Who stays? Who Goes? Part II: The Filatov Conundrum

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.

Who stays? Who goes?

Interesting little tidbit from the Dispatch guys today on Twitter:

[The Columbus Blue Jackets] said the magic words to MacKenzie and Wilson: "Get a place." On 2-way contracts, but told they'll be staying w #CBJ.

First, and let's not minimize this, let's congratulate Derek Mackenzie and Kyle Wilson.  Both guys are former AHL lifers who have busted their tails off to stick in the NHL and, for both guys, it's the first times in their careers that they will actually do so.  I waxed (reasonably) eloquent about Wilson after his shootout winner on Monday night, and my "Time to Step Up" piece on MacKenzie says all I need to say on him.  Presuming that the two guys perform at an NHL level, more power to them.  It's great to see merit getting rewarded, something that both Scott Arniel and Scott Howson are doing despite the strange world of the NHL collective bargaining agreement, with issues involving waivers, one-way/two-way contracts, salary caps, etc.

Pleasantries aside, let's get to the heart of the matter.  Why is the front office telling these two guys to plan on sticking around for the season at this specific moment?

About the Pittsburgh game and ticket sales

The Dispatch's Tom Reed shares some of the fallout from the absurd (surreal?) Pittsburgh game experience by sharing the results of a conversation that he had with the Columbus Blue Jackets' Larry Hoepner - the team's VP of business operations.

(Side note: I've met Mr. Hoepner once before, at CannonFest.  He came across to me as a genuinely nice man who was interested in making the Columbus Blue Jackets everything it could and should be.  If you call that bias, so be it.  I liked the man.)

Long story short:

1. Opposing team fans (or at least opposing team jersey-wearing fans) shouldn't expect complimentary zamboni rides anytime soon.
2. "The club, which is struggling at the gate, also will explore ways to ensure Jackets' fans get the first chance to buy tickets for popular draws such as the Penguins, Red Wings and Blackhawks."

The article then rationalizes away why the Columbus Blue Jackets can't be overly restrictive on ticket sales.  In essence, the team is so starved for ticket sales that it'll take them any way they can.  

Here's my take: 

1. The zamboni thing (and moving Pittsburgh fans to the Big Lots "cushy chair" section) is pure symbolism.  It's great that the CBJ is going to make policy changes to fix that, but that's appearances.  
2. The ticket sale matter is a different story.  What no one seems to get (but Matt Wagner at The Cannon oh-so-gently touches on) is that the flawed process of pre-selling individual game tickets directly led to this problem.  

I'll try to explain as best I can from my memory of the process back in September.  I might be off on a specific point here or there but stand behind my recollection enough that I'm willing to put it up on the blog.  If I'm in error on the facts, PLEASE post a comment so I can make corrections.

Game 26/Dallas: My Take

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 new Blue Jackets third jerseys have arrived!

As promised, I wanted to let this blog's readers know that the new Columbus Blue Jackets jersey has arrived in The DBJ Shop.

The Shop, which is powered by Amazon.com, has the authentic jersey, the (replica) premier jersey, the premier jersey in youth sizes and even a premiere jersey with Rick Nash's name, number and the "C".  The Nash jersey appears to be a pretty good deal, for what it's worth.

There's a lot, lot more in the Shop, and it's certainly worth a gander if you're looking for CBJ gear for your holiday giving.  (And, yes, I might someday receive a miniscule level of compensation from Amazon for referring you to the store.)

Enjoy your jerseys!  Really, they are NOT bad luck for the Blue Jackets.  Ill-timed considering the opposition faced and the state of the team's mental health, definitely.  But not bad luck charms...

Because we all need some motivation right now.

In light of Friday and Saturday night's back-to-back debacles, I gather that some of the Columbus Blue Jackets faithful aren't sure if they want to get back to Nationwide Arena anytime soon.

In a way, I can't blame those folks.  The wounds are significant, and the feelings are still raw.  At the same time, there are 82 games in the season...which means there's almost always another game right around the corner.

And Monday night's game really doesn't need help in terms of motivating the CBJ fanbase.  Really, it doesn't.

Remember this guy to the right?  His name is James Neal.  Neal cheap-shotted Derek Dorsett into a nine-game absence from the roster last season.  The NHL gave him The Taint and suspended him for two games.  Not surprisingly, Dorsett's absence marked the beginning of the CBJ tailspin that cost Ken Hitchcock his head coaching job.

