Analysis: Hitchcock may have guided the
Blue Jackets to their first playoff appearance, but the momentum
ended up being short-lived. Columbus opened the season with a
12-6-2 record before it all started coming apart. The Blue Jackets
lost 21 of their next 24 games, and fell to 20th in offense and
27th in defense. Having three of the team's top youngsters --
Derick Brassard, Jakub Voracek and Steve Mason -- in the midst of
sophomore slumps didn't help either. Given that the Blue Jackets
respected Hitchcock and gave him every chance to succeed, it may
be too late for Noel to turn things around. Columbus is 11 points
out of the tightly contested eighth spot in the West.
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St. Louis Blues
Old Coach: Andy Murray (Fired, Jan. 2)
New Coach: Davis Payne (interim)
Wes' take:
Murray spends long hours preparing diligently for games. But he
tends to micro-manage as well, and in an era where coddling
athletes is often necessary, his hard-driving personality grates
on players' nerves after a while. One of the reasons he was
dumped by Los Angeles was that players rebelled because he would
slip note under doors with 'homework' assignments. Murray
apparently didn't do that as much in St. Louis, but he did call
a lot of meetings and ultimately his efforts stifled the
development of the core players the Blues are counting on so
much for their future. That meant Murray had to go.
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Philadelphia Flyers
Old Coach: John Stevens (Fired, Dec. 4)
New Coach: Peter Laviolette
Analysis: The Flyers expected much from a
squad which features the additions of Chris Pronger and Ray
Emery. Stevens struggled to get his wealth of offensive talent to
produce, which led the Flyers to lose six of their last seven
games and Philadelphia dropped to the bottom of the Atlantic
Division. Laviolette amassed a 244-184-59 record in seven seasons
with the Islanders and Hurricanes. He guided Carolina to a Stanley
Cup in 2006.
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Phoenix Coyotes
Old Coach: Wayne Gretzky (Resigned, Sept. 14)
New Coach: Dave Tippett
Wes' take:
The Coyotes did have some stretches of competitiveness after
the lockout, but they finished in the division cellar three
times and never got within 12 points of a playoff
spot. Gretzky was supposed to guide the Coyotes through their
rebuilding process in the last few seasons, but several young
players actually took steps backwards last year and the
organization even had to send down highly touted recent first
rounders Kyle Turris and Viktor Tikhonov to the minors this
week. So instead of being the white knight that saved the
franchise, Gretzky's tenure will be remembered for coinciding
with the time the Coyotes became the NHL's basket case and
ended up in an ugly bankruptcy this spring.
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