Five years in, Kekalainen still one of a kind

DALLAS - Five years ago, the Blue Jackets made history.
They hired a new general manager, who was Finnish, and Jarmo Kekalainen became the first European-born GM in NHL history.
Heading into the 2018 NHL Draft this weekend in Dallas, which starts Friday at American Airlines Center (7:30 p.m., NBCSN), Kekalainen remains the only European-born GM in the league. He's proud of that, but it's not, ultimately, the recognition he's chasing.
VISIT BLUE JACKETS DRAFT CENTRAL

"If you want to look at it as being a trail-blazer, great," said Kekalainen, who's turned the Blue Jackets from a team that struggled with consistency for years into one that now expects to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. "If I can help anybody else get to that position just because I broke the barrier, great, then I'm happy. But if I'm the first European general manager to win the Stanley Cup, then that means something."
Looking back, two big decisions in 2013 meant a great deal to the Blue Jackets.
The first was parting with former general manager Scott Howson, who'd been in place since 2007 and guided the Jackets to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2009. The second was stepping outside the box to find his replacement.
John Davidson, the Blue Jackets' president of hockey operations, made each of those calls. Less than a year into his tenure, in the same role he'd held with the St. Louis Blues, Davidson decided a cultural change was needed in Columbus.
It had to start on the hockey side, where the Blue Jackets struggled to gain consistent traction, but it also needed to grow throughout the rest of the franchise.
"Just a complete dedication to winning, and that's from the top of the organization right through everybody," Davidson said. "Everybody has an important role. It doesn't matter if it's a trainer, if it's an equipment man, a medical person, a coach, a scout. It doesn't matter who it is. Everybody's got to have that mentality. And we're well on our way."

Kekalainen, after five years in the GM job, is a huge reason. He's made bold moves, shrewd trades and draft picks, and he's been at the helm for three of the organization's four playoff appearances - including the past two years in a row, which was a franchise first.
In short, he's gotten the Jackets into the realm of perennial contender, which is exactly what Davidson was hoping to get by swinging for the fences back in 2013. Tabbing Kekalainen as GM was historic, but making global headlines wasn't part of the rationale.
Adding a vast array of experience was, from Kekalainen's days as a player to his success drafting and developing NHL talent in Ottawa and St. Louis, to his stints running two of the most high-profile teams in Finland (IFK Helsinki and Jokerit).
His Finnish heritage was merely a side note.
"I don't keep track of that stuff, but I know that there's not many that have had the experience that Jarmo's had," Davidson said. "Jarmo played in the [NHL]. Jarmo went to an American college (Clarkson). Jarmo scouted for [the Ottawa Senators] and St. Louis and ran the St. Louis Blues' draft for a number of years. He'd also worked as a [GM] over in Finland with the most high-profile team in Finland, so it wasn't like bringing a European general manager over to our league who didn't know anybody, didn't know the language and didn't know the nuances of college hockey here, junior hockey here or the USHL. He has experience in every one of those areas."
Kekalainen also has a plan, for everything, and a rock-solid determination to stick to it. That also appealed to Davidson.
"I think the recovery had already started under [Howson], and he did some really good things, but it's hard," Davidson said. "You need a lot of things to go right, and you have to follow your instincts and stay with your game plan, no matter what happens."
That, in a nutshell, is Kekalainen.
"He listens well to people," said Davidson, who will join Kekalainen again at the Jackets' draft table. "He's got his own mind, which is a very strong-willed mind, and he's got a real good air of patience about him, which is really important."
That's good, because that patience is being tested in the wake of reports this week that star left wing Artemi Panarin isn't ready to negotiate yet on a long-term contract extension.

What that means, exactly, is still unknown, but Panarin was exactly what the Blue Jackets hoped to get when Kekalainen acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2017 draft in Chicago.
The goal was to land an elite, difference-making forward to lead the way for Columbus, but don't expect Kekalainen to hit the panic button if Panarin doesn't pan out to be that guy. It's simply not his style, as he explained to BlueJackets.com earlier this season - prior to the NHL Trade Deadline in late February.
"I don't think I have any more [patience] than anybody else, but I try to approach every decision with, 'OK, take the emotions, take the anxiety, pressure - whatever you want to call it - out of it and just analyze it,'" Kekalainen said. "Analyze what's the best course of action and that's how you develop patience, because you have to make sure you make the right decision. Sometimes you need to make a quick decision, so I think 'patience' is not really a word I would use. I'd like to be analytical and smart, rather than 'patient.'"
He is those things, but patience is what stands out most to Davidson and others. That and another word that starts with 'p' and comes in handy at the draft table.
"Jarmo is a practical guy," Davidson said. "The hockey department is his department. So, when he gathers intel, he uses the people that he has in place, and he believes in their work for sure. Being an actual scout for years, and then the director of scouting, you know the work that goes in, whether it's amateur or pro, to get reads on players. And Jarmo's not afraid to use the information that is given to him by all these people that he has in his department."

A prime example is what happened in the 2016 draft, when the Blue Jackets stunned the hockey world by taking center Pierre-Luc Dubois with the third overall pick instead of high-scoring Finnish forward Jesse Puljujarvi.
The Blue Jackets' scouting staff, led by Kekalainen's long-time friend, Ville Siren, had Dubois ranked higher. So, Kekalainen took Dubois and didn't think twice.
"That's a great mini-essay on Jarmo's leadership and what he's done for the organization," said Bill Zito, the Blue Jackets' assistant GM and another long-time friend of Kekalainen. "He's trained his staff. He's helped the scouts. That was his niche. He's got several, but that was one of his real strengths. He's enabled the staff, he's taught them the scouting, he's implemented the scouting system, the ratings system and the way things get done, and then he lets them do their job. He doesn't interfere. He doesn't go sit over their shoulder. He doesn't passively intimidate them. He just lets the men do their jobs and then supports them when they do."
Zito used an analogy of a pilot landing a jet with the CEO of the airline standing in the cockpit questioning every move.
"Now, all of a sudden, the guy landing the plane, who does this for a living … now he's checking the oil pressure and he's not checking the flaps, which is what he should be doing, because he knows what he's doing," Zito said. "So, imagine, you're the head scout of an NHL team and you're trying to do that job, and you've got a former head scout - who's like the best in the business - standing over your shoulder going, 'Are you sure? Are you sure of that?' Now, all of a sudden, you're not sure. So, he doesn't do that. He supports them. He does a great job in that."
Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella has another way of describing it.
"He's got some jam to him," Tortorella said. "He's not too worried about what other people are thinking. He's making decisions about what he thinks is best for the team now, as he tries to improve it, but also his vision long-term."
It's going by quickly, too.
Asked if the past five years have gone by fast or slow, the league's only European-born GM didn't hesitate to answer.
"Fast," he said. "And I've enjoyed every second of it."