Associate coach Dean Blais, hired away from the University of North Dakota two years ago, will come off the bench and work in player development, it was announced yesterday.
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Taking Blais’ place is Gary Agnew, 45, who for six years has coached the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Syracuse, N.Y.
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Also yesterday, it was announced that goaltending coach Rick Wamsley is heading to St. Louis, where he’ll join Blues coach Mike Kitchen as a bench assistant.

"Yeah, that’s right," Conklin said. "Change of scenery — I needed one bad."
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"It was a difficult situation," Conklin said. "You’re sitting there watching, and you haven’t played since the last day of the regular season — a month and a half — and the next thing you know, you’re in there in the Stanley Cup Finals. It’s one thing when a goalie gets pulled; then, you have time to prepare. (This situation was) the game was tied with five minutes left, and the first thing you try and do is get your heart rate under 250 beats per minute. I got a bad break. It’s difficult."

"I’ll have plenty of time to kick myself this summer, and then I’ll move along," Conklin said. "You don’t want to move on to the point where it seems you don’t care, but you have to have some perspective. I can’t take what happened back. Nobody’s going to take the goal away. It still counts. I just have to deal with it and move on."

Like many NHL teams, the Blue Jackets last year cut some ticket prices after the lockout scuttled the 2004-05 season. And, like many NHL teams, the Jackets have restored prelockout prices for the upcoming season.

And, once again, the Jackets have identified a number of "premium" games — seven of them — that carry an extra $10 cost to nearly every seat in the house.

Columbus defenceman Rostislav Klesla has been suspended two regular-season games for his "clip" of Chicago forward Tuomo Ruutu, which left the Finnish forward with a knee injury that will keep him out of the lineup for at least four weeks.

"Now I hate the Oilers, probably more than any other team in the NHL. Isn't that wild? I can't stand them. I'll probably always hate them, too, be a grumpy, old retired man, hating the Edmonton Oilers." - Edmonton native, and former Oiler, Jason Chimera, who now plays for Columbus

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Glad to hear that we aren't the only ones that hate them badly

The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated center Sergei Fedorov off injured reserve and recalled left wing Alexandre Picard from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.

Both players are expected to be in the lineup for Monday's game against the San Jose Sharks.

"I am extremely disappointed to announce that Gerard Gallant has been relieved of his head coaching duties with the Columbus Blue Jackets,'' said Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean. ''Unfortunately, we have not gotten off to the start we expected this season and while there are always a multitude of factors involved, we felt a change was needed.''

No surprise here...

Columbus fires coach Gerard Gallant
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I wonder if Ken Hitchcock will be tapped for the job

Personally, I hope that Andy Murray gets the job...

The Columbus Blue Jackets' hunt for a new coach is on a fast track that may lead them to Ken Hitchcock, who was fired as Philadelphia Flyers coach last month.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, seeking an experienced hand to develop their young players, hired veteran Ken Hitchcock as head coach Wednesday.

"I have no intention or desire to trade Sergei Fedorov," MacLean said yesterday. "He’s an unbelievably important part of our club, with guys like (Dan) Fritsche, (Gilbert) Brule, and all of our young guys.

"I’ve been hearing this stuff (out of Canada) for two days now, and it’s crazy. I’ve not had one conversation with them, and I’ve got no interest in listening. I’m not trading Sergei Fedorov."

The Blue Jackets’ third-jersey logo — an Ohio flag swirled around a star — will replace the "CBJ" logo on the club’s home and away jerseys for the 2007-08 season, team president and general manager Doug MacLean said yesterday.

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The Blue Jackets' ownership group will meet this afternoon at a private location, where they're expected to determine the fate of president and general manager Doug MacLean.

Majority owner John H. McConnell called the meeting, which will include the three principal minority owners-Wolfe Enterprises; real-estate developer Ron Pizzuti; and the Crane Family, which owns Crane Plastics.

Doug MacLean has been fired as general manager and president of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Sources tell TSN MacLean was told tonight in an ownership meeting.

