Todd Richards was an authoritative voice in his 1st practice
Todd Richards ran his first practice for the Columbus Blue Jackets today. The difference was palpable. Richards was firm and authoritative throughout the practice, and he clearly has some things he wants to change. If a drill wasn't started the way he wanted it, he'd stop it and make them start over. He worked the players hard.
It seems clear that he has changes in mind in defensive zone coverage, as well as on the offensive side. A 5 on 5 D zone drill late in the practice got spirited, and he jumped in, insisting that the players on offense not concede anything. The pace quickly picked up.
From my seat half way up the lower bowl, I could clearly hear him (and my hearing is nothing to write home about) telling the centers to 'get out there, no lazy circles' and telling them that the coverage he wanted was going to be hard work. I don't know how the players felt about it, but it was music to this fan's ears.
Anaheim 7 - Columbus 4 11-25-5, 5th in Central Division, 15th in Western Conference
[Edited by DBJ to correct the time/date stamp and get the blog in proper chronological order. The author for this piece was Greg May.]
In the third game of this four game road trip, the Blue Jackets lost to the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 7-4. It was a wild one on several levels.
1. Why? That is the question many Blue Jackets fans were asking when they learned Steve Mason was getting the start over Curtis Sanford, who had just posted the team's first shutout of the season one night earlier against a red-hot L.A Kings team. Counting the San Jose game, his first game back since injuring his right hip two weeks ago, Sanford had stopped 68 of 70 shots on this roadie, a .971 save percentage.
Mason, on the other hand, hadn't started since riding herd on a kick-in-the-gut 4-2 loss to Washington at home on New Years Eve, a game in which he surrendered all four goals in the third period to eviscerate a 2-0 Jackets lead. For whatever reason (and who really cares what it was), Arniel opted to go with Mason against the Ducks. If Mason's New Year's resolution was not to give up four goals in a period again, it only lasted eight days.
Mason got beat every which way in the first period, giving up four goals on 16 shots. After letting in a high glove-side snapper by Andrew Cogliano off a juicy rebound, Mason proceeded to get beat high glove side again by Corey Perry, on a wrap-a-round by Teemu Selanne after it appeared Mason quit on the play and lost the puck behind the net, and finally on a five-hole wrister by Saku Koivu. I will add the usual caveats: the team came out flat, turned the puck over charitably and got outshot 16-8 in the first period. Still, even Arniel had seen enough of Mason at that point.
So, for those counting at home, that's 8 goals against on 24 shots for Mason in his last two periods. With Mark Dekanich now rehabbing in Springfield, the Blue Jackets might finally have a viable alternative to keeping Mason on the roster. As for the long term, here's something to consider that DBJ himself dug up (which he tweeted to me from his "undisclosed location'). Seems like a reasonable expenditure of a million and some change at this point, doesn't it?
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.
The coaching Man of the Hour in Columbus, goaltenders coach Ian Clark
In looking over the first couple of games, I've had fleeting thoughts that don't necessarily warrant entire blog posts (right now) but might be worth considering going forward:
In the "Don't Set the Bar Too High" department, I'm happy that the CBJ didn't get blown out at home on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd against Nashville. They probably bought themselves some time with the ever-fickle locals as a result.
Could CBJ Assistant Coaches Brad Berry (defense) and Ian Clark (goaltenders) kindly report to Nationwide Arena? The NHL 2011-2012 season is underway, and your players need coaching. Badly.
To be Mark Dekanich right now is to be a study in anticipation and frustration. Steve Mason's performing OK-to-poorly (with no comment on the defensive help Mase may or may not be getting) with a painful .870 goals against average. And when Mase is pulled in game two for AHLer Curtis Sanford, DexShow has to be thinking, "If I wasn't injured, that would be ME!" Let's hope that either Mase gets his game together quickly or DexShow is ready to roll once he returns. At this point, I don't care which. (Or that GM Scott Howson doesn't have to give up too much in the trade market to get a consistent goaltender...)
I can understand how the CBJ would have trouble getting the puck into the offensive zone against Nashville, especially when Nashville locked down after going up by one goal. But Minnesota? Minnesota? Ack.
What's that you say? No team has ever gone undefeated in the modern NHL? Not even the Redwings, or the Penguins? Oh. Well that's not so bad then.
