St. Louis Blues Ken Hitchcock giving back to community through free coaching sessions -NHL Update
Having won the Jack Adams Award for the best coach in the National Hockey League (NHL) this past 2011-2012 regular season, St. Louis Blues’ head coach, Ken Hitchcock, is looking to “give back” to the coaching community by offering free seminars in the field.
The seminars will be three days long and held in St. Louis in the upcoming days for coaches at the local level from various leagues like high schools and others. According to NHL.com, there are 80 coaches signed up for the one in a lifetime event, which
will be held at the St. Louis Mills Ice Zone.
The Ice Zone is the St. Louis Blues practice facility and unlike the players who are locked out at the moment, Hitchcock will be using it to allow coaches of minor leagues to learn from the best in the field.
"The thing I learned in the (2004-05) lockout when we were in Philadelphia is as coaches in the NHL all we do is take, and now this is our chance to give back, so you might as well stay active in it," Hitchcock told NHL.com.
"We've had people sit in, ex-players, and watch us present our videos to make sure they all understand it," Hitchcock added. "All that ended last week and now it's like, 'OK, let's start looking at the future' ... We figure, let's start helping other people
reach their goals."
Hitchcock definitely shined during the regular season as he led the St. Louis club to a turnaround season, ending off as the second overall club in the Western Conference with 109 points and nearly topped the Vancouver Canucks to win the Presidents’ Trophy.
After a number of seasons of failing to reach the playoffs, Hitchcock used his expertise to get them back into the postseason, but it was cut short after the Los Angeles Kings routed them in a clean four-game sweep during the semi-finals.
One thing was clear and that was they lost from a team that went on to win the Stanley Cup after whitewashing the San Jose Sharks, 4-1, in the quarterfinals.
The seminar is expected to start from October 9th and last till the 11th.
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