AHL Cleveland Monsters

Columbus Blue Jackets Announce Changes in Hockey Operations Department

July 12, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Monsters News Release


COLUMBUS, OHIO - Columbus Blue Jackets General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced changes to the club's hockey operations department today.

Craig Hartsburg returns to the organization as an amateur scout. He previously served as the Blue Jackets' associate coach from 2012-16 and a scout during the 2016-17 campaign. The club also added three additional amateur scouts in Troy Dumville, Mikko Mäkelä and Lukas Sutter. Dumville will serve as a full-time Western Canada scout after previously working as a scout for the National Hockey League for the past four seasons. Mäkelä, who will work as a part-time scout, played in 423 career NHL games with the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres from 1985-91 and has served as head coach of the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes from 2002-04 and most recently as head coach of the Banff Hockey Academy. Sutter, also a part-time scout, was a former draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets and New York Islanders and spent the past season playing for the Biggar Nationals in the Southwest Hockey League.

Former NHL goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who played 10 seasons in the league with the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames from 2006-16, has joined the organization as the Blue Jackets' European Goaltending Coach. Zac Urback will work as a hockey analyst after serving as Director of Player Evaluation with the Ontario Hockey League's Mississauga Steelheads the past two campaigns. John Hamre has been named the video coach for the Cleveland Monsters after serving as the University of Minnesota's Director of Hockey Operations from 2017-19.

The team has also announced that Danny Flynn and Dave Peters have been promoted to full-time amateur scouts and Jared Boll has been promoted to a full-time assistant development coach and team ambassador. In addition, Chris Morehouse, Marshall Davidson, Derek Ginnell and Austin Powell are no longer with the organization.

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