Hitchcock's legacy seen in banners, hockey growth - and guys like Seguin

The hockey legacy of Ken Hitchcock can be found all over this town, and it will even be on the ice Monday at American Airlines Center.
Hitchcock is the winningest coach in Dallas Stars history and had a hand in building the hockey infrastructure that has made the sport thrive in a Sunbelt City, so his return as the new coach of the Edmonton Oilers will probably be met with another standing ovation from the fans. Just as important this time, though, is the appreciation that will come from a few key members on the Stars bench.
Hitchcock returned to coach the Stars last season, retired at the end of the year, and now has come back to coach is boyhood idols, the Oilers. While that's a convoluted process to try to digest, it makes sense in Hitchcock's mind.
He is simply trying to do his best every day to enjoy the sport he loves -- and that's the same now in Edmonton as it was last year in Dallas.
"It feels like I never left, because I was here a week ago," Hitchcock joked on his return.

After spending one season as the team's head coach, Hitchcock became a consultant this season before joining the Oilers. He still maintains a residence in Dallas, so this is a strange time, as he's picking up clothes here to take back to his new home. But the head coach, who has lost 80 pounds in the past seven months, still is the same guy who joined the Stars in 1996 and led them to the 1999 Stanley Cup. He can look at the championship banners at American Airlines Center and take a great deal of pride in them, but he said he gets a bigger kick when he drives around the city and sees the signs of hockey all over the place.

"We started the program here, and that program led to minor hockey, it led to the building of rinks, it led to a great AAA program," Hitchcock said. "I've got friends in the Western Hockey League that have a number of players from Dallas in their programs, so it's not just winning championships or making the playoffs for me here, it's the growth of the game."
Hitchcock, 66, also has had a hand in the more immediate growth of a few key players. He helped John Klingberg develop his game, and also helped Tyler Seguin become a more complete player. Seguin said one of the things he appreciated about Hitchcock was that the coach challenged him to be better as a center and didn't just move him to the right wing.
"He was really the first coach to give me a lot of opportunities," Seguin said. "Everybody always wants to play in the biggest parts of the game, and he used me like that. He wanted me to go head-to-head with the best players, and that was very exciting for me."
Hitchcock said the process was fun for him. He challenged Seguin the way he did with Mike Modano in the 1990s and he said he loved the pushback and eventual progress from Seguin.
"I'm proud that I coached him hard and I stuck with him," Hitchcock said. "Every time (in the past) when the coach was on his back, he would have to go play right wing, which he hated. And I just stuck with him, and eventually after two months, he punched through. It took two months, but he came out on the other side to be the player he is now.
"That, to me, is coaching."

Seguin leads the Stars in scoring this season with 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists) and also leads the team in plus-minus at plus-12. It's a testament to the two-way game Hitchcock was preaching.
"I'm proud that he stuck with us and we stuck with him, and in the end you get a an unbelievable player. It's a good lesson for all of us," Hitchcock said. "The hardest part is sticking with them because at the start you're going to have a lot of disappointment. But at the end, look what you've got -- you've got a great finished product, a dynamic player with or without the puck."
That's just one of the sidebars in what should be an interesting return for Hitchcock. These two teams faced each other in Edmonton last week, with the Oilers taking a 1-0 overtime win, so that puts another twist in this meeting. But, bottom line, Hitchcock will be returning once again to a place that he holds very dear, and might even call home one day.
As for legacy and all of that, it will have to wait for now.
"We poured our heart and soul into it last year, and I think we did a hell of a job," he said of a Stars team that missed the playoffs.
"But you've got to move on quick in this business. For me, there was a lot of positives and a lot of growth, and I'm pretty proud of that."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika&nbswitter@MikeHeika,and listen to his podcast.