Stars to name Hitchcock head coach

[sureLoss]

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Hearing word this am media conference to announce Ken Hitchcock as coach of the Stars could come as early as tomorrow

[Gaudfather]

Guess those rumours of his retirement from coaching were greatly exaggerated.

[Dr. Doom]

lol

[savardandjokinen]

He must've really wanted to go back to a team he has numbers with. Although Dallas needs to turn it around quickly or he will be out of the playoffs.

[Otto-matic]

Wonder if they contacted Sutter at all. He would have been a fantastic fit in Dallas.

[Erick Estrada]

What's old is new again. Safe hire I suppose. I guess he never wanted to retire after all and was getting pushed out.

[Robbob]

I think he is in the same boat as Keenan was. He has a legacy with his name but I don't think he will be as effective as a coach. It is a pre-retiring gig and everyone knows that. The players will start tuning him out a lot sooner knowing he will probably be out sooner rather than later or he will just be going through the motions. This is going to be STL all over again.

I think he would be more effective in a advisory role similar to what Bowman does with Chicago.

[Five-hole]

I dunno, it seems to me a Hitchcock-style system is what Dallas needs. Seems like a good hire to me.

[Robbob]

They built their team from the forward group back thinking they could out score their defensive and goal-tending woes. A new coach isn't going to solve that. It is no surprise after the veteran D left in the off season this team collapsed. Even the Oilers have figured out that you need to have stability in your zone if you want to succeed in this league.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

A new coach will DEFINITELY help the quality of their team defense, but obviously the personnel isn't amazing in Dallas.

However, there are goalies available on the market this year that are normally not available as UFAs. If they can find a way to get rid of one of their underperformers (Vegas draft?), then they have an opportunity to get a better starting goalie.

Hitchcock will have his work cut out for him, but I've seen horrible defensive teams turn that part of their game around overnight with the right coach and system. It depends on how coachable their star players are.

I'm a little surprised it happened this quickly after the season, but I guess they've been doing their homework since February when he was fired.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

What's old is new again. Safe hire I suppose. I guess he never wanted to retire after all and was getting pushed out.

or he was going to retire but wants to go out on his own terms.

[Flash Walken]

Gotta think the stars go all in on a goalie as well. Bishop?

[Young_Guns]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Gotta think the stars go all in on a goalie as well. Bishop?

I would think it's bound to happen.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Gotta think the stars go all in on a goalie as well. Bishop?

Yeah, you would think. They still have Niemi and Lehtonen both on the books next year though, for a combined $10.4 million cap hit.

Would have to buy at least one of them out.

I want Bishop on the Flames though, so I'm hoping they aren't in on him. The less teams competing for his services the better if BT goes after him.

[tsquared1967]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Gotta think the stars go all in on a goalie as well. Bishop?

Dallas signs Bishop and they have 3 goalies at around $15 million cap hit. Dallas still have both Finns under contract for next year. Need a team to take one of their current goalies or a buyout.

[Robbob]

If there is one time for Nill to overpay for something this is the time. They should do whatever they reasonably can to get Vegas to take Lehtonen.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by Robbob

If there is one time for Nill to overpay for something this is the time. They should do whatever they reasonably can to get Vegas to take Lehtonen.

Why would Vegas want Lehtonen? They're going to have the pick of the litter of goalies in the expansion draft; they could find someone better and/or cheaper than both of Dallas's washed up tandem.

[zukes]

Someone on NHL Network radio saw this coming a mile away, or at least a few days ago. I wish I could remember who.

[Jacks]

If Dal retains a bit of salary and adds an asset they might be able to work a swap with Pit, Niemi for Fleury.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

Why would Vegas want Lehtonen? They're going to have the pick of the litter of goalies in the expansion draft; they could find someone better and/or cheaper than both of Dallas's washed up tandem.

Given another asset it may be worth their while.