When Ken Hitchcock took over the St. Louis Blues as head coach early in the 2011-12 season, the club had a record of six wins and seven losses. From that point on, Hitchcock guided a young and talented group to a 43-15-0 record and raised expectations for the future.
He has been living with those expectations ever since 2011-12.
Any discussion of Hitchcock as a coach has to include a major nod to the defensive side of the game. This article by NHL Whiteboard from early 2013 does an outstanding job of describing the strong attention to defensive detail involved in Hitchcock's scheme.
That defensive acumen remains to this day, with the Blues currently second overall in shots against per game this year.
The major issue for Hitchcock in St. Louis has been scoring enough goals to keep pace in the Western Conference. In 2011-12, the Chicago Blackhawks scored 2.94 goals per game compared to the Blues' 2.51. The gap remained strong in the 2012-13 season before St. Louis improved in 2013-14 to 2.92 goals per game.
The results in the postseason have remained the same, ...
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Article written by Allan Mitchell