New Blue Jackets General Manager Don Waddell blasts the culture in Columbus

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Tom Banks
August 24, 2024 (12:32)

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The Columbus Blue Jackets appear to have a very bright future, and now GM Don Waddell has called out the culture he took over, potentially signaling a big change.

The past few years have been full of change in Columbus, and with Don Waddell taking over as General Manager, there is optimism that those changes can now be ones of positivity. Unfortunately, those changes have come out of necessity, as the team has struggled for success on and off the ice, with their new GM recently ripping the culture in a shocking interview.

"The one thing is, I'm not saying it was everybody, but losing was acceptable (here) and losing is not acceptable," he said, according to NHL.com's Dave McCarthy. "We have a ways to go building this, but our goal every year should be to win the Stanley Cup, not just to win some games. It's a mindset."

«I believe what happened last year, talking to everybody, things didn't go well and they had a lot of injuries at the beginning of the year and fell out of the race pretty quick [and] they just kind of played out the season. And we have to change that.»

In the interview with NHL.com, Waddell called out a culture that accepted losing, revealing that under his leadership, that won't be acceptable, and after moving Patrik Laine, he's clearly backing up his words. With a talented young core led by Adam Fantili, David Jiricek, and now Cayden Lindstrom, the future is very bright, and if the team can build things the right way and instill a culture of winning, we could see them head towards an era of success.

Source: Blade of Steel
Don Waddell doesn't hold back and rips the Columbus Blue Jackets and their culture