The mess in Columbus
January 9th, 2012 | posted by BobbyKMost people expected the Columbus Blue Jackets to make the coaching change much earlier this season. What they did not realize, is the suspension to James Wisniewski, injuries to Jeff Carter and others delayed the decision to realistically evaluate their club.
The problem in Columbus is there is a culture of losing strongly embedded. Anyone looking at the Jackets could see it, and the front office’s reaction was to continue to ignore the facts. This team wasn’t going anywhere realistically, but no one did anything about it. I will not look for excuses for the players like captain Rick Nash, but if you “grow” as a professional in this kind of environment, you will not learn the winning ways.
It is why it’s so important to always bring along young players no matter how successful you are with veteran players (Red Wings, Devils at one time). The next step for Columbus is to completely revamp the front office. It will take a great hockey mind to right this franchise in reasonable time. Once you have better leadership at the top you can start assessing who you need to trade or keep. It’s always easier said than done.
Good luck. The NHL needs stronger, better Columbus Blue Jackets.