The Weekly Dis
The return of Zach Werenski to the CBJ lineup, of Jarmo Kekalainen to Nationwide Arena and of Condor to the Dirty Garage
To nobody's surprise, Jarmo Kekalainen was named general manager of the Buffalo Sabres Dec. 15. The former Jackets' GM had joined the Buffalo staff as a senior advisor to then-GM (and Original Jacket) Kevyn Adams in May of 2025. From there on, it was speculated that Kekalainen would succeed Adams as soon as he, Kekalainen, got the lay of the organization. Which is what happened.
The Sabres haven't made the playoffs in 14 years. The talent is there, but the franchise seems cursed. One can joke about looking for an ex-Jacket to fix all of this. One can also forget that Jarmo took a Columbus franchise that made the playoffs once in its first 12 seasons and brought it to respectability. From 2013-14 through 2019-20, the Jackets made the playoffs five times over seven seasons.
At the end of his tenure in Columbus, Kekalainen tried repeatedly to "retool" or reload rather than commit to what the situation called for – a total rebuild. That's an overly simple way to put it, but by and large, it fits. He also made the critical error of hiring Mike Babcock, which was his doom.
I've always said that Jarmo will be much better in his second job than his first. He is too smart and too experienced, now, to make the same mistakes. And now here he is.
Saturday afternoon, Kekalainen will be in the visitors' team box on the press level of Nationwide Arena to watch his new team take on his old team. In a brief telephone conversation 24 hours before the puck was to drop, he downsized the whatever weight his presence might have.
"I've been in the building many times over the last two years since I got let go," Kekalainen said. "Obviously, there's going to be a different boost this time, not being on the side where the press and the scouts sit. But it's a game, it's another game, it's worth two points in the standings."
How's it going for the Sabres? Well, they've won 10 in a row, including seven consecutive since Kekalainen was officially named.
"It's the players. It's coaching," Kekalainen said. "Those are the ones that do the job. They're on the ice. I said right from the start when I left for Buffalo that I saw a lot of potential there on the team. A lot of talent, a lot of skill. It was just a matter of putting it together."
Within a 48-hour span, Kekalainen went from his father's funeral in Finland to his introductory press conference in Buffalo. His message to his new team was simple.
"It's not about talent, it's about character and compete," he said. "That's what I consider the biggest talent, or the most important talent, an athlete can have. It's character, and compete. If we think we can just skill our way through just because we have more talent or skill, we're making a big mistake. It's always in our control what our attitude is and how we compete, and it's unacceptable if we get outworked in game.
"That was my message, basically, in a nutshell. It's not rocket science or nothing new or anything like that. It's what I've always believed."
The Sabres (21-14-4, 46 points) have rocketed into the No. 2 wild card spot in the conference. A hot streak can do that in the stacked-up East. The Jackets (17-16-6, 40 points), in last place in the conference, are desperately seeking a launch button of their own.
Kekalainen pushes back against the notion that he found the Sabres' ignition switch.
"Whether it's that or just all of a sudden they just started putting it together, who knows," he said. "It's the players that do the job. And our guys have a lot of skill. We have a lot of good players. We have 44-goal scoring in Tage Thompson from last year, (Rasmus) Dahlin has been an All-Star, (Alex) Tuch had 36 goals last year. Those are big numbers in this league. But it's a team game. I've always said that. Hockey's the ultimate team game. It doesn't matter how much skill you have, if you don't have the compete and the character, it's not going to work."
Kekalainen is keeping his home in the Columbus area and will maintain a part-time residency here for the foreseeable future. His two daughters attend college in Ohio. When they're at school, he and his wife are together in Buffalo. Unless Jarmo is on the road ...
"We'll figure it out," he said.
Final thought: Kekalainen was named CBJ GM on Feb. 13, 2012. At that point in the lockout-halved season they were 4-7-2. And then they became the hottest team in the league. They went 20-10-5 over the rest of the abbreviated season, with a stretch of 8-0-4 and another of 8-1-0. They finished 24-13-5 and missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker. They probably should've tanked for Nathan MacKinnon ("Stop winning' for MacKinnon" was the cry then), but that's not Jarmo's style, as we well know.
Zach is back
It was at the Honda Center on the night of Dec. 21 when Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski took a point-blank shot off his right ankle. Those Jackets fans who were up late watching on television launched expletives, or whatever they could get their hands on, at their wide-screens as Werenski made a slow crawl to the bench.
Subsequent tests showed no broken bones and Werenski was listed as day-to-day. He was put on injured reserve as much to open up a roster spot as anything else. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Yet ...
Werenski has blocked 800 shots in his career and, he said, the 800th "was different. ... It actually got worse over the (holiday) break."
And then it got better.
Friday morning, Werenski took part in a full-contact practice at Nationwide. He said he expects to play against the Sabres Saturday. (Coach Dean Evason said the last word on Werenski's availability will be determined after medical personnel get a look at how Werenski got through practice.)
Michael Arace
Bound for Milano
Earlier Friday, prior to practice, Werenski's name landed on the Olympic roster released by USA Hockey. This was not a shock. Werenski led all scorers with eight points during the best-on-best Four Nations tournament last winter – and then, in the spring, he helped lead Team USA to its first World Championships gold medal in 92 years.
Still, the Olympic nod is a benchmark achievement. Werenski was a teenager playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program the last time NHL players participated in the Olympics, at the 2014 Sochi Games. It's not too big a stretch to say this is a dream come true.
"It was at the top of my list of what I wanted to accomplish as a hockey player, so I'm real happy about it," Werenski said.
Werenski said that the NHL schedule – which will be paused for the Olympic break on Feb. 5 and resumed on Feb. 23 – will not allow hockey players to participate in the opening and closing ceremonies. He said the plan is for Team USA's hockey team to house the Olympic Village with other athletes, and he's looking forward to that. It is a unique experience.
