Next star turn: Hitchcock hired by Flyers
Associated Press

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Ken Hitchcock, who led the Dallas Stars to a Stanley Cup championship in 1999, was hired to coach the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

The hiring will be announced by the team at an 11:30 a.m. ET news conference.

Hitchcock, who served as an assistant coach in Philadelphia from 1990-93, was fired by the Stars in January. He met with Flyers general manager Bob Clarke and team chairman Ed Snider on Monday, and continued his interview Tuesday.

Hitchcock, 50, replaces Bill Barber, fired two weeks ago after the Flyers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.

He is the fifth coach hired by Clarke since 1997, when Terry Murray was fired despite leading Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup finals.

A demanding coach whose philosophy centers on defense, Hitchcock said Monday there are many similarities between the Flyers and the Stars.

"I see a desperation here to want to win," he said. "I see that in the veteran players by the comments and by the few conversations that I've had with the players I've come across. When I went in Dallas in '97, that was what I saw. They were willing to do anything to win and that was a good feeling."

Barber was let go four days after the Flyers scored a record-low two goals in five games against the Ottawa Senators. The NHL's coach of the year last season, Barber failed to take the team past the first round two straight years.

Hitchcock interviewed with the New York Rangers last month, before he went to Europe to serve as an assistant coach for Team Canada in the World Championships. But the Rangers are reportedly seeking former U.S. Olympic coach Herb Brooks.

Washington, which fired Ron Wilson last Friday, wanted to interview Hitchcock, and Dallas owner Tom Hicks at one time planned to offer him his old job.

After leaving the Flyers, Hitchcock coached Kalamazoo, Dallas' minor-league affiliate, from 1993-96.

He took over as the Stars coach midway through the 1995-96 season, led Dallas to two Stanley Cup finals appearances -- winning the title in 1999 and going back the next year -- and five straight division titles.

Hitchcock has a 277-160-60-6 record in the regular season, and is 47-33 in the playoffs. He was the first candidate interviewed by the Flyers.

The Stars were 23-17-6-4 when Hitchcock was fired Jan. 25, but didn't make the playoffs for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

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Guter Mann ! Jetzt noch Clarke weg und in Philly kann wirklich was erreicht werden...


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Ausgerechnet Philly....

Damit dürften die Schlägereien-Zeiten von Brashear, Fedoruk und McAllister ein Ende haben.

Das schlimme ist nämlich, das Hitch seinen Spielern das Kämpfen verbietet.

Ob die rüpelhaften Flyers jetzt zum Luschenteam mutieren?

Bin gespannt, wie das ausgeht......Ärger vorprogrammiert???

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Stu "The Grim Reaper" Grimson herrscht!

Hitchcock neuer Flyers-Trainer
(14.05.2002)

Die Philadelphia Flyers haben die Suche nach einem neuen Trainer abgeschlossen und Ken Hitchcock verpflichtet. Der ehemalige Dallas Stars Trainer holte mit seinem Team 1999 den Stanley Cup. Von 1990 bis 1993 war er schon einmal bei den Flyers unter Vertrag, damals als Assistenzcoach.

Der 50-jährige Hitchcock ersetzt Bill Barber, der vor zwei Wochen aufgrund des Playoff Aus in der ersten Runde entlassen wurde. Er ist der fünfte Trainer unter General Manager Bob Clarke seit 1997.

Hitchcock gehörte zu den begehrten Trainern in diesen Wochen. Letzten Monat führte er Gespräche mit den New York Rangers, die aber nun offensichtlich Herb Brooks verpflichten wollen. Washington zeigte ebenfalls Interesse und Dallas Eigentümer Tom Hicks wollte Gerüchten zur Folge Hitchcock zurück nach Texas holen.

Nach seinem Engagement bei den Flyers trainierte er von 1993 bis 1996 das Farmteam der Stars aus Kalamazoo. Während der Saison 1995-96 wurde er zum Cheftrainer von Dallas befördert, die er zweimal 1999 und 2000 ins Stanley Cup Finale führte und fünf Mal in Folge den Divisionstitel gewann. Seine Karrierestatistik mit 277 Siegen bei 166 Niederlagen und 60 Remis kann sich durchaus sehen lassen.

http://www.eishockey.com/berichte/news/phi020514.htm

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cheers Stefan
member of the "DELete(tm) und Tripcke gehört weg"-Circle

@ Stu:

In Antwort auf:

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Damit dürften die Schlägereien-Zeiten von Brashear, Fedoruk und McAllister ein Ende haben.

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...da muss ich Dich leider enttäuschen, denn das wirds in Philly immer geben, har har har!!

In Antwort auf:

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Das schlimme ist nämlich, das Hitch seinen Spielern das Kämpfen verbietet.

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...widerspricht einer der Hockeyphilosophien!! Ohne Kampf geht nämlich garnix!!

In Antwort auf:

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Ob die rüpelhaften Flyers jetzt zum Luschenteam mutieren?

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...na na na, wer wird denn da gleich; das ist nicht rüpelhaft, das ist Hockey!!

In Antwort auf:

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Bin gespannt, wie das ausgeht......Ärger vorprogrammiert???

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...das relativiert sich, glaub´ mir!! Der Coach hat zwar das Sagen, aber die Spieler sind die die es umsetzten müssen. Wenn da irgendwas schief läuft, ist der Trainer weg, siehe Entlassung von Bill Barber!!

P.S.: ...we will see!!

holypalooza

...visit: broadstreetbully.com !! Donald Brashear rockt !!

Hitchcock right fit for Flyers
By Bill Clement
Special to ESPN.com

In Ken Hitchcock, the Philadelphia Flyers have hired the coach with the biggest, longest and greatest pedigree available. Hitchcock is a very structured coach going to a team that was craving structure.

His previous stint with the organization as an assistant coach (1990-93) is a plus. Hitchcock inherits a team loaded with quality veterans, like Mark Recchi, John LeClair, Keith Primeau, Jeremy Roenick, Eric Desjardins and Eric Weinrich. As long as he is willing to listen to his senior players, he will be a good fit.

No one on the Flyers will challenge him any more than Ed Belfour and Brett Hull did in Dallas. At the same time, it helps to have a Hull type of player on the team. In the Flyers' case, I think it is Roenick because he is somewhat of a conscience for the team.

Hitchcock will be starting with a much better team than the one he started with in Dallas. Plus, he wouldn't have taken the job without the promise of some financial security. The terms of his contract have not been released, but I would be shocked if he isn't one of the highest-paid coaches in the NHL.

It will be interesting to see how the players adjust to his system, which calls for very little continuous skating and a lot of stopping and starting. There are definite places to be and places not to be in Hitchcock's system. Donald Audette and Jyrki Lumme were unable to adapt to the style in Dallas. Not all of the Flyers' players will make it work. But with every change behind the bench there are changes on the bench.

One of the issues Philadelphia still has to address is goaltending. We shall see how much input Hitchcock has. Remember, Belfour is an unrestricted free agent, but I'm not sure he and Hitchcock are on one another's respective Christmas card list.

Bill Clement is a hockey analyst for ESPN. He played 11 seasons in the NHL as a center and won two Stanley Cups with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Der Mann hat also Ahnung, und weiss, wie man in Philly einen Cup holt...


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