The Columbus Blue Jackets players got together before last night’s game versus Anaheim and decided enough was enough. At least for one night.
Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch spoke with captain Rick Nash about the players-only meeting that preceded the team’s 3-1 win over the Ducks.
“The players here love what we’ve got,” Nash said. “Management, coaches…everyone’s very excited and very happy with what we have. And we wouldn’t want to lose it.
“As players, you feel guilty because you’re obviously not winning, that’s the reason. But we all believe in our system, in our management. We believe in [coach Scott Arniel]. That’s the last thing we’d want to happen.”
Nash, of course, is referring to the potential firing of Arniel, who had a few things to say about the players-only meeting himself.
“They told me they were having a meeting at 4 o’clock,” Arniel said. “That was good to hear. I don’t know what was said. I don’t care what was said. I just like the fact that they got together and took control of what they needed to take control of.
“The way they competed and the way they played hard and sacrificed for each other…that was probably a lot of what they talked about.”
Arniel could still be fired, as could coach GM Scott Howson. And you know what? So could team president Mike Priest, as Portzline reports majority owner John P. McConnell is “engaged with the situation, too.”
The Jackets host the Leafs Thursday. With three days off after yesterday’s game, today would’ve been as good a time as any to make changes. The victory over the Ducks may very well have saved some jobs.