Changes: Mike Kitchen

Latest revision as of 12:03, 4 January 2012

Michael Elwin ("Mike") Kitchen (Born: February 1, 1956 in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian former defenceman and former head coach in the National Hockey League. He was selected in the third round of the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, 38th overall, by the Kansas City Scouts. He was also taken in the seventh round of the 1976 WHA Amateur Draft, 83rd overall, by the Toronto Toros, although Kitchen ultimately chose to enter the NHL.

MikekitchenPlayer — Kitchen as a player.

Playing career

A defensive defenceman, Kitchen played his amateur career with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association, winning a Memorial Cup in 1975. He turned professional for the 1976–77 NHL season, serving a brief, 14-game apprenticeship Rhode Island Reds of the AHL, before making his NHL debut. Kitchen joined the Colorado Rockies in his first professional season, and spent his entire NHL career with the same franchise. The team moved to New Jersey after the 1981–82 NHL season, and Kitchen went on to play two more seasons for the New Jersey Devils. Kitchen was sent to the Maine Mariners of the AHL for the entire 1984–85 NHL season, and decided to retire following that season's conclusion.

Coaching career

Kitchen was hired as an assistant coach by the Newmarket Saints of the AHL for the 1988–89 season, and was subsequently hired for the same position by the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he spent eight seasons. He then left Toronto for the same position with the St. Louis Blues franchise, a position he held until his elevation to head coach halfway through the 2003–04 NHL season. The Blues struggled and were 9th place in the Western Conference when they fired Joel Quenneville and replaced him with Kitchen on an interim basis. However under Kitchen, they picked up their play and went 10–7–4 in the process to make the playoffs once again. They would lose in the first round.

In the 2005–2006 NHL season, Mike Kitchen led a younger group of Blues to a disappointing 21–46–15 record, the worst season in franchise history. 2006–2007 started the same as the Blues stumbled out of the gate to a 7–17–4 mark.

On December 11, 2006, after a seven-game losing streak, Kitchen was fired as head coach of the St. Louis Blues and replaced by former Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray. .

On August 13, 2007, Kitchen and the Florida Panthers agreed to a contract to become an assistant coach with the Panthers. He will work under Florida GM and head coach Jacques Martin and will focus mainly on the Panthers' defensive players.

Awards

1975- OMJHL First All-Star Team
1975- Memorial Cup Tournament All-Star Team

External links

St. Louis Blues Head Coaches
Patrick • Bowman • Arbour • Bowman • Abel • McCreary • Arbour • Talbot • Angotti • Patrick • Young • Patrick • Boivin • Francis • Boivin • Barclay Plager • Berenson • Francis • Barclay Plager • Demers • Martin • Sutter • Bob Plager • Berry • Keenan • Roberts • Quenneville • Kitchen • Murray • Payne • Hitchcock • Yeo • Berube

Preceded by Joel Quenneville	Head Coaches of the St. Louis Blues 2004–2006	Succeeded by Andy Murray
Preceded by N/A	Assistant coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs 1990–1998	Succeeded by Rick Ley

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mike Kitchen. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).

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 '''Michael Elwin''' ("'''Mike'''") '''Kitchen''' (Born: February 1, 1956 in [[Newmarket, Ontario]], [[Canada]]) is a [[Canadian]] former [[defenceman]] and former [[head coach]] in the [[National Hockey League]].  He was selected in the third round of the [[1976 NHL Amateur Draft]], 38th overall, by the [[Kansas City Scouts]].  He was also taken in the seventh round of the [[1976 WHA Amateur Draft]], 83rd overall, by the [[Toronto Toros]], although Kitchen ultimately chose to enter the NHL.
+[[File:MikekitchenPlayer.jpg|thumb|Kitchen as a player.]]
 == Playing career ==
 A defensive defenceman, Kitchen played his amateur career with the [[Toronto Marlboros]] of the [[Ontario Hockey Association]], winning a [[Memorial Cup]] in 1975. He turned professional for the [[1976–77 NHL season]], serving a brief, 14-game apprenticeship [[Providence Reds|Rhode Island Reds]] of the [[American Hockey League|AHL]], before making his NHL debut.  Kitchen joined the [[Colorado Rockies (NHL)|Colorado Rockies]] in his first professional season, and spent his entire NHL career with the same franchise.  The team moved to [[New Jersey]] after the [[1981–82 NHL season]], and Kitchen went on to play two more seasons for the [[New Jersey Devils]].  Kitchen was sent to the [[Maine Mariners]] of the AHL for the entire [[1984–85 NHL season]], and decided to retire following that season's conclusion.
+[[File:Mikekitchen.jpg|thumb|Kitchen as a coach.]]
 == Coaching career ==
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 [[Category:Born in 1956]]
 [[Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches]]
-[[Category:Canadian hockey players]]
+[[Category:Canadian ice hockey players]]
 [[Category:Colorado Rockies (NHL) players]]
-[[Category:Fort Worth Texans player]]
+[[Category:Fort Worth Texans (CHL) players]]
 [[Category:Kansas City Scouts draft picks]]
 [[Category:Maine Mariners players]]
 [[Category:New Jersey Devils players]]
 [[Category:Rhode Island Reds players]]
-[[Category:St. Louis Blues coach]]
+[[Category:St. Louis Blues coaches]]
 [[Category:Toronto Maple Leafs coaches]]
 [[Category:Toronto Marlboros alumni]]