Blues fire Hitchcock, promote Yeo

[CarltonTheBear]

[tweet]826792219654946816[/tweet]
www.twitter.com/StLouisBlues/status/826792219654946816

For those who didn't know, the Blues hired Yeo as an associate coach last June, with the intention that he would replace Hitchcock in 2017-18 after Hitch's contract expired. It was a really strange situation.

St. Louis has really struggled this season, largely because none of their goalies have a save percentage over .900. Jake Allen is at .895, a massive drop from his .920 save percentage last year when he platooned with Brian Elliott.

Hitchcock was also 1 win away from tying Al Arbour for 3rd place on the all-time coaches win list. It was speculated that he would retire after this season.

 

[Kin]

Kind of a crummy way for Hitch to go out but I guess they want to try and jump start their team.

 

[herman]

WTH.

Cue the Leafs signing Hitchcock as another associate?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Cue the Leafs signing Hitchcock as another associate?

I remember at the start of this season (after Yeo had already been hired to replace him) he was talking a little bit as if he wasn't ready to leave the game. I wondered then if he would consider a hockey job somewhere else, either as an assistant coach (if he didn't want the full responsibilities of a head coach anymore) or somewhere in a front office. His connection with Babcock would make that an intriguing possibility if that is the case.

 

[bustaheims]

Cue the Leafs signing Hitchcock as another associate?

I was thinking about that, but, I don't think that would be fair to Hitch or Babs. They're both head coaches, and, if they're going to be behind a bench, they're both going to want to be in charge. And, of course, any time the Leafs stumble, even with Babs' contract, there'll be speculation about Hitch stepping in, etc. A front office position might work - though, last time Hitch took one of those, it was clear that he was being brought in to eventually take over behind the bench.

 

[Kin]

I thought Hitchcock had said he was more or less done with coaching after this year.

 

[herman]

Cue the Leafs signing Hitchcock as another associate?

I was thinking about that, but, I don't think that would be fair to Hitch or Babs. They're both head coaches, and, if they're going to be behind a bench, they're both going to want to be in charge. And, of course, any time the Leafs stumble, even with Babs' contract, there'll be speculation about Hitch stepping in, etc. A front office position might work - though, last time Hitch took one of those, it was clear that he was being brought in to eventually take over behind the bench.

I was thinking more like Lemaire. Show up whenever you want to watch a game, and shoot the breeze with the coaching staff after. Involvement without the stress. 2010 Winter Olympics reunion all day, e'ryday.

We're swinging by tomorrow, and it's not like the charter is completely full. Should be nicer than a taxi.

Edit: I was thinking of the Special Assignment Coach term, rather than Associate (which is behind the bench)

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I thought Hitchcock had said he was more or less done with coaching after this year.

He said that in May when Yeo signed, but sort of left the door open just a tiny bit when Dreger asked him about it again in September.

 

[Kin]

I thought Hitchcock had said he was more or less done with coaching after this year.

He said that in May when Yeo signed, but sort of left the door open just a tiny bit when Dreger asked him about it again in September.

Either way I don't know that I buy that anyone would automatically make the leap from "the Leafs are struggling" to "Let's give the team from Babcock to a 65+ year old Hitchcock" even if he were brought on board.

Although I also think that there'd be a real limited value in bringing him on. I get that Shanahan isn't a believer of too many cooks but I do think there's a limit to the cumulative effect here.

 

[bustaheims]

I was thinking more like Lemaire. Show up whenever you want to watch a game, and shoot the breeze with the coaching staff after. Involvement without the stress. 2010 Winter Olympics reunion all day, e'ryday.

We're swinging by tomorrow, and it's not like the charter is completely full. Should be nicer than a taxi.

Edit: I was thinking of the Special Assignment Coach term, rather than Associate (which is behind the bench)

Something like that could work, though, like with Lemaire, I question the actual value to the team.

 

[herman]

Something like that could work, though, like with Lemaire, I question the actual value to the team.

For the most part, I was just being facetious. For a time, the Leafs were collecting older management/coaching like it was going out of style.

Thinking about it a bit more, I think he's a brain worth picking over a little bit.

Under Hitchcock, the Blues really finetuned the aggressive defenseman auto-pinch that the Leafs employ. Summing up Hitchcock's tenure with the Blues, they're in the top 5 for score/zone/venue adjusted CA60, FA60, SCA60 while still maintaining relatively high *F-%ages, all with a quietly above-average defense corps, so there's got to be something to his structure that we can take advantage of.

I don't think he'll be behind our bench in any capacity, per se, and I'm not advocating for it. He's pretty stubborn about forcing players to suit his style, especially compared to Babcock's adaptability.

 

[Bullfrog]

There's no more compensation for picking up coaches/executives, right?

 

[caver]

is Cliff Fletcher still on the Leaf payroll ?

 

[Bullfrog]

He sure is. He's the good ole' "senior advisor."

https://www.nhl.com/mapleleafs/team/management