House cleaning by Jackets should include GM Howson

By Peter D. McAlister

The Columbus Blue Jackets continue their downward spiral and are closer to the abyss than ever. After Tuesday night’s embarrassment at Vancouver in a 7-3 loss to the Canucks there is absolutely no excuse what so ever for head coach Ken Hitchcock to keep his job. He should have been out prior to the last extended road trip that began December 19 in Colorado. The Jackets’ ownership and organization needs to go one step further and fire general manager Scott Howson for his total ineptness in dealing with a disastrous losing streak that put the team out of the playoff race, regardless of the feel good stories in the local media that portray otherwise. To allow this situation to go on is unconscionable.

Just look at the numbers; please. The Blue Jackets have won 9 of 21 games at home this season, 6 of 23 on the road and have only two wins in the Central Division after nine contests. In any other NHL city there would be all out mutiny. Columbus has scored 34 less goals than the league leading Washington Capitals and given up 61 more goals than the New Jersey Devils at the half way point of the season. Don’t get me started on the team’s goals against average and save percentage because they are an absolute joke.

What does Howson do? He sits back and tells the press and Jackets’ nation that Hitchcock is on solid ground and all will be well in the future. That this is a building process and the younger players in the locker room need experience and the veterans need to show leadership. There is no leadership on or off the ice with this team and the younger players perform at an AHL level so how in the world can fans expect a turn around anytime soon.

During the past three home games the Jackets averaged 18,000 fans to watch a team with no heart, no guts and an excuse vocabulary that rivals a Webster’s dictionary. Granted the games were played over the holidays when fans had nothing better to do than watch a bad hockey team play bad hockey, but they showed up in mass and the organization should take notice. In these tough economic times this blind loyalty will not continue. Columbus will not make the playoffs this season but they must be competitive unless the goal is to see six thousand or more empty seats at Nationwide Arena every home game from here on out.

Let’s face it, Scott Howson’s roadmap has hit a dead end and he is responsible for this entire mess. When you look at the Western Conference there is only one team in the point standings that happen to be behind the Blue Jackets and it is Edmonton. The Jackets and their GM face the Oilers on Thursday night in a frigid Alberta and back to where this entire fiasco began. Gee, didn’t see that coming; or did we?