Kekalainen, Blue Jackets Not in a Rush to Replace Larsen, Legace

COLUMBUS – After a disappointing year where the Columbus Blue Jackets hovered among the bottom of the league for the bulk of the season, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced Saturday that the organization had relieved head coach Brad Larsen of his coaching duties. He also said the organization will not be renewing the contract of goaltending coach Manny Legace.

Due to the fact the Jackets set a franchise record for man games lost with 563, Kekalainen noted that the evaluation of Larsen shouldn’t be just about wins and losses.

“It was unfortunate situation for us,“ said Kekalainen of this year’s injury bug. Kekalainen then went on to explain management tries to look closely at what is happening in the locker room daily. Based on what they were seeing and the direction they want the team to take, the Jackets “came to the conclusion that this was an absolutely necessary change to make”.

When asked about specific criteria used to make this decision, Kekalainen said he was “not going to dissect the strength and weaknesses of the coaches that were let go today, out of respect for them”. He then reiterated the fact there were a lot of reasons which led the Jackets to part ways with Larsen and Legace. However, Kekalainen did say part of the decision came from the fact the team is evolving.

Letting go of Larsen and not renewing Legace’s contract wasn’t an easy decision to make.

“It’s always difficult,” explained Kekalainen. “You’re dealing with people we’ve gotten to know very well. We have a lot of respect for Brad Larsen and Manny Legace as people.”

Even though the decision was difficult — especially since goaltender Elvis Merzlikins and Legace are familial in their closeness — Kekalainen acknowledged you have to be able to separate personal from business.

“Once you come through the doors to the rink, that needs to be our focus,” said Kekalainen. “If you have personal relationships outside of the business part, then that’s up to you and needs to stay out of the business side of it.”

As for finding a new coach, the Jackets held off until the end of the season to start their search for Larsen’s replacement.

“Out of respect for the coach still in place, we don’t start any searches. They have a tendency of leaking and create a bad situation,” said Kekalainen.

So, the plan is for the Jackets to look at all the best candidates who are available. Staff within the organization will also be given consideration for coaching vacancies.

“We give consideration to the people here internally. We always have,” said Kekalainen.

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With offseason starting today, the Jackets don’t plan on rushing the hiring of a new coach.

“The sooner the better, obviously,” said Kekalainen. “But we’re going to do a thorough search. I think that’s going to take a little bit of time to see what happens around the league.”

Basically, once the dust settles across the league, the Jackets will be able to assess how their candidate list may take shape.

Finding a coach who understands the value of developing players even when they reach the NHL will be a “huge” part of the criteria for Jackets’ management.

“We take the development part very seriously,” explained Kekalainen. “We’ve always said we need to be a draft and development team.” He then expanded upon that point, stating, “The development doesn’t stop when you get to the NHL.”

On the subject of development, knowing that the Jackets prefer having the same systems in Columbus and Cleveland, how will this coaching change affect their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters?

It doesn’t seem as though the coaching staff in Cleveland will have to fear for their jobs. Kekalainen stated he has full confidence in the coaching staff and acknowledged how well players were able to adapt to the NHL from the AHL.

“We try to play the same way so that the players that come up from Cleveland to here know the system already and don’t have to adapt to what we do here,” said Kekalainen of the Monsters coaching staff. “It’s been smooth in the recent years and that’s how we plan to continue.”

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