DBJ's 5 Thoughts On Game 39: San Jose

San Jose 2 - Columbus 1
10-24-5, 5th in Central Division, 15th in Western Conference

(While DBJ is on vacation for the next couple of weeks, the rest of us here on the team will be filling in with our 5 Thoughts. )

In the first of a four game road trip out west, the Blue Jackets lost to the San Jose Sharks by a score of 2-1 last night.

1. Dr. Jekkyl If you have watched the Blue Jackets at all this season, you are painfully aware of their propensity to go all Dr. Jekkyl and Mr Hyde on us. It usually happens in the third period. Last night it happened about 10 minutes into the game.

The Jackets took the ice and, as has often been the case, and as one might expect of a team coming off of a four day break, they looked explosive. They looked fast, fearless and frisky. San Jose couldn't match their energy and looked like a team that was on the second night of a back-to-back, which they were. The Blue Jackets scored their first goal of 2012 just 2:13 into the game when Antoine Vermette chased down a BIG rebound off of Shark's goalie Thomas Griesse (yet another backup) and found Mark Letestu behind the net, who quickly fed Vinnie Prospal with a slick behind the back pass. Prospal stuffed it home, 1-0 Jackets.

DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 20: Calgary

Curtis Sanford Third Jersey Pads

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT - The Dark Blue Jacket, in its long commitment to public service would like to warn the public that Curtis Sanford's Third Jersey Pads have some real WOW!! factor.  We would not want anyone to be un-prepared for this.  And now, back to our regularly scheduled program, the Dark Blue Jacket's 5 thoughts on tonight's 4-1 win by the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Calgary Flames.

1. The Eraser - The CBJ are not a dramatically better team than they were four games ago.  But Curtis Sanford erased many of those mistakes with a great deal of aplomb.  I really liked the way Sanford controlled the pace of the game, and shut things down by gloving the puck when things got too hairy.  Well done Curtis! You are instilling a confidence in the team that is palpable.  I saw mistakes by veteran centers (Carter) and young defensemen (Nikitin) erased by Sanford.  It is now time to start the Masterson discussion.  Please pardon me for a moment while I rant.

HEY BLUEJACKETS!  LETESTU, NIKITIN, AND MARTINEK ARE ALL BLUE JACKETS NOW!  HOW ABOUT SENDING NHL.COM PICTURES OF THEM IN BLUE JACKETS JERSEYS!!

Rant complete.  Thank you for your patience.

The other thoughts after the jump.

Part V: The Dark Blue Jacket's Definitive History of the CBJ

The Howsonian Era -  The Later Stagnation Period to the New Reformation!

The Columbus Blue Jackets Cannon Logo

Arrrggghhh!  This thing has me by the throat, and the puck drops tomorrow!!  Must....blog......harder....    OK, ok, focus.

We last left this tale at the end of the glorious 2008-09 season, when the Columbus Blue Jackets lifted the playoff stigma from their resume, and made the post season for the first time.

By virtue of their strong showing, they picked 21st in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, selecting Defenseman John Moore.  In the off season they parted ways with Freddy Modin, Michael Peca, and Jason Williams.  Optimism was high, the pundits largely picked the squad to finish where it had the previous year, much as they are picking the 2011-12 CBJ to finish where they did last year (shocking newzzzz!)

The boiling point

When Doug MacLean was frog-marched out of Columbus, one of the many grievances aired about him was his oft-frantic approach to personnel moves.  I won't admit to a first-hand knowledge of MacLean's foibles as I started following the Columbus Blue Jackets when he had one foot out the door - right before Ken Hitchcock was hired.  Regardless, the terms "circus huckster" and other all-hype/no-results slurs have been tossed his way.  And it appears that trades like that for Sergei Federov were at least in part based upon desperation, not just for improving the team.  And the results were not strong, to put it gently.

[UPDATE: I just read this blog piece about the rebuilding of the NFL's Detroit Lions.  Read this paragraph, substitute Doug MacLean for Matt Millen, and I think you get a sense of where I'm coming from:

Under former GM Matt Millen, the franchise wasted roster spots on blown draft picks and lemon free-agent acquisitions. And, under the multiple coaching changes, never appeared to establish any scheme. As Millen's pokes and prods turned into desperate risks and frantic prayers, the transient, ambiguous roster fed an incessant identity crisis. One that was defined only by failure.

