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
carries confident guys mike motivated pro reminds younger
We just want the younger guys around confident people. Mike is a guy who doesn't need much direction. He's already motivated -- he reminds you of a 10-year pro the way he carries and handles himself.
coach deal everyday fingers fixing great problem quickly spend talked time
We talked this summer, and the one thing I told him is you find out pretty quickly you have to put a lot of fingers in dikes. You spend a great deal of your time just fixing everyday problems. That's kind of what a coach is, a problem solver.
colorado envision players protect scoring worked
I try to envision what worked in Colorado and the thing I know that worked there is that (Forsberg) had scoring players who could also protect the puck,
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.
game protect puck
We didn't protect the puck when the game was on the line, and that's disappointing.
checking game learn protect shut
When we protect a lead, what we still have to learn to do better is checking for 60 minutes. Sometimes we let up and we need to learn how to shut a game down.
flashes looking needs players playoffs pro start stepping third year
He needs to have a big year. It's his third year pro and that's usually when players start stepping ahead. He showed flashes in the (Calder Cup) playoffs and now all we're looking for is consistency.
blow eye eyes problems ruled
His eye was pretty swollen. A concussion has been ruled out, but who's to say when you get a blow like that? He has problems with his vision. His eyes get heavy.
competent develop everybody extra feeling gets good level opportunity players pressure proper skating skill special terrific
He's real impressive. His skill level and his skating level are incredible. I think that he's a special player, but I don't think there is much extra pressure on him right now. I think right now he's able to find his own level because we are competent back there. We have good players back there so he's going to be able to develop at the proper pace. But when you have a player who is that strong, everybody gets excited. And I think we are all feeling like this is a terrific opportunity for him and the franchise.
fighting talked
We talked about fighting right to the end. We did and we got two points.
game jon saw sharp
We just saw Jon Sim in one game and it was excellent, so we know that has potential, and that's a place where Sharp may play some minutes.
love player reckless seems success type
We just love his competitiveness. He's a reckless player, and that type of player seems to have a lot of success in the NHL right now.
bit emotional goal hit loss needed quite seemed three took
We just had an emotional week, and I think yesterday's loss took quite a bit out of us. We hit three goal posts, and we seemed to not have the energy, especially offensively, to do the things we needed to do.
game hockey pay prepared price start team toronto win
We weren't prepared to pay the price to win the hockey game at the start and when you give a team like Toronto a sniff, they're going to make you pay a price.