Some quick final thoughts on Ken Hitchcock

St Louis Blues v San Jose Sharks - Game Four

If you’re a regular here at Frozen Notes (a big “thank you” if you are), you may have seen that I took some time off for travel. I don’t travel often, but when I do big things tend to happen with the Blues. This theory once again proved to be true as Ken Hitchcock was released from his duties and Mike Yeo received an early promotion.

Back on January 22nd, I discussed that it was time for the Blues to move on from Hitchcock. It wasn’t the perfect solution, but it was the first step in what I hoped would be several steps which would lead the Blues back to a deep playoff run.

The Blues needed to cut ties with Hitchcock so that they could firmly evaluate the talent on the roster. That may sound kind of ridiculous (it is, they are adults being paid to give it their best), but it was clear that Hitchcock’s message wasn’t being received and he was no longer motivating as a head coach should motivate.

How is the front office expected to weigh the team’s needs when there are players following a flawed message? How can a trade be made when some players may grow by leaps and bounds through a coaching change?

The Blues could learn more about their players by bumping Yeo up early and that’s exactly what happened. So far, the early returns have been positive. That’s expected after a big change, so it’ll be interesting to see how things continue to play out.

Regardless, Hitchcock served the Blues well and it’s not his fault the Blues kept him long after his message grew stale.

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