First of all, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to DBJ for inviting me to join the writing staff. I'm thrilled, honored and excited. This is the first of what is intended to be a weekly stew of ramblings, musings, insights and outsights, with a pinch of genaeral nonsense. It more or less named itself when DBJ asked me if I wanted to come over to "The Dark Side". Here I be.
Most everyone knows by now that the Blue Jackets were finally able to get off the schneid with the overtime win against the Predators, more specifically a seventeen game schneid of winlessness in Music City dating back to 2006. But buried in the joy and elation were a couple of mini-schneids from which we were able to be ejected. Umby broke a nine game goal scoring schneid, not to mention a streak of six games without a point. Jeff Carter registered his first goal as a Blue Jacket, a schneid that lasted 8 games, and he too ended a six game point scoring drought. And last but not least, The Wiz scored his first goal of the year ending a schneid of 10 games. And what a goal it was.
Anyone who has been down near the ice at Nationwide when the Wiz has teed one up from out by the blueline says essentially the same thing: his shot is as heavy as a flatbed of lead rails. When it misses the net and hits the end board, the only thing louder at Nationwide is the cannon. As far as Blue Jackets fans are concerned, the shot that went Wizzling past Pekka Rinne's left ear on Saturday night to win the game might as well have blown through the back of the net, through the end boards, out of the building and landed in Lot A outside of Nationwide. It killed The Streak, and it is safe to say it would have killed anything else that got in its way.
The Jackets arguably had the best offseason of any team in the league. Columbus filled two of it's biggest holes in the lineup by acquiring Wisniewski and Carter. They also upgraded the wing by signing Vinny Prospal who is quickly becoming one of my favorite players on the team. Vinny loves to score and you can never go wrong there. Finally, the Blue Jackets and the City of Columbus made significant progress towards fixing the arena-lease issue. Combine all of these things with the surprising surge of young players making the team from training camp and you will have a fan base that is [!!!] ready to start the season. Unfortunately for Jackets and us fans, none of the offseason changes alone are worth points points in the season standings.
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.
No matter how you cut it, that is a dirty play with intent to injure. The slash to the hands has been an area of focus for officials for the last few years because it has only one intent, to injure a player, ESPECIALLY if that player does not even have the puck.
I don't care if he has a 9 year career of unpunished, er, clean play. That is a dirty play any way you examine it. And from now on, he is a repeat offender.
There's only two ways to police this stuff. Either the Shanahammer does it, or you need to revoke the instigator rule and reserve a roster spot for an enforcer. Given the events of this last summer, the league has opted to police the game itself.
Eliminating the slash to the hands, much less to the face, will not diminish the game we love. It will eliminate dirty play. Check the rule book. Its always been that way.
Before I get rolling, let's make one thing clear: In no way will anything in this post change any of my feelings of disappointment toward James Wisniewski. The Columbus Blue Jackets need Wiz on the ice, not munching nachos in the press box while his teammates try to cover for his absence. Wiz needs to play smarter and avoid putting himself in situations where his temper gets the best of him. Period, end of story.
There's more to the discussion than just that of Wisniewski's behavior, however. We also should take a look at the quality of administration of player discipline - to be fair to Wiz and his fellow players throughout the NHL. That being said, let's go back to the tape.
That's the NHL/Brendan Shanahan analysis and explanation of the eight regular season game (and balance of the preseason, retroactive to Sunday) suspension given to James Wisniewski for his hit on Cal Clutterbuck.
8 regular season games at $7 million over 82 games equals $682,926 (corrected per NHL.com: $536,585.36, or a proportional amount of his $5.5 million cap hit) of lost income for Wiz.
My disappointment continues unabated. Wisniewski MUST play smarter. The team's success depends on it.
I was out of town and didn't see the hit, so I don't know whether to believe the Dispatch:
It occurred in the final minute of the game. Clutterbuck took a run at Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin along the end boards, and [James] Wisniewski went over to confront Clutterbuck. It looked like the two were going to fight, but instead they rejoined play for the final 30 seconds of the game.
