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I’ve always tried to have a mentor, and now that John Davidson’s back (as president of hockey operations), he’s great at that. Everybody in their jobs can use a mentor.” Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: Brad Larsen may get a coaching The Blue Jackets have suffered the growing pains of inexperience many mentor, and analytic flexibility’ times through the years. The most vivid example was in 2010-11, the season after Ken Hitchcock and his assistants, Gary Agnew and Claude Noel, were sent packing. By Aaron Portzline Jul 4, 2021 Scott Arniel replaced Hitchcock and Bob Boughner and Brad Berry were hired as his assistants. Arniel was a first-time NHL head coach. Boughner had never coached above the OHL. Berry had mostly coached COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations, and in college with two years as an AHL assistant. did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Blue Jackets: That, coupled with a front office that was thin on experience, sent the Blue Jackets looking for experience and expertise when the 2010-11 Item #1: The experience factor season went off the rails by December. Longtime NHL executive Craig During the process of interviewing candidates to replace coach John Patrick was hired as an adviser to oversee the entire operation. Tortorella, the Blue Jackets were deeply impressed by Pascal Vincent, Item #2: Larsen and analytics who has been a rising star in the American Hockey League ranks for some time now. It’s no leap to suggest that Vincent would have been the Every NHL team uses analytics. Every sports franchise uses analytics. choice if Brad Larsen hadn’t accepted the job. The only questions are what data they value and how much value do they put into that data? Vincent was still in the running to be head coach of the Arizona Coyotes when the Blue Jackets circled back to offer a fall-back plan. Would he still Tortorella was more open to analytics than many would assume, but we consider joining Columbus in a different capacity? wondered where Larsen stood on the topic now that the big chair is his. When Vincent was ruled out by the Coyotes — they eventually hired “There’s absolutely a place for them in my coaching,” Larsen said. “Like Andre Tourigny out of the Ontario Hockey League — talks rekindled with anything, you need to bring it into a really clear lense for your group, Columbus. Vincent was named Blue Jackets associate coach two weeks specifically. You have to know who you are and what you do well before ago. you can put a value on a certain statistic or number, before you can establish the ways that you want to measure yourself. Then, last week, Larsen filled the other opening on his staff by hiring longtime NHL player Sylvain Lefebvre to coach the defense and penalty “Everybody wants to grab numbers, put them in a nice, tight box and say kill. Lefebvre has spent the last nine seasons in the AHL, the last three this is where you need to get to, but that’s not always possible. How do as an assistant with Anaheim’s affiliate in San Diego. we grade those numbers on a talent curve? That’s my question, and that’s some of the stuff we’ll get through later this summer with our staff “They balance each other well, complement each other really well,” Blue here before camp.” Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen said. “That was one of our goals. We know Lars well. We know what his strengths are and what kind of staff In other words, the numbers used by the Blue Jackets to measure their he’d need around him to be as good as he can be. That was the focus, performance will be different than the numbers used by, say, Tampa Bay, finding the right fit.” because the Lightning — loaded with talent — can realistically expect to play a much different game. Larsen was clearly looking for coaches who exude positive energy, and all three coaches have extensive coaching experience with young It’s a “same planet, different worlds” situation. players. Those two elements will be of utmost importance in the coming seasons. “We look at Tampa Bay and say, ‘This is what they do,'” Larsen said. “We know they pass the puck through the slot, they use the Royal Road on But something’s missing with this group, too. None of the three coaches power plays, they do this and that to generate really dangerous shots … has ever been an NHL head coach. In fact, nobody in the entire so how do we get there? organization has been an NHL head coach, including the hockey operations staff, scouts, etc. “Well, that’s a scary predicament, because that team has cornered the market on every award in the league right now, from the Vezina to the “I’m not concerned about that,” Kekalainen said. “(The coaches) all have Norris, the Hart.” head coaching experience (at other levels). Pascal has been a coach for 24 years. Larsen has been a coach for many, many years. Sylvain, too.” Larsen is waiting to see what the next few weeks — trades, the expansion and entry drafts, free agency — will do to the Blue Jackets’ We did some math for Kekalainen: Larsen, Vincent and Lefebvre roster. There could be major upheaval or just a few prominent moves, but combined have 15 seasons as NHL assistants, 13 seasons as AHL head it will almost certainly affect how the Jackets plan to play in 2021-22. coaches and six seasons as AHL assistants. Vincent also spent 11 seasons as a head coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Once he gets a reasonable idea of what his lineup will look like, Larsen will sit with assistant coaches to draw up a system and playing style that But while Kekalainen said he’s not concerned about it — “Hey, Scotty best fits their group. Then, he’ll meet with the analytics department to Bowman started as a head coach at some point,” he noted — he also build a profile of how they want to measure performances, what numbers showed that he’s not oblivious to it, either. will be weighted, etc. The Blue Jackets, Kekalainen acknowledged, have considered adding an “We have a good analytics department and they do a good job of adviser to the coaching staff, a veteran coach who can mentor Larsen listening to what’s important to (us coaches),” Larsen said. “Pascal and the others. (Vincent) is very progressive that way, too, and we both agree that if we’re going to bring a certain set of numbers into our group, we gotta One name that surfaces quickly is veteran coach Jacques Martin, 68, believe in it and it’s gotta make sense.” who is said to be seeking such a role after a long and successful career in coaching. But the biggest thing he’s looking for, Larsen said, is hard to quantify. Martin has been a head coach in St. Louis (two seasons), Ottawa (nine), “You can’t put a number on how big somebody’s heart is,” Larsen said. Florida (two), and Montreal (three), with stops in Quebec/Colorado, “That’s the part of hockey that’s so meaningful and important.