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St. Louis Blues Rumors: Blues In Running For Mike Babcock?

ByKate Cimini|

According to Scottrade General and MLive.com, St. Louis Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong is likely to meet with Mike Babcock after his return from Worlds this week to make the Blues’ case.

The information indicates Babcock is looking for $30 million over six years, which is a pretty penny to spend on a coach, but would be well worth it if it brought the Stanley Cup to St. Louis next season. And the Blues may be that desperate.

Nick Cotsonika of Yahoo Sports reports that the Red Wings have offered Babcock $3 million a year, making him the highest-paid coach in the NHL, but that he believes he could make more elsewhere, along with a better opportunity to win another Cup.

And with Ken Hitchcock leading the Blues to a first-round failure in late April, the position of head coach may well be open in St. Louis.

This has not been confirmed, with Hitcock telling media members that he needed “time to think” on locker room cleanout day, but the evidence suggests that Hitch may, and possibly should, be on his way out.

Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun made the case late last week that Ken Hitchcock and Mike Babcock are not so incomparable, coaching-wise, and that Hitchcock may even be the better coach, records-wise, and simply suffering from misperception. Simmons writes,

"The Blues have been something of a playoff disaster under Hitchcock — that is the why his job is on the line — winning only 10 of 27 post-season games in his time in St. Louis and getting eliminated three times in a row in the first round."
"The much-coveted Babcock, who will be paid more money than any coach in NHL history when he signs his new deal, has coached 31 playoff games in the same period: His Red Wings have won 12 of them."
"The not-necessarily coveted Hitchcock, whom sources indicate will likely return to the Blues once the playoff disappointment has quieted, has little bargaining power, unless he chooses to walk away."

While Simmons makes a strong case, and the numbers often have the final say, Hitchcock’s failure to bring the Blues past the second round in the postseason during his tenure as head coach speaks for itself.

The Cup Hitchcock won was not in St. Louis, while the year Babcock’s name was engraved on Lord Stanley was one he spent in Detroit. We also cannot afford to overlook the fact that Babcock’s Cup win was more recent than Hitchcock’s by almost a decade.

Ken Hitchcock hasn’t seen the Conference Finals since the 2003-2004 season, while Mike Babcock last saw them in the 2010-2011 season. A while for him as well, to be sure, but the disparity between the two is drastic.

And, even more importantly, in my opinion, Babcock seems to gel well with his players. His players seem to address their concerns with him directly, rather than feeling that they need to go through other channels such as the media.

If the Blues have the opportunity to pull Mike Babcock away from Detroit and other clubs looking to hire him (Buffalo, Edmonton and Toronto have all expressed interest at one point or another), they absolutely should. While the St. Louis club has issues that go beyond coaching and possibly into dressing-room leadership, it’s a chance for a fresh start and an opportunity to figure out what kinds of shifts to make, player-wise.

The Blues have a lot of talent on the roster, and a wide span of players who theoretically should be able to take the Blues through the postseason. They range from the hard-working checking line of Ott, Goc, and Reaves, to the mid-season stars of Oshie and Pietrangelo to the superstar talents of Tarasenko and Shattenkirk.

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If Armstrong were to add Mike Babcock’s deft style of coaching into the mix, even without any changes in the roster over the summer, the fans would see a completely different team hit the ice in October. And, I’m willing to bet, one that has some longevity in it.

Should Babcock come on, Hitchcock would likely leave, or — and this would be very interesting — take a different position within the organization. Hitchcock has had a lot of success as an assistant coach, and with his defensive know-how Hitchcock would be incredibly useful behind the bench. He, in fact, was Mike Babcock’s assistant coach during the 2014 winter Olympics, and as such, already has a good working relationship with Babcock and in fact won a gold medal alongside him.

While it’s definitely possible that Hitchcock would choose to leave the organization rather than accept a demotion, there’s no reason why we can’t dream about having the best of both worlds.

Come on, Army. Let’s add Mike Babcock to the Blues.

Next: Without Babcock Blues Forfeit Next Season

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