As another season of Columbus Blue Jackets’ hockey draws to a close, it’s time to take a look at what they have accomplished. Most hardcore Blue Jackets fans probably have considered this season to be more of a referendum on the performance of the Jackets’ General Manager, Doug MacLean, as the team has again lost more than they have won.

MacLean was Blue Jackets’ owner John H. McConnell’s choice to come to Columbus, Ohio, a city with a rabid college football winning tradition, to introduce professional hockey to a city with no real clue as to what hockey was about. The education mission started on February 11, 1989 and has continued with more downs than ups.

From the very start, MacLean was a good choice for a new NHL franchise since he came with the experience of taking the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup final. Hockey fans have asked how long should it take for the Blue Jackets to become contenders. In a town that is not used to losing, based on the success of OSU college football, MacLean was in for difficult time from the start, since it is difficult to build an NHL team that can consistently make the playoffs, aside from the chance to win the Stanley Cup.

In six previous seasons, the Blue Jackets have not come within 19 points of making the playoffs. All of the recent expansion teams (including the Minnesota Wild, which came into the league at the same time as the Blue Jackets) have had at least one trip to the playoffs. To say “some changes had to be made,” might have been the understatement to start this season for the Blue Jackets. MacLean did make changes, along with trades to bring in more high-profile talent.

Before the start of the season, there was very positive feeling about the players and the potential level of play achievable. However, after only a few months into this campaign, all hope slipped away as the Jackets didn’t live up to pre-season expectations. Many fans were calling for MacLean’s head along with the firing of the Jacket’s head coach, Gerard Gallant.

With game attendance dropping off as the losses piled up, and the “Boo Birds” in the arena becoming very audible during game broadcasts, McConnell saw the writing on the wall and directed MacLean to bring in a new coach. Gallant was let go and the Jackets began interviewing for a new head coach. Ken Hitchcock was named and his discipline-oriented coaching style (that seems to alienate players after prolonged exposure) seemed a risky proposition.

To his credit, Hitchcock has done a very good job of fixing some of the problems and getting the Jackets pointed in the right direction. Much of this has to do with his understanding that you need to build a winning tradition, since losing grates on the players much harder than it does on the fans. The team needs to believe that they can win, and with the Blue Jackets statistics over the last six seasons at 172-257-33-29, it is difficult for the players to be upbeat about their chances to have a winning season.

The Jackets need to have a better team strategy and learn to play defense. Hitchcock has done a good job at teaching his strategy and it has paid off in the form of more wins. While it is doubtful that MacLean had much personal choice in the decision to hire Ken Hitchcock, it did happen during MacLean’s watch, and it seems fair that he gets some of the credit for this.

Unfortunately, again this year the Blue Jackets were plagued by injuries. While this isn’t MacLean’s fault, this is hardly the first time that player injuries have significantly contributed to the poor performance of the Blue Jackets. Outsiders have suggested that MacLean should have taken a hard look at the team’s strength and conditioning program and made some changes there to avoid the past history of long-term absence of injured key players. All teams face injuries and have to play through it and when a team incurs these problems, the depth of the farm system is tested.

Results from the farm have been mixed. It is obvious that MacLean has been able to assemble some talent, but it is also obvious that some of these players just aren’t ready to play at the NHL level yet. In the end, MacLean has to be held accountable for the lack of NHL-ready talent from the farm. He earns a passing grade for the farm system, but just barely.

At the start of this season, MacLean brought in some experienced veterans to help supplement the Jackets and try to quick-fix some of the weak areas. What is most strange is why more consideration wasn’t given to securing the services of a top-notch goaltender. With the injury to Pascal Leclaire, Fredrik Norrena has been a savior and played what some may consider way over his head. Leclaire should be allowed to prove himself, but a team needs goaltending to win. MacLean took a risk by putting Leclaire in, and he has paid for this all season. He gets a failing grade with Leclaire as the primary goaltender.

As with all roster moves, it’s hard to predict how they will pan out. Anson Carter was brought in as an ‘insurance policy’ in the event Nikolai Zherdev followed through on his threat to play the season in Russia. Unfortunately, Carter never lived up to his potential with the Jackets, and one has to wonder if his production last season was due solely to being on the same line as the Sedin twins.

Nikolai Zherdev is another topic of much debate among Blue Jacket fans. Yes, it is obvious that Zherdev is talented, but almost every time he comes across the blue line he seems compelled to show off his fancy “dipsy do” puck moves, after which he subsequently loses the puck to the other team. While Zherdev has seemed to improve since he has had Sergei Fedorov as a mentor, his improvement was not fast enough for a team that desperately needed more wins. Zherdev is a valuable asset, but he should have been considered as trading bait for another player that could be a better complement to Rick Nash’s playing style. Overall, MacLean’s roster management was average; he gets a passing grade by the benefit of the doubt.

MacLean recently signed a three-year extension to his GM contract that is rumored to be $800,000 as his annual salary base. MacLean’s contract would require a hefty buyout if he were let go prior to February 1st, 2008. Is it time for MacLean to move on? If you ask the average hockey fan in Columbus, they want somebody to be accountable for the team’s poor performance overall, and MacLean is that person. If you take a look from a broader perspective, MacLean has done a lot of good. He drafted young superstar Rick Nash as well as rookie Rostislav Klesla (who is becoming a great defenseman under Adam Foote’s tutelage). The acquisition of Adam Foote, Fredrik Modin, and Sergei Fedorov are all feathers in MacLean’s cap, as well.

In the end, this hockey season will be about what might have been and what actually was. On one hand, one has to feel empathy for MacLean in that he did have to contend with a considerable amount of bad luck, but playing hockey is about dealing with adversity. Like it or not, the end result is that while the Blue Jackets are now a better team, they again failed to make the playoffs. Making the playoffs is the only measure of success in the NHL, and after six previous seasons, the Blue Jackets are still far from there.

The time has come for a change in the Blue Jackets General Manager, and it is fortunate that there are so many talented candidates available. As long as the ownership group brings in a new GM (perhaps Neil Smith?) and does not elevate Hitchcock to this position, it’s seems favorable. Doug MacLean knows hockey and he has done a tremendous job getting the Blue Jackets up and running in Columbus. As for Ken Hitchcock’s next full season behind the bench, the team needs a major course correction, and it needs to be made now, not after another losing season. A fresh start is what is needed. MacLean did a yeoman’s job in building the Blue Jackets franchise, but it is time to let someone else take over the helm.