Does that make sense?]

Enter Scott Howson.  Our very own personnel Ice Man (or Ninja GM, depending on the jargon you use) has dropped the organizational blood pressure considerably in Columbus.  He often is loathe to make any moves at all, but he most certainly does not get rolled over when he does.  Consider Antoine Vermette for Pascal Leclaire.  Who won that trade?  Or Tyutin/Backman for Zherdev/Fritsche?

Perhaps the penultimate demonstration of the patience on Howson's part was this entire past offseason.  Staring a disastrous 2009-10 season in the rearview mirror, complete with the firing of likely Hall of Famer Ken Hitchcock and replacing him with Claude Noel, one would think that Howson would take advantage of the drop-off after the 2008-09 playoff year to move some players out, bring some in and improve the roster.

Think again.  The two major roster moves that Howson made were: 1) Claim Ethan Moreau off of waivers, and 2)  Re-sign Steve Mason.  Other than that, Howson essentially said that he liked his roster, and that while he'd like to upgrade the defense, he'd be comfortable taking this squad into the season.  And, yes, he overhauled the coaching staff.

So here we are, the week after Christmas.  Despite what still is the best CBJ start ever, the Jackets are struggling mightily to extricate themselves from a slide that has seen them win a whopping four games (including overtime/shootout winners) since Thanksgiving.  As I've written all over this blog, the Blue Jackets have demonstrated since their dismantling at the hands of the Red Wings that they are incapable of reliably beating any good NHL hockey club with this roster.  It's probably past time to start making moves to get the CBJ out of 12th place in the Western Conference and back into playoff contention.

What we love about Howson - his ability to keep his hand close to the vest until he gets a deal he knows will at least be an even trade if not a win...his willingness to stand pat rather than stir the pot up - is precisely what drives us crazy at times like this.  

Game 27/St. Louis: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to St. Louis, Missouri tonight and lost to the Blues, 4-1, in regulation.

That this loss - the third straight road loss - happened against a team that was reeling from injuries is all the more telling.  This is a team that, despite the shootout win over Dallas and the shootout loss (hello, loser point) against Nashville, is reeling and pretty much devoid of confidence since getting undressed by the Detroit Red Wings in games 21 and 22.  They haven't won in regulation in the past nine games - since November 22.  Sigh.

Game 26/Dallas: My Take

The slumping Columbus Blue Jackets welcomed the streaking Dallas Stars into Nationwide Arena on Monday night and overcame the Stars, 3-2, in a post-overtime shootout.

This was my second regular season game in my ticket package, so my review of the night's events will take on a different tone from having actually been in attendance.  As much as I'd like you to think that a recap based off of TV is the same as one based off the in-arena experience, it isn't.  So enjoy it when you can!

Mrs. DBJ and I bundled up and headed down to Nationwide very mindful of the Buffalo and Pittsburgh debacles.  Our mood heading in was, "Please, don't let it be that bad."  Yeah, the Kool-Aid is back in the fridge and likely will stay there for a while.

Game 22/Detroit: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to Joe Louis Arena to salvage half of a home-and home weekend series with the Detroit Red Wings and left empty-handed in a 4-2 loss.

After taking a 1-0 lead on a Derick Brassard tip-in at the end of the first period, the CBJ gave up two goals in 14 seconds in the middle of the second period.  Clearly rattled but still determined, the Jackets mustered the necessary competitive effort to compete with the (in my opinion) prohibitive Stanley Cup favorites until the start of the third period, when Valtteri Filppula took advantage of a Steve Mason rebound that had zero defensive back-side assistance and flipped one in the back of the net to make it 3-1.  The game appeared over until late in the third when the second power play unit (in a desperation empty-net configuration comprised of Umberger, Vermette, Brassard, Voracek, Russell and MacKenzie) finally slipped one past the Red Wings' penalty kill  to make it 3-2 with 1:30 to go.




It ended up being too little, too late, with the Wings dropping an empty netter in to end the game.

One of the downsides of actually being able to watch the vast majority of the game when it's a loss is that it  allows me the opportunity to gauge the demonstrable mindset of the two teams and, when a game starts as a virtual stalemate, to identify the moment when the game swung out of control.  (Gee, why I can't a get a rousing home win to have nearly three solid hours in front of the TV?  Did it have to be this game?)

