Ken Hitchcock was coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets from November 22, 2006 to February 3, 2010. He is the winningest coach in Blue Jackets history, compiling a record of 285 G, 126W, 123L, and 36OTL. Depending on how you fall out on your view of the shootout, he is the only coach in CBJ history to have a winning record.
In my last post I made the assertion that although many names had changed, the talent level of the team plateaued at about the 2003-04 level. As evidence for that, I point to Ken Hitchcock's coaching record. Prior to coming to Columbus, as a head coach he had never coached a team in the NHL for the entire year and not made the playoffs. That is, until he coached the 2007-08 CBJ squad.
Don't get me wrong. I think he was kind of fond of that team, because he believed that the team had maxxed out. That they had given him everything that they had. But it wasn't enough, they simply lacked the talent to be a playoff team. But I am jumping ahead.
Ken Hitchcock's coaching career for the CBJ served as a bridge between two General Managers, Doug MacLean and Scott Howson. As such, Coach Hitchcock holds a very important place in CBJ history.
Just a few thoughts in the wake of the 2011 NHL trade deadline...
If Upshall makes $2.25 million and Lepisto makes $800,000, and Klesla makes $2.975 million, do the Columbus Blue Jackets REALLY qualify as buyers at this trade deadline?
Considering the lack of salary additions (the CBJ are still $6.9 million under the salary cap), was it a matter of deals not there to be had or was it handcuffs from an ownership/business office still smarting from losing all of those season ticket holders?
Which Blue Jackets players do you really think were in play yesterday?
How are Kristian Huselius, Jake Voracek and Nikita Filatov all under contract with the CBJ this morning?
How long do you think that the TSN guys were on air before they started to feel kinda foolish, considering that next to nothing was actually happening?
Why have I never heard anything good about John Michael Liles, yet so many NHL/CBJ fans were clamoring to get him?
Did Versus have an NHL trade deadline show? Of any length?
Which Blue Jacket(s) do you think were breathing the biggest sighs of relief at 3PM yesterday?
How much do you think that the Anton Stralman knee injury (out 3-4 weeks) in Nashville messed with Scott Howson's trade deadline strategy?
After a month of really interesting trades, where did that adventurous spirit go yesterday?
Was Michael Chaput really the center that Scott Howson was talking about when he said, "We'd like to try and get another center, espeically with Derick (Brassard) hurt. Centers that are available are few and far between in this league." Really? Or might it have been Brad Richards, the Dallas center about whom I gather Howson made more than one inquiring phone call yesterday?
Klesla needs to pass a physical today to complete the trade. Should we be concerned?
Should I really be surprised that I was able to get a nap in between 1PM and 2PM yesterday...and nothing happened while I was out?
Seriously, here's my take from that linked post on this very scenario:
Howson, Arniel (and Filatov?) agree to send Filatov down to Springfield to find his mojo on the North American ice. Personally, I think that this is the ideal long-term solution once Huselius, another shooter, returns to the lineup from injury...but the now obvious flight risk to Russia makes such a move a significant point of concern. The only way I can see this scenario working is if Filatov himself asks for the plane ticket. Otherwise, there will always be that lingering fear that Filatov will instead take the first flight back to Moscow.
It now appears that the flight risk is minimal, per the Dispatch: "There are no indications that Filatov is considering a return to Russia. One source this afternoon told The Dispatch that Filatov's return home last season was 'not enjoyable' on many levels."
No way but the hard way....
(And kudos to DBJ reader OSUJumpMan once more for tossing this scenario into the mix!)
This graphic is almost quaint now...it seems that the last thing CBJ fans have to worry about is his desire to be a part of the team.
In response to a suggestion by DBJ blog reader OSUJumpMan from yesterday's post, I'm going to take a moment before all hell breaks loose in St. Louis tonight to examine perhaps the leading candidate for Columbus Blue Jackets Mercurial Player of the Year, Nikita Filatov.
Let's retrace our steps: The Filatov Odyssey started when he was drafted in the first round of the 2008 draft. At the time, the selection of "another Russian" (following the departure of Nik Zherdev) seemed curious to those who detected that then-coach Ken Hitchcock did not care for the loose, free-wheeling style that Russian skaters brought to the National Hockey League. But Filatov was determined; he readily submitted himself to the CBJ's then-AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, for the 2008-09 season and went 16G-16A-32PTS over 39 games. More tantalizingly, he also played with the Blue Jackets for 8 games and went 4G-0A-4PTS, with a hat trick against an unsuspecting Minnesota Wild team on January 10, 2009:
If that display was not a sign that the Blue Jackets might have something special on their hands, I don't know what could be.
