What's the Difference?

A few months ago I found myself sitting at a Blue Jackets game next to a guy who said he was the brother-in-law of one of the players. For any of you who saw me on TV during the Bruins game when I was sitting in front of Derek Dorsett's mom and grandma, I am speaking of a different game. So, for the record, the guy sitting next to me, who I will hereafter refer to as Guy, was not related to Derek Dorsett. Other than that, I'm not going to reveal Guy's identity and it isn't important to the story.

Guy was a friendly . . . umm . . . guy, especially during the second period after he had "loosened up a bit," shall we say. From the outset the game wasn't going so well for the Jackets and I engaged Guy in a brief conversation about the state of the team. 

We discussed goaltending. We discussed the offseason acquisitions. We discussed specific players. But whenever Guy's comments would turn to the negative, he would pause and then add, "I really shouldn't say anything more." I didn't push him. I thought it would be uncool.

But to this day the one thing that sticks out in my mind about the exchange was when I mentioned Scott Arniel. It was at the very end of the conversation. I said something like, "I think Arniel will rally these guys. It's a long season." At first Guy didn't say a word, but the look he gave me read like a book. I did push him on this one. And this time he didn't hesitate.

"The players hate him," he said. "He treats them like minor leaguers. There's no respect."

DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 42: Chicago

Chicago 5 - Columbus 2
11-26-5, 5th in Central Div., 15th in Western Conf.

The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Columbus by a score of 5-2 on Tuesday night in Todd Richards debut as the interim head coach of the Blue Jackets. For the Blackhawks, it snapped a four game winless streak. For the Blue Jackets it was the end of brutal four game road trip.

1. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes Reeling from the firing of Scott Arniel and injuries to Mark Letestu (broken hand) and Jeff Carter (separated shoulder), the Blue Jackets limped into Chicago for the debut of Todd Richards behind the bench. Richards first order of business was to announce that under his watch playing time would have to be earned. The problem, at least for his first game, was that given the circumstances of losing two top six guys on the tail end of an extended road trip he didn't have a lot of options.

Richards' pairings shaped out like this: Nash-Brassard-Prospal (seems reasonable), Vermette-Johansen-Kubalik (yikes!), Umberger-Pahlsson-Dorsett (love it), and Boll-D-Mac-Russell (sure, why not). Clitsome was the healthy scratch on the blue line (hmmmm) and the pairings were Tyutin-Nikitin (no brainer), Moore-Methot (seems reasonable) and Savard-Johnson (and prayers). The results were about what you would expect. The Jackets were adept at moving the puck out of their zone and through the neutral zone, but once past the blue line they lacked cohesion and chemistry. Still, they showed some quickness and battled hard, keeping the Hawks from registering their second shot until 12:30 into the first period. They would go on to out-shoot the Hawks 34-25 for the game, but quality scoring chances were too few and far between to stay competitive with the Hawks.

DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 41: Anaheim

Anaheim 7 - Columbus 4
11-25-5, 5th in Central Division, 15th in Western Conference

[Edited by DBJ to correct the time/date stamp and get the blog in proper chronological order.  The author for this piece was Greg May.]

In the third game of this four game road trip, the Blue Jackets lost to the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 7-4. It was a wild one on several levels.

1. Why? That is the question many Blue Jackets fans were asking when they learned Steve Mason was getting the start over Curtis Sanford, who had just posted the team's first shutout of the season one night earlier against a red-hot L.A Kings team. Counting the San Jose game, his first game back since injuring his right hip two weeks ago, Sanford had stopped 68 of 70 shots on this roadie, a .971 save percentage.

Mason, on the other hand, hadn't started since riding herd on a kick-in-the-gut 4-2 loss to Washington at home on New Years Eve, a game in which he surrendered all four goals in the third period to eviscerate a 2-0 Jackets lead. For whatever reason (and who really cares what it was), Arniel opted to go with Mason against the Ducks. If Mason's New Year's resolution was not to give up four goals in a period again, it only lasted eight days.

Mason got beat every which way in the first period, giving up four goals on 16 shots. After letting in a high glove-side snapper by Andrew Cogliano off a juicy rebound, Mason proceeded to get beat high glove side again by Corey Perry, on a wrap-a-round by Teemu Selanne after it appeared Mason quit on the play and lost the puck behind the net, and finally on a five-hole wrister by Saku Koivu. I will add the usual caveats: the team came out flat, turned the puck over charitably and got outshot 16-8 in the first period. Still, even Arniel had seen enough of Mason at that point.

