Don Waddell introductory press conference. | Columbus Blue Jackets (05/29/24)
erer Ferris buer hello okay that one works e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e this one testing one two three testing one two 3 testing one two 3 test test test test test e e okay think e not too bad I can hold the mic that’s for e literally right now to remove Staples so that’s why he’s not here I texed him yesterday when I saw the announc and I knew right Tod’s e what I would never well you’re not supposed to know it out of the element sured you [Music] Al you’re IM [Music] you’re am I up down hi Mery good all right hello everyone I’m Todd sharck with Blue Jackets Communications uh welcome thanks for being here this afternoon um thank you for your patience um thank you for some of your persistence Whitney um exciting day for us organization um how things will work today I’m going to in a moment I’ll introduce John Davidson uh JD’s got a few remarks he’d like to make and then he’s going to introduce Don wadell um after Donnie’s remarks we’ll turn it over to your questions if you have a question please raise your hand uh we’ll get a mic to you and for Don’s benefit if you could introduce yourself uh who you represent um and he’ll take your questions we may have some Zoom questions at the end um after that we’ll do a group photo uh with everyone and then uh I’ll be available for oneon-one so with that I’ll bring up JD thank you Todd hello everyone and thank you for coming by today I’ve had the privilege of knowing Don woodell for many many years and there was there is no one that I have greater respect or affection for in this business when we made the decision to look for a general manager we wanted someone with experience in building a team that wins at a high level within a culture that is strong and sustainable Dawn understands how to connect people and values the bond between a team and its fans and there is no greater example of that than the bond between the Blue Jackets and the Fifth Line I have great passion for this organization for this city and for the best fans in the world it has been my honor to serve as president of hockey operations for this club for the better part of the last 12 Seasons last 12 years while I will continue to be a blue jacket it is my privilege to pass that Bon on to Dawn and on behalf of our ownership group group led by John P McConnell and our president Mike priest to welcome him his wife Cheryl Cheryl and their family to Columbus and the Blue Jackets family welcome Don step right up it’s yours wow thank you thank you for uh coming out today uh it’s honor to be here the last time I was in this building I got my butt kicked by you guys last game of the season so uh I remember well um first I want to make sure I thank uh John H and the McConnell family um the word always on the street is this class this organization is treats everybody first class and they run everything first class and I’ve only been in here this morning and just everything you see obviously uh it’s an eye test and it’s it passes very well uh Mike priest who’s been a friend of mine in this business being uh competitors but also being uh on the business side marketing I’ve got to know Mike over the years I have the most respect for him and what he does and obviously I thank you for uh bringing me here and of course as JD said uh when you’ve been in this business for a long time uh you cross path with a lot of people some people you remember some people you forget this guy you’ll never forget uh he’s got me by a few years but I remember watching him as a goalie um then a broadcaster and then management and everything else he’s done so uh John will be a great source for me as uh we make this happen um you know the the thing for me you know it’s you’re going to ask some questions you know I’ve been here since uh uh 11 o’clock today uh so some of the questions you’re going to answer I’m going to need some time on um but I wouldn’t take this kind of opportunity at this point in my career unless I didn’t unless I felt like we could make a difference and there’s a lot of good pieces here the previous management has done a good job with drafting um you know we got some challenges of course uh that’s why they bring you in but it’s not like this is an organization that’s going to take a long time to fix you know we got to make strategic uh moves but also uh moves that are going to make our Hockey Club not just better today but for the future this isn’t a one trying to make a playoffs make it one year make a run and then uh be on outside for a long time so you know the great thing is there’s a lot there’s a lot of smart hockey people in this organization we’re going to count on everybody to be uh part of these discussions and as we make decisions as a group uh we’ll get this figured out and make everybody here in uh Columbus proud of uh the Blue Jackets thank you all right with that we’ll turn it over to your questions if you have a question please raise your hand we’ll get you a M Craig Ms on the right there hi Don Craig Ms from nhl.com uh you’re 65 years old and I was going to ask you if you had the energy to do this undertaking