Ken Hitchcock Signed to 1 Year Contract

After losing out on the Mike Babcock sweepstakes, the St. Louis Blues decided to sign Ken Kitchcock to a one year contract. A one year deal suggests Hitchcock has one more season to do well in the playoffs with the Blues or else. Captain David Backes sums up the situation nicely:

In the end, they came back and they said that Hitch is their guy and he’s got a one-year deal to prove that he can get a job done. I’ve got no issues with him. Does he ride guys hard and has he been on my case at times, where it’s made me angry? Yes. But he does it in the light of trying to make our team better, trying to make each individual player better.

As a head coach, Hitchcock has the NHL’s best regular season record (175-79-27) in his four year tenure with the Blues. After another early round playoff exit by St. Louis, general manager Doug Armstrong looked elsewhere for a coach, but failed to get Babcock. All-time in the playoffs, Hitchcock has made 13 Stanley Cup Playoff appearances (76-72). In 1999, he won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars.

Do you think Ken Hitchcock is capable of getting St. Louis its first ever Stanley Cup?