Just a few thoughts in the wake of the 2011 NHL trade deadline...
If Upshall makes $2.25 million and Lepisto makes $800,000, and Klesla makes $2.975 million, do the Columbus Blue Jackets REALLY qualify as buyers at this trade deadline?
Considering the lack of salary additions (the CBJ are still $6.9 million under the salary cap), was it a matter of deals not there to be had or was it handcuffs from an ownership/business office still smarting from losing all of those season ticket holders?
Which Blue Jackets players do you really think were in play yesterday?
How are Kristian Huselius, Jake Voracek and Nikita Filatov all under contract with the CBJ this morning?
How long do you think that the TSN guys were on air before they started to feel kinda foolish, considering that next to nothing was actually happening?
Why have I never heard anything good about John Michael Liles, yet so many NHL/CBJ fans were clamoring to get him?
Did Versus have an NHL trade deadline show? Of any length?
Which Blue Jacket(s) do you think were breathing the biggest sighs of relief at 3PM yesterday?
How much do you think that the Anton Stralman knee injury (out 3-4 weeks) in Nashville messed with Scott Howson's trade deadline strategy?
After a month of really interesting trades, where did that adventurous spirit go yesterday?
Was Michael Chaput really the center that Scott Howson was talking about when he said, "We'd like to try and get another center, espeically with Derick (Brassard) hurt. Centers that are available are few and far between in this league." Really? Or might it have been Brad Richards, the Dallas center about whom I gather Howson made more than one inquiring phone call yesterday?
Klesla needs to pass a physical today to complete the trade. Should we be concerned?
Should I really be surprised that I was able to get a nap in between 1PM and 2PM yesterday...and nothing happened while I was out?
[Pardon the over 24-hour delay in getting this posted. I've been struggling to get some schoolwork done on deadline (done), fighting yet another apparent sinus infection (sigh) and ended up hosting a friend's child while she ran down to the hospital to deliver a baby (wow).]
In a string of "must-win" games, none have been bigger than Friday night's Columbus Blue Jackets visit to the United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks, who were only one standings place and two standings points ahead of the CBJ. While by no means dominating from wire to wire, the Blue Jackets fought it out and emerged victorious, 4-3, in regulation.
The Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to Joe Louis Arena on Friday night and, to the surprise of many, put together a compellingly solid all-around performance in shutting out the NHL Central Division-leading Detroit Red Wings, 3-0.
A couple immediate thoughts on this game:
First, I suggest you go back and look at Gallos' terrific post about meaningless games. Then try to tell me that this game did not have a very striking resemblance to the 8-2 CBJ pasting of the Wings that Detroit coach Mike Babcock used to such great effect in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs first round. (Now, just imagine if the CBJ can put together a string of wins to get themselves back in the playoff picture to the point that they would play Detroit again. Wouldn't THAT be something?)
Making their once every two years pilgrimage to the Air Canada Centre on Thursday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets emerged victorious against the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, in regulation for their second straight win.
At risk of being a buzz-kill, this was a matchup of two 13th place teams. I appreciate that 13th in the West means you're almost qualifying for the playoffs (by virtue of being 4 points out of 8th) whereas 13th in the East means...well, you're not very good. But this was most definitely a "should win" if not a "must win" (to get back in the playoff hunt, you start by picking off the weaker teams). And they won, two points for the good guys, bumping the CBJ up to 11th by the end of the evening with a 19-15-3 record (41 points).
Rick Nash has not yet had a "three stars"-worthy performance this season.
Time to step it up? (Photo courtesy of Danielle Browne)
Four games into the season, it's a little early to make grand statements about what type of season a given player is having or will have. I'll submit, however, that it's never too early to draw conclusions about the performance of a given player to date.
And in this case, it's safe to say that Rick Nash has had better starts to his seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
It's been somewhat clear to the casual observer (of which I am one now, seeing as I'm often running around chasing a toddler instead of focusing like a laser beam on the games as they're being played) that the CBJ captain has not been the prolific on-ice performer that we are accustomed to seeing.
OK, so there apparently ARE days where it's better to be stuck in class than in Nationwide Arena. When your beloved Columbus Blue Jackets get shellacked by a depleted Chicago Blackhawks squad, 5-2 on 40 (!) shots, this probably fits the bill.
I was only able to catch just a few minutes of actual action, so I can only go off what I've seen on Twitter and the scoresheet. Perhaps that allows me a little necessary distance to discuss this rationally. For had I been in the arena, I probably would get a tad strident. So let's step gently through this minefield and try to understand what happened.
