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Ken Hitchcock praises Dallas Eakins

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St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock provided rave reviews for new Edmonton Oilers bench boss Dallas Eakins on Friday, the Edmonton Journal reports.

“That was the most important move (GM) Craig MacTavish made this summer,” Hitchcock said.

Hitchcock seems particularly impressed by Eakins’ no-nonsense approach.

“He’ll talk your ear off about conditioning but it’s a smokescreen,” Hitchcock said. “He’s going to demand things of the Oiler players they’ve never done before and they’re going to find it quite difficult. Quite frankly some of the players are out of the barn but he’ll gather them all back in. He’s going to say things that make the players squeamish but he’s going to be one of the best things you’ve had there. He’s tough.”

“It’s not about getting past the original effort, it’s getting into the second and third effort. He knows how to push that.”

Unfortunately, the veteran coach didn’t name specific players who are “out of the barn,” so feel free to kill a sleepy Saturday by speculating on who that might be.

(H/T to Rotoworld.)

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins