Hitchcock fired

[erikk3]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Did a very poor job of fixing that for you

[Flash Walken]

Eric D:

Just about every news conference that follows a coaching change produces the same bland, boilerplate language – the “yadda yadda yadda” of Seinfeld.

On his way out the door, the newly unemployed coach is lauded for his diligent efforts; for his contributions to player development; and for the overall stamp he left on the organization.

Most times, you’re left wondering: Why did they fire this coaching paragon anyway? It usually sounds like he should have gotten a raise instead.

But on Wednesday, in announcing that he had replaced Ken Hitchcock behind the bench with coach-in-waiting Mike Yeo, St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong made a fascinating point about why his team is flailing away in the NHL’s Central Division this season. According to Armstrong, the Blues have lost all sense of team identity and have morphed into a collection of “independent contractors.”

Now, most people would have been content to discuss whether Hitchcock had been done in by the goaltending struggles of Jake Allen and/or Carter Hutton; or if he’d “lost” the dressing room because of his unrelenting methods.

But Armstrong, a long-time executive who won the Stanley Cup with Hitchcock and the 1999 Dallas Stars, upped the ante considerably by shifting the discussion to selfish play.

He understands that being an independent contractor is a fact of life in today’s NHL – and that the notion cuts both ways. When former Blues captain David Backes left as a free agent to join the Boston Bruins in the summer and Troy Brouwer left to sign with the Calgary Flames, they did so partly to enhance their wealth, but also because the Blues made the financial decision to let them go rather than squeeze their demands into their salary-cap structure and make changes elsewhere.

So the Blues lost two of their edgiest players and two essential pieces of their identity.

Philosophically, Hitchcock always relied on his leadership group to act as a liaison between the coaching staff and the dressing room. Backes – a smart, glib facilitator – did yeoman’s service there, helping to keep the peace when unhappiness threatened to bubble to the surface.

For most of their years under Hitchcock, the Blues played the same essential style as the Los Angeles Kings. They were a hard team to play against, one that would grind you down physically. In theory, their take-no-prisoners style was supposed to pay dividends in the playoffs (which it did for Los Angeles, but not for St. Louis).

As the Blues saw their championship window closing, they refreshed their roster, this summer making it younger and putting more emphasis on speed and less on size. Nail Yakupov came in. Robby Fabbri’s minutes were upped. But in moving to a different type of team, the Blues were no longer the same fearsome opponent. Talent remains – in Vladimir Tarasenko, in Jaden Schwartz, in Colton Parayko and in older players such as Paul Stastny, Alex Pietrangelo and Alexander Steen.

But fundamentally, they lost their way.

the rest of the article is a great read.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle33873548/

[chockfullofgoodness]

How about a link, Flash? Looks like a good read.

[chockfullofgoodness]

For better or worse, a coach’s IQ is almost always linked to his goaltender’s save percentage

I love that.

[Locke]

There are only two 'yaddas.'

[4X4]

And there's only one 'd' per yada.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by habernac

Yeo takes over immediately.

Put March 7 on your calendar, Yeo returns to Minnesota as the Blues play the Wild.

[Azhouse]

Or not...

[PepsiFree]

Has there ever been a sequence of events in the NHL where coach 1 gets fired, then coach 2 gets fired and is replaced by coach 1 within a 1 month period during the season? or even in a season period?

Seems like it would be bush-league

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Has there ever been a sequence of events in the NHL where coach 1 gets fired, then coach 2 gets fired and is replaced by coach 1 within a 1 month period during the season? or even in a season period?

Seems like it would be bush-league

Pretty sure that's what happened with Darryl Sutter when he came here from San Jose.

EDIT: Yep, fired on Dec 1 by the Sharks, Gilbert fired Dec 3, Sutter hired Dec 28 by the Flames.

[GioforPM]

This was a dumb scenario from the get go by the Blues. I'm pretty sure Hitch's "one more year" was based in part on management never seeming to trust him. So they get Yeo but they don't exude confidence in him either, making him wait. So the players have an interim guy in whom management doesn't have a lot of confidence and a future guy in whom management doesn't have a lot of confidence.

[PepsiFree]

Huh, well there you go

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Locke

There are only two 'yaddas.'

Originally Posted by 4X4

And there's only one 'd' per yada.

Oxford English Dictionary gives three ‘yaddas’ with two Ds each, and traces the origin of the expression to the 1940s.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/de...da_yadda_yadda

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Oxford English Dictionary gives three ‘yaddas’ with two Ds each, and traces the origin of the expression to the 1940s.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/de...da_yadda_yadda

Balderdash haberdashery!

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

The Flames are 23rd in the NHL and 10th in a brutally-easy Western Conference and 6th in a dismal Pacific Division. They are only technically in a playoff spot because other teams with better P% have games in hand.

How can you be 10th in the conference and in a playoff spot?

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Oxford English Dictionary gives three ‘yaddas’ with two Ds each, and traces the origin of the expression to the 1940s.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/de...da_yadda_yadda

Pfft. Oxford dictionary. They think they know yada yada? Well they don't. Probably don't know squat about masters of domains, marine biologists, sponges, or nazis, either.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Pfft. Oxford dictionary. They think they know yada yada? Well they don't. Probably don't know squat about masters of domains, marine biologists, sponges, or nazis, either.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0697814/

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Pretty sure that's what happened with Darryl Sutter when he came here from San Jose.

EDIT: Yep, fired on Dec 1 by the Sharks, Gilbert fired Dec 3, Sutter hired Dec 28 by the Flames.

Boudreau to Anaheim was even faster. Fired by the Caps on November 28, 2011 and hired by Anaheim on November 30.

Related to that, Carlyle was fired by the Ducks on November 30, 2011 and hired by Toronto on March 2, 2012.