Hitch finds return to coaching roots 'invigorating'

Ken Hitchcock manages to get the words out to the reporter on the other end of the phone line.

It was a revelation by a man known for his no-nonsense approach and physical teams in 17 seasons behind a National Hockey League bench.

"I think I've got too soft," a reflective Hitchcock said in an interview with CBCSports.ca. "I don't think I could do it anymore. These guys [playing] three games in three nights with long bus travel."

Hitchcock was asked if he would consider a return to the junior coaching ranks before another chance to build on his 533 NHL victories arises.

The man known as Hitch never had a losing record in his six seasons coaching the Western Hockey League's Kamloops Blazers before joining the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant coach in 1990.

Twenty years later, Hitchcock finds himself back at the junior level after the Columbus Blue Jackets fired him as their head coach on Feb. 3, only to rehire Hitchcock on Sept. 18 as a special adviser to the organization.

These days, the Edmonton native assists in the evaluation of Blue Jackets draft picks playing in the Canadian Hockey League and collegiate ranks, working with the coaching staff of the team's American Hockey League affiliate in Springfield, Mass., and watching AHL and NHL games both live and on television.

"I lost touch with junior hockey," said the 58-year-old Hitchcock. "It gave me my start and I lost touch with it because you're so focused at the NHL level. This [job] has given me an opportunity to reconnect."

Hitchcock, who has had the chance to work with coaches in junior hockeywho played for him, has enjoyed helping others have success.

"I really enjoy teaching and the on-ice coaching," he said. "Going back and doing work with junior teams and watching that, it's been invigorating. Dealing with the kids has been fun.

Dealing with kids 'fun'

"At the end of the day, you can't just be taking. You have to give back a little bit. In the NHL, we give back a little but we do a lot of taking. What the heck. This is a chance to give back a little bit."

Hitchcock has given plenty at the international level, most recently serving on Mike Babcock's staff at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics his third Winter Games where Canada captured gold against the United States.

In 2008, Hitchcock was head coach of Canada's silver medal-winning squad at the world championship and an associate in 2002. He was also an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and 1988 world junior championship.

On a personal level, the time away from an NHL bench has allowed Hitchcock to work on things he previously ignored such as his physical conditioning, reading and becoming better rounded.

He is proud of the fact he can provide a scouting report on 28 NHL teams, complete with strengths, weaknesses and things to work on.

"You never did that as a head coach. You never got more than four days ahead of yourself," he said. "It's an interesting perspective because it's given me a much more well-rounded view of what teams are like why they are successful and why they're not."

'It doesn't feel good when you see friends in the business struggle. ... I really feel for them.' Former NHL head coach Ken Hitchcock

Last April, Hitchcock was mentioned as a potential fit to succeed retiring head coach Jacques Lemaire in New Jersey, which decided to promote longtime assistant John MacLean.

Hitchcock isn't sure the phone will ring again from an NHL team in need of a head coach, and said the worst thing to do is sit at home and wait for a call.

"I was lucky. I got on the NHL bus and stayed on it for a long time, and I hope to get on it again some day," said Hitchcock, who has two years and a reported $2.6 million US left on his contract with Columbus. "It's the greatest feeling in the world when you're on that bus. There's not many people that can say that.

"There's times you really miss it and then there's times you go, 'I'm glad I'm not in that [situation]. It doesn't feel good when you see friends in the business struggle. Some people I know that are struggling I really feel for them.

"When you get to know some people in this business for a long period of time you don't ever want to see them get fired."

But it might be the only way Hitchcock gets back behind an NHL bench.