St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced changes to the Blues Hockey Operations Department today.
The Blues have named Peter Chiarelli as Vice President of Hockey Operations, while Ken Hitchcock will rejoin the team as Coaching Consultant. Dave Taylor, who previously served as the team’s vice president of hockey operations, will assume the role of Senior Advisor to Hockey Operations.
Chiarelli, 57, began his executive career with the Ottawa Senators after the team hired him as Assistant General Manager in 1999.
Following his stint with the Senators, the Nepean, Ontario native was named General Manager of the Boston Bruins in 2006. During his tenure (2006-15), the Bruins posted the seventh-best regular-season record in the NHL (386-233-85) and earned the 2014 Presidents’ Trophy. The team also qualified for the postseason seven times, made two trips to the Conference Semifinals and two trips to the Stanley Cup Final, capturing the 2011 Stanley Cup.
On April 24, 2015, Chiarelli was named General Manager and President of Hockey Operations of the Edmonton Oilers. Over almost four seasons, he led the Oilers to a 137-133-26 regular-season record and to an appearance in the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hitchcock, 69, previously served as Blues head coach from 2011-17. Under Hitchcock, the Blues posted a 248-124-41 regular-season record and qualified for the postseason in each of his six seasons. He finished his Blues career ranked second in franchise history in regular-season wins and games coached.
Overall, the Edmonton, Alberta, native served as a head coach in 22 NHL seasons, including stints with Dallas, Philadelphia, Columbus, St. Louis and Edmonton. He ranks fourth all-time in league history with 849 wins (849-534-88) and sixth in games behind the bench.
Hitchcock also captured the 1999 Stanley Cup Championship with the Dallas Stars.
