Hitchcock: Our team game was as good as anybody in the world at that time for about four, five years ... It's a very hard trophy to win

ST. LOUIS -- Ken Hitchcock, who coached some of the greatest teams in St. Louis Blues history during his six seasons here, always felt like they had a chance to raise hockey's holy grail.

Hitchcock, who turns 72 on Dec. 17, came on board in St. Louis after what was already an illustrious career that began in 1984 when he was head coach of Kamloops of the Western Hockey League, then moved on to become an assistant coach of the Philadelphia Flyers for three seasons (1991-93), then moved to the Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL for three seasons (1993-96) before getting his first head coaching job with the Stars when he replaced Bob Gainey in 1996, coaching the Stars for parts of seven seasons and reaching the playoffs -- including winning the Cup once -- five times. He then took over the Flyers for three-plus seasons, guiding them to the playoffs three times, beginning in 2002 before then moving on to become coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2006 for three-plus seasons, reaching the playoffs once.

He was hired by good friend and Blues general manager Doug Armstrong to replace Davis Payne early in the 2011-12 season and guided the Blues to a 43-15-11 record and won the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year. It was the first of five straight playoff appearances that netted Hitchcock an incredulous 248-124-41 record, good for an impeccable .650 winning percentage; he ranks second in Blues history behind Joel Quenneville (307) in career regular-season wins.

Hitchcock coached some of the best players in the world at the time with the Blues, including Alex Pietrangelo, David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Jay Bouwmeester, Colton Parayko, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott, to name a number of them. 

But as great as his Blues teams were, they could only get past the second round once, in 2016 before falling to the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Final. Hitchcock was fired after starting the 2016-17 season 24-21-5 and replaced by Mike Yeo.

"We were really good for a long time here, but we were in the middle of two other good teams that were really good, very deep just like us, Los Angeles and Chicago," Hitchcock said on Thursday before he and former Blues center Pierre Turgeon were honored in a pregame ceremony against the Buffalo Sabres for being indicted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. "Trying to plow through both of them every year was hard and it came down to special players doing special things. Our team game was as good as anybody in the world at that time for about four, five years, but (goalies) Jonathan Quick [Kings] and Corey Crawford [Blackhawks] were playing goal and they were standing on their head and you had to go through it. To me, it re-emphasized how important when I was in Dallas, Ed Belfour was to us (when the Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999 and lost in the Final to the New Jersey Devils in 2000). Eddie won series almost at times I felt like by himself because of how well he played and it recognized how important that position is, especially when it gets down to the playoffs."

Not only was it Quick and Crawford, but there was Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, to name a few from Chicago, and Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown and others with the Kings.

Hitchcock, a native of Edmonton, went on to coach the Stars the following season in 2017-18, then the Oilers in 2018-19 before stepping aside from the coaching ranks. He said he misses the coaching, the competition, the camaraderie but doesn't miss the travel. He is currently a coaching consultant with the Blues and often talks to current Blues coach Craig Berube and checks in with the American Hockey League staff, led by coach Drew Bannister, every Tuesday.

But even after getting fired by the Blues, Hitchcock followed the team that won it all in 2018-19; he coached several players on that championship team, including Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester, Colton Parayko, Joel Edmundson, Robert Bortuzzo, Carl Gunnarsson, Jake Allen, Ivan Barbashev, Robbie Fabbri, David Perron, Schwartz, Alexander Steen and Tarasenko.

"Well because it was Doug and Craig, (I enjoyed it) a lot," Hitchcock said. "I really enjoyed the team come together. You could see they were really having a tough go in January and then things started to turn and once you saw their team game come into focus, you knew that they had a chance. They had as much or more depth than anybody in the National Hockey League and they had that group of defensemen that could defend and beat anybody. So you're really hoping for them. 

I was really happy, first for the city and for the fans because the fan base here is just unbelievable and so loyal. And then for Craig and Doug to see them be able to raise the Cup above their heads is a real good feeling, really good."

As for getting the recognition into the Hall, Hitchcock has the credentials. He coached in 1,598 regular-season games, going 849-534-127 with 88 ties. His 849 regular-season wins are fourth all-time behind the great Scotty Bowman (1,244), Quenneville (969) and Barry Trotz (914). He was 86-82 in 168 playoff games.

"He was a special coach, special person," said Parayko, whose rookie season was 2015-16 under Hitchcock. "It's obviously pretty special. A Hall of Famer. I was just trying to be a sponge as much as possible in my first couple years. A guy that's coached the best guys in the world who knows a ton about the game. It's a privilege and honor, however you want to say it to get to play for a guy like that, just learn from him. He's a special coach, special person. Happy to see him get the credit."

Parayko credits Hitchcock for how his career has progressed.

"He wanted the little things done right all the time, he wanted me to work hard," Parayko said. "You know what he wanted out of you. It's one of those things you show up for practice, you work hard. When you do them, you realize those little things you practice on follow you in the game. They may seem small, but they're always things that are big. He taught me a lot of the little things, everything about the game as a young guy. You couldn't really have a better coach to start off your career."

Hitchcock got to speak to the Blues before their 6-4 win Thursday, something Berube set up.

"I just wanted him to come in and talk to the team," Berube said. "I think it's good that the team recognizes him what he's accomplished, not only here in St. Louis, but his whole career so I brought him in, I told him to come in and say a couple words, introduce him to the team. We did that and he gave a little speech like he was coaching again."

Hitchcock likely won't coach again, but one will never pry him away from the game.