Columbus fires Jarmo Kekalainen

[Devilsfan118]

I always appreciated that he went for it in a big way back in '19. Obviously didn't work in the long run, but it was gutsy and the league could use more of that.

I know a lot has happened since then, but I think you might be seeing why many GMs don't go for it like that... If it doesn't work, and in hindsight it almost certainly was not going to, the team could be crippled for future seasons.

 

[LOFIN]

I think he did a pretty good with Columbus, given what the market is, up until 2021. After that, things really went downhill and he botched 3 coaching hires in a row. Even after 1, you could argued he should've been fired with Larsen.

 

[crowi]

Deserved. A bit sad how it seems nothing he tried somehow never worked one way or another.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Not a great tenure.. 1 playoff round win? And about half of his 10 seasons they missed altogether? And the roster isn't actually set up well currently.

To be fair, he picked up a team that had one playoff appearance ever and was mired in the league basement and the next season had it in the playoffs. Got stuck against a 109-point Pittsburgh team, but they got there.

Needed 2 years and a coaching change to get back in, but then had 4 consecutive appearances: vs. Pittsburgh, vs. Washington, vs. Tampa Bay [the upset of all upsets] and vs. Tampa Bay. If anything, the one series win is a shocker because they had Murderer's Row for opponents. But yeah, the post-2020 era was not good and you knew there was a problem when Tortorella clearly mailed it in during 2021 and Kekalainen let him serve it out.

 

[895]

So JD fired him or ownership did? Because to me I think JD is the problem.

 

[Viqsi]

Deserved. A bit sad how it seems nothing he tried somehow never worked one way or another.

Tortorella worked. But when Tortorella was ready to leave, Kekalainen didn't know what to do next and it just kept going downhill.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Jim Benning is available

 

[We Want Ten]

It's a start.

 

[Unbiased Fan]

They need a Jamaican GM to add diversity to the NHL

 

[LOFIN]

I know a lot has happened since then, but I think you might be seeing why many GMs don't go for it like that... If it doesn't work, and in hindsight it almost certainly was not going to, the team could be crippled for future seasons.

It's a lot different for many other markets though. Consider what the Jackets had been before that. Not even a single round won in the playoffs. It's a lot easier to sell a more established and successful team/fan base the idea of a proper rebuild.

It's easy for some other teams fans to say he should've blown it all up and tanked until he gets Bedard or something. But as we saw with PLD, even that might not solve anything if the players want out. And he wasn't the only one who wanted out of Columbus, and a lot of this wasn't because the team was bad or the players hated Jarmo. They simple wanted to play elsewhere.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Jim Benning is available

Marc Bergevin might be looking to get back in the GM role, too.

 

[ijuka]

Took a while, but better late than never.

should’ve been fired after the Babcock fiasco

At the latest, yes.

 

[Shocker]

I liked what he did in the start, but the recent few years were absolutely botched by him, probably would have gotten fired from some other organizations way before today.

 

[StickShift]

I thought the only reason why they may have kept him on so long was because they were already doing an executive search for a replacement in the background. It’s a bit disappointing that this wasn’t the case.

It’s equally concerning that John Davidson wasn’t walked out either. The biggest issue with the Columbus franchise is culture and that stops at the very top. It’s virtually guaranteed that Davidson will hire someone from his old boys club (former Blue, Ranger, or Bluejacket)—GM Jody Shelley coming up.

 

[Jee]

About time, this dude suuuuucked

 

[wasunder]

Fun Fact: Jarmo is the first Finn-ished GM ever in the NHL.

You’ve been waiting a long time to tell this joke haven’t you?

 

[CBJx614]

Odd timing. I wonder what made them pull the trigger now? Maybe they didn't trust him going into the TDL?

 

[MikeK]

Long overdue. Davidson should be out as well. He had just as much hand in the shitshow going on there as Jarmo did. The entire organization needs a cleansing. It'll be years before they are competitive in any realistic way because of the poor asset management and contracts. The new GM is going to be handcuffed by very bad contracts... and Davidson will still be there with his hands on the wheel as has always been the case.

 

[jonlin]

Well, he was actually more than decent at first. The last 3-4yrs, he has done stupid decisions. Not too surprising this event.

 

[Jacob]

It's funny how the first Euro GM constructed such a very North American-style team. Maybe he was afraid of being criticized for favoring Europeans or Finns or being soft, but went too far in the other direction to compensate?

 

[banks]

I always appreciated that he went for it in a big way back in '19. Obviously didn't work in the long run, but it was gutsy and the league could use more of that.

I was going to say the same thing. It's great for the league to have teams willing to be bold like that. I wish it happened more often. If I owned a team, I'd strongly consider Jarmo as a GM. I hope he's back in the league sooner rather than later.

The last few years were rough, though. And even considering Babcock as a coach should be a firable offense. So it's the right nove for CBus.

 

[The Nuge]

Feels long overdue

 

[BHD]

I’m guessing they didn’t want him handling the deadline.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Babcock hiring....long time coming

 

[Shocker]

It's funny how the first Euro GM constructed such a very North American-style team. Maybe he was afraid of being criticized for favoring Europeans or Finns or being soft, but went too far in the other direction to compensate?

I'd say he was rather uneuropean by default, probably got his playing philosophy more molded by his playing years in NA.