Mike Commodore's post-mortem

Columbus Blue Jacket defenseman Mike Commodore was in New York today, making the rounds of NHL media properties, and he answered the question, "What went wrong?" with the Columbus Blue Jackets' season:

"We just had too many guys, myself included, that didn't have very good years," Blue Jackets veteran defenseman Mike Commodore said. "We have a very young team in Columbus. Last year, it was these guys' first years, and they had great years. And this year it was a learning experience. This year I think a lot of us, a lot of the young guys, found out it's not easy playing in the NHL. It's the best league in the world for a reason. I think a lot of them needed to learn how to be a pro. And then for some of us older guys, for me, for example, I went through an injury-plagued year until after the Olympic break and for me, it was a learning experience for me too, learning how to deal with that stuff, and I didn't deal with it in the greatest manner, and I wasn't the only one as far as injuries go."
...
"It's easy to think maybe you're better than you are. You kind of take things for granted," Commodore said. "We got off to a good start and then started tanking it. For this year, maybe for the first time -- I've only been there two years -- people weren't taking the Columbus Blue Jackets for granted, especially for the first three-quarters of the year. We weren't seeing the backup goalies. We were getting the others team's best, and we couldn't handle it this year."

As frustrating as Commie's year was, he was open and honest about it all along.  No sugar-coating with this guy - which probably is good for the Blue Jackets.  Facing the facts is generally a good policy in a wins-and-losses business like professional sports.