So, for those counting at home, that's 8 goals against on 24 shots for Mason in his last two periods. With Mark Dekanich now rehabbing in Springfield, the Blue Jackets might finally have a viable alternative to keeping Mason on the roster. As for the long term, here's something to consider that DBJ himself dug up (which he tweeted to me from his "undisclosed location'). Seems like a reasonable expenditure of a million and some change at this point, doesn't it?

Evaluating the Coach

Scott Arniel - Head Coach

I have really struggled about how I feel about Scott Arniel this year.  We have watched coach after coach get fired this year in the NHL, most with .500 records or better, while the Columbus Blue Jackets  sit pat in spite of being in last place (though today we have climbed to 29th of 30 teams).

At this point, I have to throw out a stick tap to the rest of the blogging team here at the Dark Blue Jacket for helping me to process these issues in some sort of positive fashion.  The Nashville game was an insanely good time!  It was extremely entertaining, and we pushed them all over the ice.  For 58 minutes.  Dang.  I was really 'disturbed' (you are welcome grandma) following the game, and promptly wrote a diatribe calling for Coach Scott Arniel's head.  Courtesy intervened at that point, and the knowledge that I was dragging a bunch of other people down that path without their consent was a real issue.  So the 'publish' button was not pushed.  Two days later the 'delete' button was pushed.

Why delete a really slick post calling for the ouster of the Head Coach?  Certainly his record demands it.  Might be good for traffic on the site.  But maybe its not that easy.

Another One Bites the Dust

Maybe you saw that Terry Murray was fired as coach of the Los Angeles Kings yesterday. Maybe you also saw that Murray was 13-12-4 this season and only two points out of a playoff spot. Could you imagine a coach with that record ever getting fired in Columbus? Neither can I.

On some level, Terry Murray must be a bad coach.
Fans in Columbus have yet to experience that level.

Murray was 499-383-89-41 as a coach in over 1000 career NHL games. Impressive, yes. But not good enough for LA. Moreover, the dude needs just one more win to hit 500, but the heartless cads in the LA front office couldn't wait to show him the door and tell him not to let it hit him where the good Lord split him. If he would have posted that record in Columbus we would be buying $1 cotton candy from vendors on Murray Street after the games.

Meanwhile, we seem to be stuck here in Columbus with a guy that has coached us to six regulation wins in his last 51 games. I know, I know. There was Wiz's suspension, and injuries, blah, blah, blah. The problem is, when you coach a winner or at least a team that thinks of itself as a winner, you don't get to use those things as excuses. In fact, you might get fired for even trying to make excuses. When you coach for a winner, those things don't matter. Winning matters. And apparently, sometimes that isn't even enough.

Some teams raise the bar on themselves, like the Kings did yesterday. Other teams, like the Jackets, seem content to be just sitting at the bar. Try to understand how the Kings could fire a coach that is 13-12-4 so far this year and you will begin to understand how far the Jackets are from being a winner.

The Dark Side (12/4/11)

Things That Make Me Go Hmmmm...

1.  Why did Scott Arniel run Curtis Sanford out there in Edmonton on the second night of a back-to-back roadie? On top of that Sanford had already started eight straight games and, arguably, had started to show some signs of fatigue. The bottom line is there aren't many NHL teams that ask their starting goaltender to pull back-to-back duty on a roadie. 

Some might suggest that Sanford isn't necessarily our starting goalie. If not, isn't that even more reason to sit him in Edmonton and go to a fresh and rested Mason? And if he is our starting goalie, then why treat him like a rented mule? It's a safe assumption that Arniel has no plans to use Mason any time soon. If he does, wasn't Edmonton the perfect time and place to do so?

It makes sense to go with the hot hand. Maybe Sanford is a rented mule and Arniel will have to ride him for long stretches this season. But the dude is going to need a break at some point. So why not Edmonton, on the second night of back-back road games, in a different time zone, after what had to be an exhausting game, physcially and mentally, the night before in Calgary? Desperate times call for desperate measures. But there's a fine line between desperation and panic. Panic is no good (unless it's Widespread Panic of course). 

