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Ken Hitchcock signs 1-year extension with Blues

NHL, St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues have signed coach Ken Hitchcock to a one-year contract extension for 2016-17, the team announced Tuesday.

Hitchcock also coached this season on a one-year extension after originally signing on with the Blues in November 2011. He said a year ago that he was comfortable taking the situation season by season.

"I don't want to be signing on for a bunch of years that I know I can't answer the bell for," he said then.

The Blues went 49-24-9 under Hitchcock this season and advanced to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the San Jose Sharks in six games. They had fallen in the first round in the previous three seasons and had made it to the second round in Hitchcock's first season.

Hitchcock has a 224-103-36 record in the regular season with the Blues.

Blues captain David Backes told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch over the weekend that he thinks Hitchcock has done "one heck of a job."

"He's a guy, he's put all the work in, puts a great game plan out there, and when we've executed it, it's really tough to beat," Backes told the newspaper.

"There's certainly times when he gets under your skin and he's not your best friend. But I don't know if you want a coach that's your best friend. You want someone that's pushing you and always wanting to make you better and make the team better. He fits all those qualities in a coach."

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