The Blues entered the 2016-17 season with Ken Hitchcock behind the bench and Mike Yeo waiting close by with the intention of taking over ahead of 2017-18. The belief was that should the Blues stumble, the club could easily cut Hitchcock and move on to Yeo early since he’s already locked up and ready to assume the position.
Hitchcock’s leash was supposed to be pretty short. It was believed to be short mostly due to his mismanagement and questionable decisions over the past several seasons, but also because his replacement would be literally standing next to him every game.
Now that the Blues are tumbling down through the standings and look as aimless as ever, one has to wonder when the Blues will start making changes. The most necessary changes won’t be easy ones and involve the players on the ice, but the easiest one to start with involves the head coach and could help pave the way for future changes.
The Blues have more problems than I have time to write about, but one problem could be immediately addressed by kicking Hitchcock out early. Why are the Blues always so flat to start a game? It’s on the players to play their best, but it’s on the head coach to rally the troops and create strategies to give the team the best start possible. Based on how the Blues have started of late (they’re giving up the first goal as consistently as they’ve done anything else this year), the message from the coach has grown stale. In fact, Hitchcock’s message was believed to have been stale last season and yet the Blues kept him around for some reason.
Firing Hitchcock isn’t the change the Blues need most, but it wouldn’t hurt and it could call in a new era for the Blues which would hopefully also include other more significant moves. If Yeo is standing there and ready to go, what are the Blues waiting for? How many bad results will it take for the Blues to finally admit there’s a problem?
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