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Jarmo Kekalainen, the first European-born general manager in the NHL, was fired by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday morning. His contract ran through the 2024-2025 season.
The former general manger was hired by the team in February 2013, and was the longest-tenured GM in Blue Jackets' history. Columbus fired Kekalainen just after NHL All-Star Weekend as the team owns the worst record (16-26-10) in the Eastern Conference.
John Davidson, the Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and interim GM, said the decision to part ways was one the hardest he's had to make.
"This is one of the hardest days I have had in my career as Jarmo is a friend, someone I have a great deal of respect for and someone who has done a lot of good things during his time here," Davidson said via ESPN. "While the future of our club is bright, our performance has not been good enough and it is time for a fresh perspective as we move forward."
In addition to Davidson, the Blue Jackets' hockey operations management team will work together on general manager duties until it fills the role.
This situation culminated from several factors. Beyond the record, Columbus has enjoyed effectively no postseason success under Kekalainen, as its won only one playoff series — a sweep of the top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019 — in five appearances.
There was also the Mike Babcock disaster, after he was hired as the team's new head coach. Just before training camp, Babcock resigned following accusations of violating players' privacy by asking to see photos in their cellphones. This resulted in a National Hockey League Players' Association investigation.
"Obviously, that was a mistake, and that responsibility is mine," Kekalainen said then. "We understood the dynamics of hiring Mike before we did so and understand the criticism now that it didn't work out the way we had planned."
But more than anything, Kekalainen lost his job because the Blue Jackets didn't improve or meet the goals set for the team in the offseason. And with no progress in sight, the 57-year-old was relieved of his duties and his tenure ended.
"We had candid conversations with our leadership after last season about our goals and expectations for growth and progress on the ice in 2023-24. Those expectations are still in place and can still be achieved, so we do not anticipate further changes to our hockey leadership team at this time," ownership said in a statement.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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