It's time for the McConnell family to change how the Blue Jackets do business

After 26 years in the NHL, the Blue Jackets continue to make all of the wrong decisions. That's the perception they have around the league, anyway. Another notch was carved into belt of failure yesterday, when the team announced they were moving on from beloved radio caller Bob McElligott.

In all of this time, while the fanbase has begged for a contending team and searched for answers; ownership has mostly remained quiet. Typically, when they do have anything to say, their statements are made with the clear white-washing of an attorney, all polished up and ready to calm the masses.

That's never been good enough. Columbus has a passionate, die-hard hockey fanbase that supports this team through thick and thin. In fact, we can't even say we've ever had it really good. Is ownership even aware?

Yesterday's awful decision came as a shock to most of the 5th Line, but the reality of it is: we shouldn't be surprised anymore. This team always finds a way to let us down, even when their decision doesn't affect the on-ice product. The worst part might have been the way they tried to sell it to us as a positive, with that same washed-up attorney speak.

Which takes me to the root of the issue: this organization is ill-ran from a business perspective. It has been ever since the Blue Jackets came into the league. And, whether or not anybody wants to admit it, that does affect the on-ice product. Maybe that's been the problem all along.

Stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.

Since the Blue Jackets came into the league, the franchise has been ran like a minor league team. As much as we hate to hear it, this is simply a fact. As Willie Lutz ponders below, can we really refute anything said in this X post?

Indeed, the fan perception of this team is: they don't really seem to care about winning. The McConnell family, for all of the good they have brought to Central Ohio, has never taken a hands-on approach to this team. There is no accountability here. How can you hold players accountable, when the people at the top aren't held accountable?

This team has been ran by other people since the day they entered the league. Never proactive, always reactive. And it feels like they have seldom had the right people in place to build this thing from the ground up. Worse, when they did have good hockey minds around, the perception has always been the same: nobody above the hockey ops department seems to care.

Time and time again, when we have wanted to see this team take that crucial next step: it all collapses. Isn't that precisely what is going on this summer? Everyone knew how important this offseason would be for this team, but instead of finalizing the roster; GM Don Waddell has been scrambling just to keep his two best players from hitting the road.

Waddell has been an executive in this league for almost 30 years. He's one of the most universally adored people in any NHL front office. We can debate his decisions if you want (I'm on the side of, he's doing a good job here), but one thing I feel confident in saying: these guys aren't trying to leave because Don isn't doing his job.

The problem-as evidenced yesterday-is that this organization isn't ran properly from the top down. When they had a chance to write a new chapter in their broadcast history by running their own TV broadcast; they simply fired our beloved radio play by play guy.

Instead of turning this into something we can love, they chose to fire a loyal 17 year employee, and he wasn't even notified until 90 minutes before the public statement went out. All for what? To save a little bit of money?

For an organization that seems so hell-bent on having all of their legal verbiage in order before sending out any statements, that's an absolutely brutal way to let someone go. Once again, they are stepping over dollars to pick up a few dimes.

You have to spend money to make money.

I'm not saying that retaining a radio play-by-play guy was going to vault the Blue Jackets into greater levels of financial success. But I am pointing to the root of the problem here.

The NHL has league-wide profit sharing. You may have heard it called "escrow" from a player's perspective. This means that in any given year, if a team loses money, they can dip into that profit sharing pool and get themselves back to net zero.

The McConnell family seems perfectly content letting their business run itself, as long as they aren't losing money. Which, they never will, because the league won't allow it.

The only way to make money in this league is by building a contender. Look no further than the last team Waddell managed. 10 years ago, there was speculation that the Carolina Hurricanes might be a contender for relocation.

This year, they won the Stanley Cup, and are currently one of the NHL's model franchises. What changed? The team sold, and the new owner simply would not take no for an answer.

It's time for the McConnell family to take that same path. I'm not calling on them to sell the team. But, they need to take greater ownership of the franchise that they own. In my opinion, that should start with moving on from the accountant who has been here since day one.

After all, the almighty buck is stopping somewhere, and it's the NHL's shared funds that have made him look competent all along. The team's record and perception around the league clearly states otherwise.

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