The dust is still settling on the Blues’ third-round playoff exit, but it’s never too early to start looking ahead and planning for the 2016-17 season. The Blues have a ton of questions to address and one of the most significant ones involves head coach Ken Hitchcock. Hitchcock is coming off of a one-year deal in which he led the Blues to a 107-point regular season and their deepest playoff journey in 15 years. Despite the successes, the team and its fans want more.
Should the Blues bring back Hitchcock?
[polldaddy poll=9430271]Hitchcock has his fair share of critics. His use of Vladimir Tarasenko in the early rounds as well as his inability to adapt and evolve in real-time situations were a major point of concern. Hitchcock teams often deploy a strategy and stick with it throughout a game, regardless of the results. That approach tends to work well in the regular season, but in the playoffs it’s disastrous. The Blues were nearly bounced in the first two rounds as the opposing coaches adjusted and the Blues stood pat.
Can Hitchcock take the team to an even higher level in 2016-17? Will the players from 2015-16 who stick around into 2016-17 respond well to Hitchcock? There were several instances reported throughout the year in which players grew tired of Hitchcock’s same, repeated message.
The decision won’t be easy, but it’ll be interesting to see what fans think about the topic.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