(And while I rarely blatantly promote my links, I HIGHLY recommend you go back and read those two.  Really, go and read 'em - and watch the video clips.  You'll understand when you're done.  It's OK, I'll wait.)

Derek Dorsett's been waiting a year for this game.  I've been waiting a year for it - and yeah, I'm going.  How conveeeenient that it's part of my ticket package.  I would love nothing more than for the Blue Jackets to destroy Marc Crawford, James Neal and the Dallas Stars every which way they can.

Tickets are still available - and they're pretty cheap.  (As I type, "cheap" means as low as $10/seat.)  Show up, cheer on the Blue Jackets and enjoy the festivities, folks.

Game 25/Pittsburgh: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets slump extended to five games with a loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-2, in front of the second-largest crowd in Nationwide history.

While there clearly was a huge story in the overwhelming presence of Penguins fans - and their having swiped CBJ season ticket holder presale codes to snatch up hundreds if not thousands of game tickets at season ticket holder discount prices, not to mention the effect on the supposed home ice advantage that the CBJ should have enjoyed - I'm not going to talk any more about the Penguins in this post.  This is a Blue Jackets blog, and I've got better things to do than waste energy discussing how the visiting team's fans caused a massive CBJ marketing fail.

No, I told my Pens-loving friend (who was gently baiting me in the spirit of healthy competition) that the recent matters involving the game made this game not about the Penguins to CBJ fans but instead about the CBJ themselves.  They've been in a slide, and they had to get out of it.  In my mind, I didn't care whether it was the Penguins or the Panthers visiting Columbus.  Sorry, that's how I felt and still feel.

Game 24/Buffalo: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to HSBC Arena in Buffalo and were shut out by the Sabres, 5-0.

On the bright side, there are 81 other games.

That being said, this was a debacle on every level.  Two early-ish CBJ goals were overturned.  Rather than "dig in" (to use a Hitch-ism), the Blue Jackets instead retreated to that dreaded "safe place" where they started cycling the puck and not meaningfully attacking the other team.  It's like they raised the white flag.

The refereeing was horrible.  The CBJ's spirit was horrible.  The team lost any sense of discipline and fight.  Scratch that, there were some fights.  Most likely, a suspension or suspensions will come from it.  Just ugly in all forms.

On that whole attendance thing...

Back in early October, Matt Wagner of The Cannon coalesced a handful of Columbus Blue Jackets bloggers to answer a bunch of questions about the team as they embarked upon the 2010-2011 season.

The first question out of the gate didn't involve the new coaching staff, the ongoing improvement of our young goalie nor the enigmatic Russian who came back in from the cold.

Nope, it was about tickets.  And ticket sales.

Specifically, Matt asked us: Much has been made of the team's ticket woes. Many former season ticket holders are taking a wait and see attitude. If the team can get off to a hot start after their trip to Sweden, how quickly do you think fans in Columbus will respond at the box office?

The answers speak for themselves, but I'll take the liberty of reprinting my response for your amusement:

I think that the "wait and see" attitude will be exacerbated by the challenging economy in Ohio. Should the Jackets take off in the standings - and that's by no means a given - I wouldn't expect to see much of any change in attendance until after the first of the year...college football season will be out of the way, the Winter Classic will help refocus attention and the Jackets will have a body of work by then to prove to the community that they are legit.

I'll stand by everything I said.  On the very bright side, the Blue Jackets are off to one of the best starts in team history - if not the best.  14-8-1 is absolutely nothing to sneeze at, and it places the team squarely on a path to the playoffs if my notions about point accumulation over the course of the season have anything to do with it.

Game 23/Nashville: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets gained the "loser point" in going into overtime against the Nashville Predators tonight, only to fall in the shootout, 4-3.

Loser points stink.

Perhaps the really frustrating thing about this game was that, by my intermittent observations (while chasing the Dark Blue Toddler around the house and then getting sucked into an incredible HBO documentary on post traumatic stress disorder in our nation's veterans), the Predators have an inferior roster in comparison to the Blue Jackets.  Say whatever you want, Predatweeter, but what I saw was a Blue Jackets team whose heads, for stretches in this particular game, were not in the game itself.  This team can go on a tear across the West Coast, can expose the formerly all-world Jaroslav Halak and can toss the likes of Montreal, Philadelphia and Chicago into a tizzy...but only when they are into the game.  In some spots, they were.  (Antoine Vermette, for example, seemed locked in tonight and had two goals to show for it.)  In many other spots, they were not.