Western Conference playoff race, 29 November edition

Another week in the Western Conference, another jump for the playoff qualifier bar.  This week, it went up from 26 to 29 points.

BIG POINT GAINER THIS WEEK: Soo-prise, soo-prise - It's the Calgary Flames with 7 new points over the past seven days.  Yes, the Flames finally got their act together and are en fuego.  And they didn't beat up on patsies, either - there are wins over Detroit (a shutout, no less) and Phoenix mixed in.  Other big jumpers are Anaheim and (sigh) Nashville, with 6 new points this week each.

PULLING UP THE REAR: Sigh.  Double sigh.  The Columbus Blue Jackets "40 Minute Men" strategy yielded all of 1 point this week, which included the loss to Calgary after returning from The Road Trip From Hell.  Adding insult to injury, the CBJ fell under the playoff bar, now sitting in 11th seed.  Interestingly, 3 teams only acquired 2 points this week: Detroit, San Jose and Phoenix.  If San Jose doesn't watch it, the Blackhawks (and maybe the Flames) will overtake them in the next couple of weeks - both Chicago and Calgary have only played 25 games while the Sharks have played 27.

Two gems from the Puck Rakers comments

Yes, I periodically troll the Puck Rakers blog.  Here are a couple items that really jumped out at me:

1. The Columbus Arena District was highlighted in this great article in the Edmonton Journal.  The Oilers management apparently is looking at the entire Arena District as a model for their eventual replacement of Rexall Place.  They could do a LOT worse than Columbus (but make sure the gargantuan university up the street doesn't pull any crap like Ohio State did with building a similar arena at the same time...).  For those who don't know the backstory on the District, it's definitely worth the read.

The "Keep the Jackets in Columbus" folks should be waving this article from the streetcorners.  It tells a great story about the community and the contribution that the Arena District has made.

2. More pertinent to the Columbus Blue Jackets, I note this comment from the Calgary game summary:

When Hitch called time out after the equalizer, all he said to the boys was "this is our f-ing game!" four times. The problem is they needed to play that way. Opponents seem to sense our tentativeness and go for the kill in the third periods. Finish should be the only word they should say and hear from here on out.

I wasn't at the game, nor do I believe everything that's posted in the comments. Still, I can very easily see Ken Hitchcock doing this. What I also hope happened is that a player or two did the same. The coach is pulling his hair out trying to harness the impressive talent on the Blue Jackets to mold a winner, but the players have to "carry the flag" at some point. There's been an undercurrent of discussion regarding the lack of veteran leadership (I jumped on this bandwagon a month ago), and observations like this tend to back up the assertions that the players - presumably veterans - need to get this team focussed.  Coaches fulfill this role in college play, but the veterans shoulder much more of the burden in the pros.

I offered a thought back in October and think it bears repeating:

They have beaten themselves through poor execution, sloppy play and loss of composure, but they have the talent to beat just about anyone in the NHL.  The question is whether they have it in them.

The coaches can only carry the team so far.  The players have to bring it home.  (For 60 minutes, too.)

10 Thoughts about Game 25: Calgary

1. The Columbus Blue Jackets returned to Nationwide Arena after a hellacious (1-3-1) road trip and lost to the Calgary Flames, 4-3, in a post-overtime shootout.

1a. Here are the highlights:




2. I watched the Notre Dame-Stanford game last night, so I only saw bits and pieces of the CBJ game.  The 1st period, the Boll goal, the overtime period and the shootout.  That was probably enough.

3. I think I should trademark the term, "40 Minute Men" - I sure am using it enough.  Being up, 3-1, at the end of 2 and then letting the Flames back in during the 3rd -just like so many other teams this season - is ridiculous.

4. This season is starting to feel like we're listening to a broken record.  Kids, if you don't know what a record is, ask your parents.

5. Glad to see that Rick Nash got another goal.  We need a bright spot on what has become a surpremely frustrating season.

5a. I really like Raffi Torres, but I'm not sure that he's the best choice to put on the 1st line.  I can't say that definitively  as I didn't see enough of the game, but I'm reasonably sure.

6. Steve Mason again played a good (but probably not great) game, fell apart for a brief stretch and forced us to endure the pain of him on the shootout.

7. I love Anton Stralman's shot.  On defense.  Not on the shootout.

8. When two of your three non-shootout goals come from 1) A 4th-liner who probably shouldn't be taking shots and 2) A defenseman who could be a healthy scratch on any given night, you have to ask, "Outside of Rick Nash, where are the top six forwards?"

