Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

[strohs]

you are telling me the bugs are zero wins and twenty in the l column when you go strohs?

i think someone needs to become a wings and preds fan and attend their games...

Yup, 0 wins, and about 20 losses.
I did see an OT loss and a tie once.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

Yup, 0 wins, and about 20 losses.
I did see an OT loss and a tie once.

oh in that case two points out of 40 possible thats about on par for the bugs...

i honestly have no idea and zero info. ive heard all kinds of names flying. but like with tressel, matta and so many others the ones flying usually arent the ones on the short list...

 

[scarletandgrey]

Hopefully it's someone who can turn our team around. The talent is there, they just need the right coach to point the young guys in the right direction.

 

[Thump]

If you ask me, Doug MacLean should have been given a pink slip as well.

His all-knowing, prickish attitude gets old really quick.

How long is he going to live off of getting the Panthers to the Stanley Cup finals?

 

[Thump]

Looks like someone else agrees with me.




With MacLean's job on rocks, Agnew not the answer





And so the bell has tolled for Columbus Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant.
No surprise. That bell has been waiting to be rung since the start of yet another lamentable season for the lamentable Blue Jackets.

But the bellman is readying his rope one more time, and the next tolling will be for GM Doug MacLean unless he makes one last, very good decision after a history of poor ones.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Monday's firing was made by owner John H. McConnell, "but Doug's going along with it."

McConnell told the newspaper that assistant coach Gary Agnew will take over as interim coach. But with all due respect to Agnew, this team needs a real head coach and they need one yesterday, if not sooner.

We've seen how things have worked out for replacement coach John Stevens in Philadelphia, where the Flyers have shown no indication of turning around their season from hell.

It may be too late already to save the Blue Jackets' season after a 5-9-1 start good for 14th place in the Western Conference. It may also be too late to save MacLean's job, too. But if there's still a chance for him, he's got to find the right coach and he's got to find him immediately.

If the Blue Jackets stick with Agnew for the rest of the season, they can kiss the playoffs goodbye, again. And they can kiss goodbye what used to be significant goodwill from the paying customers in the Columbus area.

The obvious choice to succeed Gallant would seem to be Ken Hitchcock, late of the Flyers, although you could also run Pat Quinn's and Andy Murray's names up the flag pole, too.

Bottom line: MacLean has assembled a team that should be miles better than it is and he'd better find a coach who can coax more out of a team that has never made the playoffs and is in danger of screwing up one of the best fan bases of any of the NHL's newer franchises. Whoever takes over has to have a strong personality, the opposite of Gallant's low-key Prince Edward Island style. The new coach must be forceful and inventive and able to shake a talented team out of its current lethargy.

Attendance has already taken a hit as Gallant stumbled and bumbled through his 22? months as head coach.

No question Gallant had some terrible luck en route to a 56-77-9 record.

The Blue Jackets have suffered terrible injuries to key players in the past couple of years. And Gallant did get a better effort out of the Blue Jackets in the latter part of last season. But it's always hard to gauge whether this was a case of a bad team getting better or just a bad team managing to squirrel away a few points when it didn't matter anymore.

Offseason moves that included the addition of Fredrik Modin and Anson Carter and the re-signing of Nikolai Zherdev should have given Gallant the best chance at success any coach has had since the team entered the league in 2000.

But Nash, who tied for the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2004 for the most goals in the NHL, has just four through 15 games.

Carter, who led Vancouver with 33 goals last season including seven game winners, has just two goals.

How can that be?

Only the Phoenix Coyotes have scored fewer goals than the Blue Jackets.

And so Gallant, who'd been with the team since the outset and was a buddy of MacLean's from PEI, had to go.
That the decision was apparently made by ownership is not a good sign for MacLean. Now the question is whether MacLean can make the one, final decision that may save his job.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

http://www.thehockeynews.com/en/news/news.asp?idNews=22257

Now that the Blue Jackets have cashiered Gerard Gallant from his coaching duties, the heat is squarely on GM Doug MacLean to set things right. But getting Columbus into the playoffs after its brutal start to the year is a tall order few coaches would be up for. Paging Ken Hitchcock…

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=3651
In Columbus, GM Doug MacLean is meeting with BJ ownership today to discuss possible head coaches. I expect interviews could start in the next few days and it may not be long until a new coach is on board.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Kind of reminds me of what Richard Nixon (if anyone else that can rememer him) used to say:

