The last week has been interesting. To say the least.
In case you somehow missed it, Mike Babcock is out as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pascal Vincent is in, all before the regular season even starts. And oh by the way training camp begins on Wednesday.
The photo-sharing allegations made public by the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast and subsequent investigation by the NHLPA prompted a swift change in Blue Jackets headquarters.
Ahead of Monday’s press conference introducing Vincent as the team’s official head coach, president John Davidson and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen spoke to the media addressing the recent chain of events that led them to where we are now.
As embarrassing a light the organization finds themselves in over the last week, albeit all self-inflicted by hiring Babcock in the first place, the Vincent hire has a chance to be the breath of fresh air the organization desperately needs.
As the Babcock mess was aired out to the public, there were other storylines — positive storylines — regarding the Blue Jackets and the week that was.
Traverse City Prospects Tournament
The Traverse City Prospects Tournament got underway last Thursday with the Blue Jackets defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-3.
#CBJ finished in a three-way tie for first with Dallas and Toronto at 2-1 but had the goal differential advantage at plus-4.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) September 18, 2023
Jordan Dumais (4-4-8), Adam Fantilli (3-4-7) and Denton Mateychuk (0-7-7) were the tourneys top scorers. Impressive. https://t.co/EK2dcYHsmH
The high-scoring fun continued on Saturday in a 10-7 win over the Detroit Red Wings, including seven straight second-period goals by Columbus and Fantilli scoring a hat trick for the icing on the cake in the win. Fantilli had two assists for the five-point game. Columbus scored five goals in 4:50.
Across the first two games, Columbus was 7-for-9 on the power play.
#CBJ stats leaders in todays 10-7 Traverse City win over Detroit:
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) September 16, 2023
Dumais 2-4-6
Fantilli 3-2-5
Mateychuk 0-5-5
Columbus fell to the Dallas Stars 6-3 on Sunday but finished in a three-way tie with the Maple Leafs and Stars with 2-1 records, and Columbus had the goal differential advantage at +4 to win the weekend.
Jordan Dumais (four goals, four assists), Fantilli (three goals, four assists), and Denton Mateychuk (zero goals, seven assists) were among the leading scorers for the tournament.
Five players who participated in the tournament debuted with the Blue Jackets last season including David Jiricek, Samuel Knazko, Hunter McKown, Mikael Pyyhtia, and Stanislav Svozil.
Adam Fantilli As Advertised
Adam says it's an UNREAL feeling putting on the CBJ sweater @safelite | #CBJ
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 15, 2023
https://t.co/rEtFvKTNHL pic.twitter.com/UJfLp91cV7
Fantilli had all eyes on him and did not disappoint.
After notching two assists in Friday's 7-3 win over the Maple Leafs, Fantilli scored his only three goals of the tournament with the hat trick in the 10-7 win over the Red Wings on Saturday.
#CBJ Traverse City head coach Trent Vogelhuber said Adam Fantilli played as advertised in his debut today. Didnt score a goal but was dominant. Vogelhuber said Fantilli and captain Denton Mateychuk were the Jackets two best players in the 7-3 win.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) September 14, 2023
#CBJ on an early power play. Looked like the Wings would have a breakaway, and Adam Fantilli raced all the way back and broke up the play. Good stuff.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) September 16, 2023
Adam Fantilli is as advertised. Heres his first goal in a Blue Jackets sweater. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/zmggkrvuVJ
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) September 16, 2023
The #CBJ scored 7 goals in the 2nd period, including Adam Fantilli's second goal of the afternoon! Jordan Dumais and James Malatesta also have 2 goals each
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 16, 2023
Catch the live stream HERE: https://t.co/Qyb870soIa pic.twitter.com/r1IOByG37d
Adam Fantilli completed his hat trick and sealed the Jackets 10-7 win! What a day for the CBJ prospects, especially Fantilli, whos lived up to the hype thus far. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/sIz7TnnyEe
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) September 16, 2023
"all the advice I've gotten is just make sure you stay safe, play your best, and try and dominate."– Adam Fantilli
Before the tournament, Fantilli expressed his desire to get off to a strong start and shared the advice he's gotten from players who have previously played in the tournament.