Ok, on a more serious note, on the the re-cap. The Nashville Predators rolled into town with a solid team that went deep in the playoffs last year. The Preds are built on solid defense and outstanding goal tending, and we saw a healthy dose of that last night as the Predators beat the Blue Jackets 3-2.
The game was really pretty equal in many respects. The new look CBJ has really upgraded the forward position, but our defense without Wiz remains a work in progress. The contrast between the teams was pretty stark. The CBJ are still adjusting to all the new faces, which is normal. The Preds looked like a team that was used to playing with one another. On paper our forwards are better than theirs, but their defense is better than ours. At the end of the day, the winning goal was scored on a defensive gaffe that allowed a Nashville shooter, Matt Halischuk fire an unchecked shot from the top of Steve Mason's crease with 39 seconds gone in the third period. That ended up being the deciding goal.
The training camp numbers are nowhere near as large as on opening day of camp, and the competition is that much more intense for the last few roster spots.
The same caveat applies to the defense as to the forwards: Statistics should be a significant factor, but not the only factor, in judging the preseason performance of a player. There are a host of other issues that come into play when building a roster beyond the boxscores. (Never mind that the advanced statistics movement in hockey is widely acknowledged to have taken off with the development of the Corsi rating, something tailor-made to compensate for inadequate boxscore data on defensemen.) Still, it's foolish to overlook the publicly available stats altogether, as they can tell us stories as well.
With no further ado, here are what I see as Blue Jackets defensemen on the bubble for the opening day roster (note that I've got an update at the bottom of this post, but humor me as I share my completed work in this fluid environment):
Again, the individual player statistics are available by clicking their names at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Also, the disparity in games played make the per-game statistics useful. With that out of the way, let's look inside the numbers, shall we?
The herd is thinning, and statistical output likely will play a role in determining who makes Columbus' opening day roster.
I've been more than a little snakebit with regards to watching Columbus Blue Jackets preseason hockey. Thus far, I've seen two whopping periods of hockey across six possible games. My first game in person will be on Thursday against (oh boy) Minnesota, but enough hockey has come and gone to start poring through the box scores and do a little statistical comparison-making as we consider what the opening night lineup will look like. Stats surely don't mean everything, especially in training camp when things like chemistry, playing style, maturity and other intangibles come into the decision-making mix...but overlooking statistical performance is never wise.
So here you go...the story thus far for what I consider the Blue Jackets' forwards who are sitting on the roster bubble:
Note that in addition to totals, I've posted game-by-game results for each player as well. Click on the player's last name at the bottom of the spreadsheet to see their numbers.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, in dire need of two standings points to grow their slim playoff hopes, only grabbed one point in losing to the visiting Boston Bruins, 3-2, in a shootout.
The crux of the game was the David Krecji cross-checking penalty at 15:24 of the 3rd period. The Jackets were up 2-1 and looking to put the Bruins away. Instead, the Bruins made a reasonably fast conversion off an intercepted Derick Brassard pass and nailed home the dreaded short-handed goal to tie it up. I won't say it was "game over" at that point, but the CBJ lost a lot of mojo.
I'm sure we'll all be lighting candles for Taylor Hall. Seeing as he picked the fight with Derek Dorsett. Stupid, stupid kid. Probably good to get that life lesson out of the way early in his NHL career.
A staggering 12,568 people risked life and limb in the midst of a still-ongoing (as I type) ice storm to cheer on the Columbus Blue Jackets as they came out of the All-Star break in the unofficial start to the "second half" of the season. Go figure...St. Louis postpones their game because of bad weather, and Columbus has one of the best home turnouts of 2010-11.
The Blue Jackets rewarded their somewhat insane fanbase with an equally staggering loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-4, at Nationwide Arena.
Let's quickly cover the CBJ game and then get to the important stuff.
Gone but not forgotten - Tommy Sestito left his mark...
literally...on the NHL in his nine games with Columbus.
The Columbus Blue Jackets gave the AHL Springfield Falcons a huge (literally) Christmas present in the person of 6'5", 228-pound forward Tommy Sestito, who apparently was the odd man out in a roster squeeze that resulted from the imminent return of Derek MacKenzie from injured reserve.
