DBJ's only pertinent thought on Game 63: Detroit

Detroit 5- Columbus 2
18-38-7, 5th in Central Division, 13 points out of 29th in the NHL

In their first game since the NHL trade deadline, the host Columbus Blue Jackets fell, 5-2, to the visiting Detroit Red Wings at Nationwide Arena.

I'm going to dispense with the normal five thoughts on the game to discuss in depth what I feel is perhaps the only pertinent thought as it relates to this game - and the 19 remaining.  First, I'd suggest that you watch this video of today's press conference if you have not yet done so.


If you want to read a transcript, go here.

Let's put aside the obvious question of why the assembled hockey media allowed Rick Nash to have such a softball media availability - including not asking the obvious question, "What personal/career goals do you think that you cannot achieve in Columbus?" Instead, we should focus on that which was said.

Rick Nash has given up on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Theater of the absurd

All of a sudden, the 300-ish people who turned out at the All-Star
Weekend fan protest seem remarkably reasonable, eh?

• Game Changer - Light The Lamp
• Scott Howson's Shot Across the Bow - The Hockey Writers
• Colum-Bustible - Full Mental Jackets
• What I think happened between Rick Nash, Scott Howson and CBJ ownership and why I don't blame Nash - RedditCBJ
• Scott Howson tosses Rick Nash under the C-bus, reveals captain’s trade demand - Puck Daddy (Yahoo!)
• The Rick Nash Mess - Carry The Flag
• Rick Nash trade talk: Don’t blame Columbus’ GM for going public with star’s request - Yahoo! Sports
• The Kobayashi Maru Trade Deadline - (Gallos at) The Dark Blue Jacket

OK, I get it.  The Columbus Blue Jackets are a mess.  From this fan's point of view, it's descended into the theater of the absurd.  This soap opera has brought embarrassment to the organization, the team, its fans and the community that just bailed the noble but failed private sector-only professional sports experiment out until 2039.

The Kobayashi Maru Trade Deadline

The Kobayashi Maru scenario, of Star Trek fame seems to me to be the best description of today's trade deadline activity.  Briefly, the Kobayashi Maru is the fictional no-win scenario that Starfleet Cadets were always forced to face.  To me, a no-win scenario is the best description of the swirl of controversy surrounding the CBJ and their star player, the face of the franchise, Rick Nash.

Part of our role here on this blog is to attempt to provide perspective.  We're not the best at recapping events, per se.  At the close of trade deadline 2012, we know approximately this:

A. Nash was on the trading block; B. It was widely perceived that management had made the decision to trade him, as their most valuable asset; C. the CBJ maintained a very steep asking price for the face of the franchise; D. the offers from the teams on the list provided by Nash did not meet the price that was set, and E. Ultimately, management revealed that Nash asked for a trade back in January.  Ugh.

Any general manager who sets about trading his only star sets himself up to be remembered for ever as "that bozo who traded _______ for only ______, _______, and _____________".  The team of Howson and Patrick did not want to wear that mantle, and refused the watered down offers that did not meet their admittedly high price.  The upshot of this is that you have 20 games left to play with a player you have apparently burned your bridges with.  But have they?

Columbus has a National Hockey League franchise. Really.

As time wore down on the 2012 NHL trade deadline, I noted that the storyline coming from NHL-centric media and other teams' partisans was that the Columbus Blue Jackets "got greedy" and, because of that perceived greed, scuttled the trade of Rick Nash by their actions.

I'm blowing the whistle on this meme.  Two minute minor.  Go to the box.  Jackets on the power play.

Trade Deadline recap

For better or worse, the Columbus Blue Jackets apparently didn't blink on their demands for Rick Nash, and - as of 3PM - will have the Captain around for at least the balance of the 2011-12 season.

Sammy Pahlsson was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for two fourth-round draft picks. (UPDATE: Vancouver tossed in minor league blueliner Taylor Ellington.)

And that's all she wrote.

It's NHL trade deadline day!

Let's kick it off right with a whiff of the smell of victory...


