St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock excited for next series -NHL Update
Ken Hitchcock turned out to be a saviour for a near extinct National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, the St. Louis Blues, as the coach joined them earlier this past season and spun the club around for the better.
The players along with Hitchcock were determined to get things done right this time around and with that concentration, they nearly topped the league at the end of the regular season and are now gearing up to enter the 2012 NHL Western Conference Stanley
Cup Playoff Semi-Final series against Los Angeles Kings.
It is the first time that St. Louis has won a series in over 10 years now, which is definitely a reason to celebrate and shows the team is on the right path and with that, coach Hitchcock is more confident than ever.
"When we scored the second goal, the joy and explosion that happened in this building was unbelievable," Hitchcock said. "It was 50 per cent joy, in my opinion, and 50 per cent relief.
St. Louis has gone from being the underdog team to becoming known as one of the best when it comes to playing with sheer and raw aggression along with an impenetrable defence and one of the best goalies in the league.
"They play the game the right way. They know their skills. They keep a third guy high so there's never an odd man rush, and they work. And they are dogged on the puck," Hitchcock said. "They play bigger than their size, and we have no fear playing against
anybody." "They go after each other, in a fun way, but they really need each other and rely on each other."
Going up against a team like Los Angeles Kings will definitely be a test for the Blues team as the former came out to eliminate the winners of the Presidents’ Trophy, Vancouver Canucks, in a clean 4-1 series.
If St. Louis manages to treat Los Angeles like they did with their state rivals, the San Jose Sharks, seeing Blues as one of the contenders for the Stanley Cup this year would certainly not be surprising as they would definitely deserve it.
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