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Scorpions Welcome Flyers Coach to Training Camp

October 6, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
New Mexico Scorpions News Release


ALBUQUERQUE – The balloons are in the air around Albuquerque, and the New Mexico Scorpions are gearing up for the start of training camp in Corpus Christi. Once they hit the ice there will be one extra participant.

Philadelphia Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock will be joining both Scorpions coach Bill McDonald and Corpus Christi Rayz coach Ken McRae at the respective training camps for the Central Hockey League teams. Hitchcock has also offered to help with practices for the Junior Rayz youth hockey program. McDonald was an assistant coach under Hitchcock with the Dallas Stars during the 1999-2000 season as well as head coach with the Stars' IHL affiliate in Kalamazoo, Mich., and the two have maintained a friendship since.

Hitchcock brought the Stanley Cup to Texas with the Stars in 1999, and was an associate coach with Team Canada's winning teams at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and at the recent World Cup of Hockey. He is entering his tenth season as an NHL head coach and his teams have won six division titles during that time, including last season's Flyers team that advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before bowing to eventual champion Tampa Bay in seven games.

"This is a great moment for our hockey programs, and I'm honored that Ken will be coming to Corpus Christi," said Scorpions and WD Sports President/CEO W.D. "Doug" Frank. "Ken Hitchcock is arguably the best coach in the National Hockey League, and for him to take the time to come to Corpus Christi and work with both of our teams is a privilege. It should be a lot of fun and I am sure that everybody will learn something."

"'Hitch' has been a good friend to me over the years, and it's great that he's coming down to Corpus for our camp," added McDonald. "He's a great teacher of the game, and for our players and Corpus Christi's players to hear what he has to say will be invaluable and should also add a lot of intensity on the ice."

"I've known both Bill and Doug since my days in Dallas," stated Hitchcock, "and I know they both really supported me. Bill especially helped me a lot when we were together in Dallas and this is just a way to repay him. Hopefully I can bring something to training camp and I am looking forward to working with both teams. I'm missing the teaching aspect of the game right now, and I think this is a great opportunity to get back into that."

Season tickets for the 2004-2005 CHL season start as low as $320 and are on sale NOW. Season tickets also include a free entry into the Scorps Rewards prize pool. A full list of prizes is available at www.scorpionshockey.com. The Scorpions open their ninth season of pro hockey at Tingley Coliseum on Oct. 29 when they host the Corpus Christi Rayz at 7:05 p.m. Single-game tickets are expected to go on sale in early October. For more information, call the Scorpions office at (505) 881-PUCK (7825).

Ken Hitchcock Head Coach Philadelphia Flyers

Career Notes: Hitchcock, 51, is the 15th head coach in Flyers history. He most recently served as an assistant coach for Canada's 2002 Men's World Hockey Championship team and won a gold medal as an associate coach with Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Hitchcock served as head coach of the Dallas Stars for parts of seven seasons (1995-96 to 2001-02), compiling a 277-166-60 record in 503 regular season games for a .610 winning percentage. The Stars qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his five full seasons as head coach and he registered a 47-33 record in 80 playoff games. He led the Stars to five consecutive Division championships (1996-97 through 2000-01), two Presidents' Trophies as "the club finishing the regular season with the best overall record" (1997-98 and 1998-99), two Western Conference Championships (1998-99 and 1999-2000) and one Stanley Cup Championship (1998-99). He holds the Stars franchise records for most career regular season wins by a coach (277), most career playoff wins (47), highest regular season winning percentage by a coach (.610) and highest playoff winning percentage by a coach (.588).

Hitchcock has been nominated for the Jack Adams Award as "the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success" three consecutive seasons, following the 1996-97 through 1998-99 seasons. He coached at the NHL's All-Star Game for three straight seasons (1997 through 1999). In the 1998-99 season, Dallas set team records for most wins (51), most points (114) and highest percentage in a season (.695). During the 1996-97 season, his first full campaign as the Stars' head coach, Hitchcock guided Dallas to a first-place finish in the Central Division, making Dallas only the ninth team in NHL history to go from last place to first place in a division in one season, and their 38-point improvement from the previous season was tied for the fifth best in League history.

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Hitchcock served as head coach of Dallas' International Hockey League affiliate, the Kalamazoo Wings/Michigan K-Wings for three seasons, from the 1993-94 season until being named Stars' head coach on January 8, 1996. Prior to joining the Stars' organization, Hitchcock served three seasons as an assistant coach with the Flyers (1990-91 through 1992-93). Hitchcock has guided every professional team that he has served as head coach to the playoffs in every full season that he has been at the helm.

Hitchcock joined the Flyers after six seasons as head coach of the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League from 1984-85 through 1989-90. His .693 winning percentage as head coach at Kamloops is the second highest in the history of the WHL (291-125-15). He was named the WHL's Coach of the Year following the 1986-87 and 1989-90 seasons. He was named the Top Coach in all of Canadian Major Junior Hockey after the Blazers won the WHL title and finished third at the Memorial Cup in 1990. Hitchcock's international experience also includes serving as an assistant coach for the Team Canada team that captured the gold medal at the 1987 World Junior Championships.

Ken and his wife, Nancy, have three children, Emily, Alex and Noah.



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