid game.