-- Up top, it was a very emotional Doug Armstrong who announced the firing of his “best friend” today in St. Louis. It’s up to Mike Yeo now to turn the Blues around.
-- As far as the future of Ken Hitchcock is concerned, there’s little question he’d draw interest if he wants to keep coaching. Writes TSN’s Gary Lawless: “I think he might be the perfect associate coach, the same role he held with Mike Babcock’s Team Canada staffs in Vancouver and Sochi. Let someone else deliver the daily message while still having access to all of Hitchcock’s knowledge, which has resulted in over 700 NHL wins, a Stanley Cup and a mantle full of international honors.” (TSN)
Mike Babcock on Ken Hitchcock: "I don't believe he's going away to retire, I just don't believe that. Someone will be happy to have him."
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 1, 2017
-- More on the Blues from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who writes in his latest 30 Thoughts column: “A few executives were surprised the Blues did not ‘invent’ an injury to Jake Allen rather than say he needed time off in the last couple of weeks to repair his confidence. I’m not in the business of ripping people for honesty. But a couple guys admitted they would have lied: ‘Harder to rebuild his confidence when you’re telling everyone he has to sit out because he’s lost it.’” (Sportsnet)
-- Opinions are varied when it comes to the new pants that NHL goalies will be forced to wear come Saturday, but Chicago’s Scott Darling is no fan of the change to a slimmer fit: “I think it’s a waste of time and money. But whatever the league feels they need to do.” The Blackhawks’ other netminder, Corey Crawford, has said the best way to increase scoring is to have better ice, not smaller goalie equipment. (Chicago Tribune)
-- A Q&A with Carolina Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters, who played for Mike Babcock at Red Deer College when the two were in their 20s. “I was 23. He was 25. It was his first coaching job in North America. It was my third year in the league, called the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. If you can imagine, the coaches at the time were [current Canucks assistant] Perry Pearn, Mike Babcock and [former Penguins head coach] Mike Johnston. Three of those guys went on to coach in the NHL, out of five or six teams in the league. That was an opportunity to be around high-level thinkers of the game and learn from them, ask them questions and grow your passion for the game.” (Sports Illustrated)
-- Speaking of Carolina, the Philadelphia Flyers were pretty bad there last night in a 5-1 loss. Said d-man Mark Streit: “If you have six shots on net after two periods, that’s just a devastating performance. It’s tough for me to explain it.” The Flyers finished with just 16 shots to the Hurricanes’ 28. Philly’s next game is tomorrow at home to Montreal, and the Canadiens will have Alex Galchenyuk back in their lineup. (CSN Philly)
Enjoy the games!