There is preseason hype,but is there October hope?



There's nothing offensive about this picture, is there?

It’s July in Columbus, Ohio and it means one thing – that Blue Jackets fans must suffer increasing coverage of the Ohio State Buckeyes men's football team in print, TV, and digital media coverage.  As Bobby Boucher's foozeball season approaches, the small, but loyal core of CBJ fans here in Columbus band together and look forward to Cannonfest, then the start of CBJ training camp, followed by lame pre-season games, and then finally - the start of the NHL season in early October.   Not uncommon, there is the usual excitement surrounding the team this season with player acquisitions/retention  - and an added unfamiliar feeling of credibility as the team heads into its first full season with a legitimate front office.  As an early adopter to the CBJ, I remain cautiously optimistic.

In 2011, I was the only person in Columbus who hated this picture.
Today, I'm the only one who can  laugh at it.

As the old adage goes, you can’t win the Monaco Grand Prix in the first lap, but you can certainly lose it.  Borrowing from another sport that is largely foreign to most parts of the US, it’s a statement that simply means ‘A bad start can ruin your whole race.’  Truly, the signing of Bobrovsky, the addition of Nathan Horton, (don't forget Marian Gaborik), and the retention of most of last year’s hard working team are all positives that even I am excited about.  But it’s October and November that are preventing me from guzzling the CBJ Kool Aid and placing them third in the Mesopotamian Division.  Now let me tell you why…

1.       The Blue Jackets have chosen NOT to sign their leading scorer and catalyst from last season, Vinny Prospal, for the 2013-2014 campaign.  There is still a chance they may, but my CBJ Boomer themed magic 8-ball says, “Outlook Not Booming.”   The intangibles aside, when you choose not to sign your leading scorer from last season, even if he was 82^nd in the league, you are asking a largely low scoring and inconsistent offense to fill some big skates.   The Jackets relied on 90’s style defensive tactics to make it tough for skilled teams to advance the puck through the Neutral zone.  The offense seemed to be derived from passing around a sign-up sheet before each game to see who was going to score goals that night.  Odd seeing as you have almost a third of your payroll tied up in Umberger, Dubinsky, Gaborik, and Commodore.  Gaborik will only be a net positive if Mark Letestu proves not to be a one-hit wonder and streaky Artem Anisimov becomes consistent.  This team's current strength is not offense.  And considering the intangibles, the work ethic remains the same sans Vinny, but the dressing room is certainly missing it's spark plug. 



You said she was a real spark plug?!  No Jarmo, I said buttplug.

2.       Bobrovsky can’t play all-world every game.  He is a legit NHL goaltender for sure, but it is unrealistic to expect him to win every game for the Blue Jackets this season.  What was really remarkable to me last season was Bob’s ability to avoid what goalies call ‘fighting it.’  Every goalie will tell you there are four or five games a year where you just fight the puck all game.  You’re not seeing the puck, you’re not seeing shots, and everything is a screen.   Last season down the stretch, Bobrovsky seemed to have tithed, rubbed a sacred rock, or thrown enough darts at Glenn Beck pictures to have fortuitously avoided any such nights where he was 'fighting it.'  Goalies will have off nights, and Bob can’t be all world for 70+ games this season.  Yet, my expectations for him remain high. 

 

3.       Horton hatches and extended stay on the IR.  Nathan Horton won’t be around until the end of November.  Not much here to sizzle, nothing we can do, he just won’t be around until after America’s Thanksgiving.  Oh, and imagine that, Marian Gaborik's abdomen has had another conjugal visit from a scalpel this offseason.

So what do the Jackets do?  Where should they turn to fill the scoring dearth created by the absence of Vinny and the convalesced Horton?   The answer is simple, and it's not Gaborik. It's the Power Play.

 

Pow-Pow-Power Play...  First off, the power play the first 2/3 of last season was awful.    The CBJ set up offensive schemes that could easily be defended by four players.  There was little creativity in the power play and I wanted to gouge my eyes out every time I saw Gaborik standing in front of the net a la Thomas Holmstrom.   The PP strategy has to improve and should be the focus going into camp.  Being in a perpetual state of hip flexor repair or not, if you give Gaborik time and space with the puck, marvelous things will happen.  If the power play sucks like it did early last season, start firing people.  I don’t care who – fire somebody.   But I don't hold Gaborik to be the singular cog in the power play success, in fact I feel he is tertiary, even quaternary.  The success of the power play, to me, lies solely with the two mid-Westerners patrolling the blue line and peppering the glass behind the net with pucks – Jack and Whiz. 



Stay on target.  Stay on target.

I know Wisniewski loves to blast the puck from the point, who doesn’t?  But the Blue Jackets’ version of “Wild Thing” Rick Vaughn needs to bring some knee high heat.  Perhaps some Controlled Controlled Chaos?  The shots from the point have to be on net or deflectable in front in order to be an effective scoring opportunity.   Sailing the puck 7 feet wide at 90 MPH – maybe not so much.   James’ offensive skill are there without a doubt– the execution just needs tweaked a bit.  If I were James Wisniewski’s pee-wee coach, I would have him tone down the slapper just a tad, and bet him a milk shake that with more shots reaching the front of the net, he picks up 6-8 more PP points per season - and those points lead to wins.  E’rybody loves wins.  Especially the ticket sales peeps.  More snappers, less slappers.  And yes, that's a complete double entrendre.



Sorry Gandalf nerds - enjoy
some British humor instead.

And as for JMFJ...  Mr Jack Johnson, you’ve been in Columbus for parts of two seasons now.  Digging pucks out of your skates and having pucks blow up at the Blue Line should no longer be problematic, it should be second nature.  When you see a puck coming at you high and hard, channel your inner Black Knight and tell that puck – “None shall pass!” Get a stick, hand, skate, or tooth on the puck and settle that beast down.   Also, while we’re teasing Wisniewski a bit, maybe you should put on the ‘don’t shoot me’ orange hunting vest when you’re on the point with Wisniewski?   Or in case Dick Cheney stops by.  Just sayin’

As speculation of extemporaneous superlatives run amuck amongst my blogging contemporaries between now and opening night, I look forward to the product on the ice delivered by the team when the regular season starts.  When the puck drops in October, and as the forwards adjust to their new roles after a handful of largely meaningless preseason games, I hope the team has put renewed emphasis on establishing an effective power play.  It starts with the boys on the blue line, and that’s who I hope fills in the void until the forwards can start producing consistently (CC:  RJ Umberger, Brandon Dubinsky, and Nick Foligno).  If the CBJ have the power play clicking around 20% come late-October, there will be lots of smiles on this blogger's face for sure.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

 

GO JACKETS!