Hitchcock Fired.

[evil roy]

According to Josh Gold-Smith at Score Sports. Looking for link but at this point the only other details the article mentions is that Yeo will take over as HC.

*edit* Linky: http://www.thescore.com/news/1221979
*return of the edit* Linky to more info: https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/hitchcoc ... -286332862

[thekortehaus]

Espn ticker also reporting the exact same thing

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[crazyhorse]

At least there will be something to look for next game. Still not convinced it's Yeo though

[Krigloch the Furious]

Finally!
Looks like my #FireHitch hashtag worked. Lol

Sent from my R2 unit

[thekortehaus]

Finally!
Looks like my #FireHitch hashtag worked. Lol

Sent from my R2 unit

You're the hero we needed, not the one we deserved.

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[ibldbl]

https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/hitchcoc ... -286332862

[WaukeeBlues]

Yea ESPN reporting Hitchcock fired and Yeo promoted.

I wasn't as surprised as I may have guessed I would be haha.

They're just advancing what the plan already was, so there's not some monumental change here I feel like.

The previous comments on this site about him losing the team were apparently accurate, or close enough as makes no difference. Blues would've had to go on a TEAR right after the break for him to keep his job. Loss out of the gate and its bye felicia.

I frankly don't think it'll change the composure of how the rest of the season plays out. But we shall see.

[gaijin]

Yea ESPN reporting Hitchcock fired and Yeo promoted.

I wasn't as surprised as I may have guessed I would be haha.

They're just advancing what the plan already was, so there's not some monumental change here I feel like.

The previous comments on this site about him losing the team were apparently accurate, or close enough as makes no difference. Blues would've had to go on a TEAR right after the break for him to keep his job. Loss out of the gate and its bye felicia.

I frankly don't think it'll change the composure of how the rest of the season plays out. But we shall see.

I'm with you. I've been saying for a while that if you fire Hitch, you don't really change anything because this system is Hitch AND Yeo's system together. Now it's Yeo's system.

If he turns the ship around, great. But I am not optimistic.

[gaijin]

Also, Jim Corsi let go as goaltending coach.

https://twitter.com/lkorac10/status/826803330668232707

[Krigloch the Furious]

Was never optimistic with this season.
Team lacks talent, it's that simple.

Sent from my R2 unit

[theohall]

And we will continue to see the Blues playing inconsistently with the same defensive issues that existed for the Wild the past 4 years. Just go look at some Wild losses over the past 2 seasons. Yeo and Wilson were running the show there and now get to run the show here.

At least if they keep sucking, it gives Armstrong a reason to fire Yeo at the end of this season when the Blues miss the playoffs and actually hire someone for being a good coach, instead of out of loyalty. Or Stillman a reason to clean house completely and fire Armstrong, too.

It's a start to getting someone who knows how to use the talent in house eventually.

[gaijin]

At least if they keep sucking, it gives Armstrong a reason to fire Yeo at the end of this season when the Blues miss the playoffs and actually hire someone for being a good coach, instead of out of loyalty. Or Stillman a reason to clean house completely and fire Armstrong, too.

It's a start to getting someone who knows how to use the talent in house eventually.

At this point I would be on board with that, but I just don't see it happening. I think even if we miss the playoffs this year, Yeo is still head coach starting next year. They wouldn't fire him without giving him the chance to coach one whole season.

[theohall]

At least if they keep sucking, it gives Armstrong a reason to fire Yeo at the end of this season when the Blues miss the playoffs and actually hire someone for being a good coach, instead of out of loyalty. Or Stillman a reason to clean house completely and fire Armstrong, too.

It's a start to getting someone who knows how to use the talent in house eventually.

At this point I would be on board with that, but I just don't see it happening. I think even if we miss the playoffs this year, Yeo is still head coach starting next year. They wouldn't fire him without giving him the chance to coach one whole season.

So basically count on the Blues continuing to be this inconsistent mess for another year and half. Brilliant!!!

[not_a_wings_fan]

I'm glad they moved Hitch out.

I wasn't convinced he had the correct players to do what he wanted to do, but I am also convinced the team doesn't have the right players in general.

Yeo doesn't change much of anything, and I don't think he's a good enough coach to get the team past where they have been the last several years - especially with this roster.

I am all for sacking Armstrong. I don't think his personal decisions have been good enough to retain him.

I would also be in favor of blowing the team up and starting over around Tank and maybe a couple other young players. It's time. Take the top work ethic guys, the guys that put it all out there, and move on the vets for picks and prospects.

Anyway, /wave... Hi guys, hope you are all doing well.

[glen a richter]

I'd be happy if Yeo wasn't the alternative. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss sort of thing. This is a parallel move that was going to happen anyway, as someone said the whole process was just accelerated. So I'm very unimpressed by this and Corsi being the only two changes to coaching. Everyone should have gone, every last one of them.

[evil roy]

At least if they keep sucking, it gives Armstrong a reason to fire Yeo at the end of this season when the Blues miss the playoffs and actually hire someone for being a good coach, instead of out of loyalty. Or Stillman a reason to clean house completely and fire Armstrong, too.

It's a start to getting someone who knows how to use the talent in house eventually.

At this point I would be on board with that, but I just don't see it happening. I think even if we miss the playoffs this year, Yeo is still head coach starting next year. They wouldn't fire him without giving him the chance to coach one whole season.

I would tend to agree, but unless Hitchcock gave Yeo the pictures he has of Army in that Tijuana donkey show or whatever dirt he had that kept him from facing any sort of consequences for his playoff failures, there won't be the same bromance between Army and Yeo so maybe, just maybe Army will keep him on a short leash. But even that isn't all that encouraging since IMO Army is more to blmae that Hitch for the Blues current straits.

Oh well, it's the Blues--plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

[cardsfan04]

I wasn't expecting this and thought Hitch would finish the season. I'm not opposed to it though and if he was going to get fired midseason, now was the right time. That was a disappointing game out of the break.

I don't really expect this to fix much though. Not because I dislike Yeo. It's not uncommon for a coach to do well in his second job after failing in his first. I put this on the players at least as much as I do on Hitch though. Obviously you can't fire the entire team, which is why Hitch gets scapegoated, but I think the players need to own this. Maybe his system is flawed or he has lost the locker room. They are the ones that aren't performing though.

[Portland Blues]

Now Hitch will finally have a chance to binge watch all those episodes of Barnwood Builders.

[Kerfuffle]

I think Hitch was setup to fail on this one - the move is not surprising. Whenever an organization has your replacement hired and standing behind you, you know it's only a matter of time before the axe comes down. I also believe Armstrong is making this move now to save his own arse cause he will have responsibility here too - mainly on why he thought Elliot was expendable in the offseason.

Edit: I believe Hitch is a good man and have seen many interviews with him. I wish him well and I also worry about his weight and hopefully he can take the time to care for himself.

[flyingnote38]

I would hope that Armstrong gets fired as well. Hard to blame (only) Hitch for the mess that is the current Blues.

(To beat a dead horse) Armstrong inherited a strong core of talent that was the trendy pick as the next cup contender and has done little to make the team better while tying up too much cap space in bad contracts. I called for Armie to be fired after the Miller trade and my opinion of him hasn't changed since.