Columbus Blue Jackets' Don Waddell on coaching change: 'We need to have a different voice'
Don Waddell is looking for a new voice to lead the Blue Jackets back to NHL relevance from ice level.
He’s searching for those wielding experience as an NHL head coach, but the Jackets’ new president of hockey operations/general manager also wants an individual who can establish a winning presence again at Nationwide Arena.
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That’s what led to Waddell’s “tough” conversation Monday with Pascal Vincent, who was fired after running the Jackets’ bench for only the past season in the wake of Mike Babcock’s now infamous resignation days before training camp.
“I wouldn’t say it was systems and strategies,” Waddell said of replacing Vincent. “I watched the team play. Good coaches figure out how to adjust in games and so forth ... I just couldn’t get comfortable that we could put some of the things that happened last year ― and the year before even — out of (the picture). It was stuck in my mind, and I couldn’t get past it.”
Waddell did not get into specifics or elaborate about “things” he couldn’t get past with Vincent, who signed a two-year contract upon agreeing to replace Babcock. Vincent spent three years in Columbus, including two previously as former coach Brad Larsen’s associate coach. Their first season together went better than most anticipated, and that was with star forward Patrik Laine missing a large chunk of time due to an oblique strain plus the unexpected death of his father.
The past two seasons, each riddled with key injuries, were different. The Blue Jackets sunk toward the bottom of the league in Larsen’s final season, at least partly attributable to a glut of injuries, and they’re picking fourth overall in this year’s draft after Vincent's time at the helm included a struggle to close out close games plus another rash of injuries in the final six weeks.
Vincent took criticism throughout the year for benching veterans and stars for whole periods and handing Laine the first healthy scratch of his hockey career — all things Larsen was criticized for not doing enough. While Waddell didn’t detail what he’d learned from talking to his new front office staff, coaches and players, whatever it was led to Vincent’s exit.
“I’ve reached out to a lot of players, and some players are more vocal than others,” Waddell said. “You’re not letting players dictate who your coach is, but you heard some things that probably weren’t what I expected to hear. At the end of the day, the bottom line is that I made the decision and I’ve obviously got support from ownership that we need a new voice in that locker room.”
Vincent, 52, has declined to comment.
He openly lobbied, when asked during the Jackets’ final press conference of the season, to remain in place for at least one more season to see what a “tougher” training camp and a second year deploying his systems and strategies could do. The answer won’t materialize now, as Waddell searches for the Jackets’ fourth head coaching presence since April 2023 ― a span of 14 months.
That’s a lot of coaching change in a brief amount of time, and it will likely set the clock back to zero on the Jackets learning new systems, defensive structure, strategies and special teams play.
The current assistant staff is now in limbo, waiting to see who gets hired as head coach and whether they'll be retained, as Waddell does his research on candidates. He hasn't set a timeline to make the new coaching hire, but Waddell thinks interviews could happen as soon as next week at the NHL draft in Las Vegas.
He’s looking for coaches with a proven NHL track record.
“I define ‘experience,’ in this situation, as somebody who’s been an NHL coach before,” he said. “There’s a lot of good coaches that haven’t coached in the NHL, but knowing what this franchise has gone through the last few years, I just think we have to get somebody who’s sat in that chair, felt the pressure of being in that chair and has dealt with these things before. I look at it this way – for this particular job, ‘experience’ is somebody who’s been there and done that.”
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Other than being thrust into the head coaching role for one season, that’s one of the few things that Vincent can’t boast on his own resume. He’s got a lot of coaching experience at lower levels. He's also smart, passionate, friendly and likable. Vincent just happens to be young by NHL coaching standards and doesn't have the credentials to be Waddell’s choice.
So, he's out and the Jackets' fourth head coach in less than 15 months will be decided soon.
“The young coaches, you know ... Lars tried and he’s a good guy, and Pazzy’s a good guy too,” Waddell said. “They’re all good people. That’s the hardest part. It was tough talking to (Vincent) because I’ve been here about three weeks and I’m telling him he’s not going to have his job. But the bottom line is, we need to get this group together and put our best foot forward. And it was just the feeling I had that we need to have a different voice.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Don Waddell says Columbus Blue Jackets need new coaching 'voice'