8a.  Where would this team be without Derek McKenzie and his fellow kamikaze 4th liners?

9. Nice to see the 17,000+ crowd at Nationwide.  Columbus so desperately wants to root for a winner...

10.  Hitch's notable post-game comment: "We'll get it fixed." (re: Mason's shootout performance)  Combine that with Scott Howson's statement to the Dispatch that there will be no personnel changes in the offing, and you have a management that's sticking to their guns.  Gulp.

NEXT UP: Monday, home against St. Louis - the only team in the Central Division below the Blue Jackets.  Gosh, I want to see that punk, Oshie, get flattened.  Ideally, that would come from Rick Nash.

Shuffling the deck ... smartly

The Columbus Dispatch's Aaron Portzline reports:

Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock has adjusted the forward lines, saying he wants veteran players to help support young players on each line.

Here they are:

• F1: Raffi Torres -- Antoine Vermette -- Rick Nash
• F2: Kristian Huselius -- Derick Brassard -- R.J. Umberger
• F3: Jason Chimera -- Sammy Pahlsson -- Jake Voracek
• F4: Jared Boll -- Derek MacKenzie -- Mike Blunden

Now this is interesting.  Looking at the lineups, I see three things happening:

1. The "Big Brothers" approach.  Voracek, Brassard and Nash (yes, Nash) are flanked by veterans who will hopefully help in keeping their minds on the Hitchcock style of game, regardless of the game circumstances.  I really like this and can only hope that Hitch gives the third line equal standing to the first two lines.  That's a nice lineup (4th line included!).  Now, how do we get Mase a little "Big Brother" treatment?

2. We're in a meritocracy, and that's a GREAT thing.  Raffi Torres has been tearing it up - even after taking the puck in the jaw - so he gets rewarded with time on the premier line.  Huselius and Umberger are tailing off a little, so they go to the second line.  Not sure what to make of the Voracek move in this light; I think he's more in the "big brother" mode with regard to his place on the roster.

3. Hitch is always thinking.  He's had enough of what he saw on the read trip, and he's going to make changes that prohibit the team from behaving the same way.  There's no quit in Ken Hitchcock.

One defensive change that I don't get - scratching Kris Russell again.  He signed his extension in October and then preceded to ride the pine.  Makes no sense.  If he was important enough to re-sign early, isn't he important enough to play?  Never mind that he's probably the best Blue Jacket at skating the puck out of the defensive zone.  Perhaps it's because the Flames play the Jackets as if the Boys in Union Blue stole their lunch money.

Should be a good game tonight - glad to see the Jackets get some home cooking!

10 Thankful Thoughts about Game 24: Ottawa

1. The Columbus Blue Jackets played a much more Hitchcock-friendly game on (American) Thanksgiving night, holding tight on their defense and checking (reasonably) hard, until the last 10 or so minutes, losing to the Ottawa Senators, 2-1.  Here are the highlights:






2. Many, many apologies for the delay in getting these 10 Thoughts out.  I've been crunched with family obligations related to Thanksgiving, the end of the quarter at school and now a death in the family which is going to require some unplanned travel.  Things might be a little spotty in the not-too-distant future, so please bear with me.

2a. The Thanksgiving nature of the game has prompted me to share that for which I am thankful related to the game, the CBJ and things hockey-related.  Enjoy!

2b. I'm especially thankful that I got a chance to watch the Ottawa game with my Friendly Pens Fan.  She's and Mrs. DBJ joined me to make one heck of a peanut gallery.

3. I'm thankful that the Jackets have Rick Nash.  The Captain was really pushing it against the Sens, registering 6 shots and plenty of effort on the ice.  He did everything outside of showing up on the scoresheet.

4. I'm thankful that Steve Mason has the ability to bury his memories of his poorer games and rebound with a solid game like Thursday night.  He turned aside 34 of 36, with one of the two goals coming on a power play.  That's not bad. Not at all.

4a. I'm also thankful that Mase is mature enough to look critically at his game and work on his deficiencies.  Taking an extra practice just to work on his reaction to plays that develop from behind the net reflect the character of a guy who's trying hard to be better, who knows he's not perfect.  He's young and will get more consistent with time as long as he keeps that attitude.

5. I'm thankful for Anton Stralman and his wonderful shot from the point.  It's just a thing of beauty, even if it doesn't go in.





