Ken Hitchcock is a career coach. And, his coaching career has been about one thing -- winning.

	Hitchcock on the Flyers: "It's really hard for me to evaluate where we are."

He was a winner in junior as coach of the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League. He was a winner in the minors as coach of the Kalamazoo/Michigan Wings of the now-defunct International Hockey League. And he's been a winner in the NHL as coach of the Dallas Stars.

Last season, after five straight first-place finishes and a Stanley Cup championship, Hitchcock suffered the fate of all coaches -- he was fired. He received the heave-ho despite the Stars' above-.500 record (23-17-6-4). He was the victim of high expectations, some poor management decisions and his own hard-driving style.

After getting the boot, Hitchcock continued to work for the Stars, helping Don Hay with the club's AHL affiliate in Utah and making the rounds scouting other NHL clubs. He also worked as an assistant coach for Canada's gold-medal winning Olympic team at Salt Lake City and filled a similar role for his country's entry at the World Championships.

All along, Hitchcock couldn't wait to get another chance to be a head coach. Never having been fired before, Hitchcock wasn't quite sure how he would get back into the mix. Despite his ultra impressive resume, he wasn't sure if he would get any NHL offers. At the time, he said he would go back to junior before spending another year as a part-time scout.

When the season ended, he got a call from Glen Sather and interviewed with the Rangers, who'd missed the playoff for a fifth straight season and seemed a good fit for Hitchcock. For whatever reason, Sather decided to pass. (We know how that's working out.)

Soon after, Flyers GM Bob Clarke called Hitchcock, who got his first taste of the NHL as an assistant coach in Philly during the early 1990s. Clarke's Flyers had suffered another first-round playoff exit and were in need of Hitch's no-nonsense style to quell the lockerroom bickering.

Now, 58 games into his tenure in Philadelphia, Hitchcock has his injury-plagued club sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division, just five points behind the front-running Devils. The division rivals meet in snowy Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Not surprisingly, Hitchcock's Flyers have been an excellent defensive team, allowing just 2.1 goals per game. They have, however, struggled on offense. They're averaging just 2.3 goals a game and have been shutout nine times. Only Buffalo and Carolina have scored fewer goals in the Eastern Conference.

On Monday, after braving the post-blizzard conditions to conduct a workout at the club's practice facility in Voorhees, N.J., Hitchcock offered his thoughts on a couple of topics.

On his new team: "It's really hard for me to evaluate where we are. We really haven't had our team all together since mid-November. But we've shown a lot of fight. We've battled back to get a number of points in games that we were trailing after two periods. That's a good sign."

	“	I never realized what a complete player he is. In the past, coaching against him, I thought he was a risky player, but I was wrong. He's really strong in all areas of the game. ”
		— Ken Hitchcock on Jeremy Roenick

On the recent offensive woes: "When we're strong on the puck and playing a good positional game, we manage just fine. When we get away from that, we run into problems. The injuries we've had haven't helped matters."

On new Flyers forward Sami Kapanen: "He's been a great addition for us. Keith Primeau (who played with Kapanen in Carolina) told us how good Kapanen was. He creates a lot opportunities with his quickness."

On injured left wing John LeClair (shoulder): "He has been skating with the team, but he needs medical clearance to begin contact drills. He's probably about two weeks away.

On injured forward Simon Gagne (groin): "He could be back in about 7-10 days. It will be great to have him back in the lineup."

On injured forward Justin Williams (knee): "He might be back for the playoffs. It just depends on how fast he heals. He's a not a big guy, so that will help him get back. Bigger guys usually take a long time to rehab a knee injury."

On Jeremy Roenick: "I never realized what a complete player he is. In the past, coaching against him, I thought he was a risky player, but I was wrong. He's really strong in all areas of the game."

On the Eastern Conference: "I didn't realize how much depth these teams have, especially at forward. It's really a very tight conference. Every night it's a battle."

On the Devils (who are 3-0 against the Flyers): "We haven't played a full 60 minutes against them. They play a full game and we always seem to have a lull somewhere along the way. We can't afford that, especially against them."

On the Alexei Kovalev trade: "I'm not going to comment on the deal, but I'll tell you that Mikael Samuelsson is a better player than a lot of people think. I think he can be a really good player on a structured team. And from what I've seen, the Penguins are really working hard since they made that deal."

E.J. Hradek writes hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.