In this edition of Shrapnel: I’ll be posting links regarding the firing of coach Ken Hitchcock, the fallout, news, notes and quotes as well. I’m sure it may not seem appealing to all of you but there’s a lot of coverage of the situation and I want to make sure its covered.
Side note: I heard on the radio this morning that Noel will be the 6th head coach in team history. 9 seasons, 6 coaches. Thats awful.
There will be a little bit of content for tonight’s game as well.
Lets do this!
Puck-rakers:
As it turns out, Hitch can still return to the club if he doesn’t sign with another team. While it wouldn’t or shouldn’t be in a coaches role, I think he can still be a benefit to the team.
The initial news of the firing.
Looks like we won’t see Rusty until March.
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BlueJackets XTRA:
Probable lines and pairs:
CBJ – looks like the Swedish fish will be on the ice together.
Scrappy Doo is eager as ever to play the Stars. While he can’t fight, he can still get down deep and get under the skin of the D. Go get ’em kid.
A very brief look at interim head coach Claude Noel.
Not many people realize that Noel has previous ties to Hitch. He was an assistant under him some 15 years ago. Hitch moved up to coach Dallas, ironically the team we’re up against tonight, and Claude took his place as head coach of their minor league team in Kalamazoo.
Bob Hunter at the Dispatch gives his two cents.
Players give their reactions and thoughts.
There’s going to be an online chat this Friday, obviously to talk about everything thats happened in the last 24 hours. I would imagine there will be a ton of people taking part, I’ll be one, you should be too.
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NHL.com:
The official release from the NHL.
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BlueJackets TV:
GM Scott Howson’s press conference.
Introducing Claude Noel as interim head coach
Part 2, and Part 3 of the conference.
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Four-Check:
One of the writers offers his fond farewell to Hitch.
Quotes of the day:
“Looking back, I could see what he was trying to do, pushing us to make us better. That’s all he wanted.”
“I respect that he tried to help me and all the young guys. He was really patient with us. Some guys will say he was not right for the young players, and he was hard on us. He knew what we were about to face, and he was getting us to be NHL players.”
“Pro sports is a business, and when you don’t win, something has to give.”
“It’s terrible news. It’s terrible we couldn’t play better and the coach had to be fired. Hitch put this market on the map. We didn’t really have an identity before he got here.”
“This is an emotional day for me. Ken Hitchcock is a friend of mine. He’s a tremendous coach. I’ve been blessed to be able to learn from him. This is a sad day.”
– Claude Noel
Fight of the night:
Flyers C Ian Laperriere v. Oilers RW Zack Stortini
Your reaction to the firing of Ken Hitchcock
| Happened too soon | 5 |
| Didn’t happen soon enough | 9 |
| Just surprised | 11 |