On Wednesday morning Saint Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock was relieved of his duties. The head coach had been a part of the Saint Louis franchise for 6 years and posted a great regular season record with the blue notes of 248-124-41. While that record was well above 500 and the Blues consistently finished 1st to 2nd in their division every year Hitchcock was coaching playoff success never came for Hitchcock. Last year the Blues reached the western conference finals but that is as far as they ventured into lord Stanley’s playoffs in Hitchcocks tenure.
The Most notable coaching failure Hitchcock had was the 2013-14 season when the Blues acquired Ryan Miller and had massive success in the regular season finishing second in the division. Though the Blues were heavy playoff favorites but lost 4-2 in the first round to the Chicago Blackhawks. The next year a messy break up with Miller ensued but the Blues finished first in the division. Again though playoff success was elusive as the Blues were beat by the Minnesota Wild 4-2 in the first round. The Blues are just doing this today but it felt a bit inevitable especially if the Blues lacked playoff success this year.
Former Minnesota coach Mike Yeo takes over as the head coach of the Blues. This is good news for the Blues. Yeo has had a lot of success in the post season upsetting the aforementioned 2014 blues and the Avalanche in 2013.
Yeo has inherited a young talented roster. The Blues are currently in the last western conference wild card spot. Fans shouldn’t despair though Yeo is talented and if Saint Louis makes the playoffs no matter what seed they have they will have a chance.