from Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times,

Now here comes Ken Hitchcock, the fourth-winningest coach of all-time, declaring that if the St. Louis Blues are to beat the defending champion Hawks, they need to have at least 70 hits per game. Seventy. Considering they had 41 in a very physical Game 1 that went to overtime, the number is almost as absurd as the thinking behind it.

“I’m not sure about that comment, but I hope there’s some validity to it,” smirked Joel Quenneville, the second-winningest coach of all time. “I hope he tries to get to 70. That means we have the puck the whole game.”

Every year, a team thinks it can beat the Hawks by beating them up. The Kings tried it in 2013 and failed. The Blues tried it in 2014 and failed. The Ducks tried it in 2015 and failed. And if the Blues prioritize punishment over puck possession again, they’ll fail again.

Hitchcock softened the comment a little bit on Thursday, pointing out that the Blues have a looser definition of a “hit” than the official scorers do. By his count, the Blues had 57 hits in Game 1, not 41. And during their knock-down, drag-out series with the Kings in 2013, they managed to reach their interpretation of the 70-hit mark.

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