COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

The 'Columbus Blue Jackets' are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Contents

Franchise history

Team Name and Uniforms

Season-by-season record

Notable players

Current roster

Team captains

Honored Members

First-round draft picks

Franchise scoring leaders

NHL awards and trophies

Franchise individual records

References

See also

External links

Franchise history

On June 23, 2000, the NHL's two newest teams, the Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, took part in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft in Calgary, Alberta. Under the draft's rules, twenty-six of the NHL's active twenty-eight teams allowed to protect one goaltender, five defensemen, and nine forwards, or, two net minders, three blueliners and seven forwards. The Atlanta Thrashers and Nashville Predators both had their full rosters protected as they had only been in existence for one and two years, respectively. Both the Jackets and Wild were to use their first 24 selections on three goaltenders, eight defensemen, and thirteen forwards. Their final two picks could be of any position.
With the first overall choice, the Blue Jackets selected goaltender Rick Tabaracci from the Colorado Avalanche. Over the course of the draft, Columbus picked up goalie Dwayne Roloson, defensemen Lyle Odelein and Mathieu Schneider, and forwards Geoff Sanderson, Turner Stevenson, and Dallas Drake, among others. Instead of joining Columbus, Roloson signed with the American Hockey League's Worcester IceCats, Schneider left for the Los Angeles Kings, and the St. Louis Blues signed Drake. Columbus also traded Stevenson to the New Jersey Devils to complete an earlier transaction.
Since there was a limit on how many players’ teams could protect, the Jackets and Wild were granted concessions by other franchises. The San Jose Sharks traded Jan Caloun, a ninth-round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, and a 2001 conditional pick to Columbus after the Jackets agreed not to select the Sharks' unprotected goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. The following day, June 24, at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Columbus selected Rostislav Klesla fourth overall.

October 7, 2000 was the day the Columbus Blue Jackets played their first regular season game, a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Bruce Gardiner scored the franchise's first goal. Columbus finished with a 28-39-9-6 record for 71 points, failing to qualify for the playoffs. Geoff Sanderson became the first player in team history to reach the 30-goal plateau and Ron Tugnutt, who was signed in the summer of 2000, supplied solid goaltending.
The Blue Jackets finished next to last in the NHL the following season, 2001-02, with only 57 points. Ray Whitney, acquired from the Florida Panthers the previous season, led the team in scoring. Tragedy struck the Blue Jackets organization in March 2002 when 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil was killed after an errant shot by Espen Knutsen struck her in the head while she was in the stands at Nationwide Arena. As a result of her death, nylon mesh nets have now been installed in all NHL arenas above the area behind the goals to shield spectators from flying pucks. The team also wore small red hearts with the initials "BNC" on their helmets.
Following the season, the Jackets traded Tugnutt to the Dallas Stars. Columbus received a second rounder in the upcoming draft for the net minder, who had split playing time with Marc Denis in 2001-02. On the morning of the draft, the team traded the 2002 third overall pick and the option to flip draft spots in 2003 to the Florida Panthers for the 2002 first overall, which Columbus used to select Rick Nash.
The 2002-03 NHL season started relatively well, with Columbus putting up a 7-5-1-1 record after the first fourteen games. But as expectations from their fans grew higher, the team came back to mediocrity, finishing in the Central Division's basement for the third consecutive season and missing the playoffs once again. Dave King, the team's head coach since their debut in 2000, was fired midseason and replaced by general manager Doug MacLean. Marc Denis was given the starting job and played a franchise record seventy-seven games that season, two shy of the NHL record for goalies held by St. Louis' Grant Fuhr in 1995-96.
2003-04 was another disappointing season for the Blue Jackets despite key additions in the offseason. Checking center Todd Marchant was signed to a five-year contract in July from the Edmonton Oilers and offensive defenseman Darryl Sydor was acquired from Dallas for Mike Sillinger and a draft pick. MacLean stepped aside as head coach 33 games into the season, giving way to Gerard Gallant. The Jackets finished with just 62 points, the second-lowest total in their short history. Nash was one of the few bright spots for the team; his 41 goals tied Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk for the Rocket Richard Trophy.
2004-05 was wiped out due to the NHL's lockout of its players.
In the summer of 2005, rugged Colorado Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote agreed to a multi-year deal with the team. Heading into the 2005-06 NHL season, it appeared the Jackets would finally take the next step and make the playoffs. But injuries to Nash, Klesla, and the team's 2005 first-round pick Gilbert Brule led to the team putting up a dismal 9-25-1 record through their first 35 games. Superstar Sergei Fedorov was acquired from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and though the team's play eventually did get better, they failed to make the postseason. Todd Marchant was claimed off waivers by the Ducks to complete the Fedorov trade; as well, Anaheim received Tyler Wright and François Beauchemin. The team did, however, manage to become a surprising breakout team for the year. They had the best record for the month of January, and ended up finishing the season with a franchise record of wins and points for the season. They also ended in 3rd place in the Central Division, behind Detroit and Nashville.
In the 2006 offseason, Marc Denis was dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Fredrik Modin and goalie prospect Fredrik Norrena, making way for Pascal Leclaire to finally grab the starting job. The Blue Jackets also added depth to their young team by signing Anson Carter when it looked as if Nikolai Zherdev would be playing the season in Russia. However, General Manager Doug MacLean and Zherdev were able to comprise and agree upon a 3-year, $7.5-million dollar contract. On Monday, November 13, 2006, Gerard Gallant was relieved of his duties as head coach. The next day, Gary Agnew was named his interim replacement. On Wednesday, November 22, Ken Hitchcock, former coach with the Dallas Stars and Philadelphia Flyers, was named the new head coach, effective the following day.
Then, in the 06-07 season, on December 10, 2006, the Blue Jackets scored a team record five power-play goals against the Ottawa Senators in a 6-2 win. On April 3, 2007, the Blue Jackets broke the modern day record for most shutouts against in a season (16) with a 0-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. As of 2007, the Blue Jackets are currently the only active team in the NHL to have never qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
On April 18th, 2007, Doug MacLean, the team's first General Manager and President, was fired.^[1] Mike Priest, president of JMAC, Inc, was named President of the club while Assistant General Manager Jim Clark was named interim General Manager. ^[2] On June 15, 2007, the Blue Jackets named Edmonton Oilers assistant general manager Scott Howson as the team's new general manager.^[3]
On August 21, 2007, the team signed Michael Peca to a one-year deal.

