Blue Jackets GM Kekalainen credits coach Richards for establishing team's hard-working identity

One of Jarmo Kekalainen's offseason goals as general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets was to sign head coach Todd Richards to a contract extension, and with that task crossed off his to-list, he feels confident the team has "a very good head coach in place” for the foreseeable future.

Much of that sentiment is due to a definable team identity that was crafted within the context of the Blue Jackets' franchise-record 43 win season, one that ended in a hard-fought playoff series with the heavily-favored Pittsburgh Penguins.

I think the way our team plays and how our identity has been established around the league is a credit to Todd and his coaching staff. We’re regularly or widely viewed as a hard-working and hard-nosed, disciplined team and that often is a big reflection of how the coaching staff does their work. They’ve done a great job. I’ve said it many times: that’s why I came out right after the season and said I wanted to establish a long-term relationship with Todd.

Kekalainen added "We’re happy to have him on board for the long term and now, we can get back to work and start setting long-term plans with him as our coach until 2017, at least."