Game 17/Anaheim: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets stared down the grim face of history on Friday night, never giving in (or giving up) against a tenacious Anaheim Ducks squad at the Honda Center.  The Blue Jackets won, 4-3, marking their first Friday win of the season.

Or was it Saturday?  I mean, the victory wasn't sealed until after midnight Columbus time.  Curse these West Coast trips...

Anyway, onto the game.  It seems like only yesterday that I wrote this:

All the CBJ will do is come into your house, track mud onto the carpet, empty your fridge, eat your chips, turn on all the lights...and send your fans home unhappy. 

That's what the Columbus Blue Jackets do this year.

And again, it rings true.  Those plucky Blue Jackets just don't seem to realize that they're supposed to lose their way through these West Coast trips, that it's the Los Angeleses and San Joses and Vancouvers who are supposed to threaten the Detroit/Chicago (but certainly not the rest of the Central Division) hegemony in the West.  This crystallized for me in the final 1-2 seconds of the game, where Corey Perry realized that his team was going to lose to Columbus and, in a fit of exasperation, hauled off and sucker-punched Antoine Vermette.

Hockey players are human, too

Perhaps it's the extended break between games, or maybe there's another reason, but today saw a couple really strong human interest pieces related to the Columbus Blue Jackets.  I tend to avoid pointing out specific pieces as "must reads" (or would they be better as "should reads"?), but you just don't get this subject matter every day.

• Capital Style: Married to the Game.  Scott Howson, Antoine Vermette and Mathieu Garon's wives discuss life as hockey spouses.  These are some very impressive women.  Mighty tolerant, too, considering the odd hours their husbands keep. 
• Columbus Dispatch: Unwelcome solitude.  Tom Reed takes some time over at the oft-quiet Ice Haus rink to see how injured players deal with being on the team - but not really on the team.  (Poor Ethan Moreau!)  If you don't get it, you'll understand once you read the article.  

Two really good articles, and definitely worth your time if your interest in the CBJ goes beyond what happens from the initial puck drop to the announcement of three stars.

Game 3/Chicago: My Take

OK, so there apparently ARE days where it's better to be stuck in class than in Nationwide Arena.  When your beloved Columbus Blue Jackets get shellacked by a depleted Chicago Blackhawks squad, 5-2 on 40 (!) shots, this probably fits the bill.

I was only able to catch just a few minutes of actual action, so I can only go off what I've seen on Twitter and the scoresheet.  Perhaps that allows me a little necessary distance to discuss this rationally.  For had I been in the arena, I probably would get a tad strident.  So let's step gently through this minefield and try to understand what happened.

DBJ's Blue Jackets Slap Shots review

I just wrapped up watching the first installment of Fox Sports Ohio's new, weekly half-hour show, "Blue Jackets Slap Shots."  My expectations were low for this first effort (Everyone deserves a honeymoon, especially on a venture like this where it takes time to find an editorial voice), yet Fox Sports Ohio put together a package of clips and stories that really was quite good and with a quality that makes me want to come back for more.

I watched the show with the laptop on my lap, so I jotted down notes as I was watching.  Here's what I saw:

1. An 8-minute Scott Arniel and Rick Nash combination interview/profile.  I think that this was the only totally fresh piece in the entire show outside of Ray Crawford's studio shots, and it was extremely well done.  Perhaps most notable is that it offered the longest commentary from Rick Nash that I've ever seen.  Great mutual admiration society talk from Arniel re: Nash, and Nash re: Arniel.  There was no better way to open up this series than with the two most visible faces of the franchise.  Excellent "candid" pregame and game camera footage.  The insight on Steve Mason from both Arniel and Nash was fantastic and gives CBJ fans hope for the season ahead. I'm loving hearing the words straight from the guys' mouths...no reporters' filter.

2. Get to know the Jackets segment...maybe a minute or two.  Quick cuts of a handful of players talking about their best hockey memory.  This looks remarkably like footage from an intermission last season.

3. New Blue Jackets Slap Shots graphics.  Nice, clean, forward-moving.  Not entirely cut from the standard Fox Sports cookie cutter, yet not jarringly out of place.