Game 1: San Jose Sharks 3, Columbus Blue Jackets 2
Game 2: CBJ 3, Sharks 2 (OT)
Is is OK to say, "Thank God, it's over," in relation to the Columbus Blue Jackets' NHL Premiere games in Stockholm against the San Jose Sharks?
I never had a good feeling about this whole trip. Too much travel (and jet lag), a screwy preseason schedule to accommodate playing in Europe, so many potential distractions, inability to move/claim players easily...in my mind, opening the season this way was a recipe for disaster.
To be fair, the team wisely used the time as a chance to do some team bonding and apparently made the most of it. (And, like most CBJ fans, I got a kick out of how Mike Commodore was apparently goofing around with Derick Brassard all throughout the trip.) And perhaps the most valuable aspect of the trip was the international exposure that Columbus received. It seems as if the local sports folks got that - for the sake of central Ohio's economy, let's pray that the local economic development folks did, too.
As for the games, the CBJ largely looked like a team that was learning a new system -- against one of the top teams in the league. Oh, we were? Huh. Who knew?
Watching games with mobile young'uns running around as I was means that you get bits and pieces and often miss a spot here and there. But as I saw it, that was the Jackets play on the ice...bits and pieces of solid execution and a few spots where they were lost in the Lutfisk.
Let's get the personal stuff out of the way - this was the first actual game to which I brought the Dark Blue Toddler. Luckily, the tickets were dirt cheap and the section (209) was pretty much empty above us in row J, so he was able to munch on Cheerios, drink milk, crawl around the (widow-maker) stairs and run back and forth across the aisles. Oh, and eat my fries. He lasted almost two entire periods, not bad for a 16-month-old.
And, once we bailed out, the Columbus Blue Jackets started scoring.
A Jackets team made up of a small handful of starters and a whole bunch of players on the bubble won, 3-2 over a Minnesota Wild team that was comprised of their NHL-level lineup as they had made most all of their cuts already. That's profound, something in which the CBJ can be pleased. Or the Wild can be downright scared. Take your pick.
Tom Sestito's closing argument as to why he should
make the Columbus Blue Jackets roster.
As I mentioned, I was chasing my son all over section 209, so my thoughts are admittedly incomplete and based largely upon quick glances as opposed to any detailed study of what I saw. But here's my take:
The Blue Jackets looked really ragged, which stands to reason as the roster was assembled with green-handled scissors and scotch tape in order to accommodate all of the players sitting on the roster bubble. This was a night of forced chemistry, of proving to the coaches and management that you can perform in this new, Scott Arniel puck possession system.
Alternatively, you can prove that you can offer other services to the team. Mike Blunden and Tom Sestito ended up taking this route, getting in fights. Blunden laid the beat down on his victim, and Sestito won in an impassioned decision. By the way, Dark Blue Toddler enjoyed cheering with the fans over the fights...not that he understood what was going on.
There's not a lot you can tell about a team on "last chance night," so I'll keep my profound statements about the team and their adaption to this new system to a minimum.
With the Dark Blue Toddler in tow, I headed down to Nationwide Arena to witness my first-ever Columbus Blue Jackets practice with the little guy...only my second practice ever, I believe. I'm much more of a TV/internet fan of the club than an in-person fan, largely due to familial and work/family constraints, so it's interesting to see the machinations of the Columbus Blue Jackets system on full display with no filters applied beyond the glass that separates us from the ice. I'd love to do it more often...hope to do so in the future.
Attending a practice in person only reemphasizes how much I have to learn about the game I enjoy so much. With drills running almost constantly at both ends of the ice, and occasional specialty drills at center ice, there's so much going on that you really don't have a means to drink all the water coming out of the visual fire hydrant. So you drink in what you can, pray you didn't miss anything big, and enjoy the experience. Or at least I did, while not chasing my son up and down the stairs.
I only caught the on-ice practice for the last 45 minutes of the team that will play tonight, with barely enough of the balance of the squad to count as seeing them in-person. Chasing the Toddler around the arena means that no photos will accompany this post.
Howson has assembled a tall roster, but I don't know as any are taller than Tommy Sestito. Just saying...
2009-2010 CBJ numbers: 74 games played, 23 goals, 40 assists, 63 points, -4, 36 penalty minutes, 18:23 avg. time on ice
Ah, the mercurial "Juice."
You genuinely wonder where he goes for shifts (and sometimes games) on end. He's not really a clutch scorer. He rarely scores a pace-setting goal. He only dropped one last-minute goal last season. Yet he ends the season with only 4 fewer points than the team's captain and all-world superstar.