Newspaper reports in Columbus and Philadelphia indicate that Flyers senior vice-president Bob Clarke is on the Blue Jackets' list of potential candidates for their vacant general manager job.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Anaheim Ducks assistant general manager Bob Murray is the leading candidate to take the position out of four finalists that include former New York Rangers and New York Islanders GM Neil Smith, Blue Jackets interim general manager Jim Clark and director of player development Don Boyd.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Anaheim Ducks assistant general manager Bob Murray has withdrawn his name from consideration to become the Blue Jackets general manager.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have agreed to terms with Edmonton Oilers assistant general manager Scott Howson to make him their new general manager, The Columbus Dispatch reported on its website Wednesday.

Hearing that Rick Dudley might replace him really makes the Jackets a tad worse, I think.... Meh... Why do I care?? The Hawks have 6 easy wins, there, then.... LMAO

I believe Columbus is the only of the current 30 NHL teams to never have made the playoffs...

In 2005-06, after defenseman Francois Beauchemin was traded from Columbus to Anaheim, he said it wasn't until he joined the Ducks that he truly understood what it meant to be in NHL shape.

An NHL source told The Dispatch that Ducks general manager Brian Burke placed a call a few weeks later to then-Blue Jackets general manager Doug MacLean offering him some friendly advice: get your team in shape.

MacLean didn't take the advice well -- understandably -- and a once-tight friendship with Burke has been rocky ever since.

Now, finally, it appears the Blue Jackets are putting fitness at the fore.

Tramps like us ... Hitchcock, Springsteen swap tales

Hitchcock, the consummate teacher of the game, always is on the lookout for things he can learn. He keeps stacks of leadership books around his office and will use anything he can to motivate his players.

From Springsteen, he learned that leading a hockey team and leading a touring rock band aren’t really all that much different.

The Columbus Blue Jackets named star winger Rick Nash team captain Wednesday, replacing the recently traded Adam Foote in the role.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are deeply saddened to announce the passing of club Majority Owner, Chairman and Governor John H. McConnell. Mr. McConnell, business leader, philanthropist and founder of Worthington Industries passed away on April 25, 2008. The National Hockey League club issued the following statement:

Nikita Filatov, the Blue Jackets’ No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, has obtained his visa, says Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. “Filatov plans to fly from Moscow to Toronto with his family Sept. 7 to spend a few days with his agent, Don Meehan. On Sept. 10, he’ll travel to Columbus.”
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Rick Nash has apparently had enough of the grind of summer workouts. “It’s been a long summer. Right around now you get sick of working out, sick of going to the gym everyday, the rink and skating.” Sick of going to the rink in August? And that’s from their best player! No wonder the Jackets have never seen the post-season!

Now, however, the unveiling of Filatov as a Blue Jacket will have to wait as a recurring lower-leg injury forced the Russian prospect to stay in Columbus to rest.

Columbus GM Scott Howson said Filatov, taken at No. 6 in this year's Entry Draft, will be off skates for at least a week. He's likely to miss the start of the Blue Jackets' training camp, which opens Sept. 20.

The National Hockey League announced today disciplinary action resulting from NHL game #143 between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche, October 30.

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Jared Boll has been suspended automatically for one game, while head coach Ken Hitchcock has been fined $10,000. Boll was assessed an instigator penalty at 17:22 of the third period.

If you have plans to ring in the New Year, and they don’t involve attending tonight’s game, you aren’t going to miss much.

The Blue Jackets entered the league in time for the 2000-01 season. They’re still vying for their first trip to the playoffs.
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Truth be told, it might be time for the NHL to cut the Blue Jackets loose.

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason will miss this weekend's NHL YoungStars Game in Montreal.

''Steve has been playing through some back spasms for the past two weeks and after talking it over with our medical staff, everyone decided the best course of action would be that he use the All-Star break to rest,'' said Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson.
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''I am honored that the NHL picked me to play in the YoungStars Game,'' said Mason. ''And while I am disappointed that I won't be able to go, my top priority is my health and my team. I hope everyone will understand that.''