4. Blue Jackets in Sweden clips.  This looks a lot like a compilation of the Sweden video clips posted on FoxSportsOhio.com, which I don't think is all bad as many more people will get a chance to see the work on television than online.  These are all well done, with a nice combination of Sweden travelogue, Blue Jackets "behind the scenes" footage and some good hockey coverage - both on ice and in the locker room.  I also like how they showed a replay of the play where Commodore got screwed on the boarding call...good hockey broadcast journalism without unnecessary 'homer' commentary.  They just showed the video, and there was no boarding.  Just saying, NHL.

Our bubble boys can beat Minnesota's starters

Let's get the personal stuff out of the way - this was the first actual game to which I brought the Dark Blue Toddler.  Luckily, the tickets were dirt cheap and the section (209) was pretty much empty above us in row J, so he was able to munch on Cheerios, drink milk, crawl around the (widow-maker) stairs and run back and forth across the aisles.  Oh, and eat my fries.  He lasted almost two entire periods, not bad for a 16-month-old.

And, once we bailed out, the Columbus Blue Jackets started scoring.

A Jackets team made up of a small handful of starters and a whole bunch of players on the bubble won, 3-2 over a Minnesota Wild team that was comprised of their NHL-level lineup as they had made most all of their cuts already.  That's profound, something in which the CBJ can be pleased.  Or the Wild can be downright scared.  Take your pick.

Tom Sestito's closing argument as to why he should
make the Columbus Blue Jackets roster.

As I mentioned, I was chasing my son all over section 209, so my thoughts are admittedly incomplete and based largely upon quick glances as opposed to any detailed study of what I saw.  But here's my take:

• The Blue Jackets looked really ragged, which stands to reason as the roster was assembled with green-handled scissors and scotch tape in order to accommodate all of the players sitting on the roster bubble.  This was a night of forced chemistry, of proving to the coaches and management that you can perform in this new, Scott Arniel puck possession system.
• Alternatively, you can prove that you can offer other services to the team.  Mike Blunden and Tom Sestito ended up taking this route, getting in fights.  Blunden laid the beat down on his victim, and Sestito won in an impassioned decision.  By the way, Dark Blue Toddler enjoyed cheering with the fans over the fights...not that he understood what was going on.
• There's not a lot you can tell about a team on "last chance night," so I'll keep my profound statements about the team and their adaption to this new system to a minimum.
  

Post-9/24 AM practice thoughts

With the Dark Blue Toddler in tow, I headed down to Nationwide Arena to witness my first-ever Columbus Blue Jackets practice with the little guy...only my second practice ever, I believe.  I'm much more of a TV/internet fan of the club than an in-person fan, largely due to familial and work/family constraints, so it's interesting to see the machinations of the Columbus Blue Jackets system on full display with no filters applied beyond the glass that separates us from the ice.  I'd love to do it more often...hope to do so in the future.

Attending a practice in person only reemphasizes how much I have to learn about the game I enjoy so much.  With drills running almost constantly at both ends of the ice, and occasional specialty drills at center ice, there's so much going on that you really don't have a means to drink all the water coming out of the visual fire hydrant.  So you drink in what you can, pray you didn't miss anything big, and enjoy the experience.  Or at least I did, while not chasing my son up and down the stairs.

I only caught the on-ice practice for the last 45 minutes of the team that will play tonight, with barely enough of the balance of the squad to count as seeing them in-person.  Chasing the Toddler around the arena means that no photos will accompany this post.

Howson has assembled a tall roster, but I don't know as any are taller than Tommy Sestito.  Just saying...

Time to step up: Antoine Vermette

• Center
• Alternate captain
• 28 years old, 7th year in National Hockey League
• $3,750,000 cap hit 
• 6.3% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2014-2015
• 2009-2010 CBJ numbers: 82 games played, 27 goals, 38 assists, 65 points, +2, 32 penalty minutes, 20:08 avg. time on ice

Don't look now, but we might have that Mythical First Line Center
right under our noses!

If I had to pick an offensive player for last season's DBJ Most Valuable Player, it would have been Antoine Vermette.  (Of course, I didn't choose to go offense and instead picked Fedor Tyutin, but that's another topic for another profile.)

In addition to playing in every single game last season, and trailing only Rick Nash in goals and total points (and trailing only Kristian Huselius on assists...wait a minute, Juice led the team in assists?), Vermette also led the team in a couple "Blue Jackets by the numbers" categories, that being pace-setting goals and last-minute goals.  Work on your clutch scoring, Antoine, and you'll have hit the trifecta.  

