Hitchcock At Home In Columbus

from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail, At 4-1, Columbus is off to the best start in franchise history. Except for a four-minute lapse against the San Jose Sharks that resulted in a 6-3 loss, they have been relentlessly consistent thus far this season. “We all have these ideas about how a team is going to play and how you want to play, but then you find out, you gotta drag one guy in at a time,” explained coach Ken Hitchcock in an interview. “As much as you want your team to play committed and everything, it’s like you pull in one guy one day and one guy the next day and that’s what we’re doing. We’re trying to get to the level, where every player feels committed to compete for every puck every day on every shift.” Hitchcock is in his fourth season with Columbus, joining them in November, 2006, after he’d been dismissed by the Philadelphia Flyers. Accordingly, he has been in place long enough that his message is familiar to the players that matter -beginning with team captain Rick Nash - and they’re on board with what he’s trying to sell. read on plus many additional hockey topics duscussed…