He doesn't appear to be full of sparkling personality and bravado, has never worn a letter on the front of his jersey in Columbus (haven't checked on his time in Florida or Calgary), yet a Google search of images tagged with his name sure show a lot of celebrations.
He makes a lot of money - second highest cap hit on the team behind Rick Nash - and he kinda sorta backs it up at the end of the day. He's just quiet about it.
Here are some highlights from last night's game, a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers. Notably missing from the Blue Jacket's line-up was captain Rick Nash, along with the newly acquired Nathan Paetsch. Chris Chelios also played in his first NHL game of the season last night, previously having played with the Thrasher's AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
Blue Jackets goals: Umberger from Huselius and Tyutin; Huselius from Russell and Dorsett
Thrashers goals: Oduya from Kozlov
I had the pleasure of going to this game. I got the tickets originally because I wanted to see Kovalchuk play... but we all know how that turned it! It was nice, though, that Chelios played (maybe nice isn't the right word. Perhaps "interesting"?).
But there was this man, #80: Nik Antropov. During his first shift I thought, "dang, this guy is huge". That thought quickly changed to "wow, he is a jerk". Jerk may not have been how I originally described him. But, it seems that he can't take a hit: he apparently didn't appreciate Boll so he elbowed him in the face. The ensuing power play, along with a sweet move/failed shot block by Chelios, led to the Blue Jacket's first goal. Throughout the entire game Antropov was tangled up with Boll and Pahlsson. At one point Pahlsson and Atropov fell on top of each other along the boards, and Antropov proceeded to give him a little extra shove with #26 was down. Pahlsson then laid a hit on him - and Antropov, once again, showed why I dislike him. He looked at the ref, as if he was expecting a penalty to be called. Ugh, please. Antropov later at the end of the second period got a minor for cross-checking Pahlsson (Boll in turn got two minutes for roughing Antropov, so there was no powerplay).
I was excited to see the top line start off as 18-16-93. I would like to see Brassard stay as the #1 center for the rest of the season. Instead, Brassard bounced around lines all night. There were a ton of other line changes as well and I just couldn't keep them straight. At one point, Dorsett was on the top line.
I thought the defensive play was much better in this game, comparatively. I was especially impressed by Marc Methot who led the team with seven hits and three blocked shots. IHC Claude Noel had this to say about Methot's play:
I thought Methot was real good, really good. I think he's playing really well, really playing with passion, playing physical. He's a good skater [and] he's playing with a lot more confidence.
Although I didn't notice the faceoff that Noel referred to as to why he benched Mayorov (Noel said Mayorov basically ignored his responsibilities after the faceoff) I did notice Mayorov leave a play to wait at the point for a breakaway opportunity. He did get the puck and carried it down the ice, but lost an edge behind the net and fell on his butt. I have liked watching him play though so hopefully he gets a talking to. It looks like they will need him the next game because Portzline has tweeted that Huselius and Nash will both be out for tomorrow's game against the St. Louis Blues.
The Blue Jackets had one shot in the third period. The Thrashers had 17. In his post-game presser Noel said, "we had one shot, gimme a break". Yeah.
Is the hard hat no longer being awarded? If it was - I didn't notice (please let me know). I would have given it to Vermette. He didn't have any shots but won 13 of 20 faceoffs, and was all over the place, making things happen.
What did you think of the game? I am especially curious as to what others think about Huselius' play last night. He finished with two points (one goal and one assist), so his stats look okay, but I thought he was infuriating to watch, especially on the power play.
An "interesting tidbit," as our favorite writers at the Dispatch might say: last I checked, the O'Clitsome St. Patrick's Day themed jersey was going for more money than Nash's.
Probably Ryan Kesler. He plays real hard, he plays in your face, he's got a nasty edge. We have a little bit of a history, too. It's fun to compete against someone like that because it brings all that out.
1. After everyone in the Columbus Blue Jackets' locker room piped in with comments about the "serious," "critical" and "urgent" nature of tonight's game, the Jackets proceeded to play the exact same type of game that they've been playing recently in losing to the Nashville Predators, 5-3.
1a. The Jackets have lost 11 of their last 13 and currently sport a record of 14-13-6 (34 points).
1. Somehow linked to playing one of the worst teams in the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets "50 Minute Men" made a reprise appearance...in reverse...last night, offering roughly 10 minutes of inspired play and still beating the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2.Your highlights:
1a. The win catapulted the Jackets back into first place in the NHL Western Conference's Central Division with 20 points. It's only a 2-point lead over Chicago, who plays the Kings on Monday night, so there's a likelihood that the CBJ will slip back out of contention.