There's good news,
There's bad news,
and, There's Agnew(s).

http://www.nndb.com/people/475/000027394/spiro-t-agnew.jpg

http://www.nndb.com/people/475/000027394/


Blue Jackets make Agnew interim coach
By RUSTY MILLER, AP Sports Writer 2 hours, 7 minutes ago


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Assistant coach Gary Agnew became interim coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, a day after Gerard Gallant was fired because of the team's slow start.
Columbus general manager and president Doug MacLean said he will come up with a list of coaching candidates. No timetable has been set for hiring a permanent coach.
"I'm going to do what I do best and hopefully get (to) the talent that's in there because there's a lot of talent in that room," said Agnew, the coach of the Blue Jackets' top affiliate for six seasons before becoming an assistant this year. "We have a chance, still, of doing what we set out to do and it'll be up to me to try and extract that from them."
Gallant was fired after one full season and parts of two others. The Blue Jackets, a team with lots of young talent who many considered ready to contend for their first playoff spot, are off to a 5-9-1-0 record that leaves them in last place in the Western Conference's Central Division.
MacLean, brought aboard to create the franchise seven years ago, said owners John H. McConnell and his son, John P. McConnell, have not told him that his job is in jeopardy.
"They haven't said that. But I don't think there's any question that that's the way it is. That's the way it is in the NHL, isn't it?" MacLean said.
The Blue Jackets, who play their first game under Agnew on Wednesday night at home against Nashville, have scored one goal in their last two games.
"We're just going to take it a day at a time and try to move forward the best we can and give everybody a chance to contribute and see if we can get the ship going in the right direction," he said. "Everybody's got to grab an oar and get this thing rolling the right way."
The coaching change was not unexpected after a promising start deteriorated. Home attendance is down, although the team still draws an average of more than 16,000 per game.
The Blue Jackets scored points in the season's first three games, winning twice and fueling the excitement of fans. But since then, they have lost nine of their last 12 starts.
With stars such as Rick Nash, Sergei Fedorov and Nikolai Zherdev, the offense was expected to be a strength but has instead been a major disappointment. Columbus has scored just 33 goals, the fewest in the league.
The offensive production has had a huge bearing on a team with a young goaltender, Pascal Leclaire. The Blue Jackets' 11 points is the third-worst in the NHL, ahead of only the eight points that Philadelphia and Phoenix have.
"That's the thing Gerard and I talked about more than anything lately. I think the team defensively has been fairly sound and solid," MacLean said. "We're both just mesmerized why we haven't scored. There's six guys on that team that have scored in excess of 22 to 40 goals in the NHL and yet they haven't been able to score."
Agnew becomes the Blue Jackets' fourth coach. Dave King led the fledgling franchise for just over the first two seasons before MacLean took over. After posting a record worse than King's, MacLean stepped aside and elevated Gallant, who had been an assistant with the team since its inception.
"The owners have asked me to bring a list of names to them and we'll sort through that shortly and make a decision as to who the best candidate is," MacLean said. "But Gary's a good man and I know that he's got a lot of respect in the (dressing) room."
No decision has been made on whether Gallant will remain with the club.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061114/ap_on_sp_ho_ne/hkn_blue_jackets_coach_2

 

[ysubuck]

Agnew obviously isn't the answer. One consolation, I can't remember a team losing the game directly after a coach has been fired, so this assures a win over the Preds tomorrow night

All kidding aside, someone needs to come in with a system and the players need to play within that system. My limited knowledge of hockey notwithstanding, it looks to me like the Jackets are simply skating around and shooting the puck every now and again. Every guy is playing his own game.

Am I wrong?

 

[jimotis4heisman]

Agnew obviously isn't the answer. One consolation, I can't remember a team losing the game directly after a coach has been fired, so this assures a win over the Preds tomorrow night

All kidding aside, someone needs to come in with a system and the players need to play within that system. My limited knowledge of hockey notwithstanding, it looks to me like the Jackets are simply skating around and shooting the puck every now and again. Every guy is playing his own game.

Am I wrong?

looks like we can throw ysu into the mix for the hc opening, hell hes knows more of whats going on than the man hes gonna replace...

 

[jimotis4heisman]

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=3660
jackets get permission to talk to hitch

 

[jimotis4heisman]

The next decision Doug MacLean makes will be made as if his NHL career depends on it.