Team Name and Uniforms

The name "Blue Jackets" was chosen to celebrate "patriotism, pride and the rich Civil War history in the state of Ohio and city of Columbus."^[4]
The team logo is a stylized version of the Ohio Flag. Previously used as an alternate logo, it became the primary as part of a Reebok-sponsored redesign for the 2007-2008 season. The team's sweaters feature an alternate logo, a Civil War cap with crossed hockey sticks, on the shoulders.

Season-by-season record

''This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blue Jackets. For the full season-by-season history, see Columbus Blue Jackets seasons''
'''Note:' GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''
Records as of April 5, 2007. ^[5]

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
2001-02	82	22	47	8	5	57	164	255	1198	5th, Central	Did not qualify
2002-03	82	29	42	8	3	69	213	263	1505	5th, Central	Did not qualify
2003-04	82	25	45	8	4	62	177	238	1198	4th, Central	Did not qualify
2004-05	''Season cancelled due to 2004-05 NHL Lockout
2005-061	82	35	43	—	4	74	223	279	1416	3rd, Central	Did not qualify
2006-07	82	33	42	—	7	73	201	249	1337	4th, Central	Did not qualify

:¹ As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games tied after overtime are decided in a shootout; SOL (Shootout losses) are recorded as OTL in the standings.

Notable players

Current roster

As of August 22, 2007. [2]

Goaltenders
#		'Player'	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
'30'		Fredrik Norrena	L	2006	Jakobstad, Finland
'31'		Pascal Leclaire	L	2001	Repentigny, Quebec

Defensemen
#		'Player'	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
'6'		Ron Hainsey	L	2005	Bolton, Connecticut
'10'		Duvie Westcott	R	2001	Winnipeg, Manitoba
'25'		Jan Hejda	L	2007	Prague, Czechoslovakia
'34'		Sheldon Brookbank	R	2007	Lanigan, Saskatchewan
'37'		Darcy Campbell	L	2007	Airdrie, Alberta
'52'		Adam Foote – 'C'	R	2005	Toronto, Ontario
'55'		Ole-Kristian Tollefsen	L	2002	Oslo, Norway
'97'		Rostislav Klesla	L	2000	Novy Jicin, Czechoslovakia

