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Blues can't stand the heat. Get Kitchen out.


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From the Blues' website:

ST. LOUIS ? St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced today that Andy Murray, one of hockey?s most respected coaches with over 25 years of experience at both the National Hockey League and International level, has been named the Head Coach of the St. Louis Blues. Murray becomes the 22nd coach in Blues history. Murray replaces Mike Kitchen, who was relieved of his duties earlier this evening.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, as per team policy.

?Andy comes to us with extensive experience and a very successful coaching pedigree,? said Davidson. ?He is one of the most prepared coaches in the NHL and I believe that he is the right person for the job. I look forward to working with him closely as we move ahead and get this franchise back to where it belongs.?

?I would like to thank Mike Kitchen for the job he has done here the past two seasons,? continued Davidson. ?He has stood behind our bench admirably and should be commended for that. I wish him nothing but the best of luck.?

Murray is the Los Angeles Kings? All-Time leader in wins (215) and games coached (480). His Kings? teams recorded 90 or more points three times and he was the second fastest coach to win 100 games in Kings? history. He guided Team Canada to a Gold Medal in the 1997 and 2003 World Championships, becoming the only Canadian coach to win the Gold Medal twice. As an assistant coach with Team Canada, he won a Silver Medal in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. He has a record six Gold Medals as a coach for Canada in the Spengler Cup Tournament.

Prior to joining the Kings in 1999, he guided the Canadian National Team to a 77-29-14 record over two years. Murray has been a coach with the Winnipeg Jets (1993-95), Minnesota North Stars (1990-92) and Philadelphia Flyers (1988-90).

Where were all the St Lunatics for this story? ^_^

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unless he can :censored: caviar and piss champagne, he'll face an uphill battle.

(btw the post contains a movie reference see if you name the reference)

The Passion of the Christ?

Good grief, Chris.

The correct answer is "Gandhi."

This was a necessary move by the Blues. Having sat through a few practices this year and attended a handful of games over the last couple of years (including Saturday's 5-1 embarassment at the hands of the Blue Jackets - I sat right behind the Jackets' penalty box which was very cool, BTW) I can tell you that Kitchen was simply in over his head. He seemed to be a pretty competent assistant to Joel Quenneville but he simply wasn't equipped to be the head guy. I never saw him in a real "take command" mode and it seemed to me that the players felt strapped into a system with which they weren't really comfortable. The team's fundamentals, especially puckhandling, have been dreadful, yet most of the practices I attended featured little more than run-throughs of ridiculously convoluted plays. The power play has been dreadful this year with few shots taken and way too many silly cross-ice passes. There were honestly some times where I felt the Blues were dogging it on purpose during the power play so as to expose the ridiculous system Kitchen had in place. Hopefully Murray will provide a new system and a bit of a spark to this moribund franchise.

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I like Kitchen. I've defended him probably as much or more as any Blues fan this year.

But, it got to a point where something had to change, and this is a good change.

I think the players have just as much or more to do with the results than Kitchen, and I think if they wanna stick around (and maybe they don't) then they better pick up their play too.

Kitchen seems to be a good hockey guy and a generally well liked person, so hopefully these couple years of experience taught him something and he can make his way back to a head coaching position in the NHL again.

Although, I've heard the Blues are trying to find another place for him in the organization for now.

Anyways, I'm excited just that there is a change. I like Murray, and I wish him luck.

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Buccigross had an item in his column where Kitchen is hated in the locker room - for whatever that's worth.

Yeah, but that's been contrary to other reports the last couple of years. I do believe it at this point, but I think that says more about the players and the current climate of the team than it does about Kitchen.

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From the Blues' website:

ST. LOUIS ? St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced today that Andy Murray, one of hockey?s most respected coaches with over 25 years of experience at both the National Hockey League and International level, has been named the Head Coach of the St. Louis Blues. Murray becomes the 22nd coach in Blues history. Murray replaces Mike Kitchen, who was relieved of his duties earlier this evening.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, as per team policy.

?Andy comes to us with extensive experience and a very successful coaching pedigree,? said Davidson. ?He is one of the most prepared coaches in the NHL and I believe that he is the right person for the job. I look forward to working with him closely as we move ahead and get this franchise back to where it belongs.?

?I would like to thank Mike Kitchen for the job he has done here the past two seasons,? continued Davidson. ?He has stood behind our bench admirably and should be commended for that. I wish him nothing but the best of luck.?

