Dear Jackets Fan...Why So Blue?

Well everyone else has posted their thoughts on the realignment so I figured I would join the rest of the cool kids and throw in my two cents.  Of course I would be remiss if I didn't remind you that my (much smarter!) colleagues here at DBJ have already offered some food for thought, first Gallo's initial recap and then some words from DBJ himself.

I was surprised, quite honestly, last night to watch the reactions on Twitter. So many of us have griped about the late starts, long (and expensive!) travel demands and tough opponents that it was a bit shocking to see so many come out saying we got the short end of the stick, or that we're no better off in the "B Division" (and clearly the problem is we're not in the D [DD!] Division) than before. The opinion seems to be dominating that we are "in no better position to make the playoffs than before".

But here's the deal...there is no shortcut to success.

DBJ's 5 thoughts on the forthcoming realignment

Gallos dropped the realignment news on this blog a little earlier, leaving me with an opportunity to offer some opinions on what has happened.

Your reconstituted National Hockey League
Graphic from Yahoo! Sports' Puck Daddy

1. The Columbus Blue Jackets will save a lot of money - A home-and-home exchange with every out-of conference team (22 games x 2 = 44 games), followed by every other game inside of the conference means that travel costs drop.

NHL Realignment - Columbus Stays in The West

Today, the NHL Board of Governors decided on a new organizational plan for the NHL according to TSN.  This the new four conference alignment that has been discussed in many sources   One of the clear benefits of this plan is the decision that each team in the league will play a home and home with every other team.  This means that all the star power of the NHL will be coming through every arena in the league, and is nothing but a good thing for the NHL.

In the four conference alignment, the Atlanta Thrashers moved west as the Winnipeg Jets.  That leaves the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Central Division of the Western Conference with Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Dallas, Nashville, Minnesota and Winnipeg. The Central Division remains a murderer's row. The only consolation is that the rest of the league has to come through it too.

From the TSN Article:

The existing Northeast division would be expanded to include the league's two Florida-based teams, making a conference of: Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Toronto.

Meanwhile, the existing Atlantic Division would gain two teams for a seven-team conference including: Carolina, New Jersey, the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington.

The Central Division would be modified to form a conference of Mid-Western teams including: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, and Winnipeg.

The three Canadian teams from the Northwest Division would join a proposed Western Conference including: Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose and Vancouver.

The realignment is aimed at evening out the travel schedules for all NHL teams with each team playing teams outside their conference twice per year, once at home and on the road.

In the playoffs, the plan is for the first two rounds to be within Division, 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3, with a total re-seeding done with the winners following the first two rounds.

The bottom line is that the CBJ need to learn to win within their Division.  I'm not sure the road to the playoffs got any easier.

GO JACKETS!!

Brass, Commie, Calvert and Claude

Derrick Brassard in a post-practice shooting drill

I've been mulling these topics over for several days, the whole situation, and the discussion concerning Derrick Brassard, of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  In a previous post on this subject I opined that some of Brass' struggles this year were a normal developmental stage, that had been delayed by the dearth of talent in the franchise.  The more I think about it, the more I think some of that is definitely true, which we will explore later in the post.

Late last week, Brassard's agent issued a statement calling out Coach Scott Arniel for Brassard's situation. For the whys and wherefore's of Brassard's Agent's comments, I highly recommend this excellent post over on Ten Minute Misconduct, and the commentary which follows.  This really puts the whole situation in a current context in the NHL.  What I want to do in this post is to explore the similarities between what is happening to Brassard and someone who was absolutely and unquestionably relegated to Scott Arniel's doghouse, big Mike Commodore.

I got a pretty unique opportunity last year, a chance to have a chat with Mike.  This occurred following a childish and petulant outburst in this space (long since retracted).   In our conversation I later characterized this to Mike as a rookie mistake, which was a pretty apt description. He was gracious about my failings, for which I was grateful.  He IS a pretty big guy.  But he had a pretty rough experience at the hands of Arniel, and I think his experience is pertinent here.  So I'd like to discuss his experiences as they might relate to Brassard,without rolling Mike under the bus.  I would like to affirmatively state that he refused to criticize any coach in any way.  This was wise on his part, as hockey is a pretty tight community and that stuff gets around.  Mike Commodore would not comment on Scott Arniel.

DBJ's lingering thought about Game 26: Edmonton

I know we're still a day away from the final game of the Columbus Blue Jackets' Canadian "road" trip in Montreal, but I can't get Friday's Edmonton game out of my head.  And no it's not because the CBJ gave up an inexcusable five goals in the third period.

