St. Louis Blues fire Davis Payne, hire Ken Hitchcock as head coach
by Dirk Hoag on Nov 6, 2011 10:08 PM EST
in Nashville Predators News
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PrintIn a surprising development this evening, the St. Louis Blues have abruptly fired head coach Davis Payne, and hired former Blue Jackets boss Ken Hitchcock. This, from NHL.com:
Pundits have considered St. Louis a potential breakthrough team each of the past two preseasons, but the Blues finished in 11th place in 2010-11 with 87 points. Armstrong made a franchise-changing trade in February, dealing No. 1 overall pick Eric Johnson to Colorado for Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk, and then added veterans Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner in free agency this offseason.
A big problem for the Blues this season has been special teams play. St. Louis is last in the League at just 7.5 percent on the power play, and the Blues' 73.8 percent on the penalty kill ranks 27th.
With a 6-7-0 record, and the club with key forwards Andy McDonald and David Perron on injured reserve, this seems to be a bizarre time for a shakeup. All eyes, obviously, have been on Columbus instead. Since taking over in St. Louis midway through the 2009-2010 season, Payne compiled a 4-2-2 record against the Predators, and it was expected that the Blues would have a good shot at returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
Looking forward, Hitchcock could indeed be the guy to get the Blues delivering on all that potential. During his 8 full seasons in Dallas and Philadelphia, he claimed 6 division championships, and the 1999 Stanley Cup with the Stars. Obviously his time in Columbus was not so distinguished... but can he turn the Blues into a real Central Division power?
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Maybe the Blues didn't want to see the Jackets hire Hitchcock first?
Could be the reason they made the move so abruptly. If Hitch can get their special teams in order, that’ll make a big difference. Getting MacDonald back is the biggest thing for them though. They miss him like we miss Fisher when he’s out of our lineup.
Defense keeps you in games........offense wins them!
by Grizzledbear on Nov 6, 2011 10:34 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Remember, Hitch was still employed by Columbus, so he’d need permission from the Blue Jackets to leave for this position.
Managing Editor of On the Forecheck, SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators, and founder of Hockey Gear HQ, a site devoted to hockey equipment and accessories.
I didn’t realize he was still getting paid by Columbus. That they didn’t put him back behind the bench in Cbus is a bit surprising considering what’s happened there.
Defense keeps you in games........offense wins them!
by Grizzledbear on Nov 6, 2011 10:59 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
the Blues Hitchcock blocked the the Blue Jackets!
60% of the time it works every time
by Creeping Death on Nov 6, 2011 10:37 PM EST reply actions 4 recs
rec'd
I tried to rec this comment but it gave it a flag for some reason. sorry.
I have to say, I didn’t expect Payne’s firing, nor thought they would jump to Hitchcock to replace him either. I think that Grizzledbear is right, that they didn’t want to wait and see Columbus jump to him. Injuries haven’t done them a big favor either, but looking at their record right now, compare that to the Preds in the GF/GA and W-L-OT and there’s not much difference between the two. It won’t take much to get them going, and Captain Kangaroo Ken Hitchcock could just be the defibrillator to accomplish that.
It didn't help that they fired the the only coach
who led them to anything. Now they want him back? Sorry.
They must not have liked him at all
How do you fire the coach when you are only a game and a half out of a playoff spot? Too late to string together a couple of games?
I think someone in management/ownership/whatever woke up and realized, “Holy &^, we’re the St. Louis Blues!” and fired the first person they saw who might be even partly responsible for this extremely unfortunate state of things.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts--for support rather than
illumination."
by Smashvillain on Nov 7, 2011 12:30 AM EST up reply actions
I haven't watched them
But they are only 2 games behind us, and 5-5 in their last 10. Are Carlyle, Babcock and Vigneault also on the chopping block for not-so-great starts? Were the Blues supposed to be a lock for the Cup this year?
As far as this year goes, I don’t have a lot to say one way or the other. Not horrible, not too good. What I do have something to comment on is the larger picture—STL has been to the playoffs once in the last six years, if my basic math hasn’t failed me. It’s a lot different to have an underwhelming start when your team has proven itself over a long time span.
