Archive for The GM Search

OFFICIAL Scott Howson General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets

{ June 15, 2007 @ 7:00 pm } · { Columbus Blue Jackets, Scott Howson, The GM Search }
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COLUMBUS, OHIO – The Columbus Blue Jackets announced today that Scott Howson has agreed to a multi-year contract to serve as the general manager of the National Hockey League club. As is club policy, terms were not disclosed.
“I am very pleased to have Scott Howson join the Blue Jackets organization as general manager,” said Majority Owner and Chairman John H. McConnell. “In Scott, we know we found the right person to lead our hockey operations department. He is an extremely bright, hard-working individual who is widely respected and we couldn’t be more proud to have him in Columbus.”
Howson, 47, joins the Blue Jackets after spending seven years with the Edmonton Oilers. He joined the club in June 2000 as assistant to the general manager and was named assistant general manager a year later. In that role, he was responsible for all aspects of the club’s hockey administration, including player contracts, personnel decisions, player contracts, the collective bargaining agreement and the salary cap.
During his six seasons with the Oilers, the club posted five-straight winning campaigns from 2000-06, averaged 37 wins and 89 points per season, topped 90 points four times and advanced to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, where they were defeated in seven games by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Prior to his arrival in Edmonton, Howson spent six years with the club’s American Hockey League affiliates. As general manager of the Cape Breton Oilers from 1994-96, he oversaw the franchise’s move to Hamilton in 1996 and was the Bulldogs’ general manager from 1996-00. In four seasons, he led Hamilton to a pair of berths in the Calder Cup Finals (1997, 2003) and a conference semi-finals appearance in 2002.
“I am excited and proud to join the Columbus Blue Jackets organization and want to thank the McConnell family and ownership group for giving me this opportunity,” said Howson. “I look forward to getting started right away and working with our staff to build a championship caliber team for the great fans this team has in Columbus and throughout Ohio.”
Howson was born on April 9, 1960 in Toronto, Ontario. He played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League as a forward with the Kingston Canadiens from 1978-81, serving as team captain and earning OHL All-Star honors. Following his junior career, he signed a free agent contract with the New York Islanders and spent the next five years playing at various levels throughout the organization.
During his rookie season in 1981-82, he was named the International Hockey League’s Rookie of the Year after registering 55-65-120 in 71 games with the Toledo Goaldiggers. He was the league’s second-leading scorer that year and helped Toledo capture the league championship. Howson also won a Central Hockey League title with the Indianapolis Checkers in 1982-83. He made his NHL debut with the Islanders during the 1984-85 season and tallied 4-1-5 and two penalty minutes in eight games. He added 1-2-3 and two penalty minutes in 10 games the following season before retiring as a player at the end of the 1985-86 season.
Howson received his bachelor’s degree in 1987 from York University in Toronto and is a 1990 graduate of the university’s Osgoode Hall Law School. He and his wife, Antoinette Mongillo, are the parents of a son, Max, and daughters, Rebekah and Joanna.
The 2007 NHL Entry Draft will be held at Nationwide Arena on Friday, June 22 and Saturday, June 23. The first round will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday night with rounds 2-7 beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
For information on Blue Jackets season tickets, mini-plans and group tickets for the 2007-08 National Hockey League season, call (614) 246-PUCK or (800) NHL-COLS.
Scott Howson at a Glance
Born: April 9, 1960 in Toronto, Ontario
Family: Wife, Antoinette Mongillo; son, Max (10); daughters, Rebekah (9) and Joanna (5)
Education: Bachelor of Arts degree, York University, 1987 York University Osgoode Hall Law School , 1990
Management Career: Edmonton Oilers Assistant General Manager, 2001-07; Edmonton Oilers Assistant to the General Manager, 2000-01; Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) General Manager, 1996-00; Cape Breton Oilers (AHL) General Manager, 1994-96
Playing Career: New York Islanders organization, 1981-86; Kingston Canadiens (OHL), 1978-81

What’s this feeling?

{ June 15, 2007 @ 2:12 pm } · { Adam Foote, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nikolai Zherdev, Restricted Free Agents, Scott Howson, Sergei Fedorov, The GM Search, Unrestricted Free Agents }
{ Comments (4) }

I don’t even know. The more this sinks in, the more excited I am to get Scott Howson in the building and get things going. The press conference is expected to start at 1 p.m. Once he enters the building he is got a lot to do. The draft, dealing with our UFA’s and RFA’s, Free Agent Signings, and Portzline even threw out the idea of buying out Fedorov and Foote.

