— Hockey Hall of Fame (@HockeyHallFame) June 21, 2023
Hitchcock was one of seven people to have their names called today, joining goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, goaltender Tom Barrasso, forward Pierre Turgeon, forward Caroline Ouellette, goaltender Mike Vernon, and late executive Pierre Lacroix.
The 71-year-old coach began his professional coaching career in 1990 with the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant under Paul Holmgren. He also served under Bill Dineen and remained with the team until 1993, when he became the head coach of the IHL’s Kalamazoo Wings.
Hitchcock left the K-Wings midway through the 1995-96 season to take over as head coach of the Dallas Stars, their NHL affiliate at the time, after Bob Gainey stepped back to focus on his managerial duties.
The Stars compiled a 15-23-5 record in Hitchcock’s 43 games, and went 26-42-14 overall. He was able to right the ship almost immediately, leading Dallas to the 1997 Central Division title. After falling to the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, Hitchcock rallied the troops to another division crown in 1998 and led Dallas to the Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.
1999 was a different story, and after coming so close the year before, Hitchcock and the Stars captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in six games over the Buffalo Sabres on Brett Hull’s controversial triple-overtime winner.
The team made a second consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2000, but they couldn’t repeat as the New Jersey Devils defeated them in six games.
Hitchcock and the Stars won their fifth consecutive division title in 2001 but bowed out in the second round of the playoffs to the St. Louis Blues. The team struggled during the 2001-02 season and after 50 games, Hitchcock was fired.
At the end of that same season, the Flyers fired Bill Barber after losing to the Ottawa Senators in the first round, paving the way for Hitchcock to rejoin the team after spending 9 seasons away.
Philadelphia went 45-20-13-4 in 2002-03, finishing second in the Atlantic Division standings. They made the second round but fell to the Senators for a second straight postseason.
The Flyers’ 2003-04 season saw them reclaim the Atlantic crown and they went on a memorable run to the Eastern Conference Finals. After running through the Devils in the opening round, the Flyers won a thrilling series over the Toronto Maple Leafs, capped off by Jeremy Roenick’s overtime winner in Game 6.
Philadelphia then took on the Tampa Bay Lightning and forced seven games, with the most memorable moment of the series for the Flyers being Keith Primeau’s and Simon Gagné’s goals in Game 6.
Shortly after the season ended, the NHL lockout occurred and cancelled the 2004-05 season. Hitchcock and the Flyers returned for 2005-06 and went 45-26-11, good for second in the Atlantic. They would lose to the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the playoffs, and after an abysmal 1-6-1 start to the 2006-07 season, Hitchcock was fired by Philadelphia.
He would be hired during the same season by the Columbus Blue Jackets to replace Gary Agnew after the team had already fired Gerard Gallant previously.
Hitchcock’s Blue Jackets in his 62 games went 28-29-5, and he would remain with the team until he was fired after 58 games in 2009-10. Under Hitchcock, the Blue Jackets made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 2009, where they got swept by Detroit in the first round. Former Flyer Steve Mason also won the Calder Trophy that same season with Columbus, the only time a Blue Jacket has ever won the award.
Hitchcock didn’t rejoin an NHL bench until 2011-12 when the St. Louis Blues hired him after firing Davis Payne. He was able to lead the Blues to the Central Division title, but they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the playoffs. For his efforts, Hitchcock won the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach.
The Blues proceeded to produce three consecutive first round exits from 2013 to 2015, but they made a surprise run to the 2016 Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the San Jose Sharks in six games.
Hitchcock would coach the first 50 games of the 2016-17 season, but he was relieved of his duties in favor of Mike Yeo after the team went just 24-21-5 under him.
The Stars tabbed Hitchcock for a reunion in 2017-18 and after a disappointing campaign that saw Dallas finish sixth in the Central and miss the playoffs with a 42-32-8 record, he did not return.
He then joined the Edmonton Oilers during the 2018-19 season after they fired Todd McLellan. Hitchcock’s record with the Oilers was 26-28-8, and the club missed the playoffs.
Ken Hitchcock ended his NHL coaching career with a record of 849-534-88-127, 1 Jack Adams Award, 8 division titles, 2 conference championships, and of course, a Stanley Cup championship. He also remains the winningest coach in Stars history with 319 victories, and he ranks fourth all-time in NHL history in coaching wins.
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