Ken Hitchcock
Ken Hitchcock
Kenneth S. Hitchcock, nicknamed "Hitch", is an NHL hockey coach and pro scout, currently coaching the St. Louis Blues. He has also served as head coach of the NHL's Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, and Columbus Blue Jackets. He coached the Stars to a Stanley Cup victory in 1999...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth17 December 1951
CityEdmonton, Canada
absolutely advantage game high home ladder playoffs
For us right now, getting home-ice advantage in the playoffs is absolutely critical. We want to get as high up the ladder as we can because of how competitive it is right now. Every home game we get as an advantage is important.
advantage business care high home ice inside ladder playoffs
We've got to take care of business inside our division. For us right now, getting home ice advantage in the playoffs is critical. We want to get as high up the ladder as we can.
advantage captain direction firm locker necessary thinking
When things are going really well, you're thinking that it's not necessary (to have a captain). But when things aren't going as well, you need to have firm direction in the locker room. ... If you have a captain with experience, why not take advantage of it?
advantage best flat game great guys healthy montreal next played start state talk took yesterday
This is the state were in right now. We played great yesterday and didn't get rewarded. We had a flat start to this game. Montreal took advantage and scored 5-on-3. They took advantage of our mistakes. We have to regroup. We have to get some healthy guys back in our lineup. We didn't play our best game today. We have some things we have to talk about in the next 48 hours.
advantage came flat great loss mistakes played rewarded took yesterday
We played great yesterday (Saturday in a 4-3 loss to the Rangers), didn't get rewarded and came back and we had a flat start. They took advantage of our mistakes today.
advantage poured saw six team took
They were the better team over the six games. They took advantage of us and they poured it on when they saw that they had the advantage.
advantage deserved fate good mistake mistakes seemed team teams ton took
It seemed like every mistake we made went in our net. We deserved a better fate. We had a ton of things go right. We out-shot them. We out-chanced them. We outplayed them, but they're an opportunistic team and they took advantage of the mistakes we made. That's what good teams do.
expect game hard home living team wore
I thought we got better as the game wore on. When you're killing back-to-back-to-back penalties, it's hard to get momentum. That's living dangerously. You can't expect a team at home to go 0-for-9 again.
concern game great performance waste win wore
I thought we got better as the game wore on. I think the concern is you don't want to waste a great performance by a goalie. You need your goalie to win those games.
finished hockey performed responsibility
I think we were overwhelmed the first 10 minutes. That's my responsibility. We were embarrassed, embarrassed by the way we performed and embarrassed by the way we finished the hockey game.
feeling lets locker nobody stay team tremendous wants
I think there's a tremendous feeling of team in the locker room. Nobody wants to be the person that lets the other person down right now. If you stay with that feeling, you can take a long run.
checking job later ourselves periods position scoring third timing travel
I thought we were a little lethargic during the first two periods with all the travel we've done. Our timing was better and our checking a lot better in the third period. We did a better job of getting ourselves into a scoring position later in the game.
built cannot emotional focus hard hoping physical playing second setting team
I think everyone is hoping physical play will be allowed. Our team is built that way. You cannot play in an emotional setting without getting physical. Over 82 (regular-season) nights, there are times it's hard to get physical. But when your focus is on playing the same team every second night, it's hard not to get physical.
breaking kids played
We're breaking in a lot of kids who haven't played at this level.