Ken Hitchcock
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Ken Hitchcock (born December 17, 1951 in Edmonton, Alberta) is an NHL hockey coach who currently coaches the Philadelphia Flyers.
Hitchcock began his coaching career during the 1984-85 season where he was coach of the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League. Hitchcock spent six seasons with the Blazers, leading them to two WHL championship victories in 1985-86 and 1989-90. During his tenure with the Blazers, Hitchcock accumulated a 291-115-15 record and never had a losing season. He also named the Top Coach in all of Canadian Major Junior Hockey in 1990.
In 1990, Hitchcock left the WHL and joined the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant coach. Hitchcock spent three seasons with the Flyers organization before leaving to helm the Dallas Stars' IHL franchise, the Kalamazoo Wings, for the 1993-94 season.
In the middle of his third season with the team (now called the Michigan K-Wings), he was offered the head coaching position with the Dallas Stars and on January 8, 1996, he was named head coach, replacing Bob Gainey, who remained with the Stars as general manager. In his first full season with the Stars, he led the team to a first-place finish in the Central Division and a playoff berth. In his second full season with the Stars, Hitchcock again led the Stars to the playoffs, losing in the Conference Finals to the eventually victorious Detroit Red Wings. Also during the 1997-98 season, Hitchcock was named to his first of three consecutive NHL All-Star Game teams as coach.
During the 1998-99 NHL season, Hitchcock led the Stars to a regular season record of 51-19-12 (0.695 winning percentage), a team best. In the playoffs, Hitchcock led the team to a Stanley Cup victory over the Buffalo Sabres, the team's first. The next season, Hitchcock again led the team to the Stanley Cup finals, only to lose to the New Jersey Devils.
In the 2000-01 season, Hitchcock again led the Stars to the playoffs, but exited early. Midway through the following season, after getting off to a mediocre 23-21-6 start and in the midst of strife between the players and management, Hitchcock was fired as head coach.
Hitchcock, however, was quickly picked up in the off-season by his old team, the Philadelphia Flyers, who had just fired their coach, Bill Barber, after an early exit from the playoffs. Hitchcock brought much-needed discipline and direction to the Flyers and led them to a 45-24-13 record in his first season, losing in the Conference Semi-finals.
In Hitchcock's second season with the Flyers, the Flyers finished first in the division with a 40-21-15 record and advanced to the Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
| Preceded by: Bob Gainey | Head Coaches of the Dallas Stars 1995–2002 | Succeeded by: Rick Wilson |
| Preceded by: Bill Barber | Head Coaches of the Philadelphia Flyers 2002- | Succeeded by: none External link
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