Blue Jackets fire head coach

After weeks of lopsided losses and blown leads, the Columbus Blue Jackets fired second-year coach Scott Arniel.

In announcing Arniel's dismissal and the elevation of assistant Todd Richards to interim head coach, general manager Scott Howson said the season had "gone off the rails."

Under Arniel, the Blue Jackets were just 11-25-5 this season -- the worst record in the NHL.

Richards was 77-71-16 as head coach of the Minnesota Wild from 2009-11.

Howson announced the firing after the club's latest dreadful loss: a 7-4 setback at Anaheim. The Ducks came into the game just one point ahead of the Blue Jackets' league-low 27 points but dominated throughout.

Howson said things had spiraled out of control recently. "We were playing pretty good [after a bad start] until the middle of December and we were going in the right direction, but it's gone off the rails since then," he said.

The Blue Jackets have blown eight games in which they led heading into the final period, the most in the NHL.

Richards said he did not plan wholesale changes. "I've got a list of to-dos," he said. "I don't think it's big changes. It's little tweaks, little things here and there."

Arniel was hired as the fifth head coach in Blue Jackets history June 8, 2010, and compiled a 45-60-18 record in 123 games.

Bruins

Forward Brad Marchand has been suspended for five games by the NHL because of a hit on the Canucks' Sami Salo. The league considers Marchand a repeat offender. He received a two-game suspension in March 2011. Marchand clipped Salo just before the end of the second period of Saturday night's game, receiving a major penalty and a game misconduct. He will also forfeit more than $150,000 in pay.

Blackhawks

Forward Patrick Sharp, among the NHL's top 10 scorers, will be out 3-4 weeks with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Sharp was injured late in the first period of Sunday's overtime loss to Detroit and did not return to the game. Sharp has 20 goals and 20 assists in 42 games this season.

Elsewhere

A fan who threw a banana at a black player during an NHL exhibition game has been fined $200. Christopher Moorhouse lobbed a banana at Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds as he was approaching Red Wings goalie Jordan Pearce during a shootout in the Sept. 22 game in London, Ontario. The 26-year-old Moorhouse pleaded guilty but did not appear in court. Moorhouse was charged with a provincial trespassing and given 90 days to pay the fine. Police said there wasn't enough evidence to charge Moorhouse with a hate crime.

First published on January 10, 2012 at 12:00 am

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12010/1202477-61.stm?cmpid=sports.xml

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