again but I’m the age as you so I’ll forget about that um but you could retire now you’re at an age you could do that what’s your motivation well first uh I um as my wife sits here which I failed to mention off the start there Cheryl 38 years we’ve been together I have a line but I won’t use it today and my two friends that came uh good friends of mine Michael and uh Ryan they know uh I I’m driven I’m you know I know time doesn’t really mean anything but I’m a 500 a.m. person uh I love my mornings uh uh but I got so much passion for what I do and what I uh uh think is possible here so that you’re right could right off in the sunset uh but I I’m not even close to that I I’m I got lots of energy and again I go back to I would never come to this opport to this potential opportunity if I didn’t think there was going to be a great outcome and with people as I said with the staff around here and JD and that to count on we’re going to do that here we’ll go front left Don Adam King 10TV I know you’re just getting settled in with the job but I’m curious with the coaching staff have you had a chance to meet with Pascal and and kind of what is your plan moving forward there I met Pascal for uh 3 minutes downstairs and uh Steve McCarthy was down there Steve actually played for me and in uh Atlanta many moths ago so I will uh I’m here now um so I will spend uh time the amateur staff’s meeting right now for the draft over the next uh week and two weeks you know I’ll meet with everybody including Pascal um again I only know him as a coach watching his team it’s first time I ever actually met him so I need some time with him and and uh the staff the figure out you know we we got a lot to get done here we got the draft come up you got free agency obviously the coaching uh get everything settled is uh vitally important but you know it’s going to take some time so I don’t want to put timetables I can put timetables on the draft we know that’s going to happen the end of June we know free agency is going to start July 1st the other things as we work through them with uh the group here uh we’ll get some answers we’ll go to Whitney in the third row right hi Don Whitney Harding um NBC4 welcome to Columbus we’re very happy that you’re here um right now you have signed on to be president of hockey operations and general manager are those both of those roles are you going to continue on or are you going to bring in another general manager and along with that when you took over as GM in Carolina that was when the team really started to find itself what is it about that position that you like so well yeah no the plan is for uh to stay as president of hockey operations in GM you know it’s uh I think it’s uh a great uh role and great challenge you know when we took over in uh Carolina uh it was same as here we had some pieces it wasn’t like we had to uh blow it all up we had some pieces we had to draft good and uh uh signed some uh key free agents so you know I I thought about that actually this last couple days of how many players because I think when we took over Caroline I think there’s five guys left now after six years maybe six um so there was natural CH uh turnover but those five or six guys that we have were pretty core guys uh and I see the same thing here so um very similar it just uh you know you got to get some breaks you guys here had unbelievable amount of injuries last year which you can’t control but uh you need some luck on your side uh but I think with some of the young players that uh have already been drafted that are either turning pro or already Pro we got a pretty good start here we go sorry far left here Joe hi Don I’m Joe from NBC4 here um as you mooved from being the general manager and director of hockey opsy Carolina to the same position here why are you here what attracts you to this challenge as it in a way feels like a lateral move well I don’t know if it’s lateral I had a little bit more going on there um luckily Mike runs a great business here and I don’t have to worry about that part of it uh uh but you know there there’s things that happened that um through a course I was there 10 years as the general manager at the end um the best way I can always say is you just feel at times it’s time to make a change and you know when I made the decision to uh uh step down there I I wasn’t sure exactly what my next move was going to be and I I knew Columbus uh obviously had an opening but I didn’t know if Columbus would have interest in me and I didn’t know if Columbus if I’d have interest in Columbus and so once I stepped down I I had contact from three teams and uh uh Columbus was uh first conversation I had with Mike was very Enlighten because I knew know Mike and so when I came in here decision for me was easy and then they had to make a decision from Mike and the ownership move forward so I think it was just time for me to uh move on I I don’t really have you know we’re in the middle of a a development there a billion dollar development and running the hockey team in the building and everything it just it wasn’t the work it was just I just felt like I need to move on kellyan Center Row third third row Center hey Don