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.
The Columbus Blue Jackets led the Montreal Canadiens wire-to-wire, eventually shutting out the Habs by a score of 3-0 at Nationwide Arena.
What I found most exciting out of the evening was not the great Rick Nash wrister over Carey Price's shoulder nor the Derick Brassard cleanup goal off of a Jake Voracek breakaway. No, what I was most impressed by was the total control of the game that the Blue Jackets displayed over the Northeast Division-leading Canadiens. This, by my estimation, was the finest win that the Jackets have posted this season.
The Columbus Blue Jackets fended off the Edmonton Oilers and a handful of squirrelly referees to take the game, 3-2, in an overtime shootout.
Rick Nash and Nikita Filatov scored on the only two shots needed in the shootout (Steve Mason turned aside the first Edmonton shot, and the second shot pinged off the side-bar.) Nash coming up big in the shootout is something that CBJ fans are accustomed to, but the Filatov game-winner is special.
Nikita Filatov must be able to feel like he can smile again -
for the first time in a while. (Flickr photo by OhioFamily)
Just yesterday, DBT and I watched Filatov cleaning up pucks after practice. It seemed humiliating, watching him schlepping a five-gallon bucket around the ice. He was not looking chipper. Surely, it was not the highlight of his time in professional hockey. So to see him put in a position to win the game, and then win it - you could see the stress melt away for just a moment. Good for him. It's a needed confidence boost for a talented young player. Let's hope he keeps building momentum, both on the ice and in his head.
After the Columbus Blue Jackets' 4-3 win over the (hapless) Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night, the team boarded a 757-200 at Port Columbus airport and made the flight to Stockholm, Sweden to open the 2010-2011 National Hockey League regular season against the San Jose Sharks. And with that, training camp and the pre-season functionally ended.
Sure, the CBJ will play an exhibition game on Tuesday at 1PM EST against the Malmo Redhawks, but it's hard to consider that game as an NHL-caliber pre-season game and thus won't be counted in my statistical analysis. The game could have merit related to individual performances, player injuries (getting hurt, coming back from injury) or chemistry developments, not to mention the rumored yellow and red jerseys. But let's keep it in perspective - it's not NHL competition, and it's not an NHL game.
I did a mid-preseason review after the first four games, and let's continue it with the last 4. It's a mixed bag, to be sure, but I think I can offer some spots for optimism.
OFFENSE
Team
Total Shots
Total Goals
Conversion %
Shots/Game
Goals/Game
10-11 CBJ - Full Preseason
247
25
10.12%
30.88
3.13
10-11 CBJ - Preseason games 5-8
112
13
11.61%
28.00
3.25
10-11 CBJ - Preseason games 1-4
135
12
8.89%
33.75
3.00
09-10 CBJ
2,338
214
9.15%
28.51
2.61
08-09 CBJ
2,490
217
8.71%
30.37
2.65
09-10 Washington Capitals
2,693
313
11.62%
32.84
3.82
09-10 Pittsburgh Penguins
2,688
249
9.26%
32.78
3.04
09-10 Phoenix Coyotes
2,502
211
8.43%
30.51
2.57
The obvious area for excitement is the conversion percentage - the percentage of shots that become goals. The Columbus Blue Jackets started the preseason with a conversion rate that, while not horrible, wasn't going to set the hockey world's hair on fire. In the back half of the preseason, however, the conversion percentage hopped up a few points and rivaled the percentage of the most prolific scoring team in the NHL last season, the Washington Capitals.
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.
I apparently missed this one while on vacation - a Jeff Rimer interview with Nikita Filatov:
The substance of the interview is perhaps less important at this stage than the tone and the attitude displayed by Filatov. He appears to be saying the right things in his public utterances, perhaps a sign of a guy who realizes that he needs to play the Blue Jacket game a little better than he did last season.
I'm cautiously optimistic about Filatov. His placement as a top-two line forward doesn't seem to be guaranteed, but it's clear that he's going to take his shot. And, boy, do we need that shot of his...