I’ll start with talking about the Fedorov and Foote buying out option. I love Fedorov, always have, and always will, but my love for him doesn’t change the fact that he is not worth the money. However, when it comes to Adam Foote, I have no problem keeping him. Adam Foote is our Captain and I highly doubt that they will buy him out. But, then again, I had never even thought of buying these guys out as an option.

Then, there is the Draft, it’s a week from today. He’s going to check out what our Scout’s are thinking then he is going to figure out what he wants to do. By the way, expect my Draft Post up Sunday night, it will take me a bit to do and I have quite the weekend ahead of me.

RFA’s and UFA’s while I don’t expect any of our UFA’s to be back. I am pretty sure Howson will at least consider bringing back Eriksson. He will have to make qualifying offers to our RFA’s by July 1st.

Then there is his front office. I am expecting an entire house cleaning. We need better scouts. Howson has been given the reigns to do whatever he sees fit in the front office which is a great thing.

Then he has to deal with the always lovely, Nikolai Zherdev. While, I can see his potential I think he does more harm that good so I am hoping that a trade does take place at some point soon.

No matter what you have thought about the Jackets in the past…look out for us now. We have a new General Manager. Fans have hope. We have arguably the best coach in the NHL. And, we WILL be better come this October. So, Welcome to the Columbus Blue Jackets Scott Howson!!

The GM Search comes to a stop…

{ June 14, 2007 @ 4:12 am } · { Columbus Blue Jackets, Scott Howson, The GM Search }
{ Comments (6) }

Scott Howson will be the new GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets expect a formal announcement Thursday or Friday. I’m at work and extremely busy but wanted to toss this up.
Article: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2903250
I will put my reaction up tonight when I get off of work. Until then…thanks Jibblescribbits for the heads up. :)

Alright, my reaction, as much as I don’t want to admit and as nervous as I am about it I think it’s the right thing for our franchise. But, the problem doesn’t stop with the GM. It is much deeper it is our Scouts, and everything. I am very excited about this though…I have faith in Howson. Drew tells me I shouldn’t be nervous or upset about the Ryan Smyth trade…but we’ll see he better not trade Ricky!! Haha.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets have agreed to terms with Edmonton Oilers assistant general manager Scott Howson to make him their new general manager, The Columbus Dispatch reported on its Web site Wednesday.

The newspaper, citing an NHL source, said the team and Howson had reached a deal Wednesday, and said an announcement would be made Friday at Nationwide Arena, home of the Blue Jackets.

Blue Jackets spokesman Todd Sharrock would not comment on the report, and Oilers spokesman J.J. Hebert said he was unaware of any deal.

A message seeking comment was left at Howson’s home in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday evening.

Howson, 47, played for the New York Islanders in 1984-85, scoring five goals and three assists in 18 games as a forward, according to a biography posted on the Oilers’ Web site.

He graduated from law school at York University in Toronto in 1990 and ran Edmonton’s top farm club from 1994-2000. He was hired by the Oilers in 2000 and was promoted to assistant general manager in 2001.

More news on the GM Hunt

{ June 13, 2007 @ 3:55 pm } · { Doug MacLean, NHL Draft, Scott Howson, The GM Search }
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Except we still do not have one. The Dispatch reported this morning that Jim Clark and Don Boyd are out of consideration for the position, which is good news. Scott Howson seems to be the chosen one at this moment but we have not made an offer to him. Although, I am a little more than anxious to get someone in there. I am very nervous to have Howson come in, if that’s the case. Not because I think he is a bad choice, he is more than qualified, but like I said before anyone who had a part in the Ryan Smyth trade, I don’t know that I want to be my General Manager. I would love to say, oh this is great. But having him in office would leave me on pins and needles on trade deadline day. IF he is the chosen one however, I will support him and my team. I guess I need to look at his good points. He is amazing with the salary cap. Next year, we are likely to lose Sergei Fedorov and Adam Foote to free agency both of them I would say will retire. This will free up $10 Million….and give lots of room to sign some more good players.

Also, speaking of General Managers, Aaron Portzline met with Doug MacLean and interviewed him for the first time since his firing. It’s a pretty entertaining article.

MacLean ‘not bitter’ over Jackets firing him

Wednesday, June 13, 2007 3:39 AM

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Doug MacLean will be back in Nationwide Arena a lot sooner than anybody expected.

MacLean, fired as president and general manager of the Blue Jackets on April 18, will be part of TSN’s television coverage of the NHL draft June 22 and 23. TSN is the Canadian arm of ESPN.

“Would I prefer it be someplace else? Absolutely,” MacLean said. “It won’t be easy, because obviously there is a connection.