And - holy cow - he can pull rabbits like this out of his hat:

(Side note: Where did I come up with this gem of a video, you ask?  Strangely, I found it on the Hockey For The Ladies blog, which offers a great bio on Vermette in addition to beefcake shots that will make any Puck Bunny swoon.  The perils of Googling a guy's name for more info...)

Talk about a talent.  I'm still amazed that Scott Howson was able to grab him, straight up, in a trade with Ottawa for Pascal "Murphy's Law" LeClaire.  I'm having a hard time thinking of a shrewder personnel move than this one.  (Hmmm....Maybe the Tyutin/Backman for Zherdev/Fritsche trade?)

Game 70/Edmonton Oilers: Happier Thoughts

Here are your highlight's from last night's 5-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers:

Although this game wasn't on Fox Sports Ohio or Versus, maybe you caught the CenterIce feed. If not, the Dispatch always has excellent game wrap-ups that give details of how the goals were scored and such.Check out the one for last night's game here (honestly, I prefer the ones not written by Arace, but I'll take what I can get).

The worst part of the game last night was that Hejda was injured after playing only four shifts. He apparently sprained his right knee and will likely be out for the rest of the season. Because of Hejda's injury, Paetsch switched from playing LW to D. He somehow managed to finish the night an impressive -3. Brassard, Pahlsson, Umberger, and Voracek were tied at -1. Paetsch bounced around pairings and made me worry every time he was on the ice. [Update: Apparently Paetsch was also frustrated with his play. I didn't notice is but one #CBJ twitter says that he broke his stick after an Oilers goal. Lots of stick smashing going on: after the empty netter, Ryan Whitney smacked his stick against the glass.]

The most exciting part of the game (for me) was that Marc Methot got his second goal of the season. As leeauer on twitter says... "you don't leave Marc Methot uncovered"! With his goal the Jackets were up 3-1, but then goal scoring went back and forth between the two teams. With 12:15 left, I admit, I was worried that "Jackets time" would begin and somehow the Oilers would come out on top. I am pleased that that didn't happen.

All sorts of significant/notable milestones were reached last night, including Fedor Tyutin, who has now played in 400 games. He also tied his career high for assists with 25, the number he had last year in 82 games. Last year he had 34 points and right now he has 30, so look for him to set a record there, too. Derek Dorsett had the first multi-point game of his career last night with his two assists, on the fourth and fifth goals, scored respectively by Huselius and Vermette. Those two men had a heck of a night last night. Vermette now has 55 points after getting three last night with his empty-net goal and two assists. His previous season high was 53 during the 2007-2008 season when he was with the Ottawa Senators. He had 5 shots on goal and won 16 of 26 faceoffs. Huselius had a four point night with one goal and three assists, four shots on goal, and finished +3.

Jared Boll fought Theo Peckham, and even though Boll went to the ice first, he definitely won that fight. Thankfully Boll seems to be okay despite smacking the back of his head against the ice.

I do feel a bit bad for Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who is 0-8-2 in his NHL career. He is huge though! 6'6". But the Blue Jackets did bring his goals-against average down!

Thanks to Dispatch Writer Aaron Portzline who found out who the hard hat winner was for last night's game. Mike Commodore received the hat, who protected Mason's net when Mason himself couldn't. Also, Garon got the hard hat after the 2-1 win over the Thrashers on 3/11 and Vermette got it after the 5-2 win against the Ducks on the 9th. Here's the video of Commodore's sweet moves in case you don't feel like watching the entire highlight reel above!

Next up: the Minnesota Wild on Friday. Yours truly will be in Nashville on Saturday for the Blue Jackets game, so be sure to check back here for a report on how that went, or at least some photos!

Methot goal photo: Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images

Photos of Boll and Huselius: AP Photo/Jay LaPrete

Game 68/Atlanta Thrashers: Thoughts

Here are some highlights from last night's game, a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers. Notably missing from the Blue Jacket's line-up was captain Rick Nash, along with the newly acquired Nathan Paetsch. Chris Chelios also played in his first NHL game of the season last night, previously having played with the Thrasher's AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

Blue Jackets goals: Umberger from Huselius and Tyutin; Huselius from Russell and Dorsett

Thrashers goals: Oduya from Kozlov

I had the pleasure of going to this game. I got the tickets originally because I wanted to see Kovalchuk play... but we all know how that turned it! It was nice, though, that Chelios played (maybe nice isn't the right word. Perhaps "interesting"?).

