Time to step up: Kris Russell

• Defenseman
• 23 years old, 4th year in National Hockey League
• $1,300,000 cap hit 
• 2.2% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at 2012-2013
• 2009-2010 numbers: 70 games played, 7 goals, 15 assists, 22 points, +3, 32 penalty minutes, 18:35 avg. time on ice

The stars are aligned for Kris Russell this season.

Largely as a reflection on the lousy past season, most every player profiled up to this point has a challenge to step up according to one of two themes: 1) Correct last season's errors or 2) Earn a new/better contract.    Kris Russell is one of the very few members of the Columbus Blue Jackets where this is not the case.

Russell is an offensive defenseman, perhaps the only true "puck-moving defenseman" on the CBJ roster.  Having spent the last three seasons in a Ken Hitchcock "weighty" system that rewarded the stay-at-home defender, he is now poised to be the poster child of an attacking system in Columbus that supposedly will press the puck up the ice like so many other young, successful teams are doing these days.

Time to step up extra: A little more Nikita Filatov

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...

The previews are coming! The previews are coming!

Hope springs eternal in the hockey world around this time of year, and the Columbus Blue Jackets fan base is right in the mix.  Season previews of all shapes and sizes are popping up from bloggers and "mainstream" media alike.  In case "Time to step up" hasn't satisfied you, check out these links for some additional insights on the Boys in Union Blue:

• The Cannon: "Tweet-views" (140 character season previews) for the offense, defense, goalies, coaches and front office.  (A preview in only 140 characters.  What in the world was I thinking?)  They also did an overall season preview, complete with some predictions.
• The Green Seat View: CBJ fortune cookies offering sage wisdom and predictions on the upcoming season.  No, you can't eat the cookies.  
• Fox Sports Ohio (Eric Smith, formerly of HockeyBuzz): A five-part season preview.  (Links to parts Mason, Commodore, Brassard, Klesla, five)
• Puck-Rakers: The best case scenario for the team for the upcoming season, and the worst.  

Some of these multi-part previews are works in progress, so I'll update this posting with links as they pop up.

And here are some more standard season previews:

• Red Light District
• TSN
• The Hockey News
• The Bleacher Report
• The Fourth Period (written by Full Mental Jackets' Greg May, no less!)
• Scotty Hockey (a NY Rangers blog)
• Yahoo! Sports - Puck Daddy
• FanHouse

As for "Time to step up," I hope to get another blue-liner or two in this week but have to prep for an intensive weekend of school.  Next week should be a tad better.  I'm still hoping to be done with my previews by the time training camp starts...cross your fingers!

Time to step up: Marc Methot

• Defenseman
• 25 years old, 5th year in National Hockey League
• $1,012,500 cap hit 
• 1.7% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of this season
• 2009-2010 numbers: 60 games played, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points, -8, 51 penalty minutes, 19:31 avg. time on ice

Can Marc Methot prove that he deserves to be part of
the Columbus Blue Jackets core of emerging talent?

Like every other player who has a contract expiring at the end of the season, Marc Methot has a pretty simple reason to step up his game in 2010-2011: To get re-signed and continue advancing his career as a professional hockey player.  

The challenge for Methot, however, gets more interesting when you look beyond the obvious.  First, you need to consider that while he's entering his 5th year for the Columbus Blue Jackets, his first two years included appearances in 20 and 9 games, respectively.  On the Jimmy Howard Calder Trophy Scale, that means that he's only entering his third year in the league.  And it's safe to say that, had it not been for injuries on the blue line over the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons, he probably wouldn't have seen anything approaching the 20-odd minutes a game that he was working.  

Time to step up: Rusty Klesla

• Defenseman
• Alternate captain
• 28 years old, 10th year in National Hockey League
• $2,975,000 cap hit 
• 5.0% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2013-2014
• 2009-2010 numbers: 26 games played, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points, -7, 26 penalty minutes, 20:06 avg. time on ice

Without question, 2009-2010 represented the highest of highs and the lowest of lows for The Original Blue Jacket.