Forwards
#		'Player'	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
'9'		David Vyborny – 'A'	RW	L	2000	Jihlava, Czechoslovakia
'13'		Nikolai Zherdev	RW	R	2003	Kiev, U.S.S.R.
'17'		Gilbert Brule	C	R	2005	Edmonton, Alberta
'19'		Michael Peca	C	R	2007	Toronto, Ontario
'21'		Derek MacKenzie	C	L	2007	Sudbury, Ontario
'25'		Jason Chimera	LW	L	2005	Edmonton, Alberta
'27'		Manny Malhotra	C	L	2003	Mississauga, Ontario
'33'		Fredrik Modin	LW	L	2006	Sundsvall, Sweden
'45'		Jody Shelley	LW	L	2000	Thompson, Manitoba
'47'		Jiri Novotny	C	R	2007	Pelhrimov, Czechoslovakia
'49'		Dan Fritsche	LW	R	2003	Parma, Ohio
'61'		Rick Nash – 'A'	LW	L	2002	Brampton, Ontario
'91'		Sergei Fedorov – 'A'	C	L	2005	Pskov, U.S.S.R.

To see the player pages and bios, click here.

Team captains

★ Lyle Odelein, 2000-02

★ Ray Whitney, 2002-03

★ Luke Richardson, 2003-05

★ Adam Foote, 2005- ''present''

Honored Members

''Hall of Famers'': The Blue Jackets have not had a Hockey Hall of Famer associated with their organization.
''Retired numbers'' The Blue Jackets have not yet retired any of their own numbers. However, Wayne Gretzky's number '99' was retired League-wide February 6, 2000.

First-round draft picks

★ 2000: Rostislav Klesla (4th overall)

★ 2001: Pascal Leclaire (8th overall)

★ 2002: Rick Nash (1st overall)

★ 2003: Nikolai Zherdev (4th overall)

★ 2004: Alexandre Picard (8th overall)

★ 2005: Gilbert Brule (6th overall)

★ 2006: Derick Brassard (6th overall)

★ 2007: Jakub Voracek (7th overall)

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.
'''Note:' Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;
★ = current Blue Jackets player''

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
David Vyborny ★	C	477	106	185	'291'	.59
Rick Nash ★	LW	283	116	91	'207'	.73
Geoff Sanderson	LW	259	88	80	'168'	.72
Ray Whitney	LW	151	45	95	'140'	.93
Nikolai Zherdev ★	C	201	50	70	'120'	.60
Espen Knutsen	C	188	27	81	'108'	.36
Tyler Wright	C	291	57	47	'104'	.68
Andrew Cassels	C	137	26	68	'94'	.69
Rostislav Klesla ★	D	328	29	59	'88'	.28
Mike Sillinger	C	155	38	48	'86'	.55

NHL awards and trophies

'Rocket Richard Trophy'

★ Rick Nash: 2003-04 (shared with Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers and Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames)

Franchise individual records

★ Most Goals in a season: Rick Nash, 41 (2003-04)

★ Most Assists in a season: Ray Whitney, 52 (2002-03)

★ Most Points in a season: Ray Whitney, 76 (2002-03)

★ Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Jody Shelley, 249 (2002-03)

★ Most Points in a season, defenseman: Jaroslav Spacek, 45 (2002-03)

★ Most Points in a season, rookie: Rick Nash, 39 (2002-03)

★ Most Wins in a season: Marc Denis, 27 (2002-03)

★ Most Shutouts in a season: Marc Denis, 5 (2002-03 & 2003-04)

★ Lowest GAA in a season: Ron Tugnutt, 2.44 (2000-01)

★ Best SVP% in a season: Marc Denis, .918 (2003-04)

★ First Goalie to finish season with a winning record: Fredrik Norrena, 24-23-3 (2006-07)

★ Longest shutout streak (time without allowing a goal): Fredrik Norrena, 155:28 combined with Pascal LeClaire 10:78 for a combined total of 166:06 (2006-07)

References

1.
2. [1]
3. Blue Jackets Name Scott Howson General Manager
4. Blue Jackets History Timeline
5. Hockeydb.com, Columbus Blue Jackets season statistics and records.

See also

★ List of NHL players

★ List of NHL seasons

External links

★ Official website of the Columbus Blue Jackets