The general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets has been charged by ownership with coming up with a list of names of coaching candidates who can replace the fired Gerard Gallant and salvage what, so far at least, has been a disappointing season.

Coming up with a list will not be difficult. There are always plenty of good coaching candidates available.

Having the courage to list names of candidates who could a) be coaches strong enough to challenge his role as the dominant boss in Columbus, and b) be the heir apparent to his job, well that's the hard part.

You see, the problem in Columbus, in part at least, is that MacLean has been the boss of virtually every element of hockey in that city since the franchise was founded. That's a nice gig, but when you've run through a succession of coaches and still haven't found your way into the playoffs, well, the buck eventually stops somewhere higher up the line than the coach's office.

Nothing personal Doug, just the way of the NHL world.

MacLean finds himself on the edge of this well-frequented abyss in the wake of firing Gallant, his third handpicked coach since the team's inaugural season in 2000-01. The latest change came about Monday night. Tuesday, MacLean announced that Gary Agnew, Gallant's assistant through the first 15 games of this season, would be the interim coach until ownership finds a successor.

That's the tipping point for MacLean: "until ownership finds a successor." MacLean doesn't get to pick the new bench boss of the Blue Jackets. Ownership has told him they will do it for him. "Doug will make a recommendation," said majority owner John H. McConnell. "We told him to give us a list of who he thinks he can work with and who he likes. We (we being McConnell, his son and the head of the holding company that controls the team and the arena) will have final say."

Ouch!

Look, this isn't the first time a coach has been hired by a team owner, but except in the case of Charles Wang and the always "different" New York Islanders, it's rare that it's done in so public a fashion.

Hiring a coach is Job One for a general manager and though owners have often stuck their noses into the decision-making process, few have ever allowed it to become public knowledge. Ownership in Columbus have decided to do that primarily because they want their fans to know that they have precious little confidence in MacLean's picks.

One can argue that MacLean doesn't yet deserve that kind of rebuke, but having run through a succession of men (including himself) and not having made it to the playoff promised land, it's clear Mr. McConnell thinks otherwise.

It's understandable. MacLean's first pick, Dave King, took the team exactly nowhere. That was to be expected given it was a first-year expansion team, but still, it's one strike against the GM. Since King, it's been a strictly in-house operation and when MacLean appointed Gallant, a coach with no NHL head-coaching experience, well nothing less but success would do.

It didn't help that Gallant's primary accomplishment on his resume was that he was a longtime friend of MacLean's. It didn't help that pre-lockout (when Gallant took over with 45 games remaining) the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs. It didn't help last season (though the second half did show some promise) that they missed again. It hasn't helped at all that they started 5-9-1 this season and were deadly dull as well.

That was enough for ownership. They've watched as the expansion Nashville Predators have soared past the Blue Jackets and into Stanley Cup contention. They've waited while MacLean made major deals and handed out some big-time contracts. They aren't watching and waiting any longer.

MacLean's problem now is he has to build a list that no doubt will include the names of Ken Hitchcock, Pat Quinn, Andy Murray and perhaps even Mike Keenan. That's a Grade A list as Hitchcock and Keenan have won the Stanley Cup, Quinn has a winning record and a Gold Medal for Canada in the Olympics, and Murray has a reputation as a winner during his time in Los Angeles despite some weak support from ownership and a slew of injuries that seriously crippled his success rate there.

Those are also strong-minded men, all of whom have either been general managers or eye the chair and none are afraid to challenge authority.

That's a big part of the problem in Columbus. King couldn't say boo because at the time of his hiring he was desperate to get back into the NHL, and because he really didn't have anything to work with anyway. Gallant had some talent over the time he was in charge, but without an NHL resume or reputation, he couldn't exactly demand changes in talent or attitude. Heck, the consensus in Columbus is that he couldn't even make a lineup decision without first clearing it with MacLean.

You can bet Hitchcock would have no problem benching one of the GM's young stars or even a fading veteran. You can be certain Quinn would have no problem telling ownership that mistakes might have been made regards acquiring talent. You can take it to your grave that Keenan wouldn't flinch in doing all of the above and a good deal more.

Simply put, MacLean may have actually been too nice a guy in Columbus. In his time as GM he's made some good draft picks and some good and bad deals, but his true failing may well be that he's never hired the best coach available and let him take control of the team.