20 years old, 3rd year (kinda-sorta) in National Hockey League
$2,195,833 cap hit
3.7% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
Contract expires at end of 2011-2012
2009-2010 numbers with CBJ: 13 games played, 2 goals, 0 assists, 2 points, +/- of zero, 8 penalty minutes, 8:06 avg. time on ice
2009-2010 numbers with CSKA Moscow: 26 games played, 9 goals, 13 assists, 22 points, +3, 16 penalty minutes, 16:30 avg. time on ice
Nikita Filatov scored a hat trick for the Columbus Blue Jackets
early in his NHL career. Will the magic return in 10-11?
Can a guy get a mulligan on an entire year? If possible, please sign Nikita Filatov up for one. Take a look at this and try not to wince:
Filatov has a falling out with the Columbus system - presumably focussed on Ken Hitchcock, who buried him in the lineup and apparently lectured him about not becoming Nik Zherdev - and gets loaned to the KHL's CSKA Moscow (the original Red Army team). He has a good initial run with CSKA and then things went sour.
He played for Russia in the World Junior Championships and, after a falling-out with the coach, was stripped of his captaincy.
He started training for the World Championships for Russia but got bumped once the Penguins (Malkin), Devils (Kovalchuk) and Capitals (Ovechkin) players showed up after being eliminated early from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
While he's playing coy with American media (the Dispatch guys have repeatedly tried, but he won't go on the record with them), Columbus Blue Jackets' winger-on-loan Nikita Filatov appears to be OK with talking to Russian sportswriters. And what he told the folks at SovSport should offer some encouragement to the Columbus Blue Jackets and their fans. Specifically, he said (and I'm using a Google translation from a Russian-language site):
[You] Shone in the national team again will storm the NHL?
Yes, it is firmly decided. Of course, the salaries in the KHL longer, but the level above the ocean. I'll break through there. In the meantime, try to break into the world championship!
An awkward translation, to be sure. Let's see how Russian Hockey Fans translated it:
I am determined to return to the NHL next year. Surely the salaries are better in the KHL, but overseas the level of play is higher. I'll try to make the first team in the NHL. And I'll try getting on the roster for the World Championships too.
Regardless, it looks like Filatov is going to make another run at the National Hockey League. As the Columbus Blue Jackets hold Filatov's rights for the foreseeable future, that means that CBJ General Manager Scott Howson apparently has another talented body in camp. Considering that Filatov's trade value is probably at its lowest due to the perception of him as a flight risk (back to Russia) and hard-to-coach (his experience with Ken Hitchcock combined with his being stripped of the Team Russia captaincy at the Junior World Hockey Championships in Saskatoon this past winter), this is a welcome surprise for Howson and the Jackets.
Over the weekend, I participated in a forthcoming podcast for The Hockey Writers and pontificated that Filatov's behavior since leaving the Blue Jackets led me to believe that he was enjoying life in the (Russian) Kontinental Hockey League enough to think that he might be willing to forego NHL glory for home cooking, income tax-free KHL salaries and being a rather big fish in a comparatively little pond. Apparently that's not the case. Shows what I know about the post-pubescent Russian male mind!
Filatov has mentioned in the past that he is driven to emulate his hero, Ilya Kovalchuk, and be a star in the NHL. If we wants to come back after a season in the life of a sports celebrity in Moscow, I guess he means it. Go figure.
After the fold, the entire Google translation of the SovSport article...some of which makes sense. If you know Russian and want to try your own translation, go here.
CBJ Tweeter En4cer45 threw out an interesting idea for a new series on the blog, one that I'm going to take him up on. He suggests:
Most of the time people complain about teams' draft picks, so what I'm proposing is to take the 5-10 players selected after and, including who the Columbus Blue Jackets picked, offer up a reader poll to determine who should we have picked.
Great concept! So get ready, DBJ readers (and CBJ fans), I'm going to throw out a series of polls for you to vote on - done on an annual basis. To review the Blue Jackets past first round draft picks:
2000: Rusty Klesla (4th overall)
2001: Pascal Leclaire (8th)
2002: Rick Nash (1st)
2003: Nik Zherdev (4th)
2004: Alexander Picard (8th)
2005: Gilbert Brule (6th)
2006: Derick Brassard (6th)
2007: Jakub Voracek (7th)
2008: Nikita Filatov (6th)
2009: John Moore (21st)
We might pass on the 2009 draft as those classes largely are still percolating in juniors and the minors. We should probably skip 2008, too, but I'm guessing that the discussion about who to pick other than Filatov could get interesting.
