Blues' Murray: They fired a very good coach

ST. LOUIS - Blues coach Andy Murray said he read that Blackhawks senior adviser of hockey operations Scotty Bowman mentioned his name with those of Detroit's Mike Babcock, Nashville's Barry Trotz and Columbus' Ken Hitchcock as the kind of experienced coaches Denis Savard had to go up against regularly in the Central Division.

Bowman's comment suggested Savard was overmatched behind the bench, something Murray never saw.

"I thought he was tough to coach against. He got all the matchups," Murray said. "I was surprised just like everybody else. They hired a very good coach, and they have their reasons, and they fired a very good coach."

As much as Murray felt Savard did a good job, he thinks the Hawks made a good choice in naming Joel Quenneville as the new coach.

"I've coached against Joel for years," Murray said. "I don't think they differ very much. Tactically there's probably not going to be a lot different. They'll play hard, just as they did under Savvy."

In the Hawks, Murray sees a team he believes will be heard from all season.

"This is a good team we're playing," Murray said. "The Hawks have got some great puck-moving defensemen. Duncan Keith, the way he played last year, was every bit responsible for their rise as (Patrick) Kane and (Jonathan) Toews."

Interestingly, Murray coached both Nikolai Khabibulin and Cristobal Huet when Khabibulin was in Winnipeg and Huet in Los Angeles.

"They're both great competitors," Murray said. "The Kings never should have let Huet go."

Khabibulin started against the Blues on Saturday and clearly has been the better goalie despite not playing a game in the preseason after being put on waivers and waiting out that process.

"You have to admire how Khabibulin has handled that situation," Murray said. "Sometimes you learn more about people by how they handle adversity. It could set him up for a great year."