WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Manager and Alternate Governor Jarmo Kikalainen announced today that the Columbus Blue Jackets have relieved Brad Larsen of his duties as the National Hockey League’s head coach. Larsen was named the eighth coach in the team’s history and signed a three-year contract until the 2023-24 season on 10 June 2021. The club also announced that the contract of goalkeeper coach Mane Legas would not be renewed.
“This season has been very disappointing and the responsibility for that lies with all of us,” Kikalainen said. “These decisions were difficult and not made easily given the respect we have for both Brad and Mane as coaches and individuals. Brad has been a part of our organization for over a decade, and we are incredibly grateful for his hard work and many contributions — both on and off the ice — during that time. We can only wish Best for Brad and his family in the future.”
Larsen, 45, has led the Blue Jackets to a 62-86-16 in 164 games (0.427 percentage point) over the past two seasons, including a mark of 25-48-9 in 2022-23. He led Columbus to a 37-38-7 (81 points / 494 percentage points) in his first season behind the bench in 2021-22. He spent the previous seven seasons with the Blue Jackets as an assistant coach under head coaches Todd Richards and John Tortorella. Prior to arriving in Columbus, Larsen served as the head coach for the club’s Springfield Falcons in the American Hockey League, from 2012-14 and led Springfield to a pair of Northeast Division titles. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach with Springfield in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Legas, 50, has served as the club’s goaltending coach for the past five seasons after spending the previous five seasons in a similar role with the club’s American Hockey League teams, the Cleveland Monsters and Springfield Falcons. The Toronto, Ontario native played professionally for 18 years, including 11 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and Carolina Hurricanes with whom he compiled a record of 187-99-41 and scored 2.41 goals against. average, . 912 save percentage and 24 shutouts in 365 games between 1998-2010.
