Ken Hitchcock moved into a tie with Al Arbour for the third-most wins in NHL history when the Dallas Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Tuesday.
It was Hitchcock’s 782nd career win, moving his all-time record to 782-476-199.
On Tuesday morning Hitchcock was asked about potentially tying Arbour, who passed away in 2015 and was the architect of the New York Islanders dynasty in the 1980s.
He had an interesting answer:
“I’ve said this before, to me, we all coach a little bit against Scotty or we got our lunch handed to us, whatever way you want to go,” Hitchcock said. “But Al was more of the measuring stick for us. Scotty was kind of rarified air at that time, Al was a guy we got to talk to and meet. Because he had so many players from the west, I knew of him and he knew me. I don’t feel good about it. So I don’t really know. I think he was a special human being and a special coach, he was a guy that I could relate to. Scotty we all thought that he was so much above the rest of us, but Al was right there with us, so it doesn’t feel good.”
Hitchcock will likely finish his career at No. 3 on the all-time list.
Scotty Bowman’s 1,244 career wins would likely require Hitchcock to coach at least another decade, while No. 2 on the list — Joel Quenneville — is still actively coaching the Chicago Blackhawks and is six years younger than Hitchcock.
Vegas strong
During the Stars game last night I received a couple text messages about what was happening in Vegas.
That includes my uncle, who works and lives in Las Vegas.
“Make sure you watch the pre-game tribute, it was great. It was what the city needed,” he texted.
During player introductions each member of the Golden Knights was introduced with a first responder from the recent mass shooting. The names of the victims where displayed on the ice and there was a 58-second long moment of silence in memory of those who died from the attacks.
The Golden Knights also didn’t have any advertisements on the boards during the game. Instead it just said, “Vegas Strong.”
If you have 20 free minutes, watch the tribute here:
Catch-up links
Hitchcock moves up list with Stars’ win against Red Wings
Remi Elie’s “made to order” NHL game makes an immediate impact in Stars victory
Tyler Pitlick embracing new opportunities on Stars penalty kill
Today’s Schedule
The Stars practice at noon in Frisco before flying to Nashville. Practice is open to the public.
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