S-O-L-I-D

OK, so maybe it WAS a good move to trade for Saad

In a fit of petulance after the Blue Jackets lost an early season game to the Maple Leafs, I characterized the team as soft.  These things happen, and it was accurate at the time.  Of late they seem to have left that behind them, and last night I thought they deserved the moniker solid.  When the Blues got up early, they closed ranks and didn't allow another one, though I felt the Blues pushed to try to get the extra goal.  Then they went out and got two of their own, and shut the game down.  That was a sterling example of 'Blue Jackets Hockey' especially when they buried the Blues with the forecheck in the second period.  That was a thing of beauty, at least to some of us.

So the players deserves some props for listening to Tortorella, working hard, and trying to make what the coach is preaching happen.  Tortorella has done a great job, I think, and has the team in the right frame of mind.  The wins at home are a nice touch.  Problematically, a winning home record is an essential component of a playoff team's demeanor, not the occasional treat we have seen of late.  The team's home record kept them out of the playoffs last year, and they really need to chase those demons out of the barn for the rest of this year.

This last little run of play has been a good thing, but they are SO far behind, that it has done little but stop the bleeding.  They really need to play that way for an extended period now, which seems relatively impossible, but for a couple of things.  First and foremost, they've done it before.  Secondly, they got it over with quickly.  So, just sort of fussing around, let's set an interim milestone by which we can gauge progress.  Let's say that if they are at .500 before LA gets to town on December 8, they will have climbed back into this thing.  So, Remember Pearl Harbor is our goal for the interim.  Mind you, if they get to .500 by the end of December they are back in it as well.  Getting to .500 by December 7 would erase a lot of stink from the early season, and make you think they were the playoff team we thought they would be.  And, most importantly, it would make the rest of the season a lot more fun.

So Remember Pearl Harbor.  But don't Give up the Ship if they don't make it to that interim goal.  Close does count for that one.

The Blue Jackets play has improved.  Let's hope it continues!

GO JACKETS!!!