6. I'm thankful that Derek Dorsett finally is coming around after the James Neal-inflicted concussion.  Sounds like the headaches are going away.

7. I'm a thankful that the CBJ are off to the best start of the franchise's history, but a little less so with what I'm seeing at the end of games.  The Ottawa game was no different.  Right around the first half of the third period, the Jackets get called for a penalty or two that starts wearing them down.  They then get in this vicious cycle of penalty - fatigue - sloppiness - penalty - etc.  I'm guessing that at least 3 games were lost due to this.  Is it fatigue that causes the penalties?  Is it lack of discipline?  Regardless, I'll be VERY thankful when I can stop referring to the Jackets as "the 50 minute men."

8. I'm thankful that Mike Commodore and Jan Hejda are back on the ice on a consistent basis and pray that they both get into game shape by...oh, I dunno...yesterday.  Might help Fedor Tyutin, who's been carrying way too much of the load this year.

9. I'm thankful that the Jackets have the steady leadership of Scott Howson and Ken Hitchcock. I'd be pressing the panic button more often than I have Nikita Filatov fighting in NHL 10 (stress relief, if you know what I mean).  These guys have a plan, and they're sticking to it.  At least for now.  It's frustrating to watch a very young NHL team grow before your eyes, making the surehandedness of both Howson and Hitchcock all the more valuable.

10.  I'm thankful that this crap-tastic road trip finally ended.  1-3-1 (only 3 points out of a possible 10) is just not good enough.  Let's hope that a night or two in their own beds will help the CBJ build upon the promising play in Ottawa and get back in the saddle.

NEXT UP: Calgary comes to Nationwide on Saturday night.  Should be a doozy.  I gather that the game will be a highlighted game on the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.  (Big stuff for NHL teams...)

[Due to time constraints, I'm going to pass on adding graphics.  Need to move on to the next game!]

The Hitch speaketh: Post-Montreal/"State of the CBJ" edition

Here's the video. Sadly, Fox Sports Ohio doesn't allow for embedded streaming links to their viewers. Probably something to do with Rupert Murdoch's hate of Google and all. But at least it's available in some form as it is must-see video.

Thanks to the Columbus Dispatch, here are a couple of the more choice quotes:

"We didn't manage the game -- that's the story of our season," said Hitchcock, whose team lost its third straight. "We had the game in control, we played two perfect periods and then we didn't manage the game.

"We forced pucks. We forced ourselves up ice from the back end and lost the game because of it."

...

"We have not got good goaltending the last two nights, it's got to be better," Hitchcock said. "You can't put in efforts like we did and then throw it away. We are not focused in the right areas to win hockey games.

"We want to play a different game than the one you need to play to shut a game down. We want to continually play in a track meet and that's what we did and we got burnt."

As you can tell without even looking at the video, the head coach is ticked.  And rightfully so.  We all know that the team, which is essentially the same as last year's Columbus Blue Jackets, can play the Hitchcock system of Defense First, check hard and get a goal only if it's available to you.  As you can see from his comments, this is something that Hitch is not seeing.

As I was carting the Dark Blue Onesie around this morning, I was listening to NHL Home Ice's "Hockey This Morning" show on XM.  I haven't been the biggest fan of the show since Scott Laughlin went to The Power Play show in the afternoons, but the guys had a very interesting point.  Ken Hitchcock is apparently a pretty vocal guy on the bench.  He also is a man with a system and reminds his players of how to play it at every possible opportunity.  There comes a point when a young player, full of confidence (having made the playoffs last year and all), just tunes the old coach out.  I'm not suggesting that the Jackets are at that point yet, but it makes sense that such a point could come.

What that means to Hitchcock is that he has a window - not sure how long or short - to reach the players and get them to commit to what it was that got them to the playoffs last year...and, to a lesser degree, what got them off to a 5-1-0 start on this season.  If he doesn't get through to them, in a way that makes them realize that the team defensive game is the foundation of the Blue Jackets system, the Jackets will struggle to get to the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Hitch deserves a ton of credit for bringing the Blue Jackets around and making them a legitimate NHL squad. But he is also very aware of how hard this climb is getting:

"For me, I have really enjoyed building this team, but I'm also finding out, when you reach a certain level, the next step is the hardest one," Hitchcock said.

"Becoming a playoff team was a big step. But the next step to becoming legit night in and night out is a bigger challenge. That, to me, is the one we're going through right now."

And those very true words are playing themselves out, night after night...

