The Blues’ contract negotiations with Ken Hitchcock were anything but orthodox. The Blues briefly pursued Mike Babcock before ultimately falling back on Hitchcock and giving him a new contract. Though it may sound like Hitchcock was the backup plan, the Blues still had to fend off other teams interested in talking to the coach.
According to Jeremy Rutherford, at least one team requested permission to talk to Hitchcock. The Blues denied the request.
“I was told that, yes, the Blues were asked by another team for permission to talk to Hitchcock, but they were denied. I thought it might be Edmonton or Buffalo, but that was never confirmed.”
There’s no indication which team asked for permission to speak to Hitchcock, but it illustrates that the 63-year-old coach is still in demand around the NHL.
Fans who were hoping to see the coach get the boot are probably going to be upset by this news, but it’s time to turn the attention towards the roster and the necessary changes the Blues need to make in order to avoid another year of embarrassment.
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