The Columbus Blue Jackets made headlines on Monday evening when they announced that they had fired coach Pascal Vincent. Now, the search begins for a new coach.
Host Steve Kouleas and host Martin Biron discussed the options for the next coach. They threw in the usual suspects in Todd McLellan and Gerard Gallant, who didn't get a seat in the previous round of the coaching carousel.
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Then, Season Four's Dave Pagnotta joined Kouleas and Biron on a Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play segment and was asked who he thought could coach the Columbus Blues Jackets.
** NHLRumors.com transcript
Steve Kouleas: “Now, as you were going, planning, and everything else, Pascal Vincent stopped it. We are tossing around names for the next coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. I'm sure you've heard Gerard Gallant, Todd McLellan, and others. I know this is just news. What do you think Don Waddell's next move will be?”
Dave Pagnotta: “I think you will want someone who has knowledge of the way this team is going and where they want to go, obviously, to improve.” This will be an established and experienced head coach. This was expected, right? Like Donnie wants to bring his boy. Everyone understood this that they wanted to go and qualify to compete to reach the playoffs to at least be a wild card contender. I would look forward to looking at someone who has experience and can help get this thing back on track relatively quickly.”
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Martin Biron: “When you talk about people around the league about the Columbus Blue Jackets and their roster, and what an opportunity this could be before Vincent is released. I'm sure there's talk of, this could be a good place, a bad place. What is the consensus of Columbus as an organization right now? Where are they going forward? Is it a place that people like Todd McLellan, Gerard Gallant and others would want to be.”
Pagnotta: “Of course, as I said, the authority is, and I think everyone now understands that it will probably take a little time to get to the top levels if they can get there. But at least next season, they want to be in a position where they can go into the playoffs and if they can achieve that then we can have a decent season where they talk in March and April. you know, that's, that's good for this group.
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I think anyone coming in will have that understanding. Whatever free agents they pursue, they will have a good understanding of the timeline to get to the majors. It won't be like that, we need another two, three years. It will be our goal to push next spring, too, and I think it will be a good opportunity because we will see who the coach ends up being.
That includes the amount of youth they have in that group. This is going to be a place that I think some veterans are going to look at and say, 'I can play with this team. I can relate to these guys. This will be my chance to expand my career and do great things with an up-and-coming team.'”
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