kellyan states with ABC6 welcome to Columbus what is the timeline of your transition into this new role and you have experienced turning Carolina around to being a playoff Contender do you see or identify the pieces the Blue Jackets have to be able to do the same thing yeah um I hate to just give you that answer I need need a little time uh uh you know I know the roster cuz you know they’ve been the guys that have been in the NHL we we know the players uh you know we all know the NHL players I don’t know the players coming up I mean obviously Cleveland’s on a great run right now in the American League you know I I know some of the names but I couldn’t tell you that they’re ready to play next year now there’s we got a great staff here that that runs at uh Chris and with Nasher and that these guys will be able to fill me in a little bit more in time but you know when I look at the NHL roster right now there’s some things we got to figure out you know you know it’s pretty obvious uh but there’s there’s enough good things there that if we can uh figure out the weak weak lengths of why we were a record was last year which I think we can I think we can fix that pretty quick so that that’s what’s I feel good about Dave metel second row Center hi Don Dave metol Valley Sports Ohio welcome to Columbus thank you uh at some point during this process JD use the term disruptor need a disruptor a guy who can come in and and change this culture a little bit just meeting you but you don’t strike me right now as a disruptor do you have that element in your personality and do you feel like that’s needed here to change the culture with this with this franchise yeah well JD and I have talked a lot obviously through this process and you know I always say I got to treat uh uh the input that he’s given me has been outstanding and and so it’s in my mind but I also have to come in with an open mind uh to how the organization is being run do I think first of all one person’s not fixing everything you got to have a team of people on the same page I I I’ll you’ll hear me say this so many times about if we’re not pulling in the same direction we’re never going to have success no individuals in hockey have success without the team having success and that’s critical to me and we’ll find out if we have any of those they won’t last I guarantee you that uh but we’ll we’ll we’ll uh you know culture is I always say an overuse word it’s important and critical but you can’t just say okay we’re going to have this culture it doesn’t work that way you know it takes time and and everybody’s got to be on board and you get everybody on board and I’m just talking about you know you go right down in the locker the trainers the equipment managers uh obviously the coaches the players and the staff that’s uh surrounding the team if you’re not on the same page it’s not going to work and if you’re on the same page it just builds and just that’s critical to our success I can tell you right now that’s I think about that all the time critical to Our Success is get putting us in the right place and right frame of mind with everybody uh Ian Phillips with C bus Sports and I was just wondering looking at this opportunity looking at the job what excites you the most well probably what I said before you know um you know with the players that are currently uh on the roster and uh knowing um how this organization you know uh runs and uh you know everybody that’s been here and obvious say JD again I’ve been talking to him a lot so sorry if I use his name all the time but he uh you know the ownerships are gives there’s no excuse from an ownership standpoint they give you all the tools all the resource to make it work and you know I think that’s that’s a driver too because of you know I’ve been here we’ve been here since 11 o’clock and the things that we’ve seen in uh less than two hours and how they do things is just it’s mind blogging because I’m not used to that uh but so I think the combination of knowing that we can win and how everybody uh feels about this organization you got people in this organization Todd’s been there what 24 years I mean people don’t stay if it’s not a good organization so you know to me uh we got so many good things here we just got to go make it happen go to Brian hedger that back right hi Don welcome to Columbus uh Brian hedger with the Columbus Dispatch um your NHL executive career started I think it was shortterm in Detroit your hometown uh moved on to Atlanta and then obviously uh the time in Carolina as well and now you’re in Columbus I’m wondering those are the last three are I guess what you’d call non-traditional hockey markets they’re not original six that kind of thing is that just the way things kind of played out in your career or is there something about kind of you know succeeding in those type of markets that attracts your attention that’s a great question because you know I went started uh my first franchise in San Diego in the IHL it was there five years I went to Orlando and started another franchise and uh made a pit stop in Detroit for years assistant GM and won the cup so that was the easy stop uh and then I got hired by Ted