Blues Discussing Hitchcock's Future

The St. Louis Blues could be close to a decision on retaining coach Ken Hitchcock, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday. The newspaper reported Blues general manager Doug Armstrong and Hitchcock met at a coffee shop Wednesday. Neither would comment on the meeting. Hitchcock has finished first or second in the division in his four seasons with the Blues, including a first-place finish in the Central Division this season. However the Blues have won one Stanley Cup Playoff series with Hitchcock; the Blues lost to the Minnesota Wild in six games in the Western Conference First Round this year. His contract expires this summer. The Blues were one of four teams to receive permission from the Detroit Red Wings to discuss a job for coach Mike Babcock. Babcock was hired as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
After the loss to the Wild, Hitchcock, 63, said he would need time to evaluate his future before deciding on his next step. In 18 seasons as coach with the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Blues, Hitchcock has a record of 708-428-97, with 88 ties. He won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 and took the Stars back to the Cup Final in 2000. In his 14 82-game seasons, his teams have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs 13 times. His 708 wins are fourth all-time behind Joel Quenneville (754), Al Arbour (782) and Scotty Bowman (1,244); Hitchcock's 1,322 games coached are ninth, and third among active coaches behind Quenneville (1,375) and the Stars' Lindy Ruff (1,329). Hitchcock also won the Jack Adams Award in 2012.


Ken Hitchcock: "I need time. I need time to reflect right now. I need some time to evaluate right now what I've done, what I've accomplished and what's happened to us both positive, a lot of it, and the negative, which goes along with the territory. I feel like I've let people down right now and I need to think about that and what needs to improve. I want time and space to evaluate it. I'll sit down with Doug, and Doug's right, we've been together a long period of time. I know how good a coach I am. I know what I can do. But I want some time. This is a really emotional time for me because I feel a real connection to the community. I need to just step back and evaluate where this thing's at."