It may not make a lot of sense to have fired him when they did…but when your team has been so bad for so long, perhaps it gets to the point where desperation sets in and any change is seen as very likely to be for the better.
I don’t know why he was really fired, and I wouldn’t have done that based on what I know, but someone else with some other set of information made that call…so who knows.
**And yes, they are only two games behind us, but that’s below .500, and good for 14th in the conference at the moment. But honestly, I suspect you hit the nail on the head the first time—this isn’t just about results, someone simply didn’t like him.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts--for support rather than
illumination."
If you're looking for an interesting little read
Go check out the Blues SBNation site (can’t remember what it’s called). The conversation going on there is pretty fascinating, and I think gives a lot of insight into what’s going on in St. Louis. I think the situation there is much worse than most people (or, at least, I) had thought. Most of their fans do NOT seem happy about getting Hitchcock.
Hands go uuppp..... AND THEY STAY THERE!
-nashvillepredators-
I don't think we'd be too terribly thrilled
if Hitchcock were our new coach. Not that he’s bad, just “you fired our coach for him?”
No kidding, I wouldn’t either. But apparently they’ve had coaches going through a revolving door since Jan. 2010… a lot of the issues that seemed to be coming up when I read the related conversation, however, were the off-ice behaviors of the young players, the inabilities of the coaches to make said players behave [specifically] off the ice, a serious lack of give-a-damn during games, little/poor leadership from the older players, etc. etc. etc.
Man, it would suck to be a Blues fan right now. They haven’t been doing terribly, which is why the move surprised me as much as it seemed to surprise the fans, but there seem to be a LOT of behind-the-scenes issues that are disrupting the core of the team. Thank God we don’t have to deal with that!
Hands go uuppp..... AND THEY STAY THERE!
-nashvillepredators-
You mean...
Arnott’s not acting like a leader to the young’uns…who would have guessed?
by HardCorePredFan316 on Nov 7, 2011 1:52 PM EST up reply actions
For another view, check out this link.
by Preds of State on Nov 7, 2011 2:43 AM EST up reply actions
Hehehe
:)
Suter, He's a home boy, and we be kickin' it all the time.
by Preds of State on Nov 7, 2011 3:20 AM EST up reply actions
is it sad that I listened to the whole thing even though I didn’t have to?
60% of the time it works every time
by Creeping Death on Nov 7, 2011 11:27 AM EST up reply actions
I really wish I hadn't clicked on this first thing in the morning
For so many reasons. First, I will never get that song out of my head. Second, the image is burned there as well.
by ILovethe#6CannonFire on Nov 7, 2011 7:43 AM EST up reply actions
That’s evil. Pure evil.
R.I.P. Belak, Rypien, Boogaard, Lokomotiv.
Part Predator, part Lightning.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEKKA!!!
I always look at the link before I click it.
Being the troublemaker I am, I can smell trouble 4 feet away.
So...
CAustin is only 4 feet tall…I get it now.. :D
by HardCorePredFan316 on Nov 7, 2011 1:53 PM EST up reply actions
I think we take for granted
that we have Trotz sometimes. I mean sure we disagree with things sometimes, and we may not be happy with everything he does, but he is still one of the best coaches in the league, and has been with us for the long haul. I love the fact that we don’t have to have the discussions that the blues are having right now at St. Lewis Game Time. Many are NOT that happy.
by Preds of State on Nov 7, 2011 2:34 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Hitch wore out his welcome in Philly and Columbus. I don’t see a welcoming sign coming out in St. Louis. He is hard nosed to be sure, but unlike Trotz, he doesn’t really care a whole lot about the players. The young ones on the team have likely tuned him out and he isn’t even there yet. Maybe we can get some Blues fans to switch to being Preds fans. St. Louis isn’t that far away, eh?
"I am you, you are me, and we are all together" Beatles
I’m guessing that both Arnott and Langenbrunner were asked what they thought about Hitch by GM Armstrong, as well as anyone else on the team who may have played for him at some point. The Blues have the talent, just need to get on the same page with each other.
Defense keeps you in games........offense wins them!
by Grizzledbear on Nov 7, 2011 2:42 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
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