Turner in 19 998 to start the Atlanta franchise and so after starting the two uh uh minor league franchises you know it it was the exact same thing he had to do at the NHL just a lot more people a lot more dollars uh so I was given that opportunity but I I joke after I went San Diego that um I’m from Michigan and I’m a north south guy so I don’t go too far east and Too Far West so I went from Detroit Orlando to Detroit to Atlanta to stop in Pittsburgh for a couple years to Raleigh back to Columbus so I’ve kind of kept this road map uh North and South which I been very fortunate to be able to do I’ll go Adam here on the left second row D the thought process around here has been every year that this team is really close it’s got a great young core curious from the outside perspective I mean if you just go back two months ago if someone said what is the Columbus Blue Jackets organization in your mind what did you think of this team well we knew they’re were going to play hard uh they weren’t going to give up at all um and probably toward the end of the year they had so many players out missing some of the uh higher level skill players uh but um you know cuz we had played here the last game but we had played here uh sometime in March I don’t remember the exact date and it was a similar type game we won the game there or Raleigh did any was Caroline did uh but team always played hard um and the kids you know there’s a a number of kids I call them kids because they’re young but that we always talked about that make a difference and and they also played hard you you you know you you got the hard team here to play against with some of the guys that G brunon and Olivia of the world so uh that that’s that’s why I say there there’s a lot of injuries that happened this year of course uh we got to get some of the younger players to take that next step and continue to uh uh you know develop our kids that we have going right now but um I I think again I’m just repeating myself that it wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t think we had any chance that’s for sure Craig Ms third row right you have experience with an outdoor game down in Carolina Columbus gets there first on March 1st what can you tell the people of Columbus the fans the players the organization about that experience and how can that help a franchise it’s one of besides winning the Stanley Cup it’s probably the best experience I’ve ever had in the National Hockey League uh our fans uh absolutely it it was off the charts I I can’t say enough things about this it’s you know it’s uh uh something that you’re going to get to do once in a great while um and I know our fans uh you know we had a little different we had 60,000 seats and you know we they the league gave us 30,000 seats there and it was uh less than a day before we’re sold out then they end up selling all the tickets I know you got a bigger Stadium here but it’s it’s I I can’t say enough good things about how the fans are going to enjoy that day you know the the NHL puts on great events and with the blue jacket staff here assisting it’ll be an outstanding event but everything’s going to go perfect you then we can’t control as mother nature but it cooperated well for us in Raleigh so I’m sure it will here in Columbus anyone else okay let me see to the zoom I have couple of questions here on Zoom Mark sh with the hockey Riders go ahead Marky thank you Todd how Don welcome to Columbus um were you actively involved with the Carolina draft plan will there be any restrictions to you being on the draft floor with the Blue Jackets at all nope uh when I spoke with Tom dunon a week ago on that Friday and I resigned it was uh a clean um no restrictions whatsoever and one more for you just about the fans I know there you asked about them a little bit but they’ve been through a lot and since the franchise has been around we know that there’s no overnight fixes but what is the message to the fans that are kind of hoping to see a win a winner sooner rather than later yeah you know I think if I understand the whole question um you know expectations are something that we will talk about at some point uh right now we want to talk about how we’re going to uh build this thing through the next few months uh you know F fans I mean I’ve watched it here the support uh that this community has shown all I can say is with our team here that we got going on and we’re going to continue to build off of we will be a better team ask that the same question in three months and I’ll tell you how much better we’ll be we go to fris go ahead yeah hi Don uh I have a couple of questions as well first of all regarding Pascal v um do you have do you have a specific timeline as to when you’d like to decide whether or not you keep him on board and like what criteria are you looking for for head coach yeah as I said earlier fra that uh uh I know we have the draft I know we have free agency I know those are tight timelines in the next few weeks I definitely will spend a lot of time with Pascal as much as I can no timetable on uh any decision with anybody on our staff you know you don’t walk into a new place where people have been here and