Post by Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct 23, 2014 14:33:20 GMT -5
On August 19, 2014 the Columbus Blue Jackets welcomed their newest, and youngest General Manager in team history.
Mr. John P. McConnell shaked the young mans hand as he said these words - "On behalf on the entire management team of the Columbus Blue Jackets, we are very proud and pleased to welcome our newest General Manager, Mr. Jeff Roukema. We are very excited to see what Mr. Roukema turns our fantastic organization into and we are looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labour come to fruition."
Mr. Roukema had this to say at the welcoming press-conference: "Our aim for this up-coming draft is for a young, strong face off and excellent defending team with supplementary scoring. We have quite a few players in mind that we're looking to land and won't be upset if we don't get a certain player. We plan on making an impact after a few years while we let our young guys gain chemistry and weight, while letting our veteran guys mold our players into the people we know they can become. We're taking a very patient route with our players and this draft so, we're willing to maintain trust in our players that they are going to develop into a well rounded team, together, once we select them."
Rob Mixer asked "Mr. Roukema, this is your first stint with a team, let alone a team looking to build from the ground up. What can you tell the fans of the Blue Jackets about yourself to make them feel a little comfortable with such a young guy at the helm?"
"I've always been a passionate person. I know that term is over-used but it is true. I enjoy talking to and treating our players like they are family and I look towards making our entire team a tight-knit unit. I very much treat our teams as a family and I wish for our fans, new or old, feel welcomed to join our family. Our atmosphere that takes place at Nationwide Arena is amazing, you feel at home, there's no other way to put it. I plan on making this team a winner. It may take some time, so I ask that you please bare with us but it will happen, I promise. We have a great list put together of players we're looking to bring into our family and we're very excited to welcome each and every one of them alongside our fans once we select them atop of the podium."
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"Mr. Rouk-, Mr.! Mr. Roukema! With the draft now completed what's your stance on your team!?" asked a reporter battling amongst the crowd.
"Well, we feel as though it has been a success. We selected a plethora of highly-skilled young men and we are very excited to reach pre-season and see how our team is going to look. We feel as though our veteran choices for our team will teach our young guns what it takes to be successful at the pro level. Dany Heatley will teach our young forwards what it takes to score goals and how to find the open ice and get "lost" in the offensive zone. Marty Erat will allow our young passers to learn which kind of passes are smart passes and which plays to avoid. Sami Salo has had a very successful career with the Senators and Canucks and we are very pleased to welcome him to our roster. Sami will teach our very young core what it takes to be successful in their own end and how to be efficient in their movements. He will provide great leadership to Drew Doughty, Victor Hedman and Ryan Ellis in the forms of true leadership, offensive prowess on the power play and defensive structure. We are very excited to have 2 great defensive forwards centering our top two lines. Ryan Kesler has been a Selke trophy winner, as well as a 25 goal, 50 point power house for many seasons and are very excited to have this player a part of our franchise for a while. We also have a young stud in Brandon Dubinsky to help Kesler in teaching our young centers the game. Both of them are very successful on face offs, and that's what we aimed to have, a strong one-two punch in the circle. We're very happy to have a great bunch of young break-out players like Tyler Johnson, Colton Sceviour, Cam Atkinson and Alex Chiasson coming through our ranks and we're very much looking forward to them being a great part of our franchise. We feel like we have a pretty good pool of young prospects that we feel can develop into something big and we're willing to take our time with all of these players to ensure they can reach the highest ceiling possible. They all took big leaps last season in development and we'll be keeping a close eye on them this season to see if they can make the jump to the big leagues next season."
"Sir, Mr. Roukema - Have you and your management come to a decision on who is going to take the captaincy for the Jackets?"
"To be honest, we have not come to a decision. We want everyone to be on the same playing field and show that they deserve that shot at the captaincy of our great team. Of course we have some people in mind who we're looking to step-up, but we're waiting until we get a little closer to opening night to make the choice of who is going to lead our team. I'll take one final question."
"What are your plans for the net? Who is going to take the lead and be the No. 1 for this season?"
"We decided to take two young goalies that show a lot of promise to be in our net for this season. We feel very confident in our defensive group to help keep the load steady on our two young goalies, but we feel they have a very high ceiling. At this point in time, our definitive No. 1 is Stalock. He will take most of the big starts this season with Allen playing one of the back-to-backs but that's just what we're looking at now. We feel both of them have the potential to be top No. 1's in this league and we're looking for them to push each other to have success. If one of them hits a hot-streak, of course we're going to play that goaltender, but we will not be forced into a debate on who is the No. 1."