2. Why did Arniel put Kristian Huselius on the first line in Edmonton? Or I guess the real question is why wasn't Vinnie Prospal on the first line. Kristian who? I vaguely remember him. Don't get me wrong. I love the fact that Huselius is back. Depth is rarely a bad thing. But how about a little game action before throwing him up there? Why take Nash and Prospal out of their comfort zones? And why take most everybody else out of there's as well? On the road. With no time to practice with these lines.

3. Why do the Blue Jackets seem like a completely different (and really, really bad) team in the third period on a lot of nights? It's been a recurring theme this season. The game at Edmonton might be Exhibit A. Despite the fact that Sanford was starting to show signs that he was horse-whipped, literally and figuratively, and despite the fact that it looked like Arniel really was playing lineup bingo, the Jackets entered the third period with a 2-1 lead (yes Alison, thanks to Derek Dorsett). Jackets fans were elated.

And then, rather quickly, Jackets fans were deflated. It really seemed like it was over when the Oilers scored two goals in the third to take the lead, but then we had to watch them score three more.

What is the root cause of these seismic shifts in momentum? Is it lack of heart and desire? Is it lack of skill? I don't think so, or we wouldn't be able to look so good in the first period.  Is it conditioning? If so, we must be the worst conditioned team in the league. Also, how can an entire team of professional athletes start sucking wind individually at the exact same time, the start of the third period. It must be something else.

When it comes to breaking down hockey, I'm admittedly an amateur. But is a degree in hockey theory even necessary here? In any other sport -- football, basketball, soccer, capture the freaking flag, it doesn't matter -- when a team, that was early in a game effectively executing their game plan, suddenly becomes ineffective at executing their game plan, especially when it happens after the player's have emerged from an intermission period, isn't it the coach's fault? Which brings up another question, doesn't it? Hmmmm....

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.

The bubble defensemen

Because reviewing the preseason performance of the Columbus Blue Jackets bubble-perched forwards was so much fun, and my template was already set up, I figured it was easy to toss together the CBJ bubble blue-liners.

The training camp numbers are nowhere near as large
as on opening day of camp, and the competition is that much
more intense for the last few roster spots.

The same caveat applies to the defense as to the forwards: Statistics should be a significant factor, but not the only factor, in judging the preseason performance of a player. There are a host of other issues that come into play when building a roster beyond the boxscores.  (Never mind that the advanced statistics movement in hockey is widely acknowledged to have taken off with the development of the Corsi rating, something tailor-made to compensate for inadequate boxscore data on defensemen.)  Still, it's foolish to overlook the publicly available stats altogether, as they can tell us stories as well.

With no further ado, here are what I see as Blue Jackets defensemen on the bubble for the opening day roster (note that I've got an update at the bottom of this post, but humor me as I share my completed work in this fluid environment):



Again, the individual player statistics are available by clicking their names at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  Also, the disparity in games played make the per-game statistics useful.  With that out of the way, let's look inside the numbers, shall we?

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!)

Out of Time: Fire up the (assistant) coaching carousel

The pace of news is getting out ahead of me...I want to write my opinion pieces on the different aspects of the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, but things keep happening...forcing me to write more reactive pieces.  And as it relates to the coaching, I actually wanted to target my attention to the two people that I'll discuss today, but there's a lot more that I want to say about the coaches in the days ahead.  So forgive me while I jump to the back of the book and offer up some thoughts that are a tad out of sequence with my intended plan.

DAVE ROOK - GONE!

It is with no small measure of joy that I share with DBJ blog readers a link from the Dispatch informing the world that goalie consultant Dave Rook has resigned from the Columbus Blue Jackets coaching staff.  The public reason is that he now recognizes that the CBJ want him in Columbus more than he wants to be, and he won't move his family down from Canada.

You gotta beat the good teams

I am now convinced that this roster, as currently composed, cannot be expected to beat any good National Hockey League team with any regularity this season. - DBJ, 12/23/10

That was my opening salvo, from before Christmas, that started this blog's drumbeat for a personnel shakeup to solidify the Columbus Blue Jackets and salvage their playoff chances for this season.  With a CBJ day off and all sorts of somewhat fact-based goofiness going around on Twitter, I thought it might be wise to revisit that statement in light of the recent streak of - at least record-wise - great Blue Jackets on-ice performance.

CBJ captain Rick Nash is doing all he
can to will his team to wins.  But is
his effort enough to put the club over
the top and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

Let's set some ground rules for this investigation.