“But they’ve asked me to be a part of their coverage of the draft. And I agreed.”

In his first interview with The Dispatch since his firing, MacLean said he’s “disappointed but not bitter” that his eight-year run at the helm of the Blue Jackets abruptly ended.

“I’m not moping around about it,” MacLean said. “I’ve had two offers to get back into coaching (at the NHL level). I’ve got two TV offers sitting here on the table.

“I’m not in a panic. I’ve spent the last six weeks sitting back and spending time with the family before we decide what the next step will be.”

MacLean was asked whether he had any regrets. In their six NHL seasons, the Blue Jackets put together the worst cumulative record in the league, never getting closer than 19 points from the playoffs.

“If anybody in management says he has no regrets, he’s not telling the truth,” MacLean said. “In hindsight, the one thing that jumps out is the goaltending. It bothers me to this day. I thought Marc Denis was the guy, but he gave us five pretty good years, not five great years.

“A lot of people have written and said that we rushed our young guys to the NHL. That, to me, is just way out of left field.

“There’s a great opportunity to move ahead because we gave our young guys a chance to play early in their careers. Did it hurt me? Did it help bring me down? Probably. But it’ll help the franchise down the road, for sure.”

MacLean plans to live in Columbus for at least the next two years, he said. Before his firing, the family sold its Worthington home and bought a loft-style apartment in the Arena District.

“If I take the TSN job (permanently), I’ll commute out of Columbus,” MacLean said. “We’ve raised our kids here, and we’re going to stay here until my daughter graduates from high school.

“And we like it here. I have fond memories with the Blue Jackets, things I’ll never forget, people I’ll always stay in touch with.

“I hate you guys (reporters), but we had a lot of great times here in Columbus.”

Also, I will have my pre-draft post up at some point this weekend, but, I won’t lie it probably be until Sunday night.

Bryan Murray Bio

{ June 11, 2007 @ 3:23 pm } · { Bryan Murray, The GM Search }
{ Comments (5) }


Bryan Murray, 61, was named head coach of the Ottawa Senators on June 8, 2004. The former NHL coach of the year and fifth head coach in the Senators’ new era, he will enter his 24th consecutive season in the NHL. The Shawville, Que., native comes to the Senators from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim where he served as senior vice-president and general manager. Murray was promoted to the posts in May 2002 where he moulded the Ducks into Western Conference champions in 2002-03. Named the Ducks fifth head coach for the 2001-02 season, he selected Mike Babcock as his replacement for the past two seasons. Murray joined the NHL coaching fraternity with the Washington Capitals on Nov. 11, 1981. He remained at the helm of the Capitals for the following 81/2 seasons. Beginning with his first full season behind the Washington bench, the club had winning records and averaged 95 points per season over the next seven years. Murray won the Jack Adams Award in 1983-84 as the NHL’s coach of the year. His 14 years of coaching in the NHL, which has also seen seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers, have Murray ranked sixth in the NHL in all-time games coached (1,057) and seventh for wins (513). He coached his 1,000th NHL game with Anaheim on Nov. 28, 2001, against Edmonton and earned his 500th victory at Dallas (6-1 win) on Jan. 25, 2002. A former student of Macdonald College at McGill University, Murray spent four years as the athletic director and coach at the school. He left that post to become head coach of the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League in 1979-80 where he led the Pats to the WHL championship. Murray took over as coach of the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Hershey Bears the next season and was named the minor league coach of the year by The Hockey News after leading Hershey to its best record in 40 years. Bryan and his wife, Geri, have two daughters, Heide and Brittany.

Bio Link

Bryan Murray!!

{ June 11, 2007 @ 3:14 pm } · { Bryan Murray, Ottawa Senators, The GM Search }
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It looks we got another Murray under our sleeve. The Ottawa Sun reported today. I will post the article and then I will post a bio. If, this is true and Bryan Murray is an option…this would be the BEST thing for our club. Murray built most of the team that won the Stanley Cup this year. Anyway here is the Article

