Rick Bowness has turned the Columbus Blue Jackets into a wagon since he took over for the fired Dean Evason.
Since he took over prior to the January 13th game against the Calgary Flames, the CBJ are 19-3-4. Prior to Bowness coming to Columbus, the Blue Jackets had 19 wins all season. Columbus has 19 wins in 26 games since he took over. They’re currently playing at a 132-point pace over an 82-game stretch.
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When Bowness took over, the CBJ were 28th in the NHL and floundering. Today, they’re currently 8th in the NHL and second in the Metro Division. Where would they be had they not blown all those third-period leads?
Prior to Bowness arriving in Columbus, the CBJ were giving up 3.40goals per game. Since he took over, they’re only giving up 2.46.
They’re also scoring 3.61 goals per game, up from 2.91 goals per game prior to him getting hired.
When Don Waddell fired Dean Evason, the Jackets responded by immediately beating the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks. When Elvis Merzlikins was interviewed after the Canucks win, he was asked what sparked the team. His response was simple: “New Coach!” You can’t get blunter than that.
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So, does Bowness deserve to win? He will only coach 37 regular-season games.
Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres is going to have something to say about the Jack Adams Award, that’s for sure.
Since December 9th, the Sabres have been hands down the best team in the NHL and have vaulted themselves from the basement of the Eastern Conference in December, to leading the Atlantic Division. Starting in December, the Sabres rattled off 10-straight wins before being knocked off at Nationwide Arena by the aforementioned Blue Jackets. But that loss didn’t get to them.
After going 11-3-0 in December, they backed it up with a 10-4-1 January, a 4-1-1 February, and are 9-1-1 so far in March.
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After they fired former CBJ OG Kevyn Adams and promoted Former CBJ GM Jarmo Kekäläinen to lead the team, the Sabres and Lindy Ruff blasted off and can’t seem to be stopped.
Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs in 15 years, and weren’t expected to do much this year either, but they somehow turned themselves into legitimate Stanley Cup heavyweights.
In my opinion, it’s Lindy Ruff’s award, and I don’t think it’ll be particularly close either. What Rick Bowness has done has been nothing short of spectacular, but the CBJ were expected to push for the playoffs this year, while the Sabres were expected to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic, per usual.
It’s an interesting debate and will be sure to rage on as both teams push for a playoff spot.
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Next Up: The Blue Jackets travel to Montreal to play the Canadiens on Thursday night.
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