Davis Payne has been relieved of his head coaching duties, and is replaced by Ken Hitchcock
The Blues have announced that Davis Payne is out as head coach, and my immediate reaction is...Wow. Obviously it was widely speculated that changes would be made, but this is not what was expected. It was known that Payne would probably be the first to go, but he was expected to have more time. While its hard to see Payne leave, it was the right move in my opinion.
Payne cannot take all of the blame, but head coaches are usually the first to go.
Payne managed the Blues for 95 games and had a record of 44-40-11 after being called upon to replace Andy Murray halfway through the 2010-2011 season.
This move obviously comes as a shocker, and hopefully this sends a message to the players and coaching staff.
Meet his replacement
Ken Hitchcock was announced as Payne's replacement, and has a contract through the 2012-2013 season according to Lou Korac.
Hitchcock has much more experience than Payne, and may be the right guy to put behind the bench to manage this young Blues team.
Hitchcock has managed a total of 1,042 games and has a winning record of 533-350-88-70 ( .588 winning % ). Hitchcock also has a Stanley cup on his resume from 1999 when he managed the Stars.
This move happened very fast, and was extremely unexpected, but not completely surprising. I think the thing that made it shocking, was the timing. I assumed the Blues would at least give Payne until the end of the upcoming homestand.
Hopefully this sparks the team, and turns out to be a good move...I wish the best of luck to Davis Payne on his coaching career.