Enjoy the NHL media attention, Columbus Blue Jackets fans, because I have a feeling that it's going to get pretty quiet for a while once the deadline passes.  
I'll be away from the computer during the mid-late morning (Dark Blue Toddler obligation) but will be back in the early afternoon and will endeavor to offer updates as quickly as I can.  
Remember, the deadline is 3PM on Monday, February 27.  I already am hearing that CBJ general manager Scott Howson will be holding a press conference once the deadline passes.  

The Price is Right - Accountability

This is no time to wonder what's behind
door number 2

The latest word on the twitter-verse is that the New York Rangers are backing away from the demands of Scott Howson, the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The thinking there is that the price of two roster players, their best prospect, and a number one pick it too rich for Rick Nash.  Howson is absolutely correct in standing his ground.  It would be a travesty if Howson was the first to blink, and if he does, he should be promptly fired.  He does not have to trade Rick Nash.  In fact, he faces considerable fan backlash if he does trade Rick Nash, so he'd better have a pretty hefty handful of magic beans to show an angry fan base.  You don't get a player of this magnitude available at the trade deadline.  And what are they buying?  A bona fide shot at a Stanley Cup.  A player who can take over a game, possibly a series.  You SHOULD be paying a lot for a player like that.  Good luck with those Bruins in the playoffs Mr. Slather.

My second point in this brief post is about accountability.  The CBJ do not have to trade Rick Nash at all.  The message has been clearly sent to the locker room.  The results of the 2011-12 season are not acceptable.  It doesn't matter who you are, you are not immune from the fall out.  That, more than anything, is the most important message of all.

GO JACKETS!

DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 62: Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh 4 - Columbus 2
18-37-7, 5th in Central Division, 11 points out of 29th in NHL

With tomorrow's 3PM NHL trade deadline looming over the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team made its only appearance of the year in Pittsburgh in a losing effort, 4-2 in regulation.

1. WELCOME TO LIMBO - While the game itself was reasonably competitive for 50 minutes or so, you can't look past the elephant in the room, the trade deadline.  The Blue Jackets are already in nuclear rebuilding retooling reshaping mode, with Antoine Vermette, Grant Clitsome and Jeff Carter gone.  Replacing them are Cam Atkinson, Jack Johnson and Ryan Johansen (who apparently has returned from exile to the press box).  That said, the deadline is tomorrow at 3PM and all signs point to the Blue Jackets not being done with personnel moves.  I'm reading internet rumors suggesting that Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, Sammy Pahlsson, Derek Mackenzie and perhaps R.J. Umberger might still be in play.

So what to make of this particular game's roster?  "Ummm...it wasn't all bad, what for the one game they played together?"

CBJ claim Darryl Boyce on waivers from the Leafs

The blog posts will come fast and furious over the next couple of days, so let's dispense with the pleasantries.

The Columbus Blue Jackets picked up center Darryl Boyce from the Toronto Maple Leafs waiver wire.  The 28-year-old Boyce has played in 17 games for the Leafs this season, notching a single goal and a single assist.  The Toronto fanbase and intelligentsia suggests that Boyce is a high-character player, which appears to fit the new roster DNA requirement of Howson 4.0.

Boyce sounds like a fourth liner to me, which leads me to believe that the thus-far current bottom six are going to get shuffled in the next couple of days.  (Pahlsson?  Mackenzie?  Boll?)

Trade deadline weekend - Scouting report

We're in the stretch run as we approach the Monday, 3PM EST National Hockey League trade deadline, so I figured now was as good a time as any to see which scouts have been showing up to Columbus Blue Jackets games.  Tracking scouts offers a level of insight as to which teams might have interest in trading for CBJ players.  Of course, some teams (like, say, Detroit) probably are showing up for competitive reasons.

As of last night, here are the scouts.  Remember, the number listed per game represents the number of scouts that were present at that specific game (as in, the Bruins had 3 scouts at the LA game).  The "COUNT" figure lists the number of games where a team's scouts (one or a million, doesn't matter) show up.


What to make of all this?  Here's my quick take: