The St. Louis Blues could have a distinct Minnesota Wild feel next season.
Coach Ken Hitchcock and his understudy, Mike Yeo, were busy exchanging notes and drawing up schemes while watching over the team's development camp this week in St. Louis.
And for the veteran Hitchcock, whose experience rivals any coach currently at the helm, there have been more than a few aha moments.
"I learned a lot already," Hitchcock told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We took some of the really good stuff that we thought Mike and his staff did, and we’re incorporating that into us.
"There were things in their game that you really had a tough time playing against and now we know why. So we’re going to use those things, and it’s going to make us a hell of a lot better."
Meanwhile, the former Wild head coach has gained insight beyond Xs and Os.
"(Hitchcock)'s been unbelievable, as far as sharing his knowledge and sharing information as far as things that have gone on here," Yeo said. "But also asking for input, very interested in a lot of things that we've done.
"That's one of the things that has been more eye-opening and revealing to me than anything is just how committed he is to getting better. Even despite the success that he's had in his career, he's trying to find ways to get better as a coach and trying to find ways to get this team better."
St. Louis' recruitment of Yeo presented the makings of an awkward spot for Hitchcock, who covets a final charge at a championship before moving on to the next chapter of his life. But four weeks in, the unlikely marriage has been a harmonious one.
