Blue Jackets fire general manager Scott Howson
COLUMBUS, OHIO — One playoff appearance in more than five seasons wasn’t good enough for Scott Howson to keep his job as Columbus Blue Jackets general manager.
How son was fired Tuesday night by John Davidson, the club’s director of hockey operations. Since his hiring last summer, Davidson, who rebuilt the St. Louis Blues, has become the man with the most power in the front office. Davidson said the recent NHL lockout bought him time to evaluate the direction of the franchise. The Blue Jackets got off to a 4-7-2 start, and despite the team playing its best game of the season on Monday, Howson was let go less than 24 hours later.
“Scott Howson is a caring man who gave everything he had to the Columbus Blue Jackets over the past six years,” Davidson said in a statement. “This was a difficult decision but one that I thought was in the best interest of moving our hockey club forward. I have enjoyed working with Scott and want to thank him for his service.”
Howson didn’t immediately return a call to The Associated Press seeking comment.
The announcement came one day after the Blue Jackets beat the San Jose Sharks 6-2. Fourteen players had at least a point as Columbus scored as many goals Monday as the team had in its previous three games combined. And the Blue Jackets did it against the stingiest defence in the league.
Howson, a 52-year-old Toronto native, was hired as executive vicepresident and general manager on June 15, 2007. He took the place of Doug MacLean, who had guided the franchise from its inception, through its first NHL season in 2000-01 and the next five campaigns.
Howson spent most of his playing career in the minors but played 18 games with the New York Islanders in the mid-1980s.
He oversaw a resurgence of the Blue Jackets in the 2008-09 season, when they went a franchise-best 41-31-10 and made the playoffs with star forward Rick Nash and Calder Trophy-winning goalie Steve Mason leading the way.
But the club then fell on hard times, and last season went an NHL-worst 29-46-7.