Ken Hitchcock of the Columbus Blue Jackets, was dismissed from his position of head coach today (2/3/2010). An interim coach Claude Noel, has been assigned to The Blue Jackets until a permanent replacement can be arranged.

Gallipolis, OH -- (SBWire) -- 02/05/2010 -- The Columbus Blue Jackets fired head coach Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday (2/3/2010). The firing came less than a year from when the team made their first ever post-season appearance. With the Blue Jackets, Hitchcock was 125-123-36. Last season was his best year at the helm for Columbus, going 41-31-10. The timing was a bit of a surprise, but it has been speculated for several weeks now that the club would have Hitchcock fired.

After starting the season 12-6-2, the Blue Jackets won just three of their next 24 games. In 14th place in the Western Conference, Hitchcock’s last game was Tuesday night when after getting off to a 1-0 lead, the defense struggled and allowed 5 straight goals to the Avalanche.

Hitchcock was the fourth coach in franchise history. He has won a Stanley Cup title with the Dallas Stars during the 2009 season. Overall, his record is 533-372-136. Hitchcock will be an assistant coach for Team Canada’s Olympic team this month.

The Blue Jackets have announced assistant coach Claude Noel will lead the team on an interim basis.