In nine games with the Blue Jackets, Sestito tallied 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points. Looking at the perspective of the scoring-anemic CBJ, those four points are nothing to sneeze at. Sestito not only used his size to barrel his way through the defense, but he also appeared to be the "missing link" in the power play, setting up shop in the crease with such force that even the vaunted Roberto Luongo started complaining. One of the long-envied aspects of the Detroit Red Wings' game is the ability of Tomas Holmstrom to control the crease and make goalies' lives miserable. For nine games, it looked like we might have our own such player.
The Columbus Blue Jackets finally shed their notorious "third jersey curse" last night with a 4-3 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild in front of 14,454 fans.
I'm going to temper my enthusiasm a bit with this win. After all, it's two teams at the back of the "Western Conference" pack struggling to keep from falling further behind the pack. But it was two badly-needed points, and we can't overlook that important fact.
Scratches last night were Rusty Klesla, Jake Voracek and Derek Dorsett. Interesting collection in the press box. Rusty is leading the team in plus/minus, Voracek is one of the few consistent top-two liners and Dorsett is perhaps the CBJ's prototypical "energy" player. One could surmise that the roster shuffle was somehow related to the one-on-one meetings that coach Scott Arniel had with a number of CBJ players over the course of the day. Whether the Chris Clarks and Mike Commodores of the world lobbied their way onto the ice, or whether the aforementioned trio talked their way off the gametime roster, I have no idea. Or, perhaps, it had no impact whatsoever.
One guy who came down from the press box with a vengeance was Fedor Tyutin. Almost seven minutes into the third period, Tyutin made a rocket shot from the point that no one saw coming:
He also was huge on another late rush opportunity. For someone who many thought was totally incompatible with this puck possession style of play, Tyutin may still have some rough edges...but he's picking it up as the season moves along.
The road-weary Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Dallas Stars at Nationwide Arena last night, sticking with the Stars through two periods but running out of gas in the 3rd, falling 2-1.
Rather than cover the game in any depth, there's only one major point to deal with: The officiating crime of the disallowed Derek Dorsett goal. The simple fact of the matter is this: If you have a goal (a puck in the back of the net, with play stopped and everything) nullified on account of a penalty, and the penalty is overturned, then the goal should be allowed. There is no reason why there shouldn't be a goal. I don't care about stupid rules and rationales - the fact that Dorsett's goal was not allowed to stand defies common sense.
The Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to St. Louis, Missouri tonight and lost to the Blues, 4-1, in regulation.
That this loss - the third straight road loss - happened against a team that was reeling from injuries is all the more telling. This is a team that, despite the shootout win over Dallas and the shootout loss (hello, loser point) against Nashville, is reeling and pretty much devoid of confidence since getting undressed by the Detroit Red Wings in games 21 and 22. They haven't won in regulation in the past nine games - since November 22. Sigh.
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.
2009-2010 numbers: 51 games played, 4 goals, 10 assists, 14 points, +6, 105 penalty minutes, 10:53 avg. time on ice
With some players, you can look at the stats and understand their value to the team. With others, you need to look in other places. Derek Dorsett is one of the latter.
To judge his value, I'd like to suggest you look at the two stretches of the season when Dorsett wasn't playing. The first period was following the NHL-determined cheap shot by James Neal of the Dallas Stars that resulted in a concussion for Dorsett. That was a nine game run from November 20 to December 8 where the CBJ went 1-5-3. The second was a 16-game span from December 13 to January 13 where the Jackets posted a 4-9-3 record after Dorsett hurt his hand against Anaheim. That's right, the dreadful "Fall of Hitchcock" games almost perfectly coincided with the periods when Derek Dorsett was not in the lineup.
That's not to say that Derek Dorsett is the straw that stirs the drink in Columbus. At just over 10 minutes of ice time per game that he did play in, far from it. But he plays with a passion and energy (not in the Jared Boll "energy" way, either) that appears to rub off on his fellow teammates. Those attributes are what led Ken Hitchock to pass over other, more highly-touted youngsters and name Dorsett an alternate captain (not sure if Scott Arniel will continue that designation, but we'll see).
Here are your highlight's from last night's 5-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers:
Although this game wasn't on Fox Sports Ohio or Versus, maybe you caught the CenterIce feed. If not, the Dispatch always has excellent game wrap-ups that give details of how the goals were scored and such.Check out the one for last night's game here (honestly, I prefer the ones not written by Arace, but I'll take what I can get).
