Hockey is sometimes painfully ironic. The latest example of that was when Ken Hitchcock was interviewed on the bench and reiterated that he wasn’t going to make a goalie change after Jake Allen coughed up a soft goal against the Wild. Hitchcock said that Allen is a young guy who is learning and the team has to stick with him.
Approximately 30 seconds and another soft goal later, Hitchcock changed his mind and pulled Allen in favor of Brian Elliott.
Elliott came in and played fairly well, but it wasn’t enough as the Blues were kicked out of the playoffs in the first round for the third time in three seasons. Fans questioned Hitchcock’s comments even before he removed Allen as the playoffs don’t seem like the best time to let a young goalie work through his struggles. On cue, the Wild scored on a weak shot which trickled through Allen and Hitchcock was forced to go back on the statement he made less than a minute prior.
It’ll be interesting to see how things shake out in St. Louis, but this might end up being one of the last decisions Hitchcock made as the head coach of the Blues.
(H/T Reddit Hockey)
