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.  

On that Kovalchuk contract and those of its ilk

Ilya Kovalchuk's monster contract finally was approved by the NHL.  Guess it means that we can get on with the preseason, eh?

I'm not going to address the personalities or teams involved in the contract, nor the NHL-NHLPA drama that apparently was playing out behind the scenes.  Instead, I'm going to take a macro view of the situation.  As such, I have two overarching thoughts:

1. Following in line with my Rick Nash preseason "Time to step up" profile, I am dubious that any player can be worth the amount of space that Nash or Kovalchuk (or Alexander Ovechkin, or any other "superstar") are taking up under their team's salary cap - even at their pro-rated levels.  I really don't think that any player can reasonably be expected to provide a proportional level of value inherent in the salary cap numbers that these guys are carrying.  Holders of these mega-contracts now should be expected to be captain, top scorer on their team, have a plus-minus rating higher than +30 and personally sell more season tickets than any full-time season ticket rep.  All while driving the zamboni in between periods and winning at least 4 Stanley Cups over the course of their contracts.  (I'm only half-joking.)

2. The NHL and NHLPA were wise to functionally cap the length of contracts.  Professional athletes, in a profession where they're lucky to last four years on average, should not be on the books until they're 40.  It's stupid and short-sighted on the part of the teams (Hi, New York Islanders.  How are Alexi Yashin and Rick DiPietro?).  Fortunately, the parties agreed to fix that right now rather than wait for the next lockout collective bargaining agreement negotiation.

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.

Introducing The Dark Blue Jacket Shop

I'm very excited to announce the opening of The Dark Blue Jacket Shop!

With the blog developing a meaningful readership - and the incredible reaction of the Columbus Blue Jackets fan community to the CannonFest 2010 event - I've been spending some time trying to figure out how I, and the DBJ blog, could be of additional service to CBJ fans far and wide.  Out of that reflection came two things: 1) The current incarnation of the "Time to Step Up" 2010-2011 CBJ season preview series, and 2) The Dark Blue Jacket Shop.

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.  

Fox Sports Ohio shoots - and scores!

Yes. Yes! YES!!

Just got this press release from Fox Sports Ohio:

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FOX SPORTS OHIO ANNOUNCES

BLUE JACKETS SLAP SHOTS

Weekly Blue Jackets highlight show premieres Monday, October 11 at 6pm

Additional Blue Jackets coverage featured on www.FOXSportsOhio.com, including

Interactive Nights, Eric Smith’s weekly podcasts and more!

COLUMBUS, OHIO – FOX Sports Ohio is excited to announce a new program, Blue Jackets Slap Shots, premiering Monday, October 11 at 6pm.

This 30-minute show, hosted by FOX Sports Ohio Blue Jackets broadcaster Ray Crawford, will offer Blue Jackets fans a chance to revisit the top moments from the Blue Jackets’ previous week. Blue Jackets Slap Shots is a week-in-review show that will bring back interviews and highlights as the Jackets battle through the 2010-2011 NHL season. The show will also open up the archives to peer back at some of the moments and memories of the 10-season history of the Columbus franchise.

Jackets fans: A Call to Arms

Just in from Tom Larrow (aka Skraut), creator of so many incredible Columbus Blue Jackets fan videos:

As a way of saying thanks to everyone I met at CannonFest, and all the kind words I've received over the years for my videos, I'd like to create a video which incorporates the work of my fellow Blue Jackets fans. Instead of putting together something comprised solely of video, I'd like to include photos taken by Blue Jackets fans.

What I'm looking for:
The theme for the video is “A Call to Arms” and I would be interested in seeing the photos that Jackets fans have taken which could fit the theme. Have pictures of the players during the game? Send them in. Photos of fans taken around Nationwide Arena on game day? Great! “Artsy” pictures of your jersey or the CBJ logo? Cool. Ever been to a Civil War Reenactment? Send me your pictures of the guys in blue. Any other thing that says Columbus Blue Jackets to you.