Regardless, there's a lot of discussion to be had. Hindsight IS 20/20, and we in the CBJ fan base sure have a lot of hindsight to offer!
So let's start right now with the 2000 draft. The premise is simple...you start with the CBJ pick and compare him against the following 10-ish picks. Check the box next to the name of the person you would have drafted (including the CBJ pick - you're allowed to pick our own) and click "Vote Now!"
The first team abbreviation is the team that drafted the player; the second team abbreviation is the player's current team. Lifetime statistics are posted as follows:
Skaters: Position | Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | Penalty Minutes | +/-
Goalies: Position | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Overtime Losses | Shutouts
If you have a thought that you'd like to add to the discussion, post it in the comments after you vote!
CHANNELING BARRY TROTZ Part I: On The Forecheck's take Part II: Preds 101's take Part III: Pull My (Fang) Finger's take Part IV: Seth Lake's take Part V: Preds on the Glass' take
And we now conclude our investigation of the success of Barry Trotz and the Nashville Predators with the thoughts of Buddy Oakes, blogger at Preds on the Glass...
I really feel bad for y'all in Columbus after making the playoffs last year and then going through all the stuff you are seeing now. I had Eric Smith on our podcast a couple of weeks back and we talked about all the problems. Pre-season, I had a hunch that Steve Mason would not have as good a second year as his rookie campaign and Eric gave me some insight into the personality change that Mason has undergone over the summer. I talked to Mason at the Awards show in Vegas and he was about as shy as anyone I've ever seen that was a public figure. It's hard to believe that he went from that to being so difficult this season.
I know that Hitch and Trotz are friends and actually called Barry on Hitch's coach's show last week to ask him a question about Pekka being left off the Finnish Olympic team.
I think the primary reason for Trotz's longevity is his relationship with GM David Poile that has goes back to when Trotz was with the Washington Caps AHL team when Poile was with the Caps. Trotz was an assistant in 1991 and was named head coach in 92. In 94-95 his team won the Calder Cup and Trotz was the AHL coach of the year. When Poile came to Nashville Trotz followed.
Sometimes it takes the worst of scenarios to occur for the truth to come out. Like any image-conscious businessman (like, say, Charles Foster Kane), the Jackets would much rather play with smoke and mirrors rather than admit ugly truths. However, when the days are darkest, tongues loosen.
I'll submit that this just happened with the Columbus Blue Jackets, as reported by Tom Reed at Puck Rakers. While not the deathbed revelation of Charley Kane (luckily not as cryptic, either), Ken Hitchcock had perhaps the most cogent argument for staying the course with the Blue Jackets despite their 20 loss in 23 game stretch and both fans and media turning their backs on the franchise.
It turns out, after all, that this is part of a larger franchise strategy. I'll let Hitch speak for himself:
"We maxed out last year and we didn't win a playoff game. We have to get a lot better than that and the only way you do that is by going through the growing pains.
"We are in a winning business and so people have complained that we're not winning right now. If we don't go through this long-term vision -- which could be six months, it could be a year -- then we are not going to be really good when we need to be really good."
THERE! That's it. The team leadership had a plan last year - playoffs or bust - and executed it to within an inch of their lives. But they were wise enough to appreciate that getting to the playoffs and doing something once you're there are two different things. So they considered their options and decided to suck it up and go the youth route. It's the long view, but, as Hitch says, the team will be really good when they need to be really good.
CHANNELING BARRY TROTZ Part I: On The Forecheck's take Part II: Preds 101's take Part III: Pull My (Fang) Finger's take Part IV: Seth Lake's take Part V: Preds on the Glass' take
The Dispatch's Michael Arace offered the "big media" commentary on the firing of St. Louis Blues coach Andy Murray and drew the inevitable comparisons to Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock's job security considering the similar coaching arcs in Columbus and St. Louis over the past two seasons. Both teams, as you know, made a terrific run to get into the playoffs last season, flamed out in the first round, and have had eminently forgettable years this season. The piece got some followup attention from the likes of Puck Daddy and ESPN.
