St. Louis – When the long-anticipated sale of the stripped-down St. Louis Blues was announced Friday, outgoing owner Bill Laurie went out of his way to compliment coach Mike Kitchen and thank him for holding the team together under difficult circumstances.
Kitchen had been through similar experiences before – as a player.
When he was a defenseman from 1976-82 for the Colorado Rockies, the franchise often was in turmoil and virtually always for sale – even when the sign wasn’t officially out.
“In Colorado we didn’t win much,” Kitchen said Saturday before the Blues’ game against the Avalanche at the Savvis Center. “But as a player, at least you can go out on the ice and get rid of some of your frustration. As a coach, it’s a little different. You have to keep it bottled up inside of you and find ways to motivate the team….
“The team is so different than in 2004, when I took over. As a first-year coach, you’re under an ownership that has put the team up for sale. Then we don’t sign players and we trade away players….This one year as a head coach gives me about four or five years of experience.”
Kitchen’s contract is up after this season. He said he hasn’t had significant discussions about his future with incoming owner Dave Checketts.
“I would like to stay because I know the kids here now,” Kitchen said. “We’re not that far away if we sign a couple of free agents. We have found out we have a goaltender in the system (the now-injured Curtis Sanford). We have young guys coming up who have made great strides….Anytime you can coach in the NHL it’s terrific, but that’s their call, and I have no control over that.”
Kitchen was a longtime assistant under Joel Quenneville and stepped up to the head coaching position when Quenneville was fired in 2004.
Footnote
When Boston forward Yan Stastny, the son of former Nordiques and Devils star Peter Stastny and brother of University of Denver star Paul Stastny, got a second-period assist against Buffalo Saturday night, it was a big moment for the St. Louis hockey community. Unofficial word was that Yan Stastny became the first product of St. Louis-area youth hockey programs to get a point in the NHL. Peter finished his career with the Blues and stayed in the St. Louis area.