The Senators might not be the only option for coach Bryan Murray. Two league sources told the Sun yesterday they believe the Columbus Blue Jackets may seek permission to speak with Murray about the club’s vacant GM’s job. It’s doubtful the Senators would give permission. President Roy Mlakar and GM John Muckler have made it clear they’d like to have Murray, 64, back as the team’s coach next season. If Murray, a well-respected former GM of the Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks, is in the picture in Columbus, it could put pressure on Senators owner Eugene Melnyk to make a move quickly. Murray would be free to leave on July 1.
“If the Senators don’t sign Bryan Murray, then he’s going to have options if he doesn’t mind leaving the city,” said an NHL executive yesterday.
The Jackets were poised to hire Anaheim assistant GM Bob Murray last week, but sources say he pulled out of the running when he realized he wasn’t going to have full say with coach Ken Hitchcock already under contract. ALL-DAY MEETING Columbus owner John H. McConnell met all day Friday with Edmonton Oilers assistant GM Scott Howson. The club also has permission to speak with Dallas assistant GM Les Jackson. Former Calgary coach Dave King, interim GM Jim Clark and top scout Don Boyd are also being considered. While the players cleaned out their lockers Saturday, Murray said he didn’t have any designs to be a GM. “I’m not interested in both jobs,” said Murray. “My discussions with John were very straightforward: He just asked, ‘Do you want to come back as the coach?’ And, I just said, ‘I believe so, there’s no reason why I don’t want to be.’ ” It doesn’t mean if Muckler retires, there couldn’t be a plan in place to have Murray take over that role.

Dave King

{ June 10, 2007 @ 4:26 pm } · { Columbus Blue Jackets, Dave King, The GM Search }
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W. David King (b. December 22, 1947 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian hockey coach who has been head coach in the National Hockey League, the Russian Super League, the Winter Olympics, and the IIHF world junior championships.

King’s first coaching job was as an assistant coach with the University of Saskatchewan in the 1972-73 season. He later coached the Billings Bighorns of the Western Hockey League and returned to Saskatchewan, winning three conference championships and being named 1980 Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union coach of the year. He led Saskatchewan to the CIAU national title in 1983. At the same time, he was the head coach of Canada’s national junior team, and helped guide the team to a gold medal at the 1982 IIHF world junior championships and a bronze medal at the 1983 world junior championships. He was head coach of the Canadian national team at the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Winter Olympics, finishing fourth in 1984 and 1988, and winning a silver medal in 1992. He also coached the Canadian national team at five IIHF world championships. In 1987 he coached Canada to the gold medal in the Isvestia Cup tournament in Moscow, becoming the first Canadian team to defeat the Russian national team in Russia since the 1972 Summit Series.

King was hired by the Calgary Flames in 1992 and coached there until 1995. He was assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens from 1997 to 1999 and then became the first coach of the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets in their inaugural 2000-01 season through 2002-03.

Outside of the NHL, King coached Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Super League and, as of 2006, is the head coach of the Swedish team Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish Elite League.

He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1992, was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1997 and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2001.

Thanks Wikipedia

Lots of Stuff

{ June 10, 2007 @ 4:04 pm } · { Anaheim Ducks, Dave King, Pascal Leclaire, Scott Howson, Stanley Cup Champions, The GM Search, The NHL Awards }
{ Comments (5) }

I think I have decided that on Sundays I am going to just make it a day where I highlight what went on in the week…that way I don’t really have to talk about much…I can just highlight it. I am lazy…I know this.

  • Dave King is interested in the Columbus Blue Jackets General Manager Position. He was our Coach from 2000 – 2003 when he was fired. He has never been a General Manager in the NHL but according to a Blue Jackets Official, “He should have been a GM 10 years ago, but he wanted to keep coaching. Nobody knew the league better than Dave King and nobody had a better grip on the talent in Europe at the time. It would take him some time to get up to speed on the game — he’s been away for a few years now — but he’d catch up quick.” King was fired basically because he and MacLean got into over Klesla. King thought Klesla needed some time in the minors MacLean had other plans.
  • Howson met with Priest and the owners and according to Portzline if things went well he could be hired this week. My take on Howson is any man who would have any part of the Ryan Smyth trade….I don’t want. I don’t want anyone who would trade away our heart and soul which in our case is Rick Nash. And, apparently I’m not the only one in Blue Jackets Nation to feel that way.
  • Pascal Leclaire will be in Columbus later this month to test his knee. If things don’t go well Columbus could be looking at getting a Veteran goaltender via unrestricted free-agency. Let’s hope he looks like he did the whole season…like crap!
  • On a non Columbus Blue Jackets note…congrats to the Anaheim Ducks, again for becoming the first West Coast team to win a Stanley Cup, and also congrats on winning for the first time in franchise history!!
  • Also, on Thursday, June 14 at 7 p.m. EST the NHL Awards show will be shown on VS I suggest everybody watch it. It should be entertaining. If you don’t remember who was nominated I posted something on it so check it out.

If there is anything I missed I’m sorry…but that’s all I have for now.