Nope, it was the overall impression that the Oilers left me.  Surely it was in part because Mrs. DBJ had the TV remote and a DVR that came close to overflowing due to our being out of town, which forced me to watch the game on my computer.  My feed was pixellated garbage - worse than the "waxed paper" look that standard definition telecasts offer on a high-def screen - which rendered my Scott Arniel Lineup Bingo card useless (that and the fact that Jeff Carter was scratched while occupying a square in the middle of my board) because I couldn't make out the jersey numbers.  In many ways, the game kinda felt like I was watching a real-life version of Iriz Pääbo's animated short, HA'Aki:




I mean this in the best possible sense.  Rather than locking in on a player or players (because it was pointless), I sat back and observed the flow of the game.  The bright blue and orange jersies of Edmonton scurried around the ice like waterbugs against the less forceful white, blue and red sweaters of the CBJ.  It was the type of game that Scott Arniel, he of the "unlimited pasta bar offense" of tossing caution to the win and chucking wet noodles - errrrr, pucks - on goal and hoping that some of them stick in the back of the net.  But above all, it was nothing but motion...pushing the puck up the ice, with fast break after fast break coming from Edmonton.

And that's when it hit me: The way that the Oilers were playing was the way that Blue Jackets apparently want to play.  Unlike Columbus, however, Edmonton had the personnel to pull it off.  So it goes deeper than just execution.

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....

DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 26: Edmonton

Double D

The Columbus Blue Jackets fell tonight 6-3 on the road to the Edmonton Oilers, a young team that is looking very explosive.  Following a spirited round of Scott Arniel Line-up Bingo, courtesy of the DBJ, everyone settled down to watch the game.  And now, for the Dark Blue Jacket's 5 thoughts on this game.

1. Fast Start, Fast Finish - The Oil got on the board in the first 30 seconds of the game, courtesy of a Nash penalty.  Curtis Sanford had no chance on Eberle's power play goal.  The Oilers then began a push in the waning minute of the 2nd period that carried over to the third, and salted the win with 4 goals in the third period against the road weary CBJ.  Ryan Jones put together 2 nice goals with 1 bunny for a third period hat trick.

2. The Sand Man - Once again, Curtis Sanford played well.  It kinda fell apart in the third period, in his ninth straight game, and on the second night of a back to back.  But the CBJ lose by double digits if he doesn't shine.  Sanford kept them in the game in the second period with some sterling work, for example, stoning Eberle on a 2 on 1 break.

3. Derek Dorsett - Dorsett didn't have an empty net from a pulled goal tender to shoot at in order to collect his hat trick, so he had to settle for only scoring two goals.  The first, which put the CBJ ahead 2-1, was a beauty.  Dorsett collecting a whiff by an Oilers D-man, walked in and avoided the poke check by the goal tender Dubnyk, and scored the goal into the abandoned net.  The other goal was a put back of a rebound from a Marc Methot slapshot.  It was a strong game by Doors.

You, too, can play "Scott Arniel lineup bingo"!

Those who made it to the bitter end saw it last night: Columbus Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel shuffled his forward lines in the third period against Calgary faster than a dealer in Vegas.  We had captain Rick Nash slumming with the second liners.  We had fan fave (and, last I checked, top scorer) Vinny Prospal grinding with the fourth liners.  We had the player once known as R. J. Umberger pulled up to play with the top liners.

It was madness, glorious madness, and it resulted in a win.

So let's make a game out of it!

---

SCOTT ARNIEL LINEUP BINGO

Here's how to play:

1. Get a piece of paper and divide it into twelve boxes, three columns by four rows.

A blank Scott Arniel Lineup Bingo card.  Side decoration not necessary
but somehow cathartic.  (And no, that's not an anarchy symbol at the bottom.)

DBJ's thoughts on the eve of NHL realignment

It seems like everyone and their brother is piping in on Monday and Tuesday's NHL Board of Governors' meetings, at which a potential realignment of the league will be on the table.

Puck Daddy offers a concise overview of the two options on the table and suggests a possible outcome.  One is the "swap" of Winnipeg and either Detroit, Columbus or Nashville.  The other looks something more resembling this:

Regardless of the realignment plan, it'll take two-thirds of the Governors - 20 of 'em, meaning no fewer than five from one conference presuming all 15 in the other vote as a bloc - to make any changes.

DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 25: Calgary

Columbus 4 - Calgary 3 (Shootout)
7-15-3, 5th in Central Division, 15th in Western Conference

The Calgary Flames, ever the hospitable Canadian hosts (They're so darned nice!), gave tonight's game away to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the waning minutes of regulation, setting the stage for a Blue Jackets shootout win, 4-3.

1. BRASS IS FED UP - Because seemingly every CBJ game starts out being overshadowed by the locker room news of the day, let's get this out of the way. Allen Walsh, Derick Brassard's agent, blasted the Blue Jackets and especially coach Scott Arniel twelve ways from Sunday.  In very few words, Walsh said so, so much.  I'm going to have to devote some attention to it  in a separate post, but I didn't want to overlook this important development in the Blue Jackets world.

2. EARLY JUMP - Antoine Vermette got the first goal of the game in the first five minutes.  A nice, messy, close-up goal for Vermette and a statement of intent for this game.