Columbus Blue Jackets News

Ken Hitchcock heard the whispers but ignored them. He knew what some people were saying after he got fired by the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this season. The new NHL wasn't for him, they said. Wonder what they're saying now. The Columbus Blue Jackets have been re-energized since Hitchcock's hiring Nov. 23, going 6-3-0 under his guidance, all three losses coming by one goal. They're currently riding a five-game win streak ...

Gary Agnew has been named interim head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He takes over from Gerard Gallant, who was fired Monday. Agnew was promoted from his role as associate coach. The 46-year-old is in his first year with the Blue Jackets after serving as head coach of the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch the past six seasons. The Blue Jackets will play their first game since the shuffle ...

The Columbus Blue Jackets have fired coach Gerard Gallant. The team is expected to name his replacement on Tuesday. Gallant was named head coach of the Jackets on June 25, 2004, after serving as interim head coach for the final 45 games of the 2003-04 season. Columbus is 5-9-1 this season.

Evgeni Malkin scored for the third straight game, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. Malkin, the highly touted Russian rookie, scored on a wrist shot midway through the third period to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-2 and become the first player to score in his first three NHL games since Jan Caloun did it for the San Jose Sharks in 1995-96. The Penguins got two short-handed goals from ...

After getting booed off their home ice 48 hours earlier, the Toronto Maple Leafs found a safe haven on the road. Kyle Wellwood and Michael Peca, playing in his 700th career game, scored 34 seconds apart to lead the Maple Leafs to a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. ``When you get on the road after a loss, you really want to have a good game,'' said Wellwood, who added an assist. The fans ...

Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Bryan Berard had a second back surgery today. He's missed all season and much of last year with a back injury. The 29-year-old Berard could be back before the end the season. Today's surgery in Los Angeles was to repair a herniated disc and was similar to the first surgery on another disc he had in March.

Brian Rolston scored two goals and had an assist to help the Minnesota Wild remain unbeaten with a 5-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. Manny Fernandez had 24 saves for his first shutout of the season for the Wild (5-0-0), who are off to the best start in franchise history. It was the first regulation loss for Columbus. Minnesota, which entered the game with the NHL's top power-play unit, scored a pair of ...

Nikolai Zherdev proved pre-season workouts are overrated by scoring two goals and leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 5-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night. Zherdev missed all of pre-season camp and the club's first two games, arriving in Columbus on Sunday from his native Russia after ironing out visa problems. He scored on the power play just 1:01 in and added another when he jammed in ...

With right-winger Nikolai Zherdev set to return, the Columbus Blue Jackets assigned centre Geoff Platt to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League on Sunday. Zherdev is expected to make his regular season debut against the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night. The restricted free agent appeared set to play in Russia this season, but the two sides agreed on a US$7.5-million, three-year deal on Sept. 28. The 21-year-old Ukrainian was second in goals (27) and points (54) with ...

Rick Nash scored twice as the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied from a two-goal deficit with five straight goals, and then held for a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. Jaroslav Balastik, Manny Malhotra and Duvie Westcott also scored as Columbus went 3-for-8 on the power play and spoiled Chicago's home opener before a crowd of 17,133. Pascal Leclaire stopped 18 shots. Adrian Aucoin, Jeff Hamilton, Patrick Sharp and Martin Havlat scored for the Blackhawks. Chicago's Nikolai Khabibulin ...

The Columbus Blue Jackets activated centre Alexander Svitov off injured reserve on Saturday. Svitov, the third overall pick in the 2001 draft, injured his shoulder in a pre-season game against Carolina two weeks ago. In 103 NHL games with Tampa Bay and Columbus, Svitov has six goals, 13 assists and 19 poiunts.