I am not creative

{ June 8, 2007 @ 2:03 pm } · { Columbus Blue Jackets, Doug MacLean, Scott Howson, The GM Search }
{ Comments (1) }

Nor do I claim to be. Today, as I was reading through the Dispatch I found a pretty amusing article about what would happen had MacLean been here for when Murray backed out of The GM Search. In the article Me = Bob Hunter…you can find the entire article here.

Me: How you doin’, Doug?

MacLean: What do you mean?

Me: Well, that must have been a blow losing Murray, huh?

MacLean: It’s a nonissue.

Me: A nonissue? From everything we heard, he was the guy you wanted to hire.

MacLean: That guy? Why in the world would we have wanted that guy? You guys amaze me. Have you ever checked his record in Chicago?

Me: Well, yeah, but I understand that what happened with the Blackhawks wasn’t all his fault.

MacLean: Let met tell you something. You can’t print this, but he was no better than fourth or fifth on our list. We just talked to him as a courtesy. I’m telling you, some of those deals he made there. … Honestly, I don’t know where you guys get this stuff.

Me: But last week, you yourself said he might be the best man for the job.

MacLean: Listen, we’re gonna be fine. Fine. There are a couple of guys out there I didn’t tell you about last week; they blow this guy away.

Me: Do you have any names you can give me?

MacLean: I can’t talk about it. But the assistant GM in Edmonton, Scott Howson, we’ve contacted the Oilers people to get permission to talk to him, and I’m telling you, this guy will probably be in the Hockey Hall of Fame someday. And Dallas has a guy, Les Jackson, who would be perfect working with Hitch, and we all know how important that is to a successful franchise.

Me: So he and Hitch get along pretty well.

MacLean: It wouldn’t be right for me to comment about that. But honestly, these guys are like brothers.

Me: But is he ready to be GM?

MacLean: Ready? Both of them have been ready. I’ll tell you, everybody in the league wants to hire these two; it’s hard to believe they haven’t been snapped up before this. And here’s the thing: They both love Columbus. They’ve looked at the talent we have here and they’re amazed that we haven’t made the playoffs by now. They think this is the absolute perfect situation. They can see us winning for years to come.

Me: But I read a report out of Canada that said Murray might have been made a little antsy over the fact that the Jackets still haven’t had a winning season in six years.

MacLean: Those newspaper guys in Canada blow things way out of proportion. Let me tell you something: I was talking to commissioner Gary Bettman the other day, and he told me he thought we were on the cusp of a dynasty here. He can’t believe how close we are. Believe me, whichever one of these guys we hire … well, you saw what just happened in Anaheim. A few years ago, they were having all kinds of trouble there and now they’re Stanley Cup champions.

Me: But I thought that was why Bob Murray was one of the candidates.

Doug: OK, bud, need anything else?

As far as everything else goes…I don’t really know. Scott Howson is supposed to meet with the Jackets owner. Kevin Lowe had this to say about Howson:

“I don’t want to pump Scott’s tires too much … I’ve actually already done that,” said Lowe, “but he’s more than qualified. He’s become very respected in a short period of time in our business. He would be a difficult man to replace, but our position has always been that we don’t stand in the way of people looking to move up or on. It’s always a complement, too, when anybody from our organization is looked at by another one.”

Les Jackson

{ June 7, 2007 @ 2:54 pm } · { Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Les Jackson, The GM Search }
{ Comments (2) }


The Dispatch announced today that the Blue Jackets have been granted permission to interview Les Jackson the Assistant General Manager for the Dallas Stars. And, once again I know nothing about him…so here’s what I found,

Bio Link

Time will only tell how these interviews go, I’m assuming a major draw to Columbus for Jackson is Hitch…I am sure Hitch has been on the phone with him. Best of luck to both of these guys. And, for the record I’m not as mad at Murray as I was the other day.


Les Jackson enters the sixth season of his second stint with the Stars after spending the previous two years as the assistant general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers. Jackson manages and oversees the Stars’ amateur and professional scouting program, and assists in the evaluation of players as it relates to movement within the organization including the entry draft, trades and free agent signings.

Prior to joining the Thrashers in September of 1998, Jackson, 53, spent 13 years with the Stars’ organization, serving in a variety of roles, including assistant general manager from 1993-98. Jackson was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1972 and played two seasons in the minors, then began his career as a hockey executive. His minor pro coaching career included stints in Billings, Mont.; Tucson, Ariz.; New Westminster, B.C.; Revelstoke, B.C.; and Great Falls, Mont. He also spent five seasons as assistant coach and general manager of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings.

A native of Manning, Alberta, Jackson resides in Coppell and has three sons, Brock, Drake and Reid.

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