One day after their season ended, the Columbus Blue Jackets jumped into action in the offseason. They decided to make a major change in leadership.
Coach Brad Larsen Launched by Blue Jackets After two seasons at the helm and more than a decade within the organization. Finishing 31st in the NHL standings the way they certainly indicated a possibility. The only question was how much of an impact their laundry list had.
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According to GM Jarmo Kekalainen, although it was a tough decision, one that was “absolutely necessary” at this time.
Kekalainen is considering a change of training
“First of all, I would like to clarify that I said that the evaluation should not be limited only to gains and losses,” Kikalainen said. “Obviously what we’ve been through with injuries and it’s an unfortunate situation for all of us. We’re assessed every day here. We watch every practice. We try to keep a close eye on what’s going on in the dressing room and we communicate with the coaches every day. That’s how we assess what It’s going on with our team and especially the direction we want to take with our team. We came to the conclusion that this was a very necessary change that we needed to make. That’s why we’re here today.”
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Kekalainen refused when asked to go into detail about what prompted them to make this decision out of respect for Larsen. Yet the Blue Jackets were clearly nowhere near where they wanted to be, and a change was needed in their eyes.
“I’m not going to dissect the strengths and weaknesses of our coaches. I have to leave them today out of respect for them. But as I said, there were a lot of things taken into account that brought us to this conclusion and it was absolutely necessary to make these moves.”
This also includes relieving goalkeeping coach Mane Legas of his duties as well. Goaltending has been a sore spot all season for the Blue Jackets.
Well, number one, the goalkeeper is key to success with any team that wants to be in the playoffs or make the playoffs, let alone win the Stanley Cup. You need a goalkeeper with skills and talent, but also a goalkeeper with consistency and reliability. That’s it. It means to stay healthy, to be in top condition, and possibly the best conditioned guy in the whole team because of the demands of that job. And that will be something that will be addressed.”
The other takeaway
Kikalainen held the court for about 20 minutes talking about the coaching change and a few other things about the Blue Jackets. Here are some key points and meaningful quotes from that time.
Kikalainen said he believes the team is developing. Some young people are growing up. He also admitted that he thinks the team has gotten a little ahead of itself with some of the successes they had at the start of last season. “We knew this was going to take some time if we wanted to do it the right way.”
Kikalainen said he met Larsen on Saturday morning to tell him of his fate. Based on the way Larsen got into the press postgame Friday night, he seemed to have an idea something like this might come up.
Related: The fate of the Blue Jackets now lies in the hands of the NHL draft lottery
The Blue Jackets want to hire a new head coach as soon as possible, but they won’t rush into a decision. They will compile a list of candidates. Kikalainen admitted full responsibility for everything that happened, including coaches’ decisions.
Changes are coming. “I think once we get everyone healthy, even these guys who are here, we’ll look like a completely different team. But there will be some changes as well. We’ll look at every position and make the necessary changes. We want to get back into the playoffs. We’re tired of being out there looking and watching.” Playoffs on TV, we’ve been there. We’ve tasted it for a few years in a row and the taste of success just wasn’t enough. We want to be back out there. The reason we do the reset or whatever you want to call it is to do it the right way to get to the next level and be able to compete for the Stanley Cup. We We need to get there soon and we need to improve across the board to get there.”
Kekalainen said they will touch on goaltending depth this off-season. Don’t be surprised if they bring in a goaltender from outside the organization with NHL experience.
culture in the team
Kikalainen was asked what a good culture looks like. That’s what he said.
“A good culture is like the level of work we do here every day, whether it’s on and off the ice with the players, coaching staff, management. The standard is always here. Everyone has a few bad days here and there, but the standard can’t go down.” “Below a certain level. And it stays consistent, it stays consistent, and there’s a strong set of values within organizations that you never compromise on. If you live by those values every day consistently and judge in the mirror, I think you’re doing the right things as an individual and as part of a good culture.”
This is clearly a work in progress for the Blue Jackets. This will be discussed in more detail on Sunday for our long read, but some players have admitted that this is an area for improvement and opportunity. Perhaps the culture wasn’t where it should be under Larsen’s leadership.
What then?
For now, other coaches, including Pascal Vincent and Steve McCarthy, remain on the staff. Kikalainen said the new coach would have a say in the eventual eventual stay of them.
The Blue Jackets will be preparing for the draft lottery on May 8th and hope they get lucky.
As for Larsen, the Blue Jackets clearly identified several issues that led to his dismissal. While we don’t know all the details surrounding it, to say that this change was absolutely necessary is the exact opposite of when it was first set when “Lars Bar” was created.
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Larsen was an amazing person and well respected in the room. But the results spoke for themselves. Even when the team had several starting points, they got off to a 3-9-0 start and were out for most of the season.
The Blue Jackets are tired of missing out on the playoffs. It looks like their moves this season will have that in mind. The only questions are how big are the moves and how many?
Expect quick, resolute action after the 2022-23 season that everyone wants to make the move from. As they say, business is about to pick up in a big way at the Nationwide Arena.