Columbus Hires Hitchcock
By Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired

When Columbus Blue Jackets owner John H. McConnell asked general manager Doug MacLean to give him a recommendation for who should be the new coach, he receive exactly what he wanted – a proven winner.

The Jackets announced the hiring of Ken Hitchcock as the team’s new head coach Wednesday before the team played St. Louis in Nationwide Arena. TSN out of Canada is reporting that the deal is good for three years.

Hitchcock said what appealed to him about the Blue Jackets was more than their core of young players.

“It’s that, but it's also that they have veteran players who have won the Stanley Cup before, guys who know what it takes," he told the Associated Press. “They’ve got people like Sergei Fedorov, Adam Foote and Fredrik Modin who know what it takes to win.”

Ironically, Hitchcock will make his Blue Jackets debut behind the bench Friday in Philadelphia, the team that fired him last month. He is expected to lead the Jackets’ practice on Thursday and be introduced to the public afterward.

MacLean said it was a “no brainer” to hire Hitchcock, who has one of the top winning percentages over the last 10 seasons.

“This is a tough move and at the same time a good move,” he said. “He’s a winner. He pushes people to the limit and we have a lot of guys that need to be pushed. We have young players that have to learn how to win and we need to change the culture and I think (Hitchcock) is the guy to do it.”

Jackets captain Adam Foote played for Hitchcock, who was an associate coach during his stint on the Canadian National team that won the gold medal in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake. He said that Hitchcock will have players prepared every time they step on the ice.

“We were always one step ahead of our opponent.” Foote said. “He knows other teams and he knows the game. It’s about a team game and it’s going to be good for us.”

The team was not told about the hiring until after the game. Some did find out during television and radio interviews, but the players refused to use it as an excuse for the team’s performance in a 4-3 shootout loss to St. Louis Wednesday night.

Hitchcock, 54, has complied a 408-227-122 record during the regular season with Dallas and Philadelphia. His team have won six division titles and led the Stars to the 1999 Stanley Cup. In the playoffs, Hitchcock’s teams have compiled a 66-51 record in the playoffs.

While Hitchcock was in Dallas, the Stars went 277-160-60 through parts of five seasons. During that time, the team won five straight Central Division titles, two President’s Trophies and two Western Conference Championships. He holds a team franchise records for career wins (277), playoffs wins (47), regular season winning percentage (.610) and playoff winning percentage (.588). During the Stanley Cup winning season, the Stars set single-season records in wins, points and highest winning percentage with a 51-19-12 mark.

“He’s a proven winner,” Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire said. “He’s known around the league as a guy you have to work hard for, but that’s what we need. It’s a new start and hopefully it’s a start of something good.”

In May 2002, Hitchcock was named head coach of the Flyers. He led that team to a 131-73-50 record. From 2002-06, the team posted three straight 100-point seasons. The Flyers won the Atlantic Division title during the 2003-04 season and reached the Eastern Conference Finals.

“He wants to be a coach badly,” MacLean said. “I think he’s thorough, detailed, tough and demanding, but he’s still a student of the game.”

Jackets interim coach Gary Agnew will stay on as an assistant coach and looks forward to working with Hitchcock.

“Ken is a winning coach and I’m sure he will impart his winning ways on dealing with time and score and the little things in the game,” he said. “I’ve always maintained that I’m a company man and I’ll do whatever it takes for the team or organization to get the job done and to win.”

When asked if this was is last chance to pick a coach, MacLean said he had thick skin and that he wants to see his team win more than anyone else.

“I hope that I get to retire with the Blue Jackets and with Ken Hitchcock with the coach.” he said. “That would be a thrill of a lifetime and I hope we win a lot of games so that everyone is happy. I started the Blue Jackets from scratch and I want to see the Blue Jackets become a great franchise more than anybody on the face of the Earth. Trust me.”