Blue Jackets fire MacLean after 6
losing seasons
(AP) - After six losing seasons without a
trip to the playoffs, the Columbus Blue Jackets pulled the plug on
president and general manager Doug MacLean.
The club said Thursday that MacLean had been fired, while announcing
that Mike Priest will take over as president, and assistant general
manager Jim Clark will be elevated to interim GM.
Principal owner John H. McConnell,
minority owners and team officials met late Wednesday and agreed to
dismiss MacLean, the architect of a team that had gone 172-258-62 since
joining the league in 2000.
"This decision was extremely difficult," McConnell said in a statement.
"At this time, our ownership group believed that making this change
would be best for our fans and our franchise moving forward."
The Blue Jackets, 33-42-7 this season, are the only one of the 30 NHL
teams to never play in the playoffs. Led by coach Ken Hitchcock, and
with players such as Rick Nash and Sergei Fedorov, the Blue Jackets
finished 23 points out of the final playoff spot in the Western
Conference.
Forward Jody Shelley, a holdover from the team's first year, said he was
stunned by the dismissal despite the lack of success by the team.
"You hear the rumors but you just figure it comes with not meeting
expectations," Shelley said. "Then when the other shoe drops, you're
still shocked."
MacLean did not return messages seeking comment left on his cell phone.
Priest, president of the Blue Jackets' parent company, will oversee all
business operations of the club.
A scout with the Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings before coming to
Columbus with MacLean, Clark will be in charge of all hockey matters,
including the team's draft. Columbus, which has the No. 7 pick in the
opening round, hosts the NHL draft on June 22-23.
Priest said the club is in the process of reviewing the general manager
position. Likely candidates for the job include Craig Patrick, former GM
of the Pittsburgh Penguins; Dave Taylor, former GM of the Los Angeles
Kings; Steve Tambellini, assistant GM of the Vancouver Canucks; and Rick
Dudley, assistant GM of the Chicago Blackhawks.
MacLean had two years remaining on a contract that paid him around $1
million per season with incentives.
"I'm unbelievably disappointed about where we are but I think we've got
an unbelievable foundation in place," MacLean said after the season.
"I'm telling you, I look around the league and how many teams would I
trade ours for? Not many."
MacLean was McConnell's first hire when Columbus secured the franchise.
He supervised the drafts and trades, some that were overwhelming
successes and others that were failures.
MacLean even dumped the team's first coach, Dave King, and took over
behind the bench. But the Blue Jackets did not respond under MacLean,
going just 9-21-4-3 at the start of the 2003-2004 season before he
stepped aside and elevated assistant coach Gerard Gallant.
Gallant was fired and replaced by Hitchcock early this past season after
Columbus won just six of its first 24 games.
MacLean coached the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup finals in 1996.
He assembled a ragtag group of castoffs that picked up 71 points in
Columbus' first year in the league in 2000-2001.
MacLean traded up with to get Nash with the overall No. 1 pick in the
2002 draft. Two years later, Nash for the league lead in goals with 41.
Perhaps the biggest move of MacLean's tenure was the Nov. 15, 2005,
trade with Anaheim that brought Fedorov to Columbus. He was supposed to
help Zherdev on offense, but fought nagging injuries and his production
waned.
"It's a business, but at the same time there's a human side," Shelley
said. "A guy lost his job today, a guy who was passionate and did some
great things for this organization."
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