1c. Despite their performance, I'm glad that Carolina came to town as I love their jerseys.
2a. Mase even got an assist on the Boll goal. I love it when goalies get assists...you really know the machine is humming on all parts of the ice!
3. With only 7:26 of ice time to his name - though it sure seemed like more, Nikita Filatov got the CBJ's first score of the night and his second of the season. Playing fourth line minutes with fourth line talent doesn't give you the best opportunity to shine, but Filatov is pushing through and getting noticed. He won't ever be the Nash-like power forward that Ken Hitchcock clearly covets (going back to Mike Modano in Dallas), but he has the tools and spunk to be a goal-scoring step up from Kristian Huselius in the not-too-distant future.
4. Speaking of, did anyone really feel the absence of Huselius from the roster last night? As in, "But for the Huselius injury, the game would have gone in a totally different direction?" I didn't. And Juice is worth $5 million against the CBJ's already-restricted salary cap.
4a. If I was Scott Howson, I'd see if Hitchcock could push Filatov along a little more aggressively and market Juice as trade bait. The CBJ could get some impressive talent at $5 million per year, talent that might be of bigger utility to playing Hitch-hockey.
4b. Is Freddy Modin planning on coming back? Any time this season, perhaps? And do the CBJ want him to come back?
5. On the subject of coming back, Mike Commodore returned after recovering sufficiently from what has to be the worst charley horse in human history. At 14:26 of ice time, 3 shots and a -1 rating, he appears to have done OK for a recovery/rehab game.
5a. When I hear the term, "charley horse," I still think of a calf cramp caused by lack of potassium. A banana or two fixed it in about an hour. Clearly, Commie had something different, but I can't help but think, "Just eat a banana and get back on the ice!"
5b. Happy birthday, Mike. It was your 30th yesterday, and your being one of the "older players" on the roster reinforced how old I really am.
5c. Mike's interviews on Fox Sports Ohio last night reinforce my thinking that that the man should have a job in the booth when he gets out. Plain-spoken, clear-spoken and kinda fun to listen to. You just want to hang out with Commie after listening to him.
6. Continuing the "Who is this person and what have you done with Jared Boll?" theme, last night spotlighted the "Boll the Sniper" persona (as opposed to the "Boll the Feared Pugilist" persona of the other night). Taking a feeder pass from Stralman (via Mason), Boll skated virtually untouched down the ring, did a couple dekes that I'm still trying to master on NHL 10, and top-shelfed against the Carolina backup goalie. Dang. If he can do that consistently, put that man on the shootout crew!
7. In the DBJ media critic section, let's start by giving the fine folks at Fox Sports Ohio a hearty applause for playing with their format and using a throwaway game (Carolina isn't setting the world on fire) to try out some different approaches to their broadcast. I will never criticize those who say, "Why not?" and attempt to innovate. You never know when something great will happen as a result. We got some hits and misses, which I will catalog below:
7a. The opening of the "All Access" game broadcast put a camera in the locker room and followed the team out onto the ice. It used an innovative angle to show the team taking the ice and gave the viewers the feeling of emotional investment through the entire sequence. I LOVED IT and hope that this becomes a staple of all Blue Jackets broadcasts.
7b. The behind the scenes looks at the broadcast trailer and the booth shots were novelty, to be sure, but good for only one such display per season.
7c. If you're going to mike up a player, make sure you use more of his live commentary than, "Let's go, boys!" one hundred times.
7d. The in-game interviews with Ken Hitchcock at the conclusion of the intermissions were gold. Keep it if you can.
7e. The behind the scenes look at the game ops? See my take from 7b.
7f. This is a philosophical discussion, so bear with me. There appears to be two basic schools of thought on how to broadcast a sporting event. One school suggests that one should broadcast it as a journalistic endeavor, reporting objectively on what happens on the ice and throughout the game. The Columbus Dispatch takes that approach in their writing, for example, and the major broadcast networks do, too, in their tv broadcasts of sports of all types. The other school of thought is that the broadcast is promotion of the event as entertainment, which reduces the journalism and plays up the glitz and glamour. Both are reasonable arguments. The "All Access" game clearly emphasized the latter over the former. The problem was, the devastating Cam Ward injury warranted a shift on the fly to the journalistic mode. Fox Sports should have had a camera following Ward down the tunnel to the locker room and on the ambulance pulling out of Nationwide. They should have inserted a Cam Ward question into every interview of the night (in this case, making sure to interview Carolina players and coaches as well as CBJ'ers). This was one of the biggest stories in the NHL last night, and Fox Sports was interviewing the organ player.
