HITCHCOCK OUT, YEO IN BEHIND BLUES’ BENCH

The Blues abruptly fired coach Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday, cutting short the veteran’s final season in St. Louis and putting coach- in-waiting Mike Yeo in charge of the underperforming team months earlier than planned. Hitchcock, 65, was in his sixth season as Blues coach. They went 248124- 41 and made the playoffs in each of his five seasons, reaching the Western Conference final last spring. But St. Louis went just 5- 8 in January and at 24- 21- 5 was mired in eighth place in the Western Conference entering the day.

MARNER FOLLOWS TEAMMATES WITH ROOKIE OF MONTH AWARD

Toronto forward Mitch Marner has been named the NHL’s rookie of the month for January, becoming the third Maple Leaf to win the award over the first four months of the season. Marner led all rookies with 11 assists and 15 points in 13 games. He beat Carolina Hurricanes right-wing Sebastian Aho (eight goals, two assists), Detroit Red Wings right-wing Anthony Mantha ( four goals, six assists) and Winnipeg Jets right-wing Patrik Laine ( four goals, six assists in six games) for the honour. The 19-yearold joins teammates William Nylander (October) and Auston Matthews ( December) as rookie of the month winners this season, making the Maple Leafs the first NHL team with three different winners of the award in one season. Marner, the fourth overall selection in the 2015 NHL draft, leads first-year players with 29 assists this season and is tied with Laine for the rookie lead in points with 41.