Blues fire coach Ken Hitchcock, promote Mike Yeo

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The St. Louis Blues have fired coach Ken Hitchcock.

Assistant and coach-in-waiting Mike Yeo replaced him ahead of schedule. Yeo was supposed to succeed Hitchcock after this season, the veteran coach's final in St. Louis.

General manager Doug Armstrong announced the abrupt change Wednesday morning. The Blues are 24-21-5 and in eighth place in the Western Conference.

Despite being in a playoff spot through 50 games, St. Louis has lost five of six and went 5-8 in January. The Blues lost at home to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

Hitchcock took the fall for the Blues' underachieving season, which had a lot to do with goaltending struggles. Goalies Jake Allen, Carter Hutton and Pheonix Copley have combined for an .887 save percentage, which is the worst team mark in the NHL.

The 65-year-old Hitchcock was in his sixth season as Blues coach. They went 248-124-41 and made the playoffs in each of his five seasons, reaching the Western Conference final last spring.

Fired by the Minnesota Wild last February, Yeo was brought on to Hitchcock's staff in the offseason to be his successor beginning in 2017-18. Hitchcock has said he's interested in continuing to coach after this season when the Blues move on to Yeo.

Hitchcock has coached 20 NHL seasons with the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Blues. He won the Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999, and his 781 career regular-season victories are fourth all-time, one shy of Hockey Hall of Fame coach Al Arbour for third.

Hitchcock signs one-year extension

Statement from the Blues website.

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the Blues have signed Head Coach Ken Hitchcock to a one-year contract.

Hitchcock was originally hired by the Blues on Nov. 7, 2011, becoming the 24th head coach in team history. The Edmonton, Alberta native will enter his sixth season behind the Blues bench in 2016-17. During his tenure with the Blues, Hitchcock has guided the team to four of the top five regular seasons in franchise history and earned five consecutive births in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In 2015-16, Hitchcock led the Blues to a 49-24-9 record and 107 points - the fourth highest regular season point total in team history. In the 2016 postseason, the Blues defeated the 2015 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks and the Western Conference's top regular season team, the Dallas Stars, en route to their first appearance in the Western Conference Final in 15 years.

Hitchcock has finished first or second in the Central Division in each of his five previous regular seasons in St. Louis, including divisions titles in both 2014-15 and 2011-12. He also became the fourth coach in Blues history to earn the NHL's Jack Adams Award as the League's top coach in 2012.

Overall, Hitchcock has appeared in 363 regular season games behind the Blues bench, accumulating a 224-103-36 record. His .667 career points percentage is the best in franchise history.

The 2016-17 season will be Hitchcock's 20th behind an NHL bench. Overall, he has coached in 1,404 career regular season games between Dallas, Philadelphia, Columbus and St. Louis, posting a 757-453-194 record. He ranks sixth in NHL history in regular season games coached and fourth in regular season wins. Hitchcock has led his teams seven division titles and 11 100-point regular seasons. During his postseason career, Hitchcock has posted a 86-82 record while leading his teams to 13 Stanley Cup Playoff appearances. In 1998-99, he led the Dallas Stars to 16-7 playoff record en route to winning the 1999 Stanley Cup.

Internationally, Hitchcock has represented Canada at numerous competitions. He was named head coach of Team Canada for the 2008 World Championships and led the team to the silver medal. He is a three-time gold medalist, winning with Canada at the 2002, 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics as an associate coach. In addition, he served as an assistant coach on Canada's gold-medal winning teams at the 2002 World Championships and the 1987 World Junior Championships.