But there was this man, #80: Nik Antropov. During his first shift I thought, "dang, this guy is huge". That thought quickly changed to "wow, he is a jerk". Jerk may not have been how I originally described him. But, it seems that he can't take a hit: he apparently didn't appreciate Boll so he elbowed him in the face. The ensuing power play, along with a sweet move/failed shot block by Chelios, led to the Blue Jacket's first goal. Throughout the entire game Antropov was tangled up with Boll and Pahlsson. At one point Pahlsson and Atropov fell on top of each other along the boards, and Antropov proceeded to give him a little extra shove with #26 was down. Pahlsson then laid a hit on him - and Antropov, once again, showed why I dislike him. He looked at the ref, as if he was expecting a penalty to be called. Ugh, please. Antropov later at the end of the second period got a minor for cross-checking Pahlsson (Boll in turn got two minutes for roughing Antropov, so there was no powerplay).

I was excited to see the top line start off as 18-16-93. I would like to see Brassard stay as the #1 center for the rest of the season. Instead, Brassard bounced around lines all night. There were a ton of other line changes as well and I just couldn't keep them straight. At one point, Dorsett was on the top line.

I thought the defensive play was much better in this game, comparatively. I was especially impressed by Marc Methot who led the team with seven hits and three blocked shots. IHC Claude Noel had this to say about Methot's play:

I thought Methot was real good, really good. I think he's playing really well, really playing with passion, playing physical. He's a good skater [and] he's playing with a lot more confidence.

Although I didn't notice the faceoff that Noel referred to as to why he benched Mayorov (Noel said Mayorov basically ignored his responsibilities after the faceoff) I did notice Mayorov leave a play to wait at the point for a breakaway opportunity. He did get the puck and carried it down the ice, but lost an edge behind the net and fell on his butt. I have liked watching him play though so hopefully he gets a talking to. It looks like they will need him the next game because Portzline has tweeted that Huselius and Nash will both be out for tomorrow's game against the St. Louis Blues.

The Blue Jackets had one shot in the third period. The Thrashers had 17. In his post-game presser Noel said, "we had one shot, gimme a break". Yeah.

Is the hard hat no longer being awarded? If it was - I didn't notice (please let me know). I would have given it to Vermette. He didn't have any shots but won 13 of 20 faceoffs, and was all over the place, making things happen.

What did you think of the game? I am especially curious as to what others think about Huselius' play last night. He finished with two points (one goal and one assist),  so his stats look okay, but I thought he was infuriating to watch, especially on the power play.

An "interesting tidbit," as our favorite writers at the Dispatch might say: last I checked, the O'Clitsome St. Patrick's Day themed jersey was going for more money than Nash's.

Also, here is a fun interview with RJ Umberger about the first time he skated, his pregame rituals, and who he would like to put a big hit on:

Probably Ryan Kesler. He plays real hard, he plays in your face, he's got a nasty edge. We have a little bit of a history, too. It's fun to compete against someone like that because it brings all that out.

Photos: Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images

10 Thoughts about Game 33: Nashville

1. After everyone in the Columbus Blue Jackets' locker room piped in with comments about the "serious," "critical" and "urgent" nature of tonight's game, the Jackets proceeded to play the exact same type of game that they've been playing recently in losing to the Nashville Predators, 5-3.

1a. The Jackets have lost 11 of their last 13 and currently sport a record of 14-13-6 (34 points).

1b. Here are your highlights:

10 Thoughts about Game 9: Anaheim

1. Wash, rinse, repeat: The Columbus Blue Jackets trailed at the end of the first period, came charging back and held off a late Anaheim rally to win 6-4 in Anaheim and raise their record to 6-3-0.  The only question mark after seeing all of these games is whether our late-game collapse will be so significant that we'll lose it outright.  Tonight, it wasn't.  (Hmmm....that's a bit harsh.  I'll try to make up for it in the later thoughts.)

2. As I Twittered, this game perhaps had me more nervous than any other thus far this season.  After the ridiculous loss in Edmonton, Ken Hitchcock didn't wait the conventional wisdom's 20 games to reassess his team and the lineup.  He reshuffled the lines to try to get the team playing to its fullest potential.   More on some of the specific changes later, but let's agree right now that the most important change occurred when you saw the 5 win total rise to 6 after last night's game.

