Jackets' success due to change

Columbus has bought into its new coach's program.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ken Hitchcock's first real job was in sales. Now it is the Columbus Blue Jackets who are buying what he's selling.
Since taking over the Blue Jackets Nov. 22, Hitchcock has the team headed in the right direction. It won five games in a row during one stretch, something the 6-year-old franchise had never done before.
"Winning? I feel every day like the team I'm coaching can win it all," Hitchcock said. "I know winning games is a necessary measuring stick for me, in my business. What I've learned is that if you build a team first, all the other things get taken care of. I pride myself in togetherness."
Hitchcock has won almost 1,400 NHL games, first with the Dallas Stars -- where he won a Stanley Cup in 1999 -- and then with the Philadelphia Flyers, who fired him earlier this season.
For his first big job, he submitted a resume written in pencil on a sheet of lined paper. He got his latest job after a 10-hour interview that included much philosophical discourse with a self-made billionaire.
Along the way, his sales training -- and an unwavering belief in the system he has learned and cultivated over the years -- has been evident.
History lesson
Hitchcock's father died of cancer when he was 14 and his mother of cancer when he was 20.
Growing up in Sherwood Park, on the outskirts of Edmonton, Hitchcock, the oldest of three kids, was watched over by several family friends and associates.
"I was on my own, and I had limited to no self-discipline," Hitchcock said. "My attitude was, 'I don't care what really happens.' Life was 100 mph. I gained an unbelievable amount of weight and didn't really care. The only thing I hung on to was, I liked sports."
Wilf Brooks is owner emeritus of the family-run United Cycle store in Edmonton, one of the world's largest independent retailers of hockey gear. He said Ken's father, Ray Hitchcock, helped build the community center in Sherwood Park, and so, when he died, the community took it upon itself to help raise his eldest son. Brooks hired Hitchcock in 1973 to sell uniforms to local teams and considers himself one of his surrogate fathers.
"And there are a lot of us around here, and a lot of surrogate family," Brooks said. "It's not all our doing, either. Ken has a gift with people. He connects with people. At United Cycle, he gave me his eight hours a day and more, but from his desk he also managed to meet and connect with a lot of skilled hockey people."
Among them was Clare Drake of the University of Alberta, a noted tactician and champion of the phrase, "We, not me."
"I was doing team [hockey] sales and then, on the weekends, we sold everything from bicycles to motorcycles," Hitchcock said. "I was good at it, and I loved it. I don't know what happened, but I came back from the national [Midget AAA] championships in 1984 and I just said, 'I want to try something different.' "
Doing what it takes
He got the job with Kamloops, a major junior franchise, because he found out from another candidate how much the team was paying and he undercut his price.
The Blazers went 291-115-5 and made two appearances in the Memorial Cup tournament during his six seasons in Kamloops.
He then starting climbing the coaching ladder, becoming an assistant with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1990. He was there for three years before he was let go and landed with the Dallas Stars, coaching their IHL affiliate in Kalamazoo, Mich. It didn't take long before his team became big winners and the Stars needed a new coach. He was the right man for the job.
Hitchcock was demanding and at times abrasive. But his players played hard and played well.