Flyers Hire Hitchcock

Archived from 2001-02 season.

The Philadelphia Flyers named Ken Hitchcock their new coach on Tuesday. When the team fired Bill Barber two weeks ago, they planned to conduct a long, exhaustive search to find a new coach. However, they only interviewed Hitchcock.

"When we made that statement, we were worried that Ken was on his way to the Rangers," team chairman Ed Snider said. "Fortunately, that wasn't the case. We jumped in right away. He's exactly the coach this team needs."

Hitchcock, who led the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup in 1999, served as an assistant coach in Philadelphia from 1990-93.

"It's like home for me," Hitchcock said. "There isn't going to be a transition time."

Hitchcock, 50, is the fifth coach hired by Clarke since 1997, when Terry Murray was fired despite leading Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup finals.

"We've had so much instability that it's embarrassing to me," Snider said. "I can assure you he will be here for the duration of his contract."

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