The worst part of the game last night was that Hejda was injured after playing only four shifts. He apparently sprained his right knee and will likely be out for the rest of the season. Because of Hejda's injury, Paetsch switched from playing LW to D. He somehow managed to finish the night an impressive -3. Brassard, Pahlsson, Umberger, and Voracek were tied at -1. Paetsch bounced around pairings and made me worry every time he was on the ice. [Update: Apparently Paetsch was also frustrated with his play. I didn't notice is but one #CBJ twitter says that he broke his stick after an Oilers goal. Lots of stick smashing going on: after the empty netter, Ryan Whitney smacked his stick against the glass.]
The most exciting part of the game (for me) was that Marc Methot got his second goal of the season. As leeauer on twitter says... "you don't leave Marc Methot uncovered"! With his goal the Jackets were up 3-1, but then goal scoring went back and forth between the two teams. With 12:15 left, I admit, I was worried that "Jackets time" would begin and somehow the Oilers would come out on top. I am pleased that that didn't happen.
All sorts of significant/notable milestones were reached last night, including Fedor Tyutin, who has now played in 400 games. He also tied his career high for assists with 25, the number he had last year in 82 games. Last year he had 34 points and right now he has 30, so look for him to set a record there, too. Derek Dorsett had the first multi-point game of his career last night with his two assists, on the fourth and fifth goals, scored respectively by Huselius and Vermette. Those two men had a heck of a night last night. Vermette now has 55 points after getting three last night with his empty-net goal and two assists. His previous season high was 53 during the 2007-2008 season when he was with the Ottawa Senators. He had 5 shots on goal and won 16 of 26 faceoffs. Huselius had a four point night with one goal and three assists, four shots on goal, and finished +3.
Jared Boll fought Theo Peckham, and even though Boll went to the ice first, he definitely won that fight. Thankfully Boll seems to be okay despite smacking the back of his head against the ice.
I do feel a bit bad for Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who is 0-8-2 in his NHL career. He is huge though! 6'6". But the Blue Jackets did bring his goals-against average down!
Thanks to Dispatch Writer Aaron Portzline who found out who the hard hat winner was for last night's game. Mike Commodore received the hat, who protected Mason's net when Mason himself couldn't. Also, Garon got the hard hat after the 2-1 win over the Thrashers on 3/11 and Vermette got it after the 5-2 win against the Ducks on the 9th. Here's the video of Commodore's sweet moves in case you don't feel like watching the entire highlight reel above!
Next up: the Minnesota Wild on Friday. Yours truly will be in Nashville on Saturday for the Blue Jackets game, so be sure to check back here for a report on how that went, or at least some photos!
Methot goal photo: Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images
"He's not a mean player," Crawford said. "It looked like he was trying to hit the other player. He got overanxious on the hit."
"Nobody likes to see anybody get hurt," Crawford said. "I know James didn't mean to hit the guy that way."
Yeah, Neal's the victim...a boy scout. And Crawford doesn't like to see people get hurt (Was he laughing at the Bertuzzi hit on Moore or wasn't he?) At the same time, the article also showed that Crawford has mastered the understatement:
Crawford said Neal, 22, has to learn to be in better control of where he is on the ice.
True dat. He also might want to be in better control of what he does on the ice as well.
"I know what kind of person he is; I know his intention. There was no intention to slow down. I'll remember this."
Dang. Them's fightin' words from Double D. And that's worth commenting on.
There's a big difference between what Dorsett does and what Neal did. Dorsett is a sandpaper guy. He plays hard, sometimes within eyesight of the edge of the rulebook. He fights as needed within the accepted rules of hockey. He takes his major penalties and moves along. But he doesn't take cheap shots. He's a man about his work.
Neal, however, now has The Taint. The hearing today has labeled him as a cheap shot artist. He now has a record (as Puck Daddy reminds us), and life will only get more miserable for him if he pulls that crap again. It won't be 5 games, it'll be more like 5 or 10. You see, the NHL discipline policy weighs past discipline when doling out punishment. If you've been bad in the past, you'll get hit progressively harder and harder with the book. It's a shame, really, as Neal is at the front end of what could be a promising NHL career. He's going to have to carry this burden for a long, long time.
So keep your nose clean, Neal. Watch the cheap shots, and perhaps take a page out of Adam Foote's Guide to Hockey Health and develop a 24-hour flu bug whenever you have to play Columbus. Because there's this guy, #15, who's dying to meet you - man to man. You know, the way you weaseled out of last night in the first period.
