The Columbus Blue Jackets may have had Monday off from an on-ice perspective. They sure didn’t have the day off in the front office though. They dropped a hammer late in the day.
Blue Jackets’ President of Hockey Operations and GM Don Waddell announced that head coach Dean Evason and assistant coach Steve McCarthy were relieved of their duties. The team has hired Rick Bowness as Evason’s replacement.
At first, the news might seem shocking to many, both in the news itself and the timing of the news. But a closer examination does reveal that changes were needed. Waddell elected to pull the trigger now.
Waddell Reacts
Here is what Waddell said on Monday afternoon after the news came down that both Evason and McCarthy were fired.
“This season has been a frustrating one for all of us and the bottom line is we are not performing at a level that meets our expectations. We all share in that responsibility, me included, and while this was not a decision that was made lightly, it is one that needed to be made at this time. Dean did a tremendous job last year under extremely difficult circumstances and I thank him for that. I also want to thank Steve for his commitment to our club over the past five years.”
Now here’s Waddell on new coach Bowness.
“Rick Bowness is a tremendous coach with invaluable experience and knowledge, and he will bring a steadiness to our team at an important juncture in our season. He is a good communicator whose teams play with structure, are sound defensively and we believe he is the right person to bring out the best in our group.”
How did we get to this point in which the Blue Jackets elected to fire Evason and McCarthy? There’s a couple of different factors to keep in mind as we look back.
Evason Was Not Their First Choice
The Blue Jackets are now on their fifth head coach in less than three years. Those being Brad Larsen, Mike Babock, Pascal Vincent, Evason and now Bowness. We have to start at the point between Vincent and Evason.
Recall the Blue Jackets had their sights set on now Red Wings’ head coach Todd McLellan. He was reportedly their first choice. The two sides couldn’t come to an agreement. McLellan was still under contract with the Kings at the time.
When Waddell couldn’t get McLellan, other candidates were considered. The Blue Jackets chose to hire Evason later last summer.
Looking Back
Shortly into his tenure, Evason had to deal with the unthinkable tragedy of the Gaudreau brothers. He helped guide the Blue Jackets through that. It resulted in just missing out on the playoffs.
Flash forward to this season. Expectations were higher. Everyone on the team from the GM on down said that making the playoffs was their expectation. Taking it a step further, the season would be a failure if they didn’t get to the postseason.
As of this writing, the Blue Jackets are at hockey .500 with a 19-19-7 record, which was tied for last in the Eastern Conference with the Ottawa Senators, who had one game in hand.
Not only were the Blue Jackets seven points out of a playoff spot, they’d have to jump eight teams to get into that elusive playoff spot. Their season to date was nowhere near good enough to meet the lofty expectations they placed on themselves in the preseason.
Then taking a closer look at their season-to-date and some numbers, the Blue Jackets took steps back in key areas. Their offense, which was top-10 in the NHL last season, was 22th as of Monday night. More alarmingly, there weren’t immediate answers as to why this was the case except to consistently say “we hope that things turn around soon.”
The Blue Jackets can generate chances as they’re fourth in the NHL in shots on goal per game. But their lack of finish coupled with their bone crushing late-game collapses was too much for Evason and McCarthy to overcome.
The Blue Jackets have lost nine games this season when they’ve had a lead in the third period. The fact that this kept happening seemingly was another factor in making this decision.
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McCarthy was behind the bench for the last five seasons and part of the Blue Jackets’ organization for the last 10 years. He primarily was responsible for the defense, a unit that saw no improvement from last season. They finished at 3.26 goals against per game last season. As of this writing, they’ve allowed 3.38 goals per game.
The team played a system that depended upon outscoring their opponents consistently. That never got into full motion this season with several key players including Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson each going through goal-scoring slumps of late. One must wonder if player development was also another potential factor in all this.
Add it all together and you see why Waddell chose to make this move now as opposed to waiting until the Olympic break. The Blue Jackets have seven of their next eight games at home. This is their chance to jump back into the race while hoping they get a bump from Bowness, whose experience and communication style should fit what the Blue Jackets are looking for at this point.
“I appreciate the opportunity to come to Columbus because it is a good organization with good people and this is a team that I think I can help improve,” Bowness said. I’m thankful to Don and Mike Priest and I’m really excited to work with our players and coaching staff to help get us where we want to go.”
In the end, it was the combination of poor performance and unmet expectations that spelled the end of the Dean Evason era in Columbus. The Blue Jackets hope that Bowness can come right in and give the team the jolt it needs to finish this part of the season strong. They still think they can be good enough for the playoffs given the separation is just seven points with half the season remaining.
The Blue Jackets return to the ice for a full morning skate on Tuesday in advance of their game against the Calgary Flames. This will be the first time Bowness speaks to the cameras as the new head coach of the team.