If the Blue Jackets make the Stanley Cup playoffs in the spring, Ken Hitchcock should win the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach.
And the voting shouldn't be close.
Yes, it's way too early to be handing out hardware. The Blue Jackets played their 32nd game (out of 82) last night.
But for the first time since the Blue Jackets joined the NHL in 2000-01, it's safe for their fans to check the standings around the holidays without getting too depressed.
The Blue Jackets were the Exxon Valdez when Hitchcock was hired in November 2006, an ill-conceived, undertalented roster in a highly dysfunctional organization.
Oil spills aren't cleaned up easily or quickly.
General manager Scott Howson, because of hefty contracts paid to center Sergei Fedorov ($6.08 million) and defenseman Adam Foote ($4.6 million), could make only modest moves this past summer on the free-agent market.
To Howson's credit, centers Jiri Novotny, Michael Peca and Kris Beech and defenseman Jan Hejda have made better-than-expected contributions. But most of the Blue Jackets' improvement has come from within, from players who were already on the roster.
Colorado coach Joel Quenneville had this to say last week about the Blue Jackets: "Well, you have to start with the coaching. That is, first and foremost, a very well-coached team."
Read More...If the Blue Jackets make the playoffs it should be a no brainer that Hitch wins coach of the year. We have been a joke of a franchise and constantly underachieved. If in his first full season he leads us to the playoffs, that is just a great job by Hitch.