I started by wanting to share the Hitch video from last night.  I ended with an indirect "State of the Blue Jackets" at the quarter point of the season.  So let's summarize: The talent is there - more than probably ever before - but their heads just aren't in the game. The question is, can the coach, his staff and the players get back on the same page?

10 Thoughts about Game 23: Montreal

1. The Columbus Blue Jackets lost their legs starting in the back half of the 2nd period, showing next to nothing in the 3rd against the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs won, 5-3. Here are the highlights:





2. The back-to-back games bit the CBJ in this game. The defensive lapses again plagued the Jackets with increasing frequency throughout the game.

2a. I'm wondering if conditioning is a new area of concern. These guys just fade down the stretch.

3. Mathieu Garon performed...ok...in turning aside 24 of 29 of the Habs' shots. I was only truly upset with 1 of the 5 goals:

Was it just too hard to get up? Seemed odd to me.

3a. At least his performance was mediocre/bad enough that no one's going to complain when Mase starts against the Senators on Thanksgiving.

3b. Poor Steve Mason, sitting in that little box by himself for the whole game. Looked like he was in Time Out.

4. Two goals for Antoine Vermette, giving him a strong showing in his home province. He's turned out to be quite a good player, bringing it on most every night.

5. Two assists from Captain Rick Nash, including the masterpiece below. He was a little more of a presence than against the Rangers, but he's still way too quiet on the ice.



5a. At least his +/- was zero tonight...but keeping in mind that he had two assists, that means he was on the ice for at least two goals.

6. Speaking of +/-, Jan Hejda "led" the team with a -3 on the night. For a guy who hung his hat on having a gargantuan positive +/- since coming to Columbus, a -3 makes me think he's still hurt. He's clearly not himself.

6a. Mike Commodore also is not himself. But how do you get in condition when you're wearing yourself down every night?

6b. Speaking of injuries, I think we miss Derek Dorsett.  He's a real spark plug, and his absence is noticeable.

7. Shame that the Jackets had to fade out on a night where their game was the only game played in the entire league.

7a. At least the utter humiliation was contained to one night (the Rangers game).

8. OK, the TSN highlight package at the top was a sick joke. Pierre McGuire is a doofus. His interview with Jeff Rimer after the 1st period was lunacy. What was that supposed joke about "The U"? Was it an Ohio State joke? Idiot.

8a. Side TV note: This NHL on the Fly micro-analysis of the CBJ is just painful.

9. My internal "Time for the General Manager to shuffle the deck" clock is ticking. The alarm hasn't gone off, but it sure is ticking.

9a. To quote The Bard: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

10. Despite the crappy showing the past two games, I like the CBJ playing in Eastern Conference arenas. Columbus REALLY shouldn't be in the West.  I know I've mentioned it before, but I really mean it.

NEXT UP: At Ottawa on (American) Thanksgiving Day.  Who's inviting Dorsett to their house for Turkey Day?

Photos from Yahoo NHL.

NHL's video preview of tonight's game

When yours is the only game on the NHL slate tonight, you get special treatment like this:



Let's hope that the Columbus Blue Jackets have their act together tonight and play some Hitch hockey - as opposed to whatever that mess was in New York last night.

Don't be surprised to see Mathieu Garon, Antoine Vermette and Derick Brassard come out a-blazing. They're both Québécois and surely will want to impress their family and friends. (Which reminds me, I should run the same checks when the Jackets go west. Quite a few players on the roster from Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Not to mention Ontario!)

Object Lessons in Poor Defensive Strategy, Part I

[Seeing as the Blue Jackets are having a tough time playing defense, I thought it would be a service to highlight defensive strategies that don't work well.  Always best to learn from others' mistakes!]

Lesson One: The ¡Ole! defense

What starts as a grand strategy...

...doesn't work out.

Try avoiding this approach, boys.

Open Question: What's up with the defense?

I'll admit it, I'm baffled.

The Columbus Blue Jackets seemed to have upgraded their defense over last year with the addition of Anton Stralman.  However, the defense of late has been abysmal if not absent altogether.  What gives?  Why are the CBJ having such issues on defense ?

Possible answers:

1. Mike Commodore is still getting into game shape after his preseason flu and other ailments.
2. The forwards aren't playing Hitch-hockey and placing too much responsibility on the defense
3. ..... I have no idea

What's your take?  Post them in the comments.

[UPDATE: A Shot From the Point offers some suggestions - Is Methot the issue?  Should Li'l Russ get scratched?]