Within Arace's piece, which I really like (and am glad to say as I don't want to be labelled as an "Arace hater" for my reaction to one of his past pieces), he extracts a team strategy that I'm not sure I've heard before:
President Mike Priest and Howson believe the Hitchcock style is the way to win in the NHL. They would prefer to keep him in place in the same way that Nashville has kept [head coach] Barry Trotz in place. They believe that continuity is critical in a smaller market, and they are standing firm in this conviction.
Now this is very interesting, as I'm full of envy over how the Nashville franchise is run and has had continued success over its 10-ish years. But it also got me thinking: If Priest and Howson are implying similarities in the job statuses of Hitch and Trotz, might we want to see what has made Trotz so successful as the only coach Nashville has ever had?
1. The Columbus Blue Jackets played a complete game and undressed the Dallas Stars, 4-1, in front of 417 fans at the very attractive American Airlines Arena. Here are your highlights:
2. Just sit back and ask yourself, "If I caught a puck in the mouth, lost two teeth and had part of my jaw crushed, how long would it take for me to get back in the swing of things?" For Raffi Torres, the answer is ONE WEEK. ONE FREAKIN' WEEK. Good God, he's not a man, he's a monster. No one should be able to do that. He should be convalescing in a hospital or something, sucking his calories through a straw.
2a. Not Raffi. Dude only put in 9:33 of ice time and notched his ninth goal of the season. I am awed. He is twelve times the man I am. For that, let's shout the cheer:
2b. I'm not sure that there's a bright side to his hellacious injury, but allow me a somewhat tasteless attempt: I now can differentiate Raffi from Fox Sports Ohio's John Michael.
2c. Oh yeah, Raffi had a stomach bug, too. Just add it to the legend.
3. Hmmm....how to say this delicately? Dallas is a bunch of cheap-shotting, weak-ass punks.
3a. First amongst the Punk Brigade is James Neal, who backed away from Derek Dorsett in the first period and then viscously boarded Dorsett later in the game, sending him sprawling onto the ice with a presumed concussion.
Neal has a hearing on Friday with the NHL and deserves every game that he will be suspended. It's a shame that he had to get ejected; he would have provided plenty of schadenfreude moments throughout the rest of the game. Jerk.
3b. The rest of the team is ill-tempered, too. Do they just have something against teams that are better than them in general, or is resentment that Columbus now has the one coach that got them a Stanley Cup? I mean, even Marty Turco got in on the Rick Nash fight.
3c. (Rick Nash got in a fight. Cool.)
3d. I suppose that this violently erratic behavior should be expected. Marc Crawford is their head coach, after all. Remember, Crawford was the whack-job coach of the Colorado Avalanche that melted down on Scotty Bowman and the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sadly, I can't find the video of Crawford shrieking like a banshee at Bowman, but here's the precipitating stuff:
He also allegedly ordered the Todd Bertuzzi hit in Vancouver that knocked Dennis Moore out of hockey and apparently still is working its way through the courts. Here's the ESPN guys' take at the time:
My point is, this appears to be Crawford's modus operandi. If you can't win, fight. If you fight and can't win, fight more. If that still doesn't work, take some cheap shots. Classy. Great hire, Dallas.
3e. The beauty of all of this is that the barrage of Dallas penalties lost them the game. Huselius' second goal and Torres' goal in the second period were 20 seconds apart, and BOTH were power play goals. It's the sign of a good team when you refrain from punching back (too much) and instead just keep putting the puck in the back of the net. You keep slashing/boarding/hooking/brawling, we'll keep scoring.
4. 2 more goals for Kristian Huselius. That makes 4, I believe, for Juice since he returned from injured reserve. If he can keep up anything close to this pace, 1) He might catch Raffi Torres (hee hee) and 2) He might justify his cap hit and compensate for his middling-to-poor defensive play.
4a. It must be fun to be so totally in control of a goalie as Huselius was tonight with Marty Turco. "Turco....I OWN you." Juice made another drive later in the game and nearly scored again. I think I saw Turco's knees shaking.
4b. OK, maybe I was a little harsh on Juice for the defensive play. He did, after all, grab a puck and make a short-handed goal through his smart defensive positioning and aggressiveness. (Can we see that more often?)
