Exiled from Broad Street, Hitchcock a hit in Columbus

When the Philadelphia Flyers fired Ken Hitchcock in October, many players there practically tripped over themselves to rub salt in the deposed coach's wounds.

Now six weeks later, Hitchcock's new players in Columbus are heaping nothing but praise on him, and a Blue Jackets team that previously looked good only on paper is suddenly playing well enough to become a legitimate force in the Western Conference.

Ken Hitchcock finds a receptive team in Columbus. (Getty Images)

Life certainly has worked in mysterious ways for Hitchcock and the Blue Jackets, who both seemed down and out for the count when they came together at Thanksgiving. The Jackets were 5-13-2 and spiraling downward after bouncing Gerard Gallant, while Hitchcock was coming to terms with his own unpleasant dismissal from a Flyers team that had players such as Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Peter Forsberg blaming their misfortunes on him.

These days, Columbus is riding a four-game winning streak that includes back-to-back shutouts on the road. With two-thirds of the schedule remaining, the Blue Jackets are taking baby steps toward climbing back into the playoff picture. Evidently, Hitchcock has steered the ship back on course. "He's been perfect for us," said captain Adam Foote. "Hitch came in and gave us confidence right away and made us believe that we weren't that far off.

"We needed someone with his kind of experience and preparation. We have a lot of talent and a great dressing room as far as attitude and good work ethic goes, but we just directed the wrong way. Hitch gives you such a clear vision of what you have to do to be successful, and he makes it simple."

Columbus has gone 5-3 since Hitchcock arrived, with all the losses coming by a goal. The Jackets haven't allowed more than three goals in any of those games, thanks largely to some outstanding goaltending by Pascal Leclaire and, in particular, backup Fredrik Norrena.

The Blue Jackets offense, so dormant early, has come alive as well with 19 scores in the past four games. Meanwhile, the special teams haven't done badly, either. The penalty killers have given up only one goal in the past 34 chances down a man, and the power play exploded for five goals in Sunday's victory over Ottawa.

"The big thing is that he's got us playing sound defensively and sound all-around hockey, and that creates chances for us," said right wing Dan Fritsche. "He's got a really good system for us, and we're buying into it."

That has to be the nicest change of all for Hitchcock, who joined the Flyers in 2002 with a Stanley Cup victory on his resume. He had successful regular-season runs in all his full seasons with the Flyers but had lost control of the Philadelphia dressing room, although not before it became clear the Flyers were overrated and poorly constructed for today's game.

Still, he said the firing after a game in Florida was difficult and made him leery about jumping back in.

"When we left Florida, we were coming off two tremendous efforts and six of eight on the road," Hitchcock said. "I thought we were going home and this was going to be the time to make hay, but ...

"I didn't know if I wanted to start again. It wasn't that I would have to go prove myself, but I just knew how much work I had to put into it, and when I came here, I honestly didn't know if I would have the energy to do this again."

Obviously the chance to get back in the saddle quickly took care of that at the job interview, and getting the support of veterans like Foote, Sergei Fedorov and Fredrik Modin did the rest. Hitchcock said that was particularly critical because he was joining in midseason.