That's why MacLean has to come up with a list of real coaches and like it or not, they are out there.

If one of them decides to come to Columbus -- and that's a big if -- he'll be hired by ownership, not MacLean and everyone in and out of hockey knows what that means.

If he's successful with the talent on hand, fine, but if not, well it's not a Cup winner or a longtime GM/coach with a gold medal around his neck or even just a strong resume who will take the fall.

MacLean knows that because in saying they are doing the hiring, ownership has guaranteed it.

From this day forward he can't afford to do a single thing wrong.

fromo sportsnet.ca

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Agnew named interim coach; Jackets will talk to Hitchcock
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

</IMG> New Blue Jackets coach Gary Agnew leads a team practice in the Dispatch Ice Haus.


Walk into the Blue Jackets dressing room, pass the racks of sticks and look to the left. There, down the end of a hallway, is the coach?s office. It was dark yesterday, and the placard bearing Gerard Gallant?s name was removed from its former place beside the door.
Gallant was fired Monday evening and replaced by one of his former assistants, Gary Agnew, on an interim basis. Agnew will leave the coach?s office dark. He?ll remain next door, where the assistants have their desks, and keep proximity with Gord Murphy.
"There?s just the two of us, Murph and I, and we need to be in the same room, bouncing ideas off one another and making sure we?re continuing in the right direction," Agnew said. "I?m going to stay in that room until further notice."
Is this a gesture of humility?
"Well, there?s humility, respect ? and there?s the unknown," Agnew said. "I?ll do whatever it takes for the organization. That?s the way I?ve always been, at every level. And I?ll try to find a way to win."
The darkened office contributed to a strange atmosphere in Nationwide Arena. First, there was a news conference, during which president and general manager Doug Mac-Lean was asked whether his job was on the line if the team?s fortunes do not change.
"They (the owners) haven?t said that, but I don?t think there?s any question that that?s the way it is," MacLean said.
MacLean?s next task is to conduct a search for a coach. He?ll make a list and bring it to ownership.
Although MacLean said there is no timetable for making a decision, a source with familiarity of the situation said Ken Hitchcock, fired in October by the Philadelphia Flyers, is on top of a very short list of candidates, and the Flyers gave the Jackets permission to talk with Hitchcock.
"(Agnew) will be on my list," MacLean said at the news conference.
Afterward, the Blue Jackets (5-9-1) had a crisp but strangely quiet practice. Tonight, they begin a critical stretch with a game against their archrivals, the Nashville Predators, in Nationwide. It?ll be the first of four games in five days, with three of the games against the Predators (10-4-1).
In a manner of speaking, it?s also the beginning of an audition for Agnew, who spent the previous 17 seasons as a coach in the Ontario Hockey League and American Hockey League. He must solve a crisis of confidence that hangs over a Blue Jackets group that has scored fewer goals than any other team in the league.
"I think I have a philosophy and a style of coaching," Agnew said. "Everybody gets a chance. To me, you play the game the way it?s meant to be played and, if not, then there?s another guy to do it.
"And then we start all over again the next night. Accountability is one of the things (involved), but it?s accountability to each other ? to your teammates. If you need to go in and take a hit to make the play, then you should know how to do that. That?s your job. That?s what I mean by simplifying the game."
Agnew believes his strength is in his people skills. Ex-Blue Jackets defenseman and current Syracuse Crunch captain Jamie Pushor agrees wholeheartedly. Pushor has played a lot of games for Agnew.
"Gary?s greatest asset is his passion for coaching, which is something we all tend to forget about," Pushor said. "He didn?t play in the NHL and he has had to constantly prove himself, and his passion has carried him through. Secondly, he?s a very personable guy, he can handle a lot of different personalities and he?s good at getting his point across. In this day and age, those are good assets. I think he?s a natural fit, he?s been well groomed and he?s ready for that challenge. I think he?s capable."
Handling personalities is paramount because the Blue Jackets locker room at present is home to a number of confused players in the throes of a seismic change.
"My dad told me a long time ago, no matter what job you have you do the best you can," Agnew said. "There used to be a police officer in Montreal who directed traffic in the old days. People would go out on their lunch hour to watch him direct traffic because he did it with passion, he did it with excitement and enthusiasm. That?s what I try to live by."
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Blue Jackets making right move by considering fiery Hitchcock
Wednesday, November 15, 2006