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"Hello, Mr. Roukema, we would like to know your thoughts on the Jackets' pre-season."
"With pre-season concluded, the Blue Jackets went 6-6-2 with Allen making majority of the starts. We, the Jackets are taking the pre-season results with a grain of salt. We took this opportunity to play some different sets of lines and see what we have, give Allen a good look, work on the PK and PP and we're confident going forward. We'll be frank in saying we don't expect to make the play offs as there are some really strong teams out there. We are however very, very happy to come out of pre-season with an effective power play, one of the top penalty kills and one of the best face off teams in those 14 games. We have a couple of things to work on like Shots For/Against, but that will come once the team plays together more and the sample size becomes greater over an 82 game span rather than 14. We're looking to create an image of our team that we're tough to play against and that once you see the results of the game, you think "Oh man, those Jackets put up a hell of a game and I'm really glad I got that win over them." We don't want to be one of those teams that the opposing team feels they could play their back-up goal tender and feel they can walk out with a win like it was nothing. We feel we have 3 lines capable of scoring goals as well as that our group of D-men are amongst the best in the league and very happy to have our 4 best defenseman locked up relatively long-term for great cap hits once Jake Muzzin's and Ryan Ellis' new contracts become active."
"What are your thoughts on Dany Heatley's and Martin Erat's pre-season?"
"Obviously we feel as though Dany's pre-season didn't go as he would like but we know he has it in him to continue training to become an effective player. We're going to try and put Dany in situations where we feel he has the greatest chance for success but he needs to earn them as well. He understands that he has a large cap-hit and wants to make it worth while but we understand that he's not the same player that he was in Ottawa 6, 7, 8 years ago. We're not putting the pressure on him to perform as that's not what this team is about. One player isn't going to make our team or make our season. We need all of them to be effective together for everyone to have success. Same goes for Martin. We're putting him in positions to be successful and we know he has the ability to do it, it's just whether he wants to put forth the effort. We'll see come regular season if the effort shows and it will reflect in our actions come the off-season. Thanks for the questions."
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Thanks for reading, hope you get some enjoyment out of it.
Mr. John P. McConnell shaked the young mans hand as he said these words - "On behalf on the entire management team of the Columbus Blue Jackets, we are very proud and pleased to welcome our newest General Manager, Mr. Jeff Roukema. We are very excited to see what Mr. Roukema turns our fantastic organization into and we are looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labour come to fruition."
Mr. Roukema had this to say at the welcoming press-conference: "Our aim for this up-coming draft is for a young, strong face off and excellent defending team with supplementary scoring. We have quite a few players in mind that we're looking to land and won't be upset if we don't get a certain player. We plan on making an impact after a few years while we let our young guys gain chemistry and weight, while letting our veteran guys mold our players into the people we know they can become. We're taking a very patient route with our players and this draft so, we're willing to maintain trust in our players that they are going to develop into a well rounded team, together, once we select them."
Rob Mixer asked "Mr. Roukema, this is your first stint with a team, let alone a team looking to build from the ground up. What can you tell the fans of the Blue Jackets about yourself to make them feel a little comfortable with such a young guy at the helm?"
"I've always been a passionate person. I know that term is over-used but it is true. I enjoy talking to and treating our players like they are family and I look towards making our entire team a tight-knit unit. I very much treat our teams as a family and I wish for our fans, new or old, feel welcomed to join our family. Our atmosphere that takes place at Nationwide Arena is amazing, you feel at home, there's no other way to put it. I plan on making this team a winner. It may take some time, so I ask that you please bare with us but it will happen, I promise. We have a great list put together of players we're looking to bring into our family and we're very excited to welcome each and every one of them alongside our fans once we select them atop of the podium."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mr. Rouk-, Mr.! Mr. Roukema! With the draft now completed what's your stance on your team!?" asked a reporter battling amongst the crowd.
