COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets took the ice for training camp with a sense of normalcy on Thursday after an offseason that was anything but ordinary.
Four days after Mike Babcock resigned as coach before even coaching a game, Pascal Vincent ran his first practice with the Blue Jackets.
“I’m feeling like my voice is gone,” Vincent, a first-time NHL coach, joked following five hours on the ice at Nationwide Arena and the adjacent practice facility. “There’s more screaming for sure. No, it was fun. I think it was a good day.”
Vincent, who turns 52 on Friday, was associate head coach the past two seasons under Brad Larsen and stayed in that role when Babcock was hired to replace Larsen on July 1. Babcock resigned Sunday after it was revealed he asked players to share personal photos on their phones, which general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said some players weren’t comfortable with.
Before joining Columbus, Vincent spent the previous 10 seasons as a member of the Winnipeg Jets organization, including five as coach of Manitoba in the American Hockey League from 2016-21.
“‘Pazzi’ has been a guy that has been around for a long time,” center Sean Kuraly said. “We know him personally from the last two seasons. He has the respect of the room. He's a smart hockey guy. He’s ready for this and we’re ready for this camp.”
Defenseman Erik Gudbranson said the players are united under their new coach.
“You know, a lot of the times some ugly situations immediately bring you together, and that was a sentiment from all the boys in the room,” he said. “It brought us together for sure. And we're super excited that Pazzi’s at the helm.”
Defenseman Adam Boqvist said it’s time to move past the coaching change.
“I think everyone in the room feels like, just let that go behind us and just focus on what's ahead,” he said. “It wasn't ideal, but it is what it is now.”
Vincent said he was keeping it simple when it comes to plans for camp, including lines and drills. He and Babcock had spent a lot of time preparing for the upcoming season.
“We looked at it all summer,” Vincent said. “So, what we did is we tried to keep it (the same) as much as we can. This is a big camp. We have a lot of players so we tried to simplify things in a sense that we didn't want to make any changes for at least the first three days and go from there.”
Kuraly is excited to see what comes next for the Blue Jackets (25-48-9), who finished last in the eight-team Metropolitan Division last season and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a third straight season.
“We’ve got some energy. We've got some jam,” he said. “We've got young guys that are looking to make a roster. We've got older guys coming in that have seen winning and we've got guys that have been here and known the good culture that was created here from the good days here in Columbus. So we think we've got what we need to be successful.”