When the final buzzer sounded, Clutterbuck appeared to circle back and skate up on Wisniewski, who blasted him with his elbow or shoulder, sending Clutterbuck to the ice. A skirmish ensued, and Wisniewski was sent to the penalty box, dinged for high-sticking. That's where he was sitting when the Wild scored to win 4-3 in overtime.
Yesterday: @treeddispatch#CBJ defenseman James Wisniewski will throw out the first pitch at Tuesday night's Reds game. He also will shag some fly balls.
Today, roughly 2PM: @aportzlineFox Sports Ohio's Jim Day, who used to work on #CBJ TV broadcast team, will have #CBJ D James Wisniewski in booth tonight, top of the 3rd.
Eh? Jim Day? Conducting a hockey interview once again? Hmmmmm.....
It's been a while now since Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson introduced his two prime acquisitions of the 2011 offseason, Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski, and I've been mulling this over in my mind (largely because CBJ-land has been so quiet since!). Before I jump in too far, permit me to reacquaint you with the event:
Carter is 6-foot-3 and a slender build at around 200 pounds and looks like a golden Labrador where you know he's athletic and is graceful but also he's thinking and analyzing the situation all the time.
Wisniewski on the other hand is listed at 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds and the look of a pit-bull. Still athletic but will growl and bite you and ask questions later.
Looks can be deceiving but with these two, the look seems to fit their personalities too.
You can read more of Smith's perceptions in the piece, which I enjoyed, but that's where it hit me. I think I have more of an affinity for defensemen than forwards.
Let's be clear here, though. There are plenty of kinds of defensemen. Some, like Washington's Mike Green, appear to be more along the lines of a recovering winger than a true defenseman. Others are exclusively "puck movers," more inclined to look for the breakout pass or sprint with the puck to set up the offense.
Me? I like my defensemen stout. I like them with a snarl. I like defensemen who have the attitude that screams, "None shall pass." Maybe it's a lingering affinity for Hitch-hockey, maybe not. But who cares? I like my defensemen with a dash of spit and vinegar.
I liked Mike Commodore in his time on the ice in Columbus. When Commie was on the ice, he had that demeanor. He might be a great conversation off the ice, but on the ice...well, none shall pass. He would push, plug, swipe, whatever it took. You could see that it pained him when he let someone by him - there's some professional pride for you - and it hurt worse when someone scored on him. No better way to make up for it than with a well-placed hip-check...
In the same vein, I like Fedor Tyutin. (Of course, anyone who's been reading this blog for a while knows that I like Tyutin.) He's another robust blue liner, one who's slowly discovering his offensive side but needs no help clogging lanes and crushing the opposition to the boards. Or maybe the open-ice cobweb-clearer...
So here's my thing with Wisniewski: I haven't watched him play much and readily admit that I need to do more. But watch a clip compilation like this and tell me that his play isn't oozing with that "none shall pass" attitude:
Wiz isn't the biggest defenseman in the world - no towering tree like a Zdeno Chara - but Smith called it when he labelled Wiz a pit bull. I'm thinking he was onto something...a pit bull with a bit of a snarl.
But it gets better. Wisniewski apparently has a killer shot from the point, something that also is badly needed in Columbus. As proof, I'll offer this clip package:
Pit bull attitude and a shot. That's a lethal combination. I think I'm now finally starting to see the player for whom Scott Howson opened up the proverbial McConnell wallet.
These are only impressions. I'll probably try to catch a game or two of his before the season starts, but the real proof of my hunches will come on the ice this fall. I've got a good feeling about Wiz based off his presentation in the presser and the few clips that I've seen, and boy do the CBJ need what he apparently has to offer.
If he delivers, I may have to break down and get some CBJ swag with a player's name/number on it...James Wisniewski's.