"Well, we feel as though it has been a success. We selected a plethora of highly-skilled young men and we are very excited to reach pre-season and see how our team is going to look. We feel as though our veteran choices for our team will teach our young guns what it takes to be successful at the pro level. Dany Heatley will teach our young forwards what it takes to score goals and how to find the open ice and get "lost" in the offensive zone. Marty Erat will allow our young passers to learn which kind of passes are smart passes and which plays to avoid. Sami Salo has had a very successful career with the Senators and Canucks and we are very pleased to welcome him to our roster. Sami will teach our very young core what it takes to be successful in their own end and how to be efficient in their movements. He will provide great leadership to Drew Doughty, Victor Hedman and Ryan Ellis in the forms of true leadership, offensive prowess on the power play and defensive structure. We are very excited to have 2 great defensive forwards centering our top two lines. Ryan Kesler has been a Selke trophy winner, as well as a 25 goal, 50 point power house for many seasons and are very excited to have this player a part of our franchise for a while. We also have a young stud in Brandon Dubinsky to help Kesler in teaching our young centers the game. Both of them are very successful on face offs, and that's what we aimed to have, a strong one-two punch in the circle. We're very happy to have a great bunch of young break-out players like Tyler Johnson, Colton Sceviour, Cam Atkinson and Alex Chiasson coming through our ranks and we're very much looking forward to them being a great part of our franchise. We feel like we have a pretty good pool of young prospects that we feel can develop into something big and we're willing to take our time with all of these players to ensure they can reach the highest ceiling possible. They all took big leaps last season in development and we'll be keeping a close eye on them this season to see if they can make the jump to the big leagues next season."
"Sir, Mr. Roukema - Have you and your management come to a decision on who is going to take the captaincy for the Jackets?"
"To be honest, we have not come to a decision. We want everyone to be on the same playing field and show that they deserve that shot at the captaincy of our great team. Of course we have some people in mind who we're looking to step-up, but we're waiting until we get a little closer to opening night to make the choice of who is going to lead our team. I'll take one final question."
"What are your plans for the net? Who is going to take the lead and be the No. 1 for this season?"
"We decided to take two young goalies that show a lot of promise to be in our net for this season. We feel very confident in our defensive group to help keep the load steady on our two young goalies, but we feel they have a very high ceiling. At this point in time, our definitive No. 1 is Stalock. He will take most of the big starts this season with Allen playing one of the back-to-backs but that's just what we're looking at now. We feel both of them have the potential to be top No. 1's in this league and we're looking for them to push each other to have success. If one of them hits a hot-streak, of course we're going to play that goaltender, but we will not be forced into a debate on who is the No. 1."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hello, Mr. Roukema, we would like to know your thoughts on the Jackets' pre-season."
"With pre-season concluded, the Blue Jackets went 6-6-2 with Allen making majority of the starts. We, the Jackets are taking the pre-season results with a grain of salt. We took this opportunity to play some different sets of lines and see what we have, give Allen a good look, work on the PK and PP and we're confident going forward. We'll be frank in saying we don't expect to make the play offs as there are some really strong teams out there. We are however very, very happy to come out of pre-season with an effective power play, one of the top penalty kills and one of the best face off teams in those 14 games. We have a couple of things to work on like Shots For/Against, but that will come once the team plays together more and the sample size becomes greater over an 82 game span rather than 14. We're looking to create an image of our team that we're tough to play against and that once you see the results of the game, you think "Oh man, those Jackets put up a hell of a game and I'm really glad I got that win over them." We don't want to be one of those teams that the opposing team feels they could play their back-up goal tender and feel they can walk out with a win like it was nothing. We feel we have 3 lines capable of scoring goals as well as that our group of D-men are amongst the best in the league and very happy to have our 4 best defenseman locked up relatively long-term for great cap hits once Jake Muzzin's and Ryan Ellis' new contracts become active."
"What are your thoughts on Dany Heatley's and Martin Erat's pre-season?"
"Obviously we feel as though Dany's pre-season didn't go as he would like but we know he has it in him to continue training to become an effective player. We're going to try and put Dany in situations where we feel he has the greatest chance for success but he needs to earn them as well. He understands that he has a large cap-hit and wants to make it worth while but we understand that he's not the same player that he was in Ottawa 6, 7, 8 years ago. We're not putting the pressure on him to perform as that's not what this team is about. One player isn't going to make our team or make our season. We need all of them to be effective together for everyone to have success. Same goes for Martin. We're putting him in positions to be successful and we know he has the ability to do it, it's just whether he wants to put forth the effort. We'll see come regular season if the effort shows and it will reflect in our actions come the off-season. Thanks for the questions."
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Thanks for reading, hope you get some enjoyment out of it.
