Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Todd McLellan Out In Edmonton, Replaced By Ken Hitchcock

11/20/2018 at 11:36am EST

added 12:00pm, Edmonton press release is below.

The Edmonton Oilers have named Ken Hitchcock their new Head Coach after relieving Todd McLellan of his coaching duties earlier this morning.

Hitchcock, 66, will join the Oilers, after having served as a Head Coach with Dallas twice (1995-2002, 2017-18), Philadelphia (2002-2006), Columbus (2006-2010) and St. Louis (2011-2017).

Hitchcock, a native of Edmonton, AB, is the third winningest coach in NHL history with a total of 823 victories. He led Dallas to a Stanley Cup in 1999 and captured the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2011-12.

Overall, Hitchcock has a record of 823-506-88-119 record in 1,536 games, with a .603 winning percentage. He has guided his teams to eight division titles (1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2011-12 and 2014-15) and two Presidents Trophies (1997-98 and 1998-99).

Hitchcock has coached the fifth most games in NHL history, second among active coaches behind only Barry Trotz (1,543).

In his 22-year coaching career, he made 14 appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with an 86-82 record in 168 postseason games coached. Hitchcock helped his teams reach the Conference Finals five times (1998, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2016), and the Stanley Cup Finals twice (1999 and 2000), winning the Stanley Cup in 1999 with Dallas.

Hitchcock also has an extensive international hockey background. As Head Coach, he led Team Canada to a silver medal at the 2008 IIHF World Hockey Championship. Additionally, Hitchcock has served as an Associate Coach for Canada five times in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014, while he helped his teams win gold at the 2002, 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. He was also named an assistant coach for Canada at the 2002 IIHF World Hockey Championship and at the 1987 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, with his teams taking home the gold medal at both.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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