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Ken Hitchcock is now, formally, a legend of the sport.
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The previous coach was chosen Wednesday by the Hockey Corridor of Fame to be a part of their 2023 class of inductees.
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Initially from Edmonton, Hitchcock, 71, first rose to prominence as coach of the dominant Kamloops Blazers within the WHL.
In six seasons with Kamloops, Hitchcock’s Blazers went, 291—125—15 file, the second greatest file in WHL historical past.
In 1990, he joined the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant coach. In 1993-94, he was employed by the Dallas Stars to teach their AHL affiliate in Kalamazoo. Stars GM Bob Gainey had been teaching the NHL workforce as properly, however halfway by means of 1995-96 resigned as coach — he remained as GM — and promoted Hitchcock to the NHL bench.
Starting together with his first full season in 1996-97, Hitchcock led the Stars to 5 straight division titles, the convention ultimate in 1998 after which gained the Stanley Cup in 1999, defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six video games.
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This could show to be the excessive level of an NHL teaching profession that spanned three many years.
He turned Mike Modano and Brett Hull into 200-foot gamers, though Hull was mentioned to have complained each step of the best way concerning the relentless method.
The defensively-minded Hitchcock was fired by Dallas in the course of the 2001-02 season, however was employed by Philadelphia the following season. His Flyers made the Jap Convention ultimate in 2004.
He was fired early within the 2006-07 season by the Flyers, however was shortly employed by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He lasted as Columbus’ coach till the 2009-10 season, however made the playoffs simply as soon as.
The St. Louis Blues employed him earlier than the 2011-12 season and he guided the Blues to the playoffs every season, making the convention ultimate in 2016.
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“He’s type of a, ‘I’m not mad, I’m simply upset, ‘kind of man and that hurts much more,” former Blues winger David Backes as soon as informed Postmedia. “He’s like a dad that’s upset in his children. He says: ‘That is unacceptable, we’re higher than this, I do know we’re.’ That type of stings your competitiveness.”
After the Blues received off to a mediocre begin in 2016-17, he was let go as coach.
He coached the Stars once more for a solitary season in 2017-18, then introduced his retirement on the finish of the season
However he was satisfied to return to the bench by the Edmonton Oilers the following fall and changed Todd McLlellan 20 video games into the 2018-19 season, however couldn’t information a younger Edmonton squad to the playoffs.
“The massive change is we’ve blown by means of millennials now — we’re into the ‘I’ era,” Hitchcock mentioned throughout his Edmonton season. “That is essentially the most ready group of athletes I’ve ever seen in my life. You must inform them all the things. Even earlier than you end your dialog, you need to inform them what’s in it for them, as a result of they’re not going to purchase in if you happen to don’t inform them what to do and the way.
“You’ve received to elucidate that and be actual clear what the endgame is.”
— with information from Ben Kuzma
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Originally posted 2023-06-21 19:54:04.