The big CBJ news of the day, perhaps the season, is that the Jackets have hired former NHL player, NHL coach and NHL GM Craig Patrick.
There is a whole lot to digest here and depending on how this shakes out, it could be good or bad.
First let's start with Patrick's resume which is extensive.
CRAIG PATRICK - THE PLAYER
According to hockeydb.com, Patrick's playing career traces all the way back to 1964-1965 when he played in the OHA for the Montreal Junior Canadiens. His NHL career consisted of 401 games amongst 4 NHL teams (California Golden Seals, St. Louis Blues, Kansas City Scouts, Washington Capitals). Over that span he amassed 72g, 91a, 163p and 61 PIMs.
He finished his professional on ice career in 1978-1979 for the Los Angeles Blades of the PHL.
CRAIG PATRICK - THE COACH
As most know, Patrick's was the assistant coach of the 1980 gold medal winning miracle on ice team. From there he went on to coach the New York Rangers in two different stints from 80-81 and 84-85. He also went behind the bench in Pittsburgh for two separate stints in 89-90 and 96-97.
His biggest NHL success behind the bench came in 80-81 for the Rangers when they lost in the Conference Semi-Finals.
CRAIG PATRICK - THE GENERAL MANAGER
Patrick became the youngest general manager in New York Rangers history in 1980. According to this, Patrick held the GM position in New York from 1980-1986. I haven't been able to find anything as to why he was let go after '86. The Rangers made the playoffs every year under Patrick but that was when the league was much smaller thus making the playoffs was much easier. The Rangers made the playoffs some of those years with .500 records.
Patrick did his primary damage as GM over 17 years with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was hired to succeed Tony Esposito in 1989 and according to this article, within 18 months, had built a team around Mario Lemiuex that won the cup in '91 and '92.
After 4 consecutive last place finishes from 2001-02 to 2005-06 and after former ownership led by Howard Baldwin led the team into bankruptcy, Patrick's contract was not renewed.
He has been out of the NHL ever since.
Until today.
CRAIG PATRICK - THE COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
At face value, this seems like a solid move.
There has been a massive void of vast and successful NHL management experience in this franchise since... well, ever. Patrick certainly brings experience and credibility. I don't think there is any situation he hasn't personally experienced before. He's been a champion. He's been a loser. He's seen packed buildings and he's seen empty ones. He's built, tore down and rebuilt. He's drafted high and drafted low. He's hit home runs in the draft and he's had a lot of busts. He's made successful trades (See John Cullen, Jeff Parker, Zarley Zalapski for Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings in 1991) and he's made some of the worst in NHL history (See Naslund for Alex Stojanov in 1996). He knows NHL talent. He knows what it takes to win. He's seen and done it all in this league.
Who couldn't use a guy like this right? Especially an organization which has a bean counter as President and a GM who hasn't won a playoff game in 5 years.
Couple of concerns I have:
* What is going to be the organizational structure after this hire? Publicly the message is Patrick will work out of Pittsburgh and will scout and "advise" Howson on such things as trades, free agency, draft, etc. In the short term that may be true but not buying that for the long term. One question I have is who will Patrick report to? Is it Howson, Priest or ownership? That will tell me a lot about the power structure of this hire.
* Working out of Pittsburgh concerns me about how involved Patrick will really be in the day-to-day of this operation.
* Patrick just can't be a "name" hire to please (what's left of) the masses. At age 65, is there any "gas left in the tank" to take on the massive project that is the Columbus Blue Jackets? It will do us absolutely no good if he just collects a check. We really need him engaged, motivated and energized to tackle this challenge.
* How much power will he have to make changes/recommendations? How big will his voice be?
* I know what Howson is saying publicly, but how bought in is he really with this hire? I don't care who you are, nobody likes someone breathing down your back and second guessing every decision/suggestion you make. Can these two really co-exist?
I will say that this hire should send a strong message to the fan base that ownership is not happy with this current situation. They are not tolerating the losing which is a great sign. This hire didn't happen overnight and I think it was a direct mandate from McConnell and co to bring in this type of experience. The wheels must have been churning in the background for a while now. I would imagine they explored every option including firings but decided the best course of action right now is to bring in a legit NHL managerial heavyweight (so to speak) to get a lay of the CBJ land and then re-evaluate at the end of the season.
I think this hire will extend Howson's CBJ life as GM but I am absolutely not ruling out a change in the offseason. I think Patrick will have a direct line into ownership and if he doesn't like what he sees, that message will be delivered and changes will be made.
Not sure how this will impact Arniel. After Johnson/Bowman, Patrick doesn't exactly have the best track record in terms of coaching hires/fires (Kevin Constantine, Ivan Hlinka, Rick Kehoe and Eddie Olczyk).
I also wonder if this is the first step to Priest disappearing into the shadows of Nationwide and focusing on just the business side of this operation? It would not surprise me at all to see Patrick named President of Hockey Operations at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Couple of final comments on the subject.
Got to think the money freed up from Hitch's departure went straight into Patrick's pocket.
Although we would never hear it publicly, I would love to hear Patrick's unfiltered thoughts about continuing to build this franchise around Rick Nash after he evaluates this team over some time. Remember he's got a lot of experience with true franchise players in Lemiuex, Jagr, Crosby and Malkin.
One area I can see an immediate impact from Patrick would be this year's coming draft. This pick has the potential to be a franchise altering one and the Jackets must knock it out of the park. Patrick has a motherload of experience hitting on top picks in the draft (not so great out of the top 5 but still some hits). Crosby and Malkin were gimmes but Fleury and Staal - not so much.
Kind of ironic the draft will be in Patrick's former stomping ground - Pittsburgh.
So is this a happy St. Craig Patrick's Day for the Blue Jackets and we long suffering fans?
Based on the details shared thus far I'm encouraged but I'm not completely sold. Hopefully there is a pot of gold at the end of this hire.
-LTL