5. Speaking of goalies, Mason looked much more like the Mason we like. Good saves, reasonably strong rebound control, command of the crease. Outings like this make me cautiously optimistic that Hitchcock is managing his two goalies the right way, giving Mason the right breathers of proper duration.
5a. Hmmm....Hitchcock managing the development of a young superstar. I thought he couldn't do that?
6. The Captain gets his 14th goal of the season with a 'never say die' crash of the crease after Turco bobbled a rebound. (What an awesome photo. Take a moment and soak that in.) That's our man!
7. Nikki who?
8. Surprise Fox Sports Announcer of the Game: Ray Crawford! His postgame highlights/recap was inspired...classic homerism boosted by a shot of "5 Hour Energy." He called 'em like they were - yes, a Fox Sports announcer used the words "cheap shot" (and repeatedly tonight!). Crawford offered a needed casual fan-style enthusiasm in his presentation that has been lacking in game coverage since Danny Gare got the boot.
9. I found myself admiring Derick Brassard tonight. Sure, it was the return trip to the place where his season ended (at the hands of James Neal, no less), and that probably is why my eye was drawn in his direction. But, in the bigger picture, he's having a tough year. Despite that fact, he's still trying. Hard. I saw him drive and press and try to make plays. He's going to get past this speed bump and be a fantastic center for Nash (and....Voracek?) for many years to come.
10. I love a game when Good Beats Evil, when Crime Doesn't Pay.
Next up: Saturday night in Nashville to take out Darth Vader. Should be interesting as the Preds won tonight in a shootout and might think that they have a little momentum (but they only beat an Eastern Conference team, so go figure). All I can say is, I'm glad that Dark Blue Onesie doesn't look like Barry Trotz any more. That kid was giving me the chills.
(Photos from Yahoo! Sports - NHL; graphics were created by the Dark Blue Jacket and may be used with permission)
As we know, Nikita Filatov will be playing for CSKA Moscow for the balance of the 2009-2010 season. And many good bloggers and journalists have had their say, offering words of wisdom on the matter. Before offering my less worthy thoughts, I'd like to suggest that DBJ readers take a look at the following:
There are other commentaries, granted, but this grouping appears to have covered the waterfront on the many issues involved. (Also, Rick Gethin of The Hockey Writers is working on something. He does good work; I can't wait to read his piece when it's ready. [UPDATE: Here's the post.])
The Dark Blue Jacket family is pleased to announce that, after serious and meaningful discussions with family leadership, we are loaning my signed Nikita Filatov hockey puck to my bedroom door, where it will serve as a doorstop for the balance of the 2009-2010 NHL season. We have agreed to reconsider the role that the puck plays in our household at the end of the season. I very much hope that it will return to the plastic puck display case that sits in our office/rec room next season.
This is a bittersweet moment. We have high expectations for the puck. It's just not happening as soon as we had hoped, but that's OK. The puck is only a year old and probably needs some time to find itself.
We have not had any offers for the puck, nor have we marketed it on eBay. At this point, we're interested in seeing how it performs as a doorstop and will reevaluate as the need dictates.
The Filatov puck's intention from the start of the season was to hold a position of prominence next to our other sports memorabilia for the duration. It had a certain level of frustration at not being able to meet those expectations. After the glow of the first-round draft pick wore off and all of our friends and relatives had a chance to see the puck, it settled into a position on the shelf where it really didn't get that much exposure. Once it was pretty clear that if the puck wasn't going to be able to keep that level of prominence on our shelf, it let us know that it was going to look for other opportunities around the house.
Mrs. Dark Blue Jacket expressed optimism at this new role for our puck. "We've needed a doorstop for some time," she remarked, "and I fully support my husband and how he handles the sports memorabilia. I make suggestions to him on how to to organize our collection of pucks, baseballs and football helmets, and he makes suggestions to me on which acquisitions make sense for our family. I appreciate his willingness to put the puck in harm's way for the betterment of our family. I only hope that Dark Blue Onesie doesn't gnaw the sharpie ink off. He's cutting a tooth, you know."
The Dark Blue Jacket family will hold the rights to the puck for the indefinite future. The family was unwilling to comment on rumors that whether a Tommy Sestito-signed puck will take the Filatov puck's place on the shelf. "Now's not the time for such speculation," Mrs. DBJ said. "Let's just be happy that our puck finally has found a place that fits its skill level."
