St. Louis Blues Head Coaching Conundrum Soon To End

While we at Bleedin’ Blue have been shooting each other emails and texts left and right, dreaming of the day when Mike Babcock came to St. Louis, we all knew it was a long shot. The St. Louis Blues might have the talent necessary for Babcock’s win-now attitude, but his relationship with his Team Canada assistant coach, the Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock, made it unlikely that he would supplant his friend and colleague.

According to TSN reporter Darren Dreger, the Blues were out of the running two days ago for Babcock, which means hyperventilating in a parking lot yesterday was all for naught.

Source says Babcock told Blues 2 days ago he was out. Things change? If not, the Leafs may have won the sweepstakes
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 20, 2015

So where does that leave us with Hitchcock? Rutherford reported that Hitchcock and Armstrong met for an hour early Wednesday afternoon but nothing discussed at the meeting was made public. At this point, all we have is speculation.

Notable names around the league include John Tortorella (who A. P. Andes insists he’s ready for), former Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, former Sabres coach Adam Oates, and the current Bruins coach, Claude Julien. The new GM of the Bruins, Don Sweeney, said that he would sit down with Julien soon to have a meeting of the minds, but finished on the ominous note that Julien was the “coach of the Boston Bruins as of today.”

We already knew that, Sweeney, and your emphasis makes us wonder about what you have planned.

More from Editorials

Hitchcock’s contract runs out next month, and the fact that the Blues were sniffing around Babcock probably indicates that, should Hitchcock re-sign with St. Louis, it will be for a shorter contract. Hitchcock has not gotten the Blues past the second round in the four seasons he’s been their head coach, and his lack of production in the postseason makes all the difference, despite the Blues running the table during the regular season.

It may even be a preamble to retirement for the 63-year-old.

If Claude Julien were to hit the coaching free agency market, he would be a change of flavor for the Blues, but his system and message is pretty similar to Hitchcock’s. Julien is not terribly interested in developing younger players within his system (of which the whole Seguin kerfluffle is decent evidence), preferring to focus on those who need less mentoring and maturation. However the fact that St. Louis is much more low-key about its hockey stars than Boston is might mean that St. Louis is a good spot for Julien, despite its inclusion of young guns such as Tarasenko, Lehtera, and hopefully Fabbri and Barbashev.

We could see yet another Jack Adams award-winning coach (2008-2009 for the curious) who has won a single Stanley Cup in his tenure as a head coach take the Blues’ bench, focusing on a hard-hitting, defense-first, blue collar style.

Or maybe it would be same stuff, different day.

The local media seem to believe that Hitchcock will still be Armstrong’s guy next year, as @hildymac reports over at St. Louis Game Time, and simply because Armstrong was throwing his hat in the ring doesn’t mean Hitchcock is gone, simply that Armstrong saw an opportunity and took it. Armstrong is not someone to make hasty decisions, and giving up Hitchcock without a replacement already in hand would be one.

The one thing we can count on is that we will have our answer by July. And we cannot wait for the moment when they inevitably renew Hitch’s contract, simply because we will be put out of our misery at long last.

Next: St. Louis Blues Need Players With Better Aim

More from Bleedin' Blue