Hurricane Sandy doesn't stop the "Hatched and Hungry"

Let’s just say by the end of these next few days, there might be a farm no longer. Hurricane Sandy is demonstrating her thrash, wreaking havoc along the East coast. Now us here in Springfield haven’t been affected yet, with the storm looming over New York City. However, just like my dad has always told me: “The only sports that are not cancelled in bad weather are hockey and skiing.” Well the Falcons didn't do too much skiing this weekend, but they did play some Hockey!

This past weekend was one of much success for the Springfield Falcons. With two victories, the Falcons slid into the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Hurricane Sandy is coming for our farm!
Photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

On Friday night, the Falcons traveled to Providence to take on the Bruins and defeated the Boston Bruin farm team 3-0. Just one week prior, it was Providence on the winning side of the ice, taking the game 3-1.This time around it was all Springfield. goalie Curtis McElhinney recorded his second shutout in five games while Ryan Johansen, Cam Atkinson and Ryan Russell scored the goals.

Moving on to Saturday night, things were a little different. The Falcons hosted the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and eventually lost in a shootout 3-2. The UMass Amherst graduate and back-up goalie Paul Dainton played well, recording 36 saves in the loss.

For those of you that don’t know much about Paul Dainton, let me give you some insight, for I have been watching this guy between the pipes for a while now. Back at UMass, Dainton was a stud. Pretty much every time the guy made a save, the hundreds of “Mullins Maniacs” (UMass fanbase) wave their hands up and down praising their goalkeeper. In four years between 2007 and 2011, Dainton finished his career with a .908 save percentage, 2.79 goals against average and a career record of 45-16-12. My guess is that he will be a solid backup for McElhinney and will be an asset down the road.

In their last game of the weekend, the “Hatched and Hungry” Falcons took on the Portland Pirates in a Sunday matinee. Springfield scored three times in the first frame while outshooting the Pirates 19-4. Then, with McElhinney back in the cage, held off Portland down the stretch to close out the weekend with a 3-2 victory.

That’s it from here on the Farm, now back to you!

Big weekend down on the farm..

Nick Drazenovic scored the lone goal vs. the Providence
Bruins last Saturday. Photo courtesy of Masslive.com

The Blue Jacket affiliate Springfield Falcons have an action packed weekend in store for them. They have three games in a row lined up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday night, the Falcons will travel to Providence, RI to take on the Bruins in a rematch of last Saturday’s 3-1 loss. Center Nick Drazenovic scored the lone goal for Springfield.

Following Friday night’s game, the Falcons will hop on the bus and travel back to Springfield to host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday and the Portland Pirates on Sunday.

Now with the NHL Lockout STILL looming over our heads, we continue to look at our prospects keeping their blades sharp down on the farm. What might be interesting to you is that in the Providence Bruins game, the Cam Atkinson, Ryan Johansen and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault was nonexistent. Instead, the second line of Matt Calvert, Thomas Kubalik and Drazenovic played well all night, often producing scoring chances and converting one in the first period.

Curtis McElhinney has been playing well for the Falcons. Playing all four games, McElhinney has posted a 1.76 goals against average, picking up a shutout along the way. UMass Amherst graduate and backup goalie PaulDainton is expected to play one game this weekend according to coach Brad Larsen.

New faces down on the farm

With the looming NHL lockout, you Blue Jacket faithful have seen some familiar faces hop in a plane and travel out to Western Massachusetts to play for the AHL affiliate Springfield Falcons. Players such as right wing Cam Atkinson, center Ryan Johansen and defenseman John Moore and David Savard were all solid contributions on the ice for the Blue Jackets.

Cam Atkinson played in 27 games last season for the
Columbus Blue Jackets. Photo courtesy of Masslive.com

Last season, Johansen and Moore played the most games for Columbus out of the bunch. They both played in 67 games for the Blue Jackets. Johansen, a center, scored nine goals and had 12 helpers combining for a total of 21 points on the year. Moore, a physical defenseman, had just two goals and five assists totaling seven points in his season for Columbus. 

This season, Johansen has been playing well for Springfield. Through four games played, the center has two goals and an assist. As for Moore, he has contributed a goal and an assist to the Falcons offensive outpour this season (averaging over three goals a game this season).

Next comes Savard. The 6’1” 217 pounder from St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, played 31 games wearing the Columbus red white and blue, scoring two goals and adding eight helpers to total 10 points. This season for the Falcons, Savard has started the season strong handing out two assists in four games.

