Oh No!! We Didn't Win the First Half Mile of The Marathon!

There we were, lined up with all the other runners at the start of the marathon.  Pretty keyed up, in good shape, and we're off with the start!  Running well, starting to get warmed up, working through the adrenaline buzz to settle in to the pace.  At the quarter mile mark, a gap appears in the front runners, and we surge into the lead.  Then BAM!  Someone steps on our heel, trips us, and all of a sudden we are on the ground while the rest of the herd goes surging by.  We stagger up, trying to find a rhythm again, while more runners pass us up. Finally, as the half mile mark approaches, we find our stride again, but now those crazy Kenyans are way out in front of us.  The good news is just about the whole marathon lies before us. Time to settle your stride, and get to work.

Literary license is a great thing.  First of all, the CBJ are actually 0.648 miles into the marathon that is the 2015-16 season.  Second of all, we are talking about hockey, but the analogy is apt.  It is important to remember that an 0-2 start was always on the table the moment the schedule came out.  That's a tough opening sequence, starting with a home and home with the Rangers.  It's true the result happened in ignominious fashion, which ain't real fun, but this doesn't define the season.  Time for the CBJ to bow their neck and get to work.  Get in the system, and find some urgency.  That's when we play best.  And time to circle a couple of games later in the season, then forget it.

I am on record somewhere in the Twitterverse this summer as being of the opinion that the Rangers would regress this year.  Good call, huh?  And I would say my already high opinion of Alain Vigneault has reached new found levels of respect.  No longer saddled with the Sedin twins, he has the Rangers cooking on all cylinders, a team that is better than the sum of its parts, with a world class goalie.  So good on them.  It's a long season, we'll check in later.

According to Puck Rakers the CBJ had a meeting today.  Hopefully they concluded that they don't play Rangers hockey as well as the Rangers, and that it's time to play some Blue Jackets hockey.  We'll see in the matinee game, tomorrow at 3 PM!

GO JACKETS!!