3 days until CBJ opening night: Meet the new coaches

As the Blue Jackets get ready to start the 2021-22 season, the coaching staff on hand is a mix of old and new.
Gone is head coach John Tortorella, with longtime assistant Brad Larsen taking his place at the top. Larsen has hired two new full-time assistants as well to join a staff that still boasts familiar faces in assistant/skills coach Kenny McCudden, goalie coach Manny Legace and development coach Jared Boll.
And while Larsen didn't know a ton about new associate coach Pascal Vincent (forwards) and assistant Steve McCarthy (defensemen) -- and the latter took a circuitous route to end up on staff -- things have been so far, so good in Columbus.

"They have been excellent," Larsen said. "They have come in as advertised. I didn't know Pascal and just had a great chemistry with him right away on the phone and when we did our Zoom meetings. I did a lot of homework on him, just background checks, and it's incredible what you find when you start digging. He's come as advertised, let's put it that way. He's very organized, he's very sharp, he's very even keel, and he's come in and done an excellent job.
"Stevie Mac has done a real good job coming in on a short-term basis here. He knows our guys. He's coached a lot of them, so that's really helped. It's not like he's coming in blind. He's a great worker, a lot of hockey knowledge. He's been around pro hockey for a lot of years and a lot of situations. And don't forget, you have Kenny McCudden, you have Jared Boll, Manny Legace. Everybody has been contributing. It's been really good.
Here's a look at the three coaches in new roles for the Blue Jackets this season.

Head coach Brad Larsen

Larsen, 44, has been a part of the organization since being hired as an assistant coach for the AHL's Springfield Falcons, the Jackets' top farm team at the time, in 2010-11. After spending two years as an assistant coach there and two more as head coach, Larsen was promoted to an assistant on Todd Richards' staff in 2014-15. Richards was fired early in the 2015-16 season but Tortorella kept Larsen on staff, and he spent seven full years as an assistant coach with the CBJ before becoming the head man.
Playing career:A fourth-round pick of Colorado in the 1997 NHL draft, Larsen played in parts of 12 seasons at the AHL and NHL level, first with the Avs and then in the Atlanta Thrashers organization. In all, Larsen played 294 NHL games over eight NHL seasons, most with Atlanta, and finished with 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points. He played nine games in the 2000-01 season for the Stanley Cup-winning Avs but zero playoff games, then went on to skate in 21 postseason games a year later for a Colorado team that reached the conference final.
What to know: Larsen is in a unique position as both a familiar face but also someone in a new spot, but that could end up serving him well. A well-liked assistant among the players during his time on Tortorella's staff, he continues to be someone who has the respect of the room.
"Obviously as a forward and as a player, you worked a lot with Lars," center Jack Roslovic said. "He was the guy that you would go to for video, for help, for a whole array of things. Now to have him as a head coach, it's great because that connection is there and that comfort level is there."
While the Blue Jackets looked both inside and outside the organization to replace Tortorella, Larsen ended up being the answer, as general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said no one delivered a more impressive interview during the hiring process.
Kekalainen also added that keeping the culture of accountability that Tortorella brought in was key, but a big part of the interviews with Larsen included asking how he would handle situations differently than his previous boss. But as Larsen said, he didn't think that would be too hard.
"When you ask how you're gonna be different, Torts is Torts," Larsen said. "That's the best way I can describe him. It's not gonna be hard to be different than Torts because that guy, I think everybody understands how much I admire him not just as coach but more importantly as a person, but he is about as unique as they get.
"So he's actually a lot easier to follow up in the sense of 'How are you going to be different?' than people think. He is a unicorn in all senses of the word in how he goes about it, but what I've always said, I admired him so much in how he respects the game, how he approaches things with a businesslike attitude, how accountability is so important to him, work ethic."

Pascal Vincent

Vincent, 50, is one of the older members of the new on-ice staff, but you wouldn't know it by the Quebec native's energy and enthusiasm. He has more than two decades of coaching experience, as Vincent spent 11 seasons as a head coach in the QMJHL from 2001-2011 before 10 more seasons with the Winnipeg Jets organization. His road is almost the opposite of Larsen's, as he started with five years as a full-time assistant with the NHL club before spending the past five years as the head coach for the team's AHL affiliate in Manitoba.
Playing career: Vincent was a grinder in the QMJHL, spending parts of five seasons with St. Jean, Laval and Verdun while totaling 58 points in 252 games. He went on to play one pro season, skating for Knoxville of the ECHL, before moving into the coaching ranks in his native province.
What to know: Larsen and Vincent hadn't crossed paths before the former became the CBJ head coach, but it took very little time for the two to feel like kindred spirits when they chatted about the associate head coaching role this summer.
"We had a strong connection right away," Vincent said. "After that phone call, I told my family, I feel like I know this guy. We just connected really well really early, and it hasn't changed. He's a great man. I'll do my best to help him have success."
It's not hard to see why Vincent has been so successful as a coach previously, as he is a great communicator and boasts an even-keeled manner that relates well to players on a daily basis. It also helps he has a little connection to Roslovic and Patrik Laine considering the two were previously in the Winnipeg organization, and one of his assistant coaches in Manitoba, Eric Dubois, is the father of former CBJ center Pierre-Luc Dubois.
But while he did pick some brains before he came in, Vincent said his hope has been to learn his new charges on his own during camp. So far, he seems pleased with the process.
"It's been amazing," he said. "I didn't know how good it was going to be. I knew it was going to be good, but I didn't know how good it would be. So far, it's great."

Steve McCarthy

McCarthy, 40, is in a unique position as he didn't join the coaching staff until September as a replacement for Sylvain Lefebvre, who was relieved of his duties after he refused to get the coronavirus vaccination. That led to the promotion of McCarthy to coach the defense, which should be a pretty familiar job as he spent the previous five seasons doing just that with the team's AHL affiliate in Cleveland. McCarthy took that job the season after hanging up his skates as a player.
Playing career: A first-round pick in the 1999 draft by Chicago, McCarthy had a journeyman's road in the NHL, as the British Columbia native played in 302 NHL games over eight seasons with the Blackhawks, Canucks and Thrashers, where he was teammates with Larsen. McCarthy also played in seven different AHL seasons and spent time in Russia, Finland and Switzerland during a pro career that started in 2000 and ran all the way through 2016, when he finished his career with the Monsters.
What to know: McCarthy is also someone who commands respect for his steady nature and professional approach, but what seems to stand out about him is how he encourages players to play to their strengths and not worry about making mistakes.
"It's easy to point out some their weaknesses or something they're not strong at," he said. "I look at, what type of player are you, what are your strengths and how can we use that piece of the equation and put them in situations to have success? Obviously, we work on the other stuff they would like to get better at, but I just feel that's the best way for a player to improve and be comfortable, just allowing the player to play.
"Once it comes to game time, allow them to make plays. They are going to make mistakes. That's one thing, when you make a mistake, I think you have to allow them to work through it. It's a game of mistakes. I'm big on that and allowing them (to play) and instilling a confidence in them. That's a huge thing."
That has earned rave reviews from his charges as well as Larsen, who has been happy with how McCarthy has quickly fit into the staff.
"Steve is sharp," Larsen said. "He communicates extremely well with those young D. We have a young group back there, and he knows a lot of that group, so there's so many things that just made sense when that one situation didn't work out. I'm excited for him."