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
gave power
They live off the power play and we gave them power plays. That's what is really disappointing.
hard knew power
They are never out of it because of their power play. We knew that if they got the (power play) chances, they are going to be hard to play against.
against beginning concern critical game goal good great lose penalties period played poor power second special teams three took
First of all we took some poor penalties at the beginning of the second period to let them in the game. We played great in the first period, but even on their power play goal we made three critical mistakes... There are two things that really concern me right now. Against the good teams we lose the special teams game and when you can't kill a penalty, that's a big concern.
couple decisions eventually people players plays power skilled tired
You give skilled players that many power plays and eventually you are going to get some people tired and that is what happened. We made a couple of tired decisions at the end.
high minus power slump work
This isn't a slump. We competed at a high level; we just got beat. A slump is when you're not working. Work isn't the problem. We were minus on the power play again, and that's the game.
eight energy hard nine penalties players power rhythm seven
When you have as many penalties as we've got going on right now, it's really hard to keep a rhythm on power play. We try to play as many units as we can, because if we're going to get seven or eight or nine power plays, it's hard to keep that energy because players get tired.
adjustment both couple hopefully lose people played playing power weeks
There are a lot of new people playing there. You have people on the power play who haven't played there all year, and those things are going to happen. Hopefully in a couple weeks we'll be a lot better, but when you lose both your quarterbacks, you're going to have an adjustment phase.
beat dealing eight eliminate fire giving level natural people players power reaction seven team
You are just dealing with an unbelievable level of fire when you're giving a team like that six, seven or eight power plays. You're not going to beat that team. You have to eliminate the reaching-in penalties. I know it's a natural reaction for most players but we've got to have the people that are doing it, not do it.
difference game gap great momentum played plays power shifted start succession three
The difference was we had a great start to the game and played very well, but when they got their power plays, it shifted the momentum back their way. We did a lot of things really well today. Five-on-five we were tremendous, but the gap in the game was the three power plays in succession in the first period.
biggest fans goal stands sure
I'm sure the fans in the stands were, 'Oh no, here we go again. I think for us, that was the biggest goal of the series.
change guy job three
I know a guy like Simmer, he could do the same job as two or three other guys, but it's working right now. I don't want to change it if it's working.
good happens hockey next playing start trying waiting weekend whatever
I know about playing back-to-backs, and they're up there waiting for us. Whatever happens in that game, if we play the right way, we'll feel good about it. You don't want to start next weekend trying to find your hockey game.
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.
buffalo deal game win
It's something we'll have to deal with. Yeah, we wanted (home ice). Hopefully, it won't become a factor. We know we have to win at least one game in Buffalo and probably more.