You see, in professional sports, coaches don't have a ton of leeway with the team.  When your players make as much or more than the coach, the coach generally is considered the expendable one when things go bad and changes have to be made.  Hitch is clearly a Hall of Fame coach; his resume, win totals and a Stanley Cup title put him in that eschelon of coaches.  But even Hall of Famers don't get leeway forever.  If the team had lost; if the players' confidence in the mad scientist of line combinations started to shake; if Hitch started the slow, painful process of losing the team....well, it could have been bad and the CBJ (re?)building process could have been short-circuited.  Wheels come off when things like this don't work.

Instead, the lineup shuffle paid off and the Jackets won.  Doesn't really matter if it was the combinations themselves or the wakeup call that the team received; they WON.  Hitch's reputation as a great coach survives intact.  The players might shake their heads and wonder what Ken's thinking, but they still have reason to buy into the program on a foundation of faith in their coach.  Hitch can only pull a maneuver like this once or twice in the season and still keep the team focussed, so let's all thank our lucky stars that it worked.  Individual win aside, this was big.  Really big.

3. The most active line on the scoresheet was the Vermette-Voracek-Huselius line, which Hitch already had patched together for Edmonton.  Two goals for Jake, a goal and 2 assists for Antoine...that makes for a fun evening.

3a. That Vermette pass from his knees to Jake for the goal in the 2nd was suh-weet.

4. Captain Rick Nash had two goals and an assist as well.  The second of the two goals was career goal #200.  Two hundred goals - stop for a minute and get your mind around that.  Incredible.

5. I'm sure that Hitch had no problem handing the crease back to Steve Mason after Mathieu Garon's performance in Edmonton.  (To Garon's credit, he would have had to stand on his head to win considering the lousy team play in front of him.)  Mase stopped 33 of 37, good enough to win but probably nothing that will get the Canadian Olympic folks excited.   Don't get me wrong, I want to see him do well and wouldn't mind his representing his country in Vancouver.  I just want to see him win some games for the team that's paying him.

6. OK, I'll be a man and admit it.  I crashed on the couch after the end of the 1st period and woke with about 6-ish minutes left in the 3rd period.  (Photo is not of me, but might as well have been...)  My 10 Thoughts clearly are affected by this fact.  I'm glad I DVR'd the game - the 2nd period appears to be when the real action took place.

6a.  These western swings just stink.  I'm just useless the next day after these late games.

6b. I have this dream that the Islanders will give up on the Lighthouse project and move to Kansas City.  The Red Wings won't be allowed to leave the Western Conference because 1) The teams in the East are a bunch of pretty-boy sissies and would be scared to play the Winged Wheel night in and night out, and 2) Chicago will continue to exercise its functional veto of a Wings realignment.  Thus, the Blue Jackets would move to the Eastern Conference and the CBJ would tear through the East in a manner similar to last year's 13-3-2 record versus the East.  And I would go to bed before 1AM on a consistent basis throughout the NHL season.  Hey, a guy can dream, right?

7. Sammy Pahlsson was en fuego in his return to Anaheim, where he played on the Stanley Cup-winning Ducks team.  Dude did not see a faceoff that he couldn't win.  What a great, great pickup by GM Scott Howson!

8. Some gaudy plus-minuses on the stat sheet.  Vermette & Tyutin with +4. Voracek with +3.  Nash, Commodore (welcome back!), Huselius and Stralman with +2.  That's what we like to see!

9.  Fedor Tyutin is living proof that sometimes just shooting the puck toward the net gives you a goal.  Doesn't have to be perfect, doesn't have to be pretty, just has to be a puck moving in the direction of the net.  (And, yes, I was awake for this one.)

10. Let's close it out with an awesome summarizing comment from "David" in the Puck-Rakers game recap: "After the Jackets surrendered the 2-goal lead it could have went either way. Then the Jackets started digging out the puck in those hard areas away from center ice, in the corners, behind the net and one-on-ones. Nasher elbowed the puck away from a Duck in our attack zone and when that guy went flying the Jackets were on the way to a victory."  This speaks to the Jackets - top to bottom - recommitting to the Hitch system...something that needs to happen each and every night.

Tonight's game is a rematch against the Los Angeles Kings, this time at the Staples Center.  A win tonight, and the CBJ are .500 on the road trip - my working definition of a good swing.

Thank God it starts an hour earlier...