make changes without having a reason to change so until we do that uh I’m not going to lay a timeable out on it okay and uh just regarding Carolina the the timing of uh a head coach signing an extension and then the general manager leaving is pretty unique uh could you just shed some light uh regarding this and whether like what was your level level of involvement in that uh in that situation well the level involvement was I did it so um no doubt about that you know it’s just you know that’s a different situation with rod rod played there as a player won a cup there family lives there um didn’t want to go any place uh he he wanted to stay in Carolina so you know regardless of what was in the back of my mind when I was doing this uh we started doing it back in January which I had no thoughts I was to leave at the end of the year uh it was you know I was a general manager I wanted to make sure uh the owner wanted him to stay he wanted to stay so I had to fulfill what I do as the general manager make sure I make that happen which I did so um it was again we we we worked on that we had it pretty much done months ago and then we got closer to the playoffs and he wanted me to get all his assistant coaches done and so that’s why the timing we just wait till the we decided we weren’t going to do it during the playoffs we’ do it after announc it after the end of season okay we got another one Eric du hatk go ahead Eric thank you uh Don I just had a question referring back to your previous organization working for an an orthodox owner like Tom Dundon how challenging was that and did that out of the box thinking that the organization had to do benefit you in any way and or help you grow as as a manager um well first you know the if you look at Sports in general the new owners that are coming in the league most of them are a lot more uh first of all they’re younger than uh ever you know because uh the amount of money that these people obviously have done well in their career to get in the sports and they think differently and the one thing I’ll say about Tom Tom and I I mean we worked together for six years and you know um we we had lots of discussions we had some debates but uh you know we were always support of each other when the decision was made whether it was his decision his you know feelings or mine um but one thing with Tom and I learn though too is uh uh just think outside the box you know you know we get stuck sometimes in our mind and again I was running the business side too but were he always said you know maybe there’s a better way to do that and the same when you come on your team maybe there’s a better way to build your team and that so you know uh Tom and I are on good terms obviously that was asked to me uh I used to talk to them eight to 10 times when I work for him I still talk to them a few times a day when I don’t work for him so uh it’s all good though and uh uh you know they I the one thing I do feel good about I’m leaving them from a business standpoint and a hockey team standpoint in a good spot so that makes me uh feel good about that okay thank you thanks Eric all right do you have another one G uh no I’m fine I just forgot to un raise my hand sorry no worries thank you uh any more last questions here before we break off for one once go ahead hedge I guess just in in general I mean you’ve you’ve addressed this you partly in in several questions but when you look at at what the the job is that’s ahead of you it seems like there’s a lot to get done a lot to do just how how eager are you to to get started on that and and is it is it a little bit daunting when you look at all the stuff that needs to be done here no I’ve kind of uh mapped out the last uh since I knew this was going to happen a road map of how things have to happen uh now that I’m here physically which uh other than a day or two here or there that I need to uh sell a house or my wife will sell a house um you know I’ll be here now the rest of the summer so um it’s it’s it’s it’s not over tasking it it’s it’s time you know it’s time and you know like I said I got to spend a lot of time with the staff here you know again you when you come in a new situation and I see what I see from the outside that I think are strengths maybe their weaknesses I could be completely wrong you know until I get down and meet with everybody so that’s that’s going to be the fun part for me is getting to know everybody and you know if we have to make some changes someplace we’ll make those decisions and move on great all right with that I’ll ask J JD Mike John Don just to step in front of the quick uh photo and then we’ll turn it up oh front e e e e
Don Waddell meets with the media for the first time after joining the Blue Jackets as the club’s new president of hockey operations, general manager, and alternate governor.
4 comments
The first 24 minutes is riveting, the rest of it pretty good. Good hire, good things should happen soon.
It begins at 24:15
You can tell he’s got a great hockey mind I just hope he can stay sharp. Thought he was showing his age a bit. Glad to have a fresh set of eyes though, best of luck Don!
I hope to see Cole Sillinger back next season!