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A Brave New World for Hitchcock |
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All Ken Hitchcock wanted to do was coach.
He dabbled in the scouting world for a month for the Flyers, and frankly he hopes he never has to do it again.
I checked in with him several times since he was fired on Oct. 21 and every time he was on a scouting trip he would remind me just how demanding of a job it was.
And inevitably, every time we talk he would say, "Anth, I just want to coach. That's all."
Well, he got his wish.
Hired Wednesday by the last place Columbus Blue Jackets, Hitchcock will have to do something he's never done before - take over a youthful, last place squad, and make them a legitimate contender in the NHL.
"I'm excited by the opportunity. I never did this before," Hitchcock told me not 20 minutes after signing his new three year deal.
Speaking of the deal, Hitchcock said it took less than an hour to come to a contract agreement.
"I told them to just give me the same deal I had in Philadelphia," he said.
That means, he'll be in Columbus for three years and make approximately $1.1 million per season.
When Hitch said he "had never done this before" he menat take a team going nowhere fast and try to build it in his image and make it a good hockey team.
In Dallas and in Philadelphia, he took over veteran teams that were in messy situations and quickly built a Stanley Cup winner in one town and a legitimate Cup contender in another town.
But, starting from the ashes, he's had no experience. "It's going to be a new world for me. I don't know a lot of the guys on this team and I'll have to see what I have to work with starting tomorrow."
There are players he is familiar with. He coached against guys like Sergei Fedorov and Adam Foote while he was in Dallas and Fredrik Modin when the Flyers and Lightning had their rivalry brewing a few years back.
And he has coached Rick Nash with Team Canada internationally and spent time with rookie Gilbert Brule during the lockout when he made a tour of junior hockey practices in Canada.
Of course, the big story is, his first game will be against the team that just fired him - the Flyers - Friday afternoon at the Wachovia Center.
Hitchcock was apprehensive about having his first game be against the Flyers, wanting to show a little loyalty to his former team. However he received the blessing of Flyers chairman Ed Snider, and now it's time to leave the past behind.
Still, Hitchcock is going to be a bit on edge come Friday.
I said, "Hitch, we're really looking forward to Friday now."
His reply?
"I'm not."
All good feelings about Hitchcock being back in the game aside, the Blue Jackets players are in for a rude awakening.
Any lollygagging that has taken place in their practices and their games will no longer be tolerated. Hitchcock will be a task master and the players better adapt to it quick or be prepared to look for a new job somewhere else.
See, Hitch is like Mr. Wolf from "Pulp Fiction." He's called in to solve problems. And if you are a problem in Columbus right now, you are going to be out of town soon.
The other interesting item will be to see how the relationship between Hitchcock and Columbus General Manager Doug MacLean develops.
Hitch told me he didn't know MacLean "other than to say hello," prior to his interview, so he wasn't sure how they would work together.
However, Someone from Columbus told me Hitchcock will have a very strong say in personnel decisions, meaning MacLean will have to pick the coach's brain before any transactions are consummated.
This may be MacLean's last chance to turn the Jackets into a winner, and if so, he's hitched himself to the right coach, no pun intended.
Tonight's Flyers-Sens game is now an afterthought. The two teams can set a record for most combined goals in the history of the league tonight and the first question every player is going to hear afterwards is - "What's it going to be like to play against Hitch on Friday?"
I excpect the most anticipated answer will come from Mike Richards, who really has no love lost for his former coach.
There'll be more on this in a lot of newspapers tomorrow, but I'll shamelessly plug my own.
You can read it at www.delcotimes.com
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