LeBrun: Q&A with Jarmo Kekalainen on Columbus’ changes, the team’s core and opening doors in the NHL
New York TimesTORONTO — It really is night and day for the Columbus Blue Jackets this season, the serenity enveloping the franchise a stark contrast to the drama that played out all of last season. The Jackets did as well a job as one can expect from knowing fully in advance they were going to lose two cornerstone players in UFAs Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky; they talked about it head-on in a pre-season meeting with players last year, there would be no elephant in the room, but even the best intentions can’t hide the fact it was a story hanging over the franchise all year long. Of course everyone’s goal is to win the Stanley Cup and you guys had big aspirations last season, can you still look back and be pretty prideful of beating a 62-win team in the first round and sending shockwaves around the league, or is it … you just wish you had kept going after that? But yeah, it’s good flexibility to have and we’re going to monitor every opportunity ahead of us to see how we can make our team better. Even though you think that a guy who’s been in the league that long could easily say, ‘Well, I know the hockey business.’ He’s going about it the right way.
History of this topic
LeBrun rumblings: Phil Kessel eager to return, and what’s behind the Canucks’ hot start?
New York TimesDiscover Related
