The
2006–07 Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...
season was the
seventh
Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven.
Seventh may refer to:
* Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution
* A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts
Film and television
*"The Seventh", a second-season e ...
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
in
Columbus, Ohio.
The off-season was dominated by a contract dispute with top forward
Nikolay Zherdev
Mykola Olehovych "Nikolay" Zherdev ( uk, Микола Олегович Жердев; born November 5, 1984) is a Ukrainian-Russian professional ice hockey right winger who is currently playing for the HC Merano of the Alps Hockey League.
He ...
, who had threatened to return to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
to play if Columbus did not meet his demands. Zherdev remained a holdout for much of the preseason. However, the two parties were able to come to an agreement approximately a week before the season began.
The Blue Jackets, hoping to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, got off to a disastrous start, falling as low as 6–16–2 into December, briefly holding the worst record in the NHL. The Jackets' poor start led General Manager
Doug MacLean
James Douglas MacLean (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian sportscaster working for Rogers Media's Sportsnet and former ice hockey coach and general manager. He is the former president/general manager and head coach of the National Hockey League ...
to fire
Head Coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Gerard Gallant
Gerard Gallant (born September 2, 1963) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously served as the head coach for the Columbus Blue ...
on November 13. Gallant would be replaced a week later by veteran coach
Ken Hitchcock. Coincidentally, Hitchcock's first game as Jackets head coach was against the
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...
, the team that fired him as head coach earlier in the season.
The Blue Jackets once again failed to qualify for the postseason. As the
Atlanta Thrashers qualified for the playoffs in the
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
, the Blue Jackets were, until the
2008–09 season, the only NHL team to have never played a post-season game.
Regular season
The Blue Jackets were shut out a League-high 16 times during the regular season. Along with the four shutouts Blue Jackets goaltenders recorded, 20 of the Blue Jackets' 82 regular-season games ended in a shutout. They were also the most penalized team in the League, with 453 power-play opportunities against.
Season standings
''Final regular season standings for the
2006–07 NHL season''
Schedule and results
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
*Green background indicates win.
*Red background indicates regulation loss.
*White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.
Playoffs
The Blue Jackets failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.
Player stats
Regular season
;Scoring
;Goaltending
Transactions
The Blue Jackets have been involved in the following
transactions during the 2006–07 season.
Trades
Free agents acquired
Free agents lost
Claimed off waivers
Draft picks
Columbus' picks at the
2006 NHL Entry Draft
The 2006 NHL Entry Draft was the 44th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 24, 2006.
The draft order for the first 14 picks was decided during a lottery held on April 20, 2006. The draft was ...
in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. The Blue Jackets picked 6th overall.
Farm teams
Syracuse Crunch
The Syracuse Crunch are the Blue Jackets
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...
affiliate for the seventh season. Prior to the start of the
2006–07 season, the two clubs announced they had agreed to extend the affiliation agreement for four more years.
Syracuse Crunch and Columbus Blue Jackets extend affiliation agreement
Syracuse Crunch press release, July 31, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
Dayton Bombers
The Dayton Bombers of the ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
The ...
are also entering their seventh season as an affiliate of the Blue Jackets.
Youngstown SteelHounds
The Jackets are also affiliated with the Youngstown SteelHounds of the Central Hockey League
The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...
.
See also
* 2006–07 NHL season
References
External links
*Player stats:''
Columbus Blue Jackets player stats
on espn.com
*Game log:''
Columbus Blue Jackets game log
on espn.com
*Team standings:''
NHL standings
on espn.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 Columbus Blue Jackets Season
Columbus Blue Jackets seasons
Columbus Blue Jackets season
Colum
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...