BOB HUNTER

Since Doug MacLean couldn?t name any of the qualities he might be looking for in a coach yesterday when he addressed Gerard Gallant?s firing at a news conference, you?d have to think the Blue Jackets president and general manager would welcome any help the rest of us can offer.
So here?s mine: Make sure Ken Hitchcock?s name is on the final list of candidates that ownership, John H. and John P. McConnell, asked for.
Since Hitchcock is the most successful guy available ? he led the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup title in 1999 and seven of his teams have posted more than 100 points in a season ? that probably seems pretty obvious. But a coach of Hitchcock?s stature wouldn?t take the job without the kind of control that previous Columbus coaches (besides MacLean) didn?t have, one reason MacLean could choose to not put him on the list he gives to the owners. There are lots of reasons he should be there. In the nice guy-tough guy world of coaching, Gallant was a good guy. He was a players coach, not a bad thing if you?re coaching the right team. But the Blue Jackets haven?t responded to that treatment. So it might be time to bring in a tough guy like Hitchcock, even if the players don?t necessarily like it.
When Flyers GM Bobby Clarke resigned and team chairman Ed Snider fired Hitchcock on Oct. 22, Snider said that after four years, Hitchcock?s "demanding" style had worn thin. This is the same Hitchcock who had been given a three-year contract extension just before the season ? despite the team?s 1-6-1 start, one Philadelphia columnist called Hitchcock?s firing "ridiculous" ? and took the Flyers to the conference finals in 2004.
The conference finals are light years removed from a Columbus franchise where the team president said yesterday, "As I told Gerard last night, we lose two games 1-0 and if we had won those two 1-0, we?d be .500 now and everybody would be tickled pink."
Tickled pink?
It?s doubtful Hitchcock would. He has a 408-249-100 NHL coaching record, a .605 winning percentage.
"He?s not fun to play for," said one of his former players, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "It?s not fun, but you win and you win a lot. That?s ultimately what guys want to do. It?s no fun to be a Columbus Blue Jacket right now, I?m sure. He would make them play as a team. He would make people accountable. That?s the No. 1 thing he does."
He also has been known to help good players become great players. Mike Modano was a lot like Rick Nash when Hitchcock arrived in Dallas, a talented offensive guy but one whose defensive effort was often halfhearted. Under Hitchcock?s stern tutelage, Modano developed into one of the better two-way players in the game.
"The first thing (Hitchcock) said to me when he came here was you?ve got to work hard defensively," Modano said back in 1999. "That kind of went 180 against what I was thinking. But he?s smart with what he sees in me as a player."
Hitchcock is smart, but he?s also tough, which doesn?t win him many popularity contests.
"From a system standpoint, he?s awesome," Hitchcock?s explayer said. "Like they used to say in Dallas, the veterans he won with would bitch and moan and complain because they wanted it to be easier. They didn?t agree with everything Hitch did. But it ticked them off because they knew if they?d just listen to him, they?d win."
The only real question is not whether Hitchcock could win here, but whether he could work with a team president who is used to calling all the shots. It would take a lot of courage on MacLean?s part to recommend a candidate he knows he can?t control, but if he could work with Hitchcock, it might help him save his job.
Sources say Hitchcock would be interested in the Jackets? job, because he sees this as a good hockey market and he likes the fact that the roster has a lot of good, young talent. But would the Blue Jackets be interested in Hitchcock?
A source told The Dispatch yesterday that they are, although MacLean expressed surprise at that report and wouldn?t comment.
Either way, this is a no-brainer. If his name isn?t on the list when MacLean turns it in, the McConnells need to find out why. Better still, they should make some calls, do a little research and interview Hitchcock themselves. The next mistake could be a costly one. The wrong choice could set the franchise back for years.
Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch
. [email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

BLUE JACKETS NOTEBOOK
Source: Hitchcock is top candidate to be Jackets coach
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

