PAYNE TO LOSE INTERIM TAG

Yeah, we missed the playoffs, in the worst possible way, best record of the non-playoff teams, worst pick of non-playoff teams. It sucks.

But there is a hope, and that lies in the hands of the young interim coach, Davis Payne.

Davis Payne will likely be named head coach tomorrow during a team press conference.

Many expect the Blues to remove the interim tag from Payne and name him the Blues 23rd head coach in team history, and it’d be a smart move as well. Going 23-15-4 under Payne, the Blues pushed for the post-season, but missed by five points. The Blues went 17-17-6 before Payne took over to finish with a 40-32-10 record on the season.

As a fan, I am pleased by this move. Payne has an up-tempo offensive style of coaching, good with younger players and is going to help our team offensively more than he’ll hurt it.

With rumors after Ken Hitchcock was fired that he could take over, it would have been the same to keep Andy Murray, both who ran that defensive style system.

With a press-conference being called for tomorrow, it’s fairly well known that Payne will be named Head Coach. How this will affect the team next year, with it likely we get younger, should be a positive outcome as Payne is known to be better with the youth.

Another reason this is a positive is that Payne could very well be a long term option as well. He is the second youngest coach in the National Hockey League, five days older than Pittsburgh coach, Dan Bylsma.

Payne is also following in a new routine of NHL clubs developing coaches in the AHL. Following Bylsma, Craig Hartsburg (OTT), and Bruce Boudreau (WAS).

We’ll see this coming year on how Payne can handle the a NHL club in a full season as head coach. John Davidson didn’t wait long to make a coaching decision, this occurring just days after the season ended.