King returns on top
By Justin Boggs, Columbus Wired, Photos by Joel Torres

Former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Dave King made his first return visit to Nationwide Arena Wednesday after being fired midway through the 2002-03 season. King is now an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes, who beat the Blue Jackets 4-1.

During the first period of Wednesday’s game, King was given a standing obviation from the audience following a tribute which aired on the center ice overhead scoreboard.  King was the team’s first head coach starting from the 2000-01 season.  He went 64-106-21-13 during his two and a half seasons in Columbus.

“It felt really nice,” King said of the tribute. “I really do appreciate the organization doing that for me. That is a real nice gesture. It just shows that it is a first class organization this is. I really enjoyed my time here. Coming back here is great, and to come back and get the win is special, too.”

Until this season, King coached many European teams until making his return to North America in September when he was hired by the Coyotes. During that time, two players King coached for Columbus has turned into solid mainstays for the Blue Jackets; Rostislav Klesla and Rick Nash.

“They are wonderful players,” King said. “Rusty (Klesla) just competes on every shift and Rick is just a super talented guy who plays both ends of the ice. When you see young players play so well, you know that the organization has done a good job of drafting. They have a nice team… Columbus is definitely a good team.”

Phoenix has had their share of news lately. King was hired as an assistant when Dave Tippett was hired to replace Wayne Gretzky as Phoenix’s head coach. The Coyotes’ ownership has been in flux as they are going through bankruptcy and a possible relocation to Hamilton, ONT.

“Well it is very similar in many ways,” King said about coaching in Phoenix compared to coaching for the Blue Jackets during their inaugural year. “We started an expansion team here, and it is almost like starting an expansion team there because we aren’t getting many fans there. It is almost like starting over again. We have to build a fan base again. We have to have a really good team on the ice and compete and play well. If we can do that, I think we can generate interest again in this franchise. “

King’s Coyotes are off to a solid start at 7-4.

Penalty kill withering

At the start of the season, Columbus’ penalty kill was one of the strongest in the league. Not only were they successfully killing off penalties, but they were even scoring goals while shorthanded. That has not happened lately as Columbus is 1-4 in their last five games.

Columbus opened the season killing off 28 of their 29 penalties during their first seven games.  In the last four games, Columbus has allowed 10 goals during 19 shorthanded opportunities.

“Penalty kill is hard work,” Columbus defenseman Mike Commodore said. “When you get the chance to get the puck down the ice, you need to get it down the ice. Whenever you turn the puck over, you get time to get it out and you don’t, those are ones in your net and for whatever reason, if we make a mistake, it is in our net.”

One common factor might be that defenseman Jan Hejda who was a top penalty killer has been missing the last six games due to injury. Before his injury, Columbus was 4-1. Since his injury, the Blue Jackets are 2-4.

“We’re not doing a good job killing penalties and we’re paying for it,” Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock said. “When you can’t kill penalties, it puts a lot of pressure in other areas.”