Morning Skate: Hitch looks for 800th win against “best bench coach in the league”

DALLAS — Ken Hitchcock doesn’t like to discuss career milestones.

So on the verge of his 800th career win, Hitchcock isn’t talking about his accolades. Even if the Stars win tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks, he’ll probably shrug it off and quickly move onto another talking point in his postgame press conference.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is currently the only active coach with 800 career wins and is second in NHL history with 868 (Scotty Bowman is still ahead by a wide margin with 1,244).

Hitchcock and Quenneville both became NHL head coaches in 1996. Hitchcock as a mid-season replacement during the 1995-96 season in Dallas, while Quenneville took over as the St. Louis Blues head coach before the 1996-97 season.

Throughout their time in the league, Hitch and Q have become well acquainted with each other.

“One thing about Hitch is his teams are well organized, playing a system with a purpose. They always play hard, they always try to play fast and they’re competitive,” Quenneville said of Hitchcock. “That’s one thing they’ve always done, so that’s what you’ve got to be ready for because they have all four lines that play a comparable way and they play a hard game. That’s the Hitch game.”

“He’s the best bench coach in the league, he’s the best in the league and he’s been the best for a number of years,” Hitchcock said of Quenneville. “He knows how to play who’s going well, he knows who to put out there at the good time, he can trick you on changes. He knows which lines are controlling what, he makes changes right away. He knows even on his own team which players are getting out played because he can adjust. So it’s a real challenge to coach against him, because like I said he’s the top guy on the bench. He’s the guy knows exactly who to put out at the right time, whether it’s road or home, and I think he’s as dangerous on the on the road as he is at home since he’s not worried about having the last change and for whatever reason he gets the right people out there all the time.”

Hitchcock is also known to be a bit hyperbolic, and when Quenneville was asked about Hitchcock’s comments he was certain it was an attempt to get into the other coach’s head.

“Oh for sure he is, no question he’s 100 percent working it,” Quenneville said. “For sure he is, but it’s not working.”

Sharp scratched

Former Stars forward Patrick Sharp will he a healthy scratch tonight for the first time in more than a decade.

Sharp has struggled this season with just nine points (three goals, six assists) in 35 games.

Interestingly enough, Ken Hitchcock was the last coach to make Sharp a healthy scratch back when both were with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Dallas will use the same lineup it used in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals. Hitchcock said he likes the energy that Remi Elie brings to the top line with Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov, while he’s hoping Tyler Seguin finds bit of a spark with Mattias Janmark and Devin Shore.

Ben Bishop and Corey Crawford will start opposite of each other in goal.

Crawford hasn’t lost in regulation since Nov. 12. Bishop has lost his last four starts.

Blackhawks projected lineup

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alex DeBrincat
Nick Schmaltz — Artem Anisimov — Patrick Kane
Ryan Hartman — Vinnie Hinostroza — Richard Panik
Lance Bouma — Tommy Wingels — John Hayden

Duncan Keith — Jordan Oesterle
Michal Kempny — Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling — Connor Murphy

Corey Crawford
Anton Forsberg

Scratched: Patrick Sharp, Ville Pokka
Injured: Cody Franson (upper body), Michal Rozsival (concussion), Jan Rutta (upper body)

Stars projected lineup

Remi Elie — Jamie Benn — Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark — Tyler Seguin — Devin Shore
Gemel Smith — Martin Hanzal — Jason Spezza
Antoine Roussel — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns — Julius Honka

Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen

Scratched: Brett Ritchie
Injured: Marc Methot (knee)