With their losses mounting and the season slipping away, the Blue Jackets are taking a new approach to their goaltending.

Before practice yesterday, coach Ken Hitchcock informed the club that Steve Mason no longer is the club's undisputed No. 1 goaltender.

Mathieu Garon will start at 9 tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes. If he plays well, Garon will keep playing, too, not resort to the backup role he's held up to this point.

"Win and you're in," Hitchcock said. "That's just where we're at now. If a guy wins, he gets to keep going.

"We can't wait any longer to get going."

Mason is no longer No. 1
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Columbus made a dangerous gamble by trading Pascal Leclaire and relying on a rookie to carry them to the promised land. Oops.

Yeah.

Kinda exposes the argument "But hey, we'll save so much cap space by offloading the veteran", doesn't it?

Brittanie's legacy
The only NHL fan to die because of an errant puck would have turned 22 last week, and both her family and the former Blue Jacket who launched the puck remain deeply affected

The brown-eyed, blond-haired eighth-grade cheerleader held up the hockey puck when her family walked into the hospital room.

"Papaw, look," she said to her grandfather, "I got a souvenir."

Brittanie Cecil lifted the puck, the one that had struck her in the head as she attended her first National Hockey League game.

The puck flew into the stands at Nationwide Arena when Blue Jackets center Espen Knutsen struck a routine slap shot against the Calgary Flames on March 16, 2002. The puck ricocheted off an opposing player's stick and struck 13-year-old Brittanie.

Two days later, Brittanie was dead. Knutsen was left sobbing in the Blue Jackets' locker room, his career beginning to unravel from the emotional fallout...

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Kevin Dineen, one of the most respected NHL players during the 1980s and '90s and one of the rising stars in today's coaching ranks, is widely considered the leading candidate to become the Blue Jackets' coach.
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On April 5, 2001, in the 80th game of his 17th NHL season, Dineen was struck knee-on-knee by St. Louis' Keith Tkachuk. Dineen crawled about 45 feet across the ice, refusing help from at least one teammate and the training staff until he reached the bench. If it was his last NHL game, Dineen reasoned, he was going off under his terms.

"(Dineen) never told us that story, but it made its way around the room in Portland pretty quick," said forward Zenon Konopka, who played for Dineen during his first season as coach in 2005-06. "You know he played in the league a long time, and to hear something like that about a guy you just say, 'I'll play my (butt) off for that guy.'"
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On Dec. 2, 2000, Dineen sensed the Blue Jackets needed a spark in a home game vs. Atlanta. At 5 feet 8 and 190 pounds , he not only challenged Atlanta's 6-2, 225 - pound Chris Tamer to a fight but suggested they throw ' em left-handed. Dineen pounded a surprised Tamer with four or five heavy lefts, buckling his knees. As they reached the penalty box, Dineen shouted toward Tamer: "By the way, I'm left-handed."
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"Coach Dineen taught me an awful lot about being a professional," Ryan told the Press-Herald in February. "He taught me to put everything on the line for my team."

The Columbus Blue Jackets have named Scott Arniel as the new head coach of the National Hockey League franchise, club General Manager Scott Howson announced today. Arniel (pronounced ahr-NEEL) agreed to a three-year contract through the 2012-13 season and was introduced at a press conference today at Nationwide Arena.

Blue Jackets president: Casinos could solve team's financial problems

The Blue Jackets president believes that the casino taxes that will flow to Columbus and Franklin County would be the best fix for the hockey team's financial woes.

"I think it is the most viable solution, and it wouldn't require any other money being used," Mike Priest said today. "But it's up to the public sector to decide how it wants to use that money."

Business, government and team officials have been meeting for more than a year to come up with a way to stem the Blue Jackets' bleeding. The club is losing an estimated $12 million a year in operations.

A 2009 report blamed the team's arena deal - the Blue Jackets pay $5 million annual rent and lose $4 million to run Nationwide Arena - as the biggest factor in the poor finances...

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