8. Anton Stralman is in a quiet groove, getting his 15:11 of ice time, grabbing an assist and not making a showing performance. Is this a European thing - the quietly efficient, professional hockey outing? Anyway, I miss seeing his authoritative control of the point and the slap shots on the power play. But that's nit-picking...I'm just glad he's on the roster.
9a. I feel horrible for the guy - the injury might knock him out of the Olympics and - more importantly for his employer - keep the Hurricanes far away from viability for quite a while. He's a talented goaltender regardless of his team's record, and he should be on the ice.
9b. The Rick Nash skate cutting his leg (knee?) was a fluke. A really, really unfortunate fluke. But as Mase mentioned, Ward doesn't wear knee guards under his big leg blockers.
Ward is one of the goaltenders who doesn't wear knee protectors under his padding, Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason said.
"We have the option to wear them, and he chooses not to," Mason said. "You hope everything is OK and it's not too serious, but there was a lot of blood. That's a pretty scary situation and it could happen to anybody, but that's why I wear the knee pads, and (Mathieu Garon) wears the knee pads."
Might want to rethink that, Cam.
9c. I've already mentioned how Fox Sports Ohio fell down on covering this, but it's a big enough point that I'll mention it one more time.
9d. Kudos to Twitterer "derdrache" for being the first to mention that Ward was being taken away in an ambulance. You scooped the "real media" - a hard thing to do when the Dispatch does such a great job in covering the CBJ.
9e. I'm not sure I've ever seen so much blood on the ice, nor have I ever seen it take so long to get all of that blood off the ice. That hockey, it can be a dangerous sport...
10. This was a classic game in the "Only we can beat ourselves" mode. The Hurricanes really didn't play that well. The Jackets played to their level for 40-50 minutes and used the 3-minute, 3-goal spurt to push themselves over the top. They won't get away with this type of play every night, so enjoy it while you can, guys.
Next up, a heavily wounded Red Wings club comes to Masonwide on Wednesday. (Here's hoping Jason Williams gets better soon. He was good to us as a Blue Jacket.) Should be an interesting challenge - to see if the CBJ can play with some snarl against the team that swept them from last year's playoffs.
1. After giving up a goal in the game's first minute at Edmonton's Rexall Place, the Columbus Blue Jackets settled down, regained their composure and dropped 4 straight goals on the Oilers over the back half of the 1st period and the front half of the 2nd. They then forgot that it wasn't Eastern Standard Time and went to sleep. The team awoke to find that they lost the game, 6-4.
2. The league's number one penalty killing team gave up two goals on power plays tonight. The streak of consecutive penalty kills died at 29, apparently only 2 short of a team record.
3. Marc Methot apparently has come down with the flu and played like it when letting the first goal past him.
3a. The rest of the team would be well-suited to use the flu excuse for last night's performance.
3b. Methot's illness makes me think that Mike Commodore, who warmed up as Methot was a game-time decision, will get playing time in one if not both games in Southern California over the weekend.
3c. Mike Commodore's intermission interview on Fox Sports Ohio makes me wonder why the Blue Jackets didn't loan him to FSO as a second analyst during this injury break. Mike's got great camera presence and would offer a terrific insight for the Blue Jackets fans. I bet he would have enjoyed it, too.
4. I'm not sure what's more surprising: Raffi Torres scoring a goal and the Jackets NOT winning the game, or Kristian Huselius scoring at all.
4a. Huselius scored twice, by the way, clearly celebrating his move to the second line. He seemed to have decent chemistry with Jake Voracek, who had assists on both goals.
5. Nikita Filatov played 5:42 on the right wing. He had one near-breakaway that was stuffed by an open-ice hit around center ice. He played no worse than Jared Boll in my estimation, and his upside is infinitely higher. I'd keep playing him.
6. As the Jackets only showed up for half a game, I'm only doing half of my 10 Thoughts this time. Jackets, go sit in the corner and think about what happened last night. AND NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.
7. Ever.
8. Ever.
9. Are you hearing me?
10. That was Edmonton for Pete's sake!
Next game is Saturday night on the Pond in Anaheim. If the Jackets are to go .500 on this road trip, they have to win both weekend games in Southern California.
This effort would be helped immeasurably if Captain Rick Nash actually took a shot on goal, something he didn't do in Edmonton.