</IMG>


A source familiar with the Blue Jackets? search for a new coach said yesterday that Ken Hitchcock is at the top of a short list of candidates.
Hitchcock, fired Oct. 22 by the Philadelphia Flyers, has two-plus seasons remaining on his contract, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said. Given that, any team interested in speaking with Hitchcock would have to request permission.
Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean did just that yesterday afternoon, Holmgren said.
Hitchcock is the biggest name out there. He has a 484-284-100 record after stints with Dallas and Philadelphia. He won a Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999.
As of mid-afternoon yesterday, Hitchcock had yet to hear from Holmgren or MacLean.
"Due diligence must be done, and no one has contacted me yet, either Holmgren or anyone else," Hitchock said. "So I really can?t offer any comment."
The Blue Jackets on Monday fired coach Gerard Gallant and replaced him with assistant Gary Agnew on an interim basis.
At a news conference yesterday morning, MacLean was asked whether Agnew was getting an audition.
MacLean said, "I don?t want to get into that because I haven?t had enough time to talk to the (owners) as to what their thought process is. And they?re the owners, they are the bosses, so they?re going to have lots of say in it and they should."
MacLean added that Agnew will be on the list he presents to owners.
Just throwing names of other potential candidates: Pat Quinn, former coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs who had preliminary conversations with Blue Jackets owners about the GM position before MacLean was hired in 1998; Andy Murray, fired by the Los Angeles Kings last March; Kevin Dineen, former Blue Jackets player enjoying success as coach of the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League; Bruce Boudreau, longtime minor-league coach who led the Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup last spring; Mike Johnson, associate coach of the Kings; and Barry Smith, associate coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Disa and data

The Blue Jackets play three of their next four games against the Nashville Predators, beginning with a rivalry match tonight in Nationwide Arena. Jackets left winger Jody Shelley traditionally figures, one way or another, in games against the Preds. But Shelley wrecked his right pinkie finger when he got it crushed against the glass Sunday night in Chicago, and he?s day to day. "I?ve got a wounded pinkie," Shelley said. "I?ll see the doctor every day for couple of days and I think I should be ready soon. They?re mostly worried about infection." ? Jackets center Sergei Fedorov, on what the team needs to turn things around: "Probably a little good luck, putting the puck in the net. A fun, exciting attitude. Play a little with greed. Hopefully, we all feel a sense of urgency and all play obsessed. It?s a big game for us (tonight)." ? Agnew said one of his first tasks was to consult with the captains and other players and feel them out on a number of subjects, including line combinations. Agnew will make the decisions, but he wants a feel about his charges. "Who?s going (well), essentially, is who?s going to play," Agnew said. "The lines are going to be similar to what we?ve been doing. There might be an odd twist here or there. But that?s part of the player meetings, to try and find the right chemistry."
[email protected]

 

[jimotis4heisman]

hitch to get an interview....
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=184362&hubname=nhl

Blue Jackets to interview Ken Hitchcock

Ken Hitchcock

Associated Press
11/14/2006 11:11:55 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Columbus Blue Jackets' hunt for a new coach is on a fast track that may lead them to Ken Hitchcock, who was fired as Philadelphia Flyers coach last month.
Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean received permission from the Flyers to interview Hitchcock, the veteran coach confirmed on Tuesday night.
''My understanding is that Columbus has asked for permission from the Flyers and that they have given it,'' Hitchcock said. ''But no one from the Blue Jackets has talked to me.''
Columbus announced earlier in the day that assistant Gary Agnew would serve as interim head coach after the firing of Gerard Gallant a day earlier. Team president and general manager Doug MacLean did not immediately return a phone message.
Related Info

• Agnew named Blue Jackets interim coach

MacLean said earlier that he expected team owner John H. McConnell and son John P. McConnell to hire a permanent coach ''fairly quick.'' http://adcounter.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/AdletCounter?ad1=TSNpg_nhl_300x250
Hitchcock declined to comment on whether he would be interested in the Blue Jackets job. The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported on its website Tuesday that Columbus had approached the Flyers about Hitchcock, who remains with the team as a scout since his Oct. 22 firing.
The Blue Jackets fired Gallant on Monday; the team is in last place in the Western Conference's Central Division with a 5-9-1-0 record. The team's 11 points is the third-worst total in the NHL and its 33 goals is the fewest of any team.
Hitchcock was fired after a 1-6-1 start by the Flyers, a veteran squad that had apparently tuned him out because of his demanding style that might play better with the young Blue Jackets.
Hitchcock has a 408-249-100 record in 10 NHL seasons with the Dallas Stars and the Flyers. He was at the helm when the Stars win the Stanley Cup in 1999. He has also served as an assistant coach for gold-medallist Canada at the 2004 Salt Lake City games.

if this happens the honeymoon is over for nash, zherdev and the other young guns who have been playing real loose. hitch will not be afraid to ride thier asses...