It started with magic last season for Rostislav Klesla - a new contract announced right before the opener against Minnesota, followed by the game-winning goal in that same game:




Klesla added another goal just two days later against Vancouver, a blazing start to a season that imploded on November 30, 2009 against St. Louis.  Here's how it was described:

Klesla was injured in a mid-ice collision with the Blues' Barret Jackman during the first period of the Blue Jackets' 5-2 victory Monday night. He is believed to have torn a groin muscle and is expected to be sidelined for at least a month. 

Klesla lay on the ice for 5 minutes and did not put any weight on his left leg when he was helped off.

It wasn't just a torn groin muscle - not that such an injury wouldn't be bad enough.  No, he tore stomach muscles, too.  Ironically, that was two days after he put in a monster 26:29 of ice time in against Calgary.  Highest of highs, lowest of lows.  Poor guy could not buy a break.

Time to step up: Jan Hejda

• Defenseman
• 32 years old, 5th year in National Hockey League
• $2,000,000 cap hit 
• 3.4% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of this season
• 2009-2010 numbers: 62 games played, 3 goal, 10 assists, 13 points, -14, 36 penalty minutes, 20:38 avg. time on ice

Can Jan Hejda return to pre-injury form...
and will he still be a Columbus Blue Jacket
after this season's trade deadline?

A late bloomer from an NHL perspective, Jan Hejda toiled over in Europe before joining the Edmonton Oilers (where Howson was assistant general manager) in 2006-2007, where he had a middling-to-poor season (39 games played, 1 goal, 8 assists, 9 points, -6 rating).  Howson must've seen something beyond the numbers when he signed Hejda as a free agent for 2007-2008, whereupon Hejda was off to the races.  

Hejda was an ironman in his first two seasons in Columbus, playing in 81 and 82 games, respectively.  While his point totals weren't anything to put on a billboard (13 and 21 points), his plus-minus was off-the-charts good - not just for the Columbus Blue Jackets but for the entire National Hockey League.  In 07-08, he was a +20.  In 08-09, he was a +23.  This, on a Ken Hitchcock team that played defense first, second and third, leaving scoring down on the list somewhere next to "air out the smelly skates."  

Time to step up: Mike Commodore

• Defenseman
• Alternate captain
• 30 years old, 11th year in National Hockey League
• $3,750,000 cap hit 
• 6.3% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2012-2013
• 2009-2010 numbers: 57 games played, 2 goal, 9 assists, 11 points, -9, 62 penalty minutes, 19:00 avg. time on ice

Will we see Mike Commodore sporting a
Stanley Cup playoff hairdo at
the end of this season?

I've caught a little bit of flack over the use of the "Time to step up" theme across these player season previews.  The argument goes, if [Player X] plays well or not...it's just not going to impact the Columbus Blue Jackets' season that much.  There are  [insert small number here] factors that will make or break this season, and [Player X] isn't one of them.

My friends, Mike Commodore most certainly does not fit that categorization.  

In the salary scheme of things, Mike Commodore is one expensive player.  "Commie" is one of the players to whom Scott Howson has hitched his wagon as general manager in Columbus.  Howson gave him the big money over the long term.  He's the CBJ's highest-paid defenseman (by almost $800,000 more than Rusty Klesla, the second-highest).  He's tied with R.J. Umberger and Antoine Vermette as the third-highest paid player on the entire squad.

So when Mike Commodore tries a new conditioning regimen over the offseason prior to the 2009-2010 season, and it results in perhaps the worst conditioning of his career (leading to the most epic charley horse injury known to sport, not to mention missing more than 30 percent of the team's games)...we have a real big problem.  

Time to step up: Grant Clitsome

• Defenseman
• 25 years old, 2nd year in National Hockey League
• $550,000 cap hit 
• 0.9% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of this season
• 2009-2010 numbers: 11 games played, 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points, +/- of zero, 6 penalty minutes, 14:44 avg. time on ice

Does Grant Clitsome have the stuff to make a
serious run at a full-time CBJ roster spot?

Talk about a guy at the crossroads of his hockey-playing career.

Grant Clitsome is 25 years old.  After one year of juniors, he took the college route to the NHL, playing all four years for Clarkson University in New York, an ECAC school.  Clitsome then went straight to the Columbus Blue Jackets' (then-) AHL affiliate in Syracuse, perhaps an indicator that his skill level was sufficient to bypass a stint in juniors.  He then played one full season for the Crunch in 2008-2009.  I'm not sure that one can call him a late bloomer, but he's certainly not a child prodigy.

Had the Jackets not decided to jettison their pricey veterans nor experienced debilitating injuries to the likes of Rusty Klesla in 2009-2010, Clitsome might not have seen the bright lights of Columbus until this forthcoming season, if at all.  Instead, he put in 64 games in Syracuse and then played in 11 more for the Blue Jackets at the end of the season.

By most accounts, Clitsome did nothing to hurt his case for NHL playing time while in Columbus.  He doesn't appear to be a playmaker or scorer, but he did get 5 goals and 15 assists in Syracuse last season in addition to his 3 points during his time in Columbus.  Simply put, he's never going to make the Blue Jackets forget about the likes of Tomas Kaberle...but he's also not going to make Scott Howson pop a handful of Tums every time he hits the ice. 

Time to step up: The defensemen

THE DEFENSEMEN

As alluded earlier, I haven't spent nearly as much time looking at the Columbus Blue Jackets' blue line as I have spent on the forwards.  I'm guessing that my naivete will show in this part of the series and can only ask for your forgiveness in advance.

At the same time, this series has proven useful in learning more, and in more depth, about the National Hockey Team that I enjoy so much and the people who are a part of it.  So, perhaps rather than laugh, you can tag along in this little voyage of discovery and continue the enjoyable back and forth that is coming out in the comments.

As for the defense itself, let's start with the basics.  With 259 goals given up in the 2009-2010 campaign, the CBJ stood fifth-worst in the entire league.  The only teams worse than the Blue Jackets were:

• Edmonton Oilers (284 goals allowed)
• Toronto Maple Leafs (267)
• New York Islanders (264)
• Tampa Bay Lightning (260)

It should shock no one that none of the aforementioned clubs made the Stanley Cup playoffs last season.  The saying goes, "Offense puts butts in seats, but defense wins championships," and it could not be more true in today's National Hockey League.

Time to step up: Jake Voracek

• Right wing
• 21 years old, 3rd year in National Hockey League
• $1,270,833 cap hit 
• 2.1% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of this season
• 2009-2010 numbers: 81 games played, 16 goals, 34 assists, 50 points, -7, 26 penalty minutes, 15:37 avg. time on ice

Before Puck Daddy posted Lee Auer's fine CBJ "Mount Puckmore" article, there was some discussion on Twitter about who should be looked at as the four faces of the franchise.  Perhaps the most intriguing idea was to put Jake Voracek in the mix.  Sure, he has only played two seasons in the NHL, the argument went, but Voracek is perhaps the one young member of the Columbus Blue Jackets who is on a straight line progression to NHL super-stardom.  Steve Mason tumbled in year two, Derick Brassard has had his issues, John Moore isn't at the NHL level yet, no one really knows on Ryan Johansen yet, but Voracek...he's a climber.  

Think about it: Voracek hit 50 points this season.  In Rick Nash's 2nd season, he had 57.  In Marian Hossa's 2nd full season, he had 56.  In Patrick Marleau's 2nd season, he had 45.  In Corey Perry's 2nd season, he had 44.  In Martin St. Louis' 2nd full season, he had 40.  If you're getting my point, you're seeing that Jake Voracek is right in the mix of some pretty awesome NHL talent at similar points in their careers. 

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?)

Time to step up: R.J. Umberger

• Left wing
• Alternate captain
• 28 years old, 6th year in National Hockey League
• $3,750,000 cap hit 
• 6.3% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2011-2012
• 2009-2010 numbers: 82 games played, 23 goals, 32 assists, 55 points, -16, 40 penalty minutes, 19:10 avg. time on ice

In my mind, there is only one indispensable player for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and you're reading about him right now: R.J. Umberger.  

Take a look at the stats and try to develop a cohesive argument that a guy who played in every single game all season, who put up over 50 points and who averaged nearly 20 minutes a game is not an absolute warhorse.

Then, throw in the fact that Umberger might wear the alternate captain "A" on his sweater but might as well wear the "C".  Need proof?  Try this: When Claude Noel called a weekend practice after taking the reins from Ken Hitchcock and then just didn't show up, who ran the practice?  Captain Rick Nash and...R.J. Umberger.  Something tells me that Nash leans on Umberger really, really hard...especially as Scott Howson swept Freddy Modin, Jody Shelley and other veterans out and brought in new veterans who don't have a relationship with Nash like Umberger does.

Time to step up: Sammy Pahlsson

• Center
• Alternate captain
• 32 years old, 10th year in National Hockey League
• $2,650,000 cap hit 
• 4.5% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2011-2012
• 2009-2010 CBJ numbers: 79 games played, 3 goals, 13 assists, 16 points, -9, 32 penalty minutes, 16:16 avg. time on ice

How do you measure this type of defensive play?
That's the challenge when evaluating Sammy Pahlsson.

It's a challenge for someone with as minimal a playing background as I to construct a meaningful critique of Sammy Pahlsson.  His role on the Columbus Blue Jackets is clear: Center the 3rd line - the line that shuts down the opposing team's top line.  But how can you tell that he did it from a stat sheet?  Hockey statistics largely reflect on offensive performance, and the one that suggests defensive performance (plus/minus) reflects not just on a single player's effort but on their linemates as well.

Pahlsson had 16 points last year, two off his NHL career average of 18.  His -9 rating was slightly worse than his NHL career average of -6.  And he played on a team last season that suffered from anemic scoring and a penchant for letting other teams score goals, so did he have a down year or was he simply consistent with past performance on a personal level?

Time to step up: Rick Nash

• Left wing (but more often plays right wing)
• Captain
• 26 years old, 8th year in National Hockey League
• $7,800,000 cap hit 
• 13.1% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2017-2018
• 2009-2010 CBJ numbers: 76 games played, 33 goals, 34 assists, 67 points, -2, 58 penalty minutes, 20:56 avg. time on ice

Before I dig in (thank you, Mr. Hitchcock, for the term), let me qualify everything you read below with this statement: I really, really, really, REALLY like Rick Nash as a hockey player.  The guy clearly is something special on the ice, a world-class superstar entering the prime years of his professional career.  Remember, he is capable of plays like this:

Or this:

Of course, there's always room for one of these (It's the playoff-qualifying goal from 2009, if you didn't know already...): 


When he wants to be, he can be hockey's equivalent of the Human Highlight Reel.  I cannot speak highly enough of Rick Nash's hockey skill.  Period.

Time to step up: Andrew Murray

• Center
• 28 years old, 4th year in National Hockey League
• $625,000 cap hit 
• 1.1% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of this season
• 2009-2010 numbers: 46 games played, 5 goals, 2 assists, 7 points, -6, 6 penalty minutes, 10:21 avg. time on ice

I was going to write about how this is a pivotal year for Andrew Murray on a host of fronts: 

1. He's a 4th line center on a team with a number of rising young players
2. He's a late-blooming 28-year-old in the last year of his contract
3. If you believe The Hockey News Yearbook, he's already been passed by Tomas Kana on the depth chart and thus actually projects to start the season in Springfield as a result.
4. He plays with a lot of energy and enthusiasm that just isn't projecting onto the stat sheet.

Now, as I write (and I'm writing in advance of posting to ensure that I can squeeze all of the player previews in by the start of training camp), the Blue Jackets have signed forward Ben Guite to the roster.  With that, it sure seems like the competition for the 4th line just got a lot tougher.  

Time to step up: Derek Mackenzie

• Center
• 29 years old, 8th year in National Hockey League
• $600,000 cap hit 
• 1.0% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2011-2012
• 2009-2010 numbers: 18 games played, 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points, +3, zero penalty minutes, 8:41 avg. time on ice

If you don't like Derek Mackenzie, you're dead inside.  

This is a guy who pretty much lives out of a duffle bag all season long.  He shuffles back and forth to Syracuse (now Springfield) to captain the Blue Jackets' AHL franchise and, as soon as the CBJ get their first injury hit, hops a plane/train/car to Columbus and plugs a hole.  Again.  And again.  And again.

In fact, I remember one point last season where the callup was extended beyond the usual cup of coffee, and Mackenzie had to buy another pair of jeans.  That's his life, and he just keeps on, keepin' on.  

Maybe there is some justice - perhaps the Blue Jackets let him keep the frequent flyer miles that he piles up while shuttling back and forth.  I bet that would translate into an awesome post-season trip to a beach somewhere. 

Time to step up: Tomas Kana

• Center
• 22 years old, 2nd year in National Hockey League
• $625,000 cap hit 
• 1.0% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of this season
• 2009-2010 CBJ numbers: 6 games played, zero goals, 2 assists, 2 points, +2, 2 penalty minutes, 8:40 avg. time on ice

Drafted early in the second round of the 2006 National Hockey League draft by the St. Louis Blues, Czech Tomas Kana was buried with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL (30 GP, 6 G, 14 A, 20 PTS, +14, 65 PIM) when he, along with defenseman Brendan Bell, came to the Columbus organization in a December 8, 2009 trade for Pascal Pelletier.  I vaguely recall the talk at the time being, "Great, we needed more defensive help."  Kana was an afterthought.  

My, how times have changed.  I opened up The Hockey News Yearbook (and who says print is dead?) and right there on page 93, Kana is projected as the number 4 center in the organization behind Antoine Vermette, Derick Brassard and Sammy Pahlsson.  Andrew Murray and Derek Mackenzie are both listed behind Kana.

And of course, I have no idea who this guy is.  Let's dig into the vault, shall we?  

Time to step up: Kristian Huselius

• Left wing
• 31 years old, 10th year in National Hockey League
• $4,750,000 cap hit 
• 8.0% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of 2011-2012
• 2009-2010 CBJ numbers: 74 games played, 23 goals, 40 assists, 63 points, -4, 36 penalty minutes, 18:23 avg. time on ice

Ah, the mercurial "Juice."  

You genuinely wonder where he goes for shifts (and sometimes games) on end.  He's not really a clutch scorer.  He rarely scores a pace-setting goal.  He only dropped one last-minute goal last season.  Yet he ends the season with only 4 fewer points than the team's captain and all-world superstar.  

He doesn't appear to be full of sparkling personality and bravado, has never worn a letter on the front of his jersey in Columbus (haven't checked on his time in Florida or Calgary), yet a Google search of images tagged with his name sure show a lot of celebrations.  

He makes a lot of money - second highest cap hit on the team behind Rick Nash - and he kinda sorta backs it up at the end of the day.  He's just quiet about it. 

Time to step up: Ethan Moreau

• Left wing
• 34 years old, 15th year in National Hockey League
• $2,000,000 cap hit 
• 3.4% of Columbus Blue Jackets salary cap
• Contract expires at end of this season
• 2009-2010 numbers (in Edmonton): 76 games played, 9 goals, 9 assists, 18 points, -18, 62 penalty minutes, 14:24 avg. time on ice

I'll just come out and admit it.  I know nothing meaningful about Ethan Moreau.  I had Center Ice last year and didn't spend much time at all watching the dreadful Edmonton Oilers.  I preferred to watch competitive hockey.  

(Really, to say that Edmonton was bad last year does a disservice to poor-performing teams.  Heck, even the Blue Jackets went 3-1-0 against Edmonton last year, and we landed in 14th place in the conference!  But I digress...)

You can read Moreau's stats as well as I can, but that doesn't tell you a lot beyond the fact that his plus-minus would have taken the green jacket for the CBJ last season but, on the "Who, us, defense?" Oilers team that he captained, he actually was one of the stronger performers.  (As a point of comparison, Patrick O'Sullivan was a -35.  Gulp.)

He's not super-expensive as a projected veteran third-liner.  And if it doesn't work out this year, he's an unrestricted free agent and both sides are free to walk away.  

So why did Scott Howson pick up Ethan Moreau when he doesn't fill any particularly pressing need at forward?  That's right, kids, leadership.  Moreau is yet another grizzled veteran/former captain brought in to right the ship of state in the locker room.  Just like Chris Clark.  And Michael Peca before that.  But this isn't the time to gripe about leadership or personnel matters - I've got Rick Nash and Scott Howson pieces to come.  Point is, Moreau clearly is projected to play a "character" role in the locker room this season.  And, speak of the devil, Nash is pretty pleased about Moreau's joining the squad:

"(Moreau) is going to be huge in the dressing room. The leadership and experience he has earned being captain for all these years with be a big boost to our young guys."

Time to step up: Nikita Filatov

• Left wing
• 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.