Columbus Blue Jackets owners answer question of if the team will fire anyone else
Mike Babcock has been all over the headlines in the last 24 hours. Yesterday, Babcock made the decision to resign as Coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and many wondered if other executives could follow him out the door.
Immediately after the crew of Spittin' Chiclets brought forward allegations the Blue Jackets mistakenly released a statement claiming that the claims were baseless. Unfortunately for the team that wasn't true and the NHLPA eventually uncovered additional information. Many fans called for General Manager Jarmo Kekäläinen to step down as a result of these findings.
Today Blue Jackets ownership released the following statement on whether others would lose their jobs as a result of the mishandling of this situation.
Official Statement
Our ownership group is deeply frustrated and disappointed by the events of the past week. We have been in contact with John Davidson, Jarmo Kekalainen and our management team throughout this process and were in full agreement with Mike Babcock stepping down and Pascal Vincent leading our team as head coach.
We had candid conversations with our leadership after last season about our goals and expectations for growth and progress on the ice in 2023-24. Those expectations are still in place and can still be achieved, so we do not anticipate further changes to our hockey leadership team at this time. Additional disruptions would be detrimental to our players and coaches as they prepare for the opening of training camp in two days. We will continue to have regular communications with our hockey leadership and are looking forward to an exciting season.
We had candid conversations with our leadership after last season about our goals and expectations for growth and progress on the ice in 2023-24. Those expectations are still in place and can still be achieved, so we do not anticipate further changes to our hockey leadership team at this time. Additional disruptions would be detrimental to our players and coaches as they prepare for the opening of training camp in two days. We will continue to have regular communications with our hockey leadership and are looking forward to an exciting season.
While Columbus ownership has decided not to terminate anyone right now, it is easy to understand everyone will be on a very short leash. With the team finally showing some promise, it would be terrible for that to be ruined by mishandling of this situation.
| POLL | ||
Should anyone else have been fired? | ||
| Yes, fire the GM | 102 | 31.3 % |
| Yes, fire the President | 25 | 7.7 % |
| No, Babcock was enough | 127 | 39 % |
| No one should have been fired | 72 | 22.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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