MacLean will be available to meet with the media in the press conference room at Nationwide Arena following this morning's practice at approximately 11:45 a.m. Media parking is available in the garage located on the south side of the arena.

Through 40 games this season, the Blue Jackets are 14-20-4-2 (34 points), including a 7-15-3-1 mark since November 12, and rank 14th in the Western Conference. A 5-1 loss at home vs. Nashville on Monday dropped Columbus to 3-7-1-0 in its last 11 games.

"This was an extremely difficult decision to make because Dave King is a tremendous person who has worked extremely hard for the Blue Jackets organization over the past three years," said MacLean. "However, at this time I don't think we are where we should be as a team and this will allow me to evaluate our personnel from a different perspective. It is important for our organization to move forward."

MacLean, 48, was named General Manager of the Blue Jackets on Feb. 11, 1998. A month later he was named President of the organization and as its top executive, holds the dual role of overseeing both the business and hockey operations of the franchise as well as the management of Nationwide Arena. He has spent the past 17 years in the National Hockey League, serving in a variety of coaching and personnel capacities with the Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals.

Prior to joining the Blue Jackets, MacLean served as the head coach of the Panthers, where he compiled an 83-71-33 record (.532 winning percentage), including a 76-59-29 mark (.552) during the 1995-96 and 1996-97 campaigns. During that span, only five teams posted more victories than Florida û Detroit (100), Colorado (96), Philadelphia (90), New Jersey (82) and the New York Rangers (79). In his first season as a NHL head coach, he led the club to the 1996 Eastern Conference championship and a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Colorado Avalanche.

After taking the Panthers to the Finals in just their third season, MacLean received The Hockey News Coach of the Year Award and was runner-up in voting for the Jack Adams Award. In 1996-97, MacLean guided Florida to one of the fastest starts in NHL history as the club went 8-0-4 in its first 12 games. He went on to earn a coaching nod in the NHL All-Star Game for the second consecutive year and helped lead the East to an 11-7 win in the game played at the San Jose Arena.

The Summerside, Prince Edward Island native began his coaching career in 1985-86 as the head coach at the University of New Brunswick and then joined St. Louis as an assistant coach in 1986. After helping the Blues to first and second place finishes in the Norris Division in 1986-87 and 1987-88, respectively, MacLean joined the Washington Capitals as an assistant coach to Bryan Murray prior to the 1988-89 season. He spent one full campaign with the Capitals and began the following year in Washington before being tabbed as the head coach of the club's American Hockey League affiliate in Baltimore midway through the 1989-90 season. He spent 35 games behind the bench and guided the Skipjacks to a 17-13-5 mark.

He joined Murray in Detroit in 1990 and spent two years behind the Red Wings bench, including the 1991-92 season when the club captured the Norris Division title with MacLean serving as associate coach. The following year he left the coaching ranks to focus on the Red Wings' player development efforts. He served as Detroit's assistant general manager, as well as the general manager of the Adirondack Red Wings, Detroit's AHL affiliate, from 1992-94. He left the organization to join the Panthers as director of player development and pro scout in 1994 and was named the team's second head coach on July 24, 1995.

King compiled 64-106-21-13 record (.397) in 204 games with the Blue Jackets since being named the club's first head coach on July 5, 2000. Columbus posted a 28-39-9-6 record (71 points) during its inaugural season in 2000-01 and went 22-47-8-5 (57 points) during the 2001-02 campaign. Prior to joining Columbus, King served as the head coach of the Calgary Flames from 1992-95. During that time, he led Calgary to a 109-76-31 record in 216 games. His NHL career coaching record stands at 173-182-52-13 (.489) in 420 games. He also served as an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens from 1997-99 and was the longtime coach of the Canadian National and Olympic Teams.

Individual game and group tickets for Blue Jackets games and Syracuse Crunch games (Feb. 7 vs. Cleveland and Feb. 8 vs. Cincinnati) at Nationwide Arena are on sale now at the Nationwide Arena Ticket Office, the Chiller at Easton, the Chiller in Dublin and all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, by phone at (614) 431-3600 or via the internet at www.BlueJackets.com and ticketmaster.com. For information on PSL season tickets or group tickets, call (614) 246-PUCK or (800) NHL-COLS.