Fort St. John’s Ford named assistant coach for Columbus Blue Jackets

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John’s Scott Ford has been named an assistant coach with the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Columbus Blue Jackets for the 2024-25 season.

The club formally announced the hire in a release on August 8th.  

The 44-year-old spent the last seven seasons with the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Milwaukee Admirals in the same role under current Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason.

Ford also served as an assistant with the team’s NHL affiliate, the Nashville Predators, during the 2021-22 season.

Formally a defenceman, Ford enjoyed a professional career spanning 11 seasons from 2005 to 2015.  

He split time playing for the Cleveland Barons, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Milwaukee, and the Providence Bruins (AHL), as well as the Dayton Bombers, Fresno Falcons, Trenton Titans, South Carolina Stingrays, and Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL (formally known as the East Coast Hockey League).

According to the Internet Hockey Database, Ford registered 31 goals and 84 assists in total over his career.

Before this, he spent four years at Ivy League school Brown University in Rhode Island, where his efforts catapulted Ford to the 2003-04 East Coast Athletic Conference award for best defensive defenceman.

Ford is the third Peace region alumni the Blue Jackets have acquired this offseason:  In June, Chetwynd’s Cayden Lindstrom and Fort St. John’s Evan Gardner were selected during the NHL draft in Las Vegas.

Training camp for the NHL club opens on September 20th.