Tim Panaccio: Lavy's New Deal
- tpanaccio
Coach Ken Hitchcock will get his chance to see what he can do with an interesting mix of youngsters and veterans on the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Flyers announced Monday that they have signed Hitchcock to a three-year extension. Hitchcock was in the final year of his original four-year contract.
It was the last piece of important business to be wrapped up by general manager Bob Clarke before the start of the NHL season. Last week Clarke signed forward Simon Gagne and the club solved its problem with the captaincy by handing Peter Forsberg the job.
"I think it's the final piece of stability we were hoping to have at the start of training camp,'' Clarke said in a statement. ``Actually, it was my own fault, because it took me longer to sign a couple players.''
Forsberg admitted it will be good to have Hitchcock signed.
"I enjoyed playing for him last year, and I think he's a great coach,'' said Forsberg. "He is really detailed and knows a lot about the game. Hopefully it will be three good years.''
Hitchcock was also pleased to get the deal done.
"I really want to be here to see this thing through,'' Hitchcock told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We've got a lot of great young kids coming up.
"We've got a good nucleus,'' he added, naming Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Joni Pitkanen and R.J. Umberger. ``I want to coach these players and see them grow in the future.''
"I think it's good for our club,'' said Carter. "He's obviously a good coach, and has proved that in the past and now. It's going to be good for us to build something here for a few years longer.''
Hitchcock has been with the Flyers since 2002 and led the team to within one win of the Eastern Conference final in 2004.
The 54-year-old from Edmonton won a Stanley Cup as coach of the Dallas Stars in 1999.
Meanhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced the team will not choose a captain this year, following Monday's practice at the Moncton Coliseum.
"As an organization, we decided this year not to have a captain. We won't have one captain,'' said Pittsburgh head coach Michel Therrien. "The biggest reason why is for all of the respect for Mario Lemieux and what he did for this franchise and for this hockey team. We are going to do what we did last year when Mario retired (and just have alternate captains). This is our plan.''
The Penguins have yet to choose their alternate captains. Sidney Crosby, Sergei Gonchar, Mark Recchi, Josef Melichar and John LeClair are the returning players on the roster who wore an ``A'' at some point last season.
Could a captain emerge from the group eventually this season?
"We'll see,'' Therrien said.
