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Jackets Best Bet Might Be To Hang Onto Richards........Again

March 25, 2013, 11:32 PM ET [8 Comments]
Glen Miller
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
When John Davidson made the decision to terminate Scott Howson and to replace him with Jarmo Kekalainen as the club’s general manager I figured it was a virtual inevitability that head coach Todd Richards would follow Howson out the door. After all most new GM’s rarely keep the coach they inherited for long and for obvious reasons prefer to hire their own guy regardless of the job done by the inherited coach. In anticipation of this expected change I had been mulling over writing a piece about how unfair it has been for Richards at each of his two NHL head coaching jobs. Instead, Columbus has been playing so well he’s making it nearly impossible for Kekalainen to make a coaching move.

Back to how unfair it would have been if Richards would have been fired (or I guess I should still add if he is fired). Richards’ first head job was in Minnesota and he was allowed two seasons there before being dismissed. Minnesota’s leading scorers in Richards’ final season were Martin Havlat (62 points in 78 games) and Mikko Koivu (62 points in 71). Brent Burns (46 points from the blue line), Andrew Brunette (46 points in 82 games) and Matt Cullen (39 points in 78) rounded out the top five.

The Wild won 39 games, lost 35 and dropped 8 more in OT or the shootout. Minnesota had just 10 skaters appear in at least 72 games that year. Key players Marek Zidlicky (36 games) and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (23) missed substantial time that season.

In goal Minnesota had Nicklas Backstrom. He was decent, probably a little above league average as far as his save percentage was concerned. He posted a save percentage of 0.916 and usually the league average is around 0.912.

Collectively that’s a decent team but it seems to me Richards got about as much as should reasonably be expected from that roster.

The season before the Wild boasted more or less the same group. The big difference though was Backstrom posted a below-average 0.903 save percentage. It’s hard to win with a relatively pedestrian crew of skaters and substandard goaltending. Still Minnesota went 38 – 36 – 8, good for 84 points.

It wasn’t enough however as Richards was fired and replaced by Houston Aeros head coach Mike Yeo. That offseason the Wild added Dany Heatley and Devin Setogucci. Then last summer Minnesota signed the two top unrestricted free agents on the market, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Where was that when Richards was head coach?

After his firing by Minnesota, Richards joined Scott Arniel’s coaching staff as an assistant. When Arniel was fired halfway through the season Richards took over on an interim basis. He went 18 – 21 – 2 behind the bench for Columbus after the team was 11 – 25 – 5 under Arniel. That was enough to earn him the top job with Columbus for the 2012 – 2013 season.

Entering this season most of the pundits felt Columbus was among the least talented teams in the NHL and one of the clubs most likely to land a top selection in the 2013 Entry Draft. After all, they traded their franchise player (Rick Nash) to New York and had few names most fans would recognize left on the roster. But Richards and his staff weren’t going to just go through the motions. Richards, his staff and his players have had other ideas.

After a recent 12-game point streak, Columbus is now in the mix for a possible playoff spot. All season long the Blue Jackets have played hard and performed better than their talent level might suggest. Here are some comments from an NHL coach that I found on Elliotte Friedman’s most recent “30 Thoughts” piece.

I asked a couple of opponents about the Columbus Blue Jackets run into the playoff chase. Here's the scouting report: "They put the puck in great positions," one coach said. "They chip it to where they're coming with speed or they always seem to put it where their forecheckers can get it." They do get outshot a lot, averaging 26.6 per game, which is 28th, but they get you to shoot from where they want and don't give up too many A-level chances.”


That stuff is 100% on the coaching staff. This is a squad that is overachieving and Todd Richards and his crew of assistants are a big reason why Columbus is playing so well. When you see what Columbus is doing on the ice and see what the peers are saying it’s looking more and more likely that Kekalainen will end up keeping Richards and his staff because they deserve it.
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