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
athlete daily stuff trying
The stuff he's doing is ongoing. It's ongoing, on a daily basis. He's trying to play. He's not going to play (today), that's for sure. He's an athlete trying to get better.
coaching eyes happens ice job open percent putting stuff team whether wide
About 25 percent of your job is coaching the team on the ice and about 75 percent of your job is all of the stuff that happens off the ice, whether it be preparation or putting out fires. I think he's going in with his eyes wide open about that.
coaching everybody loaded mistakes picture stuff team upset
If our team was loaded and had everybody in it and we were making the mistakes we're making now, you'd have a very upset coaching staff. But there's big picture stuff going on and we've got to keep it realistic.
building committed facility fans players practice quality second stuff talk winning
It's quality of life. The players already know the building is full, the building is loud, the fans are knowledgeable, the organization is committed to winning and the practice facility is second to none. Players talk about that stuff all the time.
bizarre
It was a really hard, really bizarre game.
category lead league nature
It's the nature of our season. We're in first place in one category. We lead the league in the unfortunate category of injuries.
plus
It's huge. He's a point-a-game guy, a big-time plus player.
pulled saw sore talking
He has a sore groin. I saw him talking to the trainers so I pulled him out.
checking checks dangerous hockey injuries player puck ready suspect type
That's a dangerous play in hockey when you're checking the player with the puck and he checks you. The checking player doesn't suspect that and he's not ready for it. I think you see a lot of injuries when that type of play happens.
bizarre hard
That was a hard, bizarre game. It was really hard and it was really, really bizarre.
dealing eight fire game giving good level penalties period rules seven team third took
It's still not good enough. We know the rules and we took two penalties in the third period that we can't take, not when the game is on the line. You're just dealing with an unbelievable level of fire when you're giving a team like that six, seven or eight penalties.
allowed biggest bit chasing difference game lead
I think the biggest difference for us was that we got the lead. We weren't chasing the game. We had the lead the whole game. It allowed us to play our game a little bit better. I think that was the biggest difference.
decision difficult easier ground hard playing proving team win
I think the proving ground is when we play this way, we have success. It's a hard way to play. It's difficult and very demanding. The decision you have to make as a team is do you want to play this way and win or do you want to find an easier way to play and take your chances? They like playing and winning.
absolutely controlled guys hockey played tempo wonderful
He was absolutely dominant, ... He controlled the tempo and played a wonderful hockey game. A lot of guys did.