Damn, Columbus! You guys couldn’t at least wait until after the season?
Jarmo Kekalainen, the longest-tenured general manager in the history of the Columbus Blue Jackets, has been fired by the franchise, Sportsnet.ca reported Thursday.
The 57-year-old Kekalainen was brought on by the Blue Jackets back in Feb. 2013, becoming the first European-born general manager in NHL history. (RELATED: NHL Holding 2025 Winter Classic At Wrigley Stadium: REPORT)
But he just wasn’t putting up the numbers. With Kekalainen sitting on a 16-26-10 record — the Eastern Conference’s worst — Columbus decided to pull the trigger. The Blue Jackets haven’t made the postseason since the 2019-20 season. Under the leadership of Kekalainen, Columbus got to the playoffs on five occasions, but only managed to get one postseason series victory — and that happened to be their shocker upset over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round in 2019.
Jarmo Kekalainen has been relieved of his duties as general manager.
John Davidson, along with the team’s hockey operations management team, will assume general manager’s duties while the club goes through the process of hiring a replacement.
📝 https://t.co/ana2o90Adj pic.twitter.com/tqZ9wTKRMU
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 15, 2024
I get that Jarmo Kekalainen didn’t really do much with the keys to the Blue Jackets, but damn, you think you’d get treated a little better after a whopping 11 years at a place … like seriously, Columbus couldn’t wait until after the season to make this move?
Talk about a very disrespectful slap to the face of Kekalainen, good googly moogly!