"All the advice I've gotten is just make sure you stay safe, play your best, and try and dominate," Fantilli said.
"I always want to play my best. I want to show my game, show that I can play (physically), show I can play fast, and be an offensive presence. But obviously, I'm going to be playing center like I want to be, and I know I have to take care of business defensively, so that's my plan."
The Kids
The Blue Jackets are going to be among the youngest teams in the NHL this season with a projected age of 25.5 years.
Youngest projected opening night lineups in the NHL (average age).
— CapFriendly Depth Charts (@CF_DepthCharts) September 15, 2023
Columbus - 25.5
Arizona - 25.7
Buffalo - 25.9
Montreal - 25.9
New Jersey - 25.9
Ottawa - 26.3
Vancouver - 26.9
Florida - 27.2
Chicago - 27.4
Philadelphia - 27.5
Los Angeles - 27.7
Anaheim - 27.7
Calgary - 27.8
Training Camp
The major players will be hitting the ice for real soon as training camp gets underway on Wednesday.
The Blue Jackets have released their training camp roster. It includes 42 forwards, 25 defensemen, and six goalies. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/w6AfJtdaGc
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) September 19, 2023
The Blue Jackets pre-season slate begins on Sep. 24 with a home-and-home split squad session with the Pittsburgh Penguins. They'll play eight games in total with home and home contests against the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, and Washington Capitals.
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Columbus Blue Jackets Pre-season |
||
| Date | Opponent | Time |
| Sun, Sep 24 | @ Pittsburgh | 1:00 |
| Sun, Sep 24 | Pittsburgh | 7:00 |
| Tue, Sep 26 | @ St. Louis | 8:00 |
| Sat, Sep 30 | @ Buffalo | 3:00 |
| Mon, Oct 2 | St. Louis | 7:00 |
| Wed, Oct 4 | Buffalo | 7:00 |
| Thu, Oct 5 | Washington | 7:00 |
| Thu, Oct 7 | @ Washington | 7:00 |
The Pascal Vincent Era
The Babcock situation was weird and confusing and we'll probably hear more about that as the coming days unfold.
Maybe the actual offense wasn't ill-intentioned, though it certainly sounds like boundaries were crossed at one point, and Babcock comes off as an out-of-touch hockey coach — to put it mildly — that doesn’t relate at all with young players.
Davidson and Kekalainen admitted their mistake — what else can they say? — and they’re looking to turn the page. We all are.
We’re officially onto the Vincent era.
There are lots of questions for this new head coach and how the team will respond in light of all the recent news. But the good news is it sounds like the players are happy with Vincent as their new leader, such as Patrik Laine.
#CBJ forward Patrik Laine on new head coach Pascal Vincent: Ive known him since I got to Winnipeg at 18 years old Im super excited. I told him that straight up. I havent been this excited in a long time. Im super happy for him.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) September 18, 2023
Patrik Laine believes the Blue Jackets are a tighter and more supportive group right now, and they're excited to get training camp underway.#CBJ | #CountdownToFaceOff | @DMaetzMedia pic.twitter.com/mQucTkSoho
— Bally Sports Columbus (@BallySportsCBUS) September 18, 2023
We won’t have to wait long for answers as the players get started with normal hockey activities in camp this week. Finally, we’ll finally have actual hockey to talk about.
Some curious thoughts to consider.
Will the Jackets still employ the tactics that Babcock was preaching, like having two players on each line more involved with the 200-foot game?
Will Vincent play Laine at center like he did last season while in charge for a few games?
Will the team be able to respond quickly to all of the changes and even use this as some sort of unifying rallying cry?
Buckle up. The fun is about to pick up.