Former Jacket Seth Jones, who landed in Florida via Chicago, was a surprising pick for Team USA. Surprising not for his play, as Jones has been a monster ever since he joined the Stanley Cup-champion Panthers, but because he's on the roster and Adam Fox of the New York Rangers is not.
Apparently, Team USA GM Bill Guerin (Minnesota Wild) and the rest of his management took due note of Fox's play during the Four Nations and decided to go with a more mobile replacement.
Will Team USA coach Mike Sullivan (New York Rangers) reunite the old Columbus duo of Werenski-Jones? Seems likely, but we shall see. Note that John Tortorella is one of Sullivan's assistants.
"Great for Jonesy," Werenski said. "His game has really taken off since last year. I always knew he had it in him. ... We've all seen firsthand how good Jonesey is."
Werenski is a god in our midst. Among NHL defensemen, he is currently second in points with 40 (five behind Cale Makar) and goals with 14 (one behind Jacob Chychrun).
This is done in alphabetical order. Werenski's highlight clip is the last one. But it is a beauty. It starts at 7:49.
Elvis Merzlikins is also on his way to Milano
Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins has been largely relegated to a backup role behind Jet Greaves.
"Fourteen games and I'm playing three?," Merzlikins said, noting that during this recent stretch, he hasn't even been getting a start in back-to-backs.
"There's no constistency," he said. "I'm just practicing and trying to get ready. I've never done that in my life."
Elvis wasn't going off here. He was just noting a few facts. His transition to what management calls "becoming a better teammate" is going well, by all accounts. His numbers, however, are not sterling. He's ranked 55th among NHL goalies in save percentage (.877) and 67th in goals-against average (4.04).
In any event, he remains a legend in his native Latvia and will be heading to Milano-Cortina to represent his country at the Olympics. Another of Latvia's goalies will be Arturs Silovs (7-5 with a .888 and a 3.20).
"Obviously, I've waited my whole life for it," Merzlikins said. "I'm super-excited. I can't wait to get there and see my teammates and play some hockey."
Posts
I always plan on writing columns that post on M-W-F for paid subscribers and The Weekly Dis, free for everyone, on Saturday mornings. This week, with the naming of the new Crew coach, there was some bonus material.
Monday:
Remember when we were talking about the Blue Jackets desperately seeking a launch button? That's what the lede section of the Monday post is about. There's also something of an introduction to Mason Marchment, acquired in trade before Christmas, who has a certain reputation in the NHL.
Michael Arace
Tuesday:
Yegor Chinakhov finds a way out of Evason's doghouse by getting traded to Pittsburgh. Here's a detailed accounting from CBJ GM Don Waddell.
Michael Arace
The Crew confirmed a report that Russell Martin was a finalist for their vacant coaching position. Martin is, how shall we say, a colorful character. And Crew fans stirred ...
Michael Arace
Wednesday:
A day after the Martin news broke, we learned it was a well-played misdirection. A report in a Swedish publication said Henrik Rydstrom, formerly of Malmö FF, as the frontrunner for the Crew job. The Disrespected confirmed. Before the sun went down on New Year's Eve, the Crew made it official that Rydstrom was their man. He's an interesting cat.
Michael Arace
Friday:
Crew GM Issa Tall has been under a lot of pressure to find a worthy successor to Wilfried Nancy, who was only the greatest coach in franchise history. Here, Tall breaks down the search process and gets into why he came to be convinced that Rydström is the man to carry on the tradition of MLS's first chartered franchise.
Michael Arace
One more thing about the Friday post: It included a link to a detailed biography Ryndström, written by a self-described Malmö fan and posted on The Massive subreddit. Is it all legit? I went back in and updated the post with a disclaimer.
Subreddit and disclaimer are immediately below. Let me know what you think.
A longer text on Rydström - From a Malmö supporter
by u/StillWatcher in TheMassive
NOTE: The column you're reading was completed Thursday night and went out to paid subscribers at 6 a.m. Friday. Later, a reader/soccer analyst reached out to me to wonder aloud whether the subreddit post from The Massive, linked above, was A.I.-generated, all or in-part. Is "A longer text on Rydström - From a Malmö supporter" too wild to be true? Are there parts of it that are accurate and others that are slop? Is there a Malmö fan in Sweden trolling Columbus? At this point (Friday afternoon) I can't say for sure. I am in the process of attempting to verify certain biographical details. I'll be circling back with more. Let me know what you think in the comments section.
Podcasts
One day of the Condor
I will be getting into a podcast rhythm before long and, when I do, I'll let you know which days of the week "The Crewcible" and "Cannon Balls" will regularly hit. To this point, I've recorded three "Cannon Balls" – one with ESPN's John Buccigross and two with the Mayor of Jacketville, Aaron Portzline.
This week, right after Rydström was named coach of the Crew, I had the great pleasure of reuniting with my former co-host of "Soccer Speakeasy" pod at the Dispatch. There is only one Tom Reed, and dude knows global soccer and the Crew. Condor tuned in from his legendary Dirty Garage. He did not start the show until he'd could light a gigantic cigar with a blowtorch.
I still need reps with producing and editing the pods, but I'm getting there. They can be found at Spotify and Apple Podcasts for now; more platforms are coming as I line up additional RSS feeds. Look for them, like and subscribe, etc. It is with the pods that one of my tenets for Disrespected Media – fun with your friends – is most often realized.
Strip-mall restaurant fare
I'm getting over to Scotty's Cafe next week. I would've gotten there sooner, but the other day I had a salad with grilled chicken and a Diet Pepsi at Boston's and it cost $25 before tip. (Expletive goes here.) The meal was middling. The experience made me put off restauranting for a bit.
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