Columbus Blue Jackets hire Mark Recchi to fill assistant coaching vacancy
The Blue Jackets’ coaching staff is complete again.
After the resignation of Mike Babcock and promotion of Pascal Vincent to the head coaching role, a vacancy was created from within. That's been filled by Mark Recchi, who was hired Monday on a two-year contract as an NHL assistant who works with forwards and coordinates the Jackets' power play.
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Recchi, 55, is a former NHL forward who starred for seven teams and was inducted in 2017 into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Following his playing career, Recchi spent parts of 10 seasons with the Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils, including six years as a bench assistant with the latter two.
“Mark Recchi has been part of the National Hockey League for over three decades and brings an incredible amount of experience to our staff,” Vincent said in a statement. “He is a hall-of-fame player who won three Stanley Cup championships, which combined with his coaching experience will make him a great resource for our players. We are excited to have him in Columbus.”
Recchi was a seven-time NHL All-Star, including the 1997 MVP of the All-Star game.
He finished his career with 577 goals, 956 assists and 1,533 points in 1,652 games. Recchi also amassed 1,033 penalty minutes while playing for the Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, Atlanta Thrashers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. He won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh (1991), Carolina (2006) and Boston (2011), making Recchi in 2011 the eighth player in the NHL’s modern era to win it three times with different teams.
“Mark adds a wealth of knowledge as a player and a coach, both in development and as an assistant, to our group that will be instrumental in helping our organization grow on and off the ice,” Vincent said in the statement. “His expertise in the offensive zone and on the power play, specifically, will be a huge benefit for our club.”
Recchi is filling the role Vincent held for two years.
Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Vincent would pick his replacement and the new coach's goal was to find an assistant to fully take over his former responsibilities. Vincent was also looking for the right personality to mesh with the rest of his staff ― including assistants Steve McCarthy (defensemen/penalty kill), Nicklas Backstrom (goalies) and Jared Boll (skill development).
“The way I’ve always done it and enjoy doing it is I give the power-play guy total control, the (penalty kill) guy total control to present, to prepare, to pre-scout (and) to teach,” Vincent said last week. “But we’re going to do everything as a team.”
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That includes a staff that challenges each other's strategies on a regular basis.
“We’re going to be challenging all the time,” Vincent said. “So … power play’s going to be taught by one guy and the PK, (McCarthy) will take care of it, but it’s going to be done by the whole group. We’re all going to work on it.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets hire Recchi to round out coaching staff
