The St. Louis Blues have extended head coach Mike Kitchen’s contract through the 2005-2006 season. He took over the reigns with 21 games left in the 2003-2004 season after Joel Quenneville was fired. The team finished out the season with a record of 10-7-4, but was knocked out in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by San Jose.

The Blues also hired former Atlanta Thrashers head coach Curt Fraser as their newest assistant on Wednesday. Fraser was the franchise’s first head coach and spent three seasons in Atlanta. In 2003-2004 he was an assistant with the New York Islanders. Fraser played 11 full seasons in the NHL and retired eight games into the 1989-1990 campaign.