The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Things aren’t going well in Columbus, at all. This is a team that was expected to have taken the next step by now, and just keeps falling further into irrelevancy instead. I’ve shared my thoughts on what their next steps should be, and I stand by them. The McConnell’s should sell the team, but we know that won’t happen, so I’d sell most of the veterans instead and commit to a full rebuild around Fantilli. Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen either. Things have already been depressing, but the situation somehow got worse in just over an hour on Wednesday afternoon. Let’s discuss what happened.
First, the news that folks who don’t pay much attention to the Blue Jackets would’ve heard, and that is Adam Fantilli being out for eight weeks due to injury.
Well. The season is even more over than it already was. One of the few bright spots and one of the few reasons I’ve even bothered continuing to watch Blue Jackets games this season is because of Fantilli. I know I’m not alone in that. Many of my Blue Jackets mutuals on social media said the same thing. I’ve had people asking me what’s the point in continuing to watch the team this season. I don’t know. I really don’t. Nothing against Voronkov and what he’s doing, but, it’s not enough of a draw for most people to continue caring. One of my mutuals, and frankly, one of my favorite Blue Jackets fans to follow is @JacketsLindsey on Twitter, and she had a great thread that seems to be deleted talking about the apathy of the fanbase. In past years, the fans felt passion, whether good or bad. If things weren’t going well, there was anger. If things were going well, joy. Right now, the overwhelming sense from Blue Jackets fans has been apathy. Speaking for myself, I know writers who cover the Blue Jackets who don’t even watch the games unless they have to. Some are even calling it quits after this season. Then, from just regular fans, I know some who just straight up don’t watch the games anymore. One of them even will tag me on Twitter asking me how the Blue Jackets are doing on game nights because she wants to know if things are turning around, but doesn’t want to keep watching a team that she doesn’t find worth watching. People are quickly learning to just not care, and that’s the most dangerous position an organization can be in.
My friends, this isn’t the only young-player related thing that happened. Now let’s move on to an interview John Davidson had on 97.1 The Fan. There is one thing that I think demands attention, and that is his comments on David Jiříček. I don’t know how JD thinks his comments on Jiříček make the organization look good. Why did it take the coaching staff nearly half a season to realize that Jiříček wasn’t ready for the NHL? Now, that’s assuming that JD’s excuse is true, and I highly doubt it is. Otherwise, you’re expecting me to believe that Andrew Peeke and Jake Bean are better defenders than Jiříček. Frankly, I’m going to need to hear how anyone can come to that conclusion. Both analytics and the eye test show Jiříček being heads and shoulders above those two. Heck, I would argue he’s better than most of the defenders on the roster. Now, Jarmo defenders claim it’s because Jiříček is bad at skating. Ok, so if he’s so bad at skating that he just cannot remain at the NHL level, how on earth did it take 36 games for the coaching staff to realize this? They just wasted one year of an ELC on a guy who is apparently so bad at skating that they just need Andrew Peeke in instead of him. How does it take 36 games for a coaching staff to realize this? I’m sorry, but skating shouldn’t take that long to observe. Is the coaching and development staff not paying any attention to him? If skating isn’t the problem, what is it? Because if it is skating, and you burned a year off his ELC KNOWING that he can’t skate, that’s a damning indictment on both the coaching staff and front office.
Now, to be honest: I don’t believe that Jiříček isn’t ready for the NHL, at all. Yes, I know I’m claiming to know more than a coaching staff and front office. Absolutely an act of hubris on my part, and I’ll do it anyway. Once again, this is even assuming he’s not NHL ready. I know this is full conspiracy mode at this point, but I’d be stunned if the real reason isn’t that they’re trying to “showcase” their veteran blue liners and hoping to trick some GM into trading for one. Afterall, everyone knows how badly the blue line is clogged. Several defenders HAVE to go. Because once again, I don’t know how you could watch Blue Jackets games come to the conclusion that Andrew Peeke is better than Jiříček. That’s a claim that requires a lot of evidence.
The third and final thing that I want to discuss is how the McConnell family views the front office, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The CBJ Center had a great thread breaking down everything Portzline said, but I want to focus on this one tweet:
Is this a joke? Three off-seasons ago, this front office hired Brad Larsen as head coach. Two off-seasons ago, the front office signed Gudbranson to a four-year deal. Last off-season, this front office fired Larsen, and then hired and then fired Mike Babcock. Then they traded a first and second round pick for Ivan Provorov, and then signed a 30-year-old third-line defender to a seven-year deal. Oh, then they hired Pascal Vincent to be head coach. Not even interim head coach, just the head coach. This team has not improved from last season. The only reason they’re higher in the standings is that the Blackhawks, Ducks, and Sharks are just that much worse. This front-office went on a buying spree like they were ready to compete for the playoffs. For two straight off seasons. What are the results? Everyone hoping for a lottery pick for a bona fide superstar to maybe, hopefully, deliver this franchise out of this mess. What other organization would tolerate this? This is as incompetent as you can get. How much more incompetent does this current front office have to be for the ownership to consider letting them go? Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. The answer would be too depressing. This front office: JD, Jarmo, and Flynn, should’ve all been shown the door along with Babcock. This organization will continue to suffer for that not having had happened, and every day that they’re not let go, the worse the situation in Columbus will get.
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