Vladimir Tarasenko was not a happy camper following Blues’ head coach Ken Hitchcock’s inexplicable decision to play him less than 17 minutes in St. Louis’ Game 6 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Hitchcock is apparently good with his star scorer’s anger, telling Craig Custance of ESPN.com he’s a big fan of Tarasenko’s rage.
“That’s what happens when you’ve got a guy like that that wants to make a difference,” Hitchcock told ESPN. “I love it, I love it in him.”
I mean, it’s great Hitchcock likes the fire coming from his best player, but it’s entirely created by his own bad coaching on the game’s biggest stage. Tarasenko wasn’t channeling his rage towards the game, but against Hitchcock himself. It’s hard to blame him. Tarasenko is one of the best snipers around and to have him sit on the bench for over 70% of a huge playoff matchup is asinine.
Hitchcock tried to justify the decision, telling ESPN he kept Tarasenko glued to the bench because he wanted to give them a rest following a long shift.
“They just came off a long shift, and they were tired,” Hitchcock said of Tarasenko’s line. “I was trying to cheat to get time, to give them a rest, but the referee wouldn’t let us cheat. So he wanted our players out there right away.”
Hitchcock’s decision to ‘rest’ his best player was questionable and trying to make a negative situation into a good one isn’t going to work here. Tarasenko should have been on the ice. Hitchcock’s coaching prevented it. End of story. Next time, play him during crunch time minutes and I bet good things will happen.
[theScore]