1. It's clear that the CBJ of pre-Thanksgiving is not the same as the CBJ of post-January 14.  The roster is different, albeit through scratches, injuries, callups and demotions instead of trades or waiver wire grabs.  And, blessedly, both of those CBJ teams are very different than the one that hibernated from Thanksgiving through January 13.  (Actually, this raises a totally different point about the evolution of the team this season.  If I have time, I might go down this road in another post...or save it for the season recap.)
2. At the same time, the CBJ's opposition could make the same claims, but with different timelines.  Every team evolves over the course of an 82-game season.  So looking at long-forgotten games (OK, I haven't forgotten EVERY game...) is largely pointless. 
3. I have to play the hand that I'm dealt.  By that, I mean that I have to look at the recent schedule and compare Columbus' performance against the teams that they've played.  To make a comparison of the CBJ against, say, today's Philadelphia Flyers team is silly.  In addition, I work with the stats that are easily available...the "last ten games" statistic is on every standings page of NHL.com and requires minimal extra investigation.  

So we're going to look at the CBJ's performance in the last ten games, compare them against the teams that they played in their most recent ten-game spans (but I'll throw in standings info as well for giggles), and see if the Blue Jackets NOW can be expected to beat good NHL teams.  If that's the case, we'll look at the regularity of their wins.

Game 58/Chicago: My Take

[Pardon the over 24-hour delay in getting this posted.  I've been struggling to get some schoolwork done on deadline (done), fighting yet another apparent sinus infection (sigh) and ended up hosting a friend's child while she ran down to the hospital to deliver a baby (wow).]

In a string of "must-win" games, none have been bigger than Friday night's Columbus Blue Jackets visit to the United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks, who were only one standings place and two standings points ahead of the CBJ.  While by no means dominating from wire to wire, the Blue Jackets fought it out and emerged victorious, 4-3, in regulation.

Start with this:




Everything else is gravy.

Observation from practice

For the first time in way too long, the Dark Blue Toddler and I ventured down this morning to Nationwide Arena to check in on the Columbus Blue Jackets' open practice in anticipation of tomorrow's tilt with the streaking (7-1-2 in their last 10 - Yow!) Los Angeles Kings.

When reached for comment about practice,
the Dark Blue Toddler stopped on the stairs to say,
"Up! Up! UP! Down! Down! DOWN! Hockey! Boom!"

The visit was punctuated by a pre-practice breakfast with DBT at the Arena District's Sunny Street Cafe on Nationwide Boulevard, where we redeemed a Groupon and he gnawed on perhaps the largest "dinosaur" pancake that I've ever seen.  (They apprently pour the batter into a 8-inch long dinosaur mold, kinda like a cookie cutter for pancakes.)  Of course, the DBT is the discriminating type, so he ate my home fries instead.  At least I got coffee.  And Sunny Street is a great way to kick off your CBJ practice morning.  Nice folks, fast service.

As for practice, I got pretty much what I've come to expect with the little man.  DBT runs the stairs and the rows nonstop (only stopping to tell me what row letter I've parked in to monitor him while he tears around sections 114 and 115), and I get about 15 minutes of actual observation during a one-hour practice.

Most notable from practice was who was NOT out there: Steve Mason.  We now know that Mase has bronchitis and a "minor" pulled groin (how such a muscle pull can be "minor" is beyond me).  With that, and no goalie callup from Springfield, we were treated to the CBJ equipment manager in net.  I think I got a taste of what the diminutive Darren Pang would have looked like between the pipes for the Blue Jackets.  Actually, the guy did OK considering they weren't pushing him too hard out there.

Game 56/Dallas: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets paid ethically and perhaps legally-challenged coach Marc Crawford and his Dallas Stars a visit on Sunday afternoon and walked away with a 2-1 win in front of a half-empty arena.

As the saying goes, it wasn't even that close.  The Blue Jackets looked remarkably poised through most of the game, and the Stars honestly didn't look like they had their legs.

Steve Mason was on his game, stopping 29 of 30.  I need to do a home/away comparison on Mase because it seems as if he plays a simpler game on the road - like most of the team.  Simple isn't bad, though, when you're Steve Mason.  It's generally quite good.  Like today.

Oh yeah, Rick Nash had one of his "I'm Rick Nash and you're not" goals:

Game 53/Pittsburgh: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets paid their first regular season visit to the shiny new CONSOL Energy Center and didn't bother to wipe their feet with a 4-1 victory over the host Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pens fans will suggest that their missing superstar players, Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee), played a major factor in the loss.  It's possible.  But the rest of the NHL doesn't care, nor did they tie up $17.4 million in cap space on two players like Ray Shero did.  Losing both of these players at the same time is armegeddon for Pittsburgh, and that's sad for the Pens because the rest of the league has a stack full of IOU's to collect upon with the league's Golden Children.

