We are often told “where there is smoke, there’s fire” and for once, when that turned out to be true, it was in the Blue Jackets’ favor. After months of “will he, won’t he?” what many CBJ fans dared to hope for is now a reality. Today brings the much welcomed news that John Davidson has signed on as the President of Hockey Operations for our beloved team.
I, for one, am thrilled with this move. Davidson brings a proven track record not only in the game of hockey, but also in turning a struggling organization into a winning organization. It seems that this move could be one more brick in the walls of a new, solid foundation for this team.
In past years, we’ve tried throwing money after players and we’ve tried for the blockbuster trades. That hasn’t worked. Many, including the Union Blue team, have started to clamor that the real issue was related to a lack of experience throughout the organization. So now we’re throwing money at the front office – and I have zero problem with that. Our team is young and hungry and we are not burdened by too many massive contracts straining any future financial asks to ownership.
Let’s take the time (and dollars) now to do this whole hockey thing right. Stock our hockey ops cupboards with people who not only have business smarts and negotiating skills but also know the game of hockey, know how to build a winning team, and know how to evaluate and nurture talent.
In coming months my expectations are that we’ll see a thorough review of the organization and tweaks both on-ice and off. My hope is that we’ll end up with a cohesive, knowledgeable management team that make smart decisions to select, develop, and retain elite talent in Columbus.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that, while still controversial to many, Mike Priest has done it again. This brings his track record in the past twelve months to: hiring Craig Patrick, securing an Arena deal, securing the All Star Game (hopefully), and now bringing in John Davidson. We know the on-ice results hang perilously in the balance of his final evaluation but you cannot deny this guy is taking some steps to get us to the next chapter.
For once, being an optimist has paid off – all those pundits who said this would never happen are wrong…and it’s a a great day indeed. Now bring on the hockey!
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