The Columbus Blue Jackets made a major change in their front office on Thursday morning, just weeks before the March 8 Trade Deadline.
Jarmo Kekalainen, the team’s longest-tenured general manager, was relieved of his duties after the team started this season 16-26-10. Kekalainen was at the helm for 11 years and two days. He became Scott Howson’s replacement on Feb 13, 2013.
The club amassed a 410-362-97 record in 869 games during his tenure, which is the longest in franchise history. Columbus qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs five times (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) and posted its four winningest seasons based on points percentage during that span: 2016-17 (50-24-8, 108 pts., .659), 2018-19 (47-31-4, 98 pts., .598), 2017-18 (45-30-7, 97 pts., .591) and 2019-20 (33-22-15, 81 pts., .579).
Statements from Team
Both ownership and President of Hockey Operations John Davidson released statements regarding the departure of Kekalainen. It was a tough decision but a necessary one in their minds.
“This is one of the hardest days I have had in my career as Jarmo is a friend, someone I have a great deal of respect for and someone who has done a lot of good things during his time here,” Davidson said. “While the future of our club is bright, our performance has not been good enough and it is time for a fresh perspective as we move forward.”
“On behalf of our ownership group, I’d like to thank Jarmo for his hard work and commitment over the past 11 years,” majority owner John P. McConnell said. “He and Tiina, and their daughters, are special people who will always be a part of our Blue Jackets family and I wish them the very best in the next chapter of their lives.”
Rough Season
The season got off to a rocky start when the Blue Jackets hired Mike Babcock to be their head coach. He didn’t even make it to training camp before a change had to be made.
Then the team hired coach Pascal Vincent just days before camp opened. At the time, ownership chose not to make any further changes so to not disrupt things more.
However ownership released a statement that said “We don’t anticipate further changes at this time.” The team chose now to make their move as the season hasn’t gone the way they had hoped.
Davidson will be meeting with the media Thursday morning at 11:30 A.M. eastern. The availability will be streamed by the Blue Jackets. He and other members of hockey operations will assume GM duties until a replacement is found.
This is a developing story. Stay with the Hockey Writers for continuing coverage and what’s next for the team.