It's freakin early.

But, at least I woke up to an article from Portzline. Apparently this new job MacLean is taking on could end up quite nicely for the Jackets. If the Tampa Bay Lightning pay MacLean $800,000 or more...we don't owe him anything. By the way...Portzline totally used the word brouhaha which totally made waking up this early worth it. Quote of the article has to be this:

"We will be in a position to make moves in the future, and we will spend when it's appropriate," Priest said. "We have to build and develop a winning program first, and that's what (general manager) Scott Howson and (coach) Ken Hitchcock are in the process of building. Look, this franchise has never shied away from spending money. We want to win as much as anybody. But we're not going to keep spending for something that isn't going to make a difference. We're going to do it wisely."

Anyway check it out. I'm off to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and to the Indians game.

Doug MacLean...The Owner...Part 2!

I can always count on Michael Arace at the Dispatch to have the information I was looking for. Today when I wrote my earlier post I was looking for a quote about Marc Denis but I couldn't find it...luckily for me on Arace's blog today he had the quote I needed. When MacLean was asked what he regrets the most about his time as General Manager he said 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.”

So for Denis he is having an owner who has publicly bashed him. Also, Arace brings up some points about Clark that kind of make sense. He says:

There’s little doubt that Campbell will soon be on his way. He’s beholden to the soon-to-be-previous owners and, besides, it’s easy to shove aside a guy who was arrested for suspicion of DUI – as Campbell was last January.
A conspiracy theorist can put some other pieces together: Was not Jim Clark, the assistant GM under MacLean in Columbus, recently asked to relocate to Syracuse? Will Clark actually land in the ‘Cuse – or does he already have a ticket punched for Tampa? Wouldn’t he slide neatly into the president’s job with the Lightning? Or into the GM’s job, as a figurehead for MacLean?

Seems to make sense...MacLean likes to keep people around him who are his friends...people who build him up...tell him he is doing a great job.
Do I think that MacLean is going to ultimately destroy the Lightning? No, not necessarily, but it's entirely possible. MacLean has a good team going in...but if he starts the tragic movement of players...well...it could be bad news if you're a Lightning Fan. Anyway, I hope the best for Tampa Bay but in all honesty I would prepare for the worst. Be sure to check out Arace's Blog...it's a pretty good read.

Doug MacLean...The Owner.

Seriously?! This is crazy don't they know MacLean's history? I suppose he will be better as an owner than a General Manager. I mean he couldn't get much worse...could he? Truth Serum has his feelings on the subject. I really have nothing to say...

More news on the GM Hunt

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

By Aaron Portzline

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.

I am not creative

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."

Few things...

1. I will not be liveblogging Ducks and Canucks but my good buddy Mike over at Yankee Canuck will be offering a wonderful drunk blog of the events taking place tonight.

2. Doug MacLean finally speaks about his firing check out the article here.

3. Kristin noticed that I haven't said a word about the draft on my site so I will be posting up tonight some information about it...I will be in attendance so I think we should have a blog get together. If you want the run down on everything the draft check out Michael over at Army of the Ohio has an amazing blog full of information which is more than I can offer you because I live about an hour and a half from Columbus.

4. GO DUCKS and GO RANGERS

5. Check out Battle of California for a hilarious picture of Luongo.

The Latest in Blue Jacket Nation

For most of us Blue Jackets fans last night was the start of a new beginning. We gained hope...hope that maybe...just maybe...next year will be different. Last night Doug MacLean was fired as President and General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Now, this is just my opinion of what this means to my beloved Jackets. Well...MacLean will no longer make crazy decisions for our club. Such as, the signing of Anson Carter (who was a waste this season) and then the trading of Carter for an 5th round pick in '08....maybe that wasn't crazy but it seems kind of nuts to me. Then trading Ty Conklin to the Sabres for an 5th round pick this year. Why is he obssessed with these 5th round picks? Am I missing something? Anyway, this should come as no surprise for Blue Jackets fans everywhere seeing as we're the only team in the National Hockey League to not have made the playoffs...and the only fans not able to wave the little towels around. (I get sad everytime I see those) Anyway this is really all I have for now. I don't really know what else to say until we find out who is going to replace him. Here's hoping we can get someone who knows what he's doing.

The past 4 days

Well, it's pretty safe to say that the past 4 days have been the best of my life. Unfortunately spending last night at the Tropicana until 4 in the morning and then driving home with no sleep...doesn't give me a lot of inspiration to blog. I do plan on posting tomorrow about everything that has been going on in my life. But, I do want to say farewell to the CBJ's 06-07 season...and also hope for a better next year...and the firing of Doug. Here's some articles from my friends at The Dispatch
Waiting...
Change at the Top
MacLean made a Mess


I totally took this from Army of Ohio but it needs to be up here too.