Lastly, the player in this group with the least experience in the NHL last year with the Blue Jackets is having the biggest impact with the Falcons this season. Boston College graduate Cam Atkinson has put together four points in as many games this year in Springfield. 

With one goal and three assists, this is a good chance for Atkinson to showcase his talents to the Blue Jacket front office. Last season with Columbus, the 5’7” right winger played in 27 games with the Jackets and tallied 14 points (7 goals, 7 assists).  

Atkinson was one of the more talked about players this off season. My roommate had a chance to check out the training camp evaluations as part of the Springfield College Exercise Science major. He will be interning with Falcons Head Strength Coach Dan Gregory next semester. According to him, “Cam showed off his speed and strength in training camp, with the fastest short sprint time, and even though being of smaller stature, was lifting with the big guys.”

The Falcons are off to a great start this season. Through four games the team is 3-1, losing only to the Providence Bruins this past Saturday. The Falcons will look to avenge this loss when they travel to Providence this Friday to take on the Bruins on the road.

Follow Jon Santer on Twitter: @JSanter5

Check out Jon's personal Hockey East Blog: collegehockeyeastpuck.wordpress.com
Twitter: @HockeyEastBlog

Very early season musings

The coaching Man of the Hour in Columbus,
goaltenders coach Ian Clark

In looking over the first couple of games, I've had fleeting thoughts that don't necessarily warrant entire blog posts (right now) but might be worth considering going forward:

• In the "Don't Set the Bar Too High" department, I'm happy that the CBJ didn't get blown out at home on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd against Nashville.  They probably bought themselves some time with the ever-fickle locals as a result.  
• Could CBJ Assistant Coaches Brad Berry (defense) and Ian Clark (goaltenders) kindly report to Nationwide Arena?  The NHL 2011-2012 season is underway, and your players need coaching.  Badly.
• To be Mark Dekanich right now is to be a study in anticipation and frustration.  Steve Mason's performing OK-to-poorly (with no comment on the defensive help Mase may or may not be getting) with a painful .870 goals against average.  And when Mase is pulled in game two for AHLer Curtis Sanford, DexShow has to be thinking, "If I wasn't injured, that would be ME!"  Let's hope that either Mase gets his game together quickly or DexShow is ready to roll once he returns.  At this point, I don't care which.  (Or that GM Scott Howson doesn't have to give up too much in the trade market to get a consistent goaltender...)
• I can understand how the CBJ would have trouble getting the puck into the offensive zone against Nashville, especially when Nashville locked down after going up by one goal.  But Minnesota? Minnesota?  Ack.

Power is taken, never given

(also known as "The post wherein I have a sampling of crow")

It takes talent and skill to get to play on NHL ice...and even more
to stay there.  That the Columbus Blue Jackets have four rookies
on their opening night roster is astounding.

The title of this post is attributed to many a politician, but the sentiment can be used to describe roster spots in a professional sports training camp as well as an election.

You just don't see veterans say, "Y'know, kid.  You're trying so hard, here.  Take my spot in the roster."  It doesn't work that way.

Professional sports, from the player perspective, is a cut-throat business.  You work like mad to get on top and then spend the balance of your career fending off those who have designs on your place on the ladder.  There's always someone younger or newer coming your way - there will always be more supply of players than available roster spots, which forces players to play through injuries, fight when they don't want to and take on other uncomfortable roles simply to keep their spot (and their big-league paycheck flowing in).

Which brings me to that plate of crow sitting in front of me.

The bubble forwards

The herd is thinning, and statistical output
likely will play a role in determining who makes
Columbus' opening day roster.

I've been more than a little snakebit with regards to watching Columbus Blue Jackets preseason hockey.  Thus far, I've seen two whopping periods of hockey across six possible games.  My first game in person will be on Thursday against (oh boy) Minnesota, but enough hockey has come and gone to start poring through the box scores and do a little statistical comparison-making as we consider what the opening night lineup will look like.  Stats surely don't mean everything, especially in training camp when things like chemistry, playing style, maturity and other intangibles come into the decision-making mix...but overlooking statistical performance is never wise.

So here you go...the story thus far for what I consider the Blue Jackets' forwards who are sitting on the roster bubble:



Note that in addition to totals, I've posted game-by-game results for each player as well.  Click on the player's last name at the bottom of the spreadsheet to see their numbers.

But what to make of all this?