Columbus’ NHL breakthrough brings smile to Las Vegan Bob Strumm

When he was interviewed by the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch in 2010 as one of 25 employees who had been with the city’s forlorn Blue Jackets from Day One, this is what longtime Las Vegan Bob Strumm said about the NHL team that still was seeking its first playoff series victory:

“There’s Ohio State here with the tradition and fan base. But as the city’s only (major-league) franchise, we’re in a unique situation. I’m so anxious for us to get where we want to be. It’s a special city that’s waiting for us to rock the room, to put on that 3½-hour Bruce Springsteen show every night.”

The Boss would have more staying power than Strumm as Blue Jackets director of pro scouting.

A year after he made those comments, Strumm walked into a “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and was let go. The former Las Vegas Thunder GM, who built a winning International Hockey League team and a significant following here — proving there was an appetite for pro hockey in the desert, holds no grudge.

When the Blue Jackets finally broke through to eliminate the vaunted Tampa Bay Lightning in a first-round sweep, Strumm was watching on one of multiple big screen televisions that make his Las Vegas living room look like the set of “Hockey Night in Canada.”

He said it was the next best thing to being at center ice and shaking hands with the stunned Tampa Bay players.

Old friends, new success

“For sure,” said the 71-year-old Strumm, a native of Saskatoon, Canada, who refused to leave Las Vegas when the Thunder did. “I’ll never say a bad thing about the Columbus Blue Jackets. They treated me well for 12 years. When they were here and I went down to the morning skate, they left me a pass. (Assistant coach) Brad Larsen was there when I was there.”

There are other connections. Manny Legace, 18-16-4 as a Thunder goalie in 1997-98, is the Blue Jackets’ goaltender coach. Right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand scored 23 goals for Columbus during the regular season. He and star defenseman Seth Jones played for the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks when Strumm was a consultant.

Strumm said the Blue Jackets could have used a couple of guys like that when they were assembling a team after being admitted to the NHL along with the Minnesota Wild before the 2000 season. NHL teams were allowed to protect more players from the expansion draft than when the Golden Knights entered.

“Not only was the formula different, there were two teams that came in at the same time. So we had to split all the available players,” Strumm said. “But we had a real good first year. We finished with more points than Minnesota.”

Discounting the 1967-68 season when six teams were added to the Original Six, Columbus’ 71-point showing was the best by an NHL expansion team after the Florida Panthers’ 83-point debut in 1993. But the Blue Jackets made the playoffs only once in their first 12 seasons during which they failed to win a postseason game.

Goodbye, Columbus

“We probably tried to get too young too fast with some of our drafts, and some of our veteran guys with keeping them,” Strumm said of those Rick Nash-led Columbus teams. “But I don’t want to be too critical. We had a much bigger hill to climb than they did here.”

There would be three more first-round defeats before the Blue Jackets finally advanced beyond the opening bell this season in stunning fashion.

“First playoff round that Columbus has won,” Strumm said with fondness. “Been a long time coming.”

Strumm is now a Knights season ticket holder. They’ve become his new team. He admires the Knights’ pressing style — “terrific entertainment, they play the game the right way,” he says.

“For an expansion team to make the playoffs the first two years is unheard of. People here have been spoiled.”

As for the people who follow hockey in central Ohio after the college football bowl games, the playoff freeze-out finally has thawed. The change was made uptown, at the trade deadline. Some big men joined the band.

To use Bob Strumm’s metaphor, the Blue Jackets still are rocking the room.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.