Even with Mike Babcock locked up in Toronto, the St. Louis Blues still aren’t ready to commit to bringing back head coach Ken Hitchcock.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong provided an update on the coaching conundrum today, via Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
“I certainly can say we’re a lot closer to the finish line than we were two or three weeks ago, but we’re not there yet. ... It’s something that we’re working on everyday. We’re trying to do it behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny.
“I’m aware people want answers, but fortunately for us we have a strong ownership group that understands that this is a process. We’re going to make use of our time and when the final decision has been made, we’ll announce it.”
The situation in St. Louis is somewhat similar to the one in Boston, where new Bruins GM Don Sweeney said yesterday that he wanted to have a “philosophical” discussion with Claude Julien before making a decision on his head coach.
The difference is that Armstrong isn’t new to the position. It’s been almost a month since the Blues were eliminated. Hence, the wanting of answers from fans.
“Ken and I have had really good communications since the end of the season,” said Armstrong. “When I was in Europe we talked quite a bit. We’re talking again now. We’re both still discussing what we need to do get better and going through the process.”
Related: Hitch needs ‘time to reflect’ before making decision on future