You can tell when a team is starting to get some traction, because other teams start raiding their coaching staff. That's the case with the Blue Jackets this morning, as the strong-finishing club will have one of their assistant coaches promoted to a new job with the Edmonton Oilers.
Here's the team's press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 28, 2013
BLUE JACKETS ASSISTANT COACH KEITH ACTON NAMED ASSOCIATE COACH OF THE EDMONTON OILERS
COLUMBUS, OHIO – Columbus Blue Jackets Assistant Coach Keith Acton is leaving the club’s staff to become associate coach of the Edmonton Oilers, club General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced today. Acton joined the Blue Jackets as an assistant coach in June 2012.
"We appreciate Keith's contributions to our hockey club during his time with the Blue Jackets. This is a great opportunity for him and we wish him the best," said Jarmo Kekalainen.
Acton has spent more than 30 years in the NHL as a player and assistant coach. Before joining the Blue Jackets for the 2012-13 season, he had most recently served as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2001-11, working along side head coaches Pat Quinn, Paul Maurice and Ron Wilson. Prior to his stint with the Leafs, he was an assistant coach with the New York Rangers from 1998-00, under John Muckler and John Tortorella, and served as an assistant/associate coach with the Philadelphia Flyers from 1994-98 under Terry Murray, Wayne Cashman and Roger Nielsen.
