DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 53: Minnesota

Columbus 3 - Minnesota 1
15-32-6, 5th in Central Division, 15th in Western Conference

The Columbus Blue Jackets, sporting home ice advantage for the first time in what felt like forever, defeated the visiting Minnesota Wild, 3-1, in regulation at Nationwide Arena.

It was the second time all season that the Blue Jackets had back-to-back wins.  They're now 11 points out of 14th place in the Western Conference.

1. IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME - Good golly, that felt good.  Two-and-a-half weeks with no home ice hockey really stinks.  Worse yet, the away hockey was largely of that dreaded West Coast 10PM/10:30PM start variety.  It was good to be back at Nationwide Arena, back to hear "Leo!", back to hear @CBJ_DJ's tuneage, back to hanging out with friends (this time in the comfort of club level, where I almost got impaled by the Mountain Dew ATV's t-shirt cannon!), back to the last line change...

1a. OH YEAH, THIS TOO - A guy on a motorized Igloo beer cooler. You really don't need to watch it all, but I got 30 seconds of footage.

Shame I missed getting footage of the guy driving the cooler straight into the boards.  Day late and a dollar short...

2. ESTABLISHING A BENCHMARK - In a season where little has gone right, it is good to know that the team can get one past a stick-less Niklas Backstrom:




(Even better, that was David Savard's first NHL goal.  A goal and an assist - his 6th of the season - netted Savard the Première étoile on the night. Good for the kid.)

3. YOU GET TO WALK HOME - I'm not one to talk much about the opposition in my five thoughts, but Minnesota's Nick Schultz had an impressive four minor penalties on the night.  One of those CBJ power plays resulted in Antoine Vermette's PP goal.  Four minors in a night...that takes special effort.

3a. YOU WALK, TOO - "Laughing Cal" Clutterbuck, he who flopped his way into Blue Jackets lore by getting James Wisniewski suspended for half the preseason and the first eight games of the regular season and then yukking it up with his teammates on the bench after Wiz was penalized, was on the ice.  I think the DJ pumped up the angry music just a little louder when The Laughing One did his time in the sin bin in the second period.  The strobe spotlight effect on Cal was also appreciated.  No, we won't forget that one.

This just in: Jeff Carter is pretty good

4. CARTER SCORES AGAIN - When he's in the game - 32 times so far this season - Jeff Carter does a pretty decent job finding the back of the net.  In fact, he's scoring goals at a rate of .375 per game played, highest on the team.  He's third on the team (behind Rick Nash and Vinny Prospal) with .594 points per game played.  All that while Imagine what the guy could be like if he could ever get into a rhythm in Columbus.  Will he ever get the opportunity, or has management written him off?

4a. WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE TRADE DEADLINE TALK - I'm just one fan, but I'm starting to think that if the team has to trade one of its top players, it might be better to keep a $5 million Jeff Carter around than a $7+ million Rick Nash.  The goal/point production out of Carter is comparable to Nash, and Nash could yield some incredible trade assets and a giant chunk of change could be freed up to invest around the roster.  Heresy, I know...

5. THE CBJ FAN COUNTDOWN, LOS ANGELES-STYLE - Our section was cheering the clock countdown as time ran out in the third period:

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1, 0!

Bonus Number 6. ATTACK OF THE CHILI JERSEYS - Amazing.  The Blue Jackets get three goals, and I see a bunch of "chili" jersies:

Love it!

It's hard to see, but that's "CHILI" and "MAMMACHILI"...
both number three sweaters

NEXT UP: The home cooking continues on Thursday night as the Dallas Stars  (3-6-1 in their last 10) mosey into Nationwide Arena for a 7PM faceoff. Will the Blue Jackets make it three straight for the first time all season?