But enough about the opposition.  This is a Blue Jackets blog, and we're going to talk about the winners of tonight's game.

Game 51/Detroit: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to Joe Louis Arena on Friday night and, to the surprise of many, put together a compellingly solid all-around performance in shutting out the NHL Central Division-leading Detroit Red Wings, 3-0.

A couple immediate thoughts on this game:

First, I suggest you go back and look at Gallos' terrific post about meaningless games.  Then try to tell me that this game did not have a very striking resemblance to the 8-2 CBJ pasting of the Wings that Detroit coach Mike Babcock used to such great effect in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs first round.  (Now, just imagine if the CBJ can put together a string of wins to get themselves back in the playoff picture to the point that they would play Detroit again.  Wouldn't THAT be something?)

(Somewhat) Tanned, rested and ready for the second half

My two week "All-Star Break" has ended, and I'm back in the States after a great, long vacation with Mrs. DBJ, the Dark Blue Toddler and DBT's grandparents.  As you can see, the CBJ ball cap (with a stylishly pre-weathered bill) has seen a little bit of fading from the sun at 20° 37' 0" N / 87° 4' 0" W.  It was great, however, to see the many other hockey fans down so close to the equator.  There were tons of Canadians out there, worshiping the sun during the day and watching CBC and TSN hockey of their favorite teams all night long at the open-air sports bars under palapa roofs.

Two week vacations are a gift from God.  If you ever can figure out a way to combine both the money and vacation time from your jobs, I highly recommend such a break.  It's soul-cleansing.  On a one-week vacation, you're travelling for two days and don't really start mentally "unpacking" from The Real World for a couple of days, so that means you only really get two - perhaps three - days of true relaxation.  In a two-week vacation, you can add a whole seven days to the decompressed time.  And it's really good...I find that you don't dread returning home after a two-week vacation like you do after a one-week vacation.

But enough of this self-indulgent crap.  You come here to read about the Columbus Blue Jackets, not my ruminations on how long one needs to air out the mental dirty laundry.  So let's catch up on what happened while I was away...

Game 42/Los Angeles: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets started off the second half of the 2010-11 campaign with a 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center.

I gave in to fatigue after the end of the second period - these 10:30PM starts are just brutal - so my catching up after waking up tells me that there may have actually been two games last night.

For the first half, the main highlight was wunderkind forward Matt Calvert's first goal.  While not exactly a Davidgian "Goal Scorer's Goal," it offers proof that keeping your nose for the puck yields benefits.  Wisdom for the entire squad from the mouths of babes...




Past that, there really was nothing meaningful to discuss.  The Kings - who themselves are reeling through a slump - pretty much had their way with the CBJ.  And Mathieu Garon proved that while he's a good backup goaltender, he can't carry the load with a couple "goals he'd like to have back."

An early spring cleaning

First, let's sort through the chatter out of Nationwide Boulevard for the day:

Never thought I'd be using THIS graphic again...

• Center Kyle Wilson has cleared waivers.  
• Defenseman Mike Commodore was waived and, barring something entirely unforeseen, will clear.  He carries a pretty high price tag.
• Winger and Alternate Captain Ethan Moreau has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to January 4.  
• Forward Matt Calvert has been called up from the AHL Springfield Falcons.  Coach Scott Arniel says that Calvert will play on Friday night against Anaheim.
• Both Wilson and Commodore are skating with the CBJ in California today.
• Other bits and pieces - This blog entry by Jeff Little perhaps does the best job I've seen in tying up the loose ends.

It's clear that something is afoot in Blue Jackets land.  Or maybe a couple of somethings.

Kyle Wilson waived - What's going on?

What in the wide wide world of sports is going on over on Nationwide Boulevard?

I'm not talking about the Mike Commodore trade request.  That apparently happened last week (though we only found out about it today).  Plus, that's a player-initiated move.

No, what I'm talking about is the waiving of Kyle Wilson as part of his demotion to Springfield, this after being told by team management that he was going to stick around for the season.  This one's on the team - on Scott Howson and presumably Scott Arniel.  As such, it's much more significant to the Columbus Blue Jackets.