Don Waddell is clearly not a BPM Sports listener because he has done nothing to quiet the background noise that links Bob Hartley and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Waddell, the Blue Jackets’ new president of hockey operations and general manager, said Hartley had “reached out to him” and his name “certainly came up.”
Let’s recap. Hartley was the head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2003-07, with Waddell as his general manager. On Tuesday morning, insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Don Waddell wanted to talk to Hartley.
Tuesday afternoon, Hartley tried to put an end to the speculation during a column on BPM Sports. “Don’t waste your energy,” said the colorful hockey man. I’m very happy where I am. I have fun. I have a big pickleball game with my friends. […] I moved on. Being a consultant for a serious organization might be worth considering. […] I am very happy where I am. No, that’s not something that interests me. »
Which brings us to Thursday morning, during Waddell’s press briefing, in which media from outside Columbus could participate virtually. Waddell discussed a preliminary list of 12 names. Is Hartley one of them?
“Bob has reached out to me, but I haven’t spoken to him yet,” Waddell responded. It’s part of our duties. Many people will be involved in this process, and many of those I will make this decision with do not know Bob. I won’t say who we’re going to interview. We’ll find out soon. But Bob’s name certainly came up. Everyone knows he coached for me for five years in Atlanta. »
As Hartley has discussed a possible consulting position, would he be a candidate for such a position? “I didn’t think about it for a second,” Waddell said.
The GM recalled that the Jackets are the only team currently without a coach in the NHL. “So the guys who are available today will also be available tomorrow,” he recalled. Of the 12 names on his preliminary list, he would like to interview “three or four” candidates, meetings he would like to do “around the draft,” which will take place June 28-29.
Besides Waddell, Johnny Gaudreau, the Jackets’ highest earner, also knows the Franco-Ontarian. Hartley was Gaudreau’s first head coach in the NHL.
“Our players have no say in who the coach will be,” Waddell said. I’ve spoken to around fifteen players so far. Above all, I want to know how the season was, how their summer is going. I always say that managers manage, coaches coach and players play. »
Waddell reiterated the importance of the experience criterion. “We need someone who has already been in this chair, who has already been a head coach in the NHL. We have good options. »
With 944 games behind the bench as head coach, Bob Hartley ranks 34th in NHL history. Todd McLellan, Dave Tippett, Alain Vigneault and Claude Julien are some of the names ahead of him, among those who don’t have jobs elsewhere in the NHL.
Joel Quenneville (1,768 games and 3 Stanley Cups) is by far the most experienced of the lot, but his case is complex since a team that wishes to hire him must obtain authorization from the NHL, in the wake of the Kyle affair Beach, who embarrassed the Chicago Blackhawks.
“It’s not the best idea to talk about what might happen. I’ll let the league answer that,” Waddell said, when asked about Quenneville.
