Doug Armstrong dabbed at his eyes to wipe away tears on Wednesday morning. He had just fired legendary coach Ken Hitchcock, one of his best friends. This was not how it was supposed to end for a coach who pushed and prodded the Blues to within two victories of the last Stanley Cup Final. Hitchcock deserved better.
The Blues fired the wrong guy.
"Ultimately, Ken, he's paying the price for all of our failures, starting with mine," Armstrong said after replacing Hitchock with associate head coach Mike Yeo. "I'm the manager. I'm the quote/unquote president of hockey operations. It's my team."
Armstrong failed his friend tremendously on several fronts last offseason. It's impossible to know how much he undermined Hitchcock's authority by naming Yeo the coach-in-waiting, although one can argue that players would have slacked anyway knowing Hitchcock was a lame duck in his final one-year deal.
It's time for owner Tom Stillman to determine how much longer before he also sends his general manager packing.
Stillman declined Wednesday to address Armstrong's status. Through a set of e-mail exchanges, he said he preferred to have the organization speak with one voice through Armstrong.
Hitchcock took the fall for a general manager who broke up and failed to improve a team that reached the Western Conference Finals last season for the first time in 15 years.
"Ultimately when I don't get their blessing there will be a new guy up here talking to you guys," Armstrong said of Stillman and the Blues' ownership group. "Hey, that's sports. That part I do get. I'm not going to cheat the ownership group to do something that I don't think is best for this franchise. Short-term things for me are bad decisions."
While making decisions with an eye on the future, Armstrong put Hitchcock in a losing situation when he declined to re-sign captain David Backes and fellow forward Troy Brouwer, two respected veterans who policed the dressing room.
"We don't lose with pride," Armstrong said. "It just felt like we were hit-and-miss night in and night out. I think we need to demand more of ourselves. And our record is not indicative of what we thought.
"I thought it was going to be a rebuilding year, a retrenching year. I was excited about what we were going to go through."
Armstrong also traded away veteran goaltender Brian Elliott, the Blues' MVP of the 2016 playoffs. With that trade, Armstrong gambled that Jake Allen was ready to assume the No. 1 goaltender's role.
Allen, however, has been one of the biggest disappointments in the NHL this season. It's ridiculous to say one player got Hitchcock fired, but Allen is arguably the biggest culprit. He was crushed under the weight of the clear starting role, lost his confidence and then caused his teammates to press further, causing a cascade of defensive issues.
Perhaps the "mental block" that Allen and the Blues blamed for Allen's problems could have been avoided with a more sensitive, hand-holding coach. I doubt it, though.
Hitchcock pushes and prods his teams. Some players chafed at his style over the years, but they rallied last May to within two victories of their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1970. Hitchcock is a future Hall of Famer. He has secured 781 victories and one Stanley Cup championship ring, and, he led the Blues to five consecutive playoff appearances.
Unfortunately for Blues fans, Armstrong got rid of three of the biggest pieces _ Backes, Brouwer and Elliott _ responsible for the magical 2015-2016 run.
Armstrong also wasted too much energy in his failed attempt to lure Vladimir Sobotka back from the KHL. He lamented how the Blues resemble "independent contractors" instead of a team.
That's what happens when you get rid of proud, accomplished veterans and leave a leadership void to be filled by a young core.
Armstrong lamented how some players reacted after losses when they got their way and after victories when they didn't get their way. He all but called the players selfish for caring more about their individual stats than the team's record.
Which begs the question, what the hell did you expect after getting rid of Backes and Brouwer?
"That's a great question," Armstrong said. "And what I tried to do over the summer was look at this franchise in 2020, 2021, 2022, knowing that the players that we have to sign moving forward.
"I made a decision that I thought was best for this team long term. And that's the business I'm in. I can't look at what would have been easiest for me but what was best for the franchise."
That long-term outlook may be sound and worthy of admiration. But it proved costly for Hitchcock.
Armstrong broke up a good team. Hitchcock paid the price. Armstrong says Hitchcock's firing means the spotlight is now on the players. The spotlight also is now squarely on the general manager. His job is on the line.
"It should be," he said. "It should be every day. It's pro sports. You're hired to be fired. I get that part of it. This isn't something that you sign up with a lifetime contract. I'm going to do the best I can do. Then when someone says your best isn't enough they'll let me know."