Murray is the Los Angeles Kings? All-Time leader in wins (215) and games coached (480). His Kings? teams recorded 90 or more points three times and he was the second fastest coach to win 100 games in Kings? history. He guided Team Canada to a Gold Medal in the 1997 and 2003 World Championships, becoming the only Canadian coach to win the Gold Medal twice. As an assistant coach with Team Canada, he won a Silver Medal in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. He has a record six Gold Medals as a coach for Canada in the Spengler Cup Tournament.

Prior to joining the Kings in 1999, he guided the Canadian National Team to a 77-29-14 record over two years. Murray has been a coach with the Winnipeg Jets (1993-95), Minnesota North Stars (1990-92) and Philadelphia Flyers (1988-90).

Where were all the St Lunatics for this story? ^_^

Honestly this move kinda snuck up on us even in St. Louis. I would imagine this move has been in place for several weeks since the replacement was named immediately but it was kept pretty hush hush.

I think its a good move, hopefully this change will spark this friggin' hockey team, my patience is wearing thin but I'm not giving up on them yet.

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World Champions: 1926 1931 1934 1942 1944 1946 1964 1967 1982 2006

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I really don't think John Davidson wants to blame Mike Kitchen for their poor play. It was that a change was needed, and in sports, its always the coaches that get the axe, especially when trades aren't possible with your mediocre players. I doubt many other coaches could've done any better than Kitchen.

But choosing Andy Murray is a great move.

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From the Blues' website:

ST. LOUIS ? St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced today that Andy Murray, one of hockey?s most respected coaches with over 25 years of experience at both the National Hockey League and International level, has been named the Head Coach of the St. Louis Blues. Murray becomes the 22nd coach in Blues history. Murray replaces Mike Kitchen, who was relieved of his duties earlier this evening.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, as per team policy.

?Andy comes to us with extensive experience and a very successful coaching pedigree,? said Davidson. ?He is one of the most prepared coaches in the NHL and I believe that he is the right person for the job. I look forward to working with him closely as we move ahead and get this franchise back to where it belongs.?

?I would like to thank Mike Kitchen for the job he has done here the past two seasons,? continued Davidson. ?He has stood behind our bench admirably and should be commended for that. I wish him nothing but the best of luck.?

Murray is the Los Angeles Kings? All-Time leader in wins (215) and games coached (480). His Kings? teams recorded 90 or more points three times and he was the second fastest coach to win 100 games in Kings? history. He guided Team Canada to a Gold Medal in the 1997 and 2003 World Championships, becoming the only Canadian coach to win the Gold Medal twice. As an assistant coach with Team Canada, he won a Silver Medal in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. He has a record six Gold Medals as a coach for Canada in the Spengler Cup Tournament.

Prior to joining the Kings in 1999, he guided the Canadian National Team to a 77-29-14 record over two years. Murray has been a coach with the Winnipeg Jets (1993-95), Minnesota North Stars (1990-92) and Philadelphia Flyers (1988-90).

Where were all the St Lunatics for this story? ^_^

Absolutely incredible! Winnipeg had a hockey team?

Welcome to DrunjFlix

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Absolutely incredible! Winnipeg had a hockey team?

I wouldn't believe it for a moment!

[Croatia National Team Manager Slavan] Bilic then went on to explain how Croatia's success can partially be put down to his progressive man-management techniques. "Sometimes I lie in the bed with my players. I go to the room of Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric when I see they have a problem and I lie in bed with them and we talk for 10 minutes." Maybe Capello could try getting through to his players this way too? Although how far he'd get with Joe Cole jumping up and down on the mattress and Rooney demanding to be read his favourite page from The Very Hungry Caterpillar is open to question. --The Guardian's Fiver, 08 September 2008

Attention: In order to obtain maximum enjoyment from your stay at the CCSLC, the reader is advised that the above post may contain large amounts of sarcasm, dry humour, or statements which should not be taken in any true sort of seriousness. As a result, the above poster absolves himself of any and all blame in the event that a forum user responds to the aforementioned post without taking the previous notice into account. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy your stay at the CCSLC.

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With the liquidation sale of players while they were looking new owners, any coach would have to expect a rebuilding, but Kitchen didnt bring the passion that could be seen in the players on the ice. The injuries didnt help either. I am hopeful for a great future though. Maybe they need to change the uni's, it worked in buffalo and for the ducks!!! LOL

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