Other Paper interviews CBJ GM Scott Howson

Steph Greegor at The Other Paper gets 16 good questions in on the Columbus Blue Jackets general manager.

I'm a bit incredulous over Howson's assessment of head coach Scott Arniel:

Win or lose, all of us believe he's a very good coach. I just think it was an unfair evaluation of him, those 10 or 12 games with people missing from our lineup. I just think he needed some more time to put his stamp on this group. We know he's a good coach and we believe in the things he's doing and that was an organization-wide commitment.

Really?  Unfair to judge him when players are out of the roster?  (Because Dan Bylsma can't be judged for taking the Pittsburgh Penguins to the playoffs sans Sidney Crosby...oh, wait, Bylsma got the Jack Adams Award for that incredible coaching workaround.)  And he needed more time?  It was 20 percent of the season (not to mention that he had an entire season before this to put his stamp on the team)...how much more time should he have received?

Regardless of my misgivings, it's always good/important for CBJ fans to read and understand the public utterances of top management.  As such, I suggest it's a must-read.

New sideline reporter for Fox Sports Ohio

With the forthcoming departure of John Michael to become the Cleveland Cavaliers' new radio voice, Fox Sports Ohio has announced his replacement:

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FOX Sports Ohio Announces New Blue Jackets Sideline Reporter

Columbus, Ohio – FOX Sports Ohio is excited to welcome Natalie Taylor to the Columbus Blue Jackets broadcast team as the new sideline reporter.

An Ohio native, Natalie joins the network with over eight years’ experience as a sports reporter and news broadcaster. She is a huge NHL hockey fan and is thrilled to be covering the Columbus Blue Jackets. Local viewers will recognize Taylor from WSYX / WTTE, where she has anchored weekend sports segments, reported for “Good Day Columbus,” hosted “The Football Fever,” and served as on-site reporter for high school football.

“The decision to select the new Blue Jackets sideline reporter was not an easy one,” stated Henry Ford, FOX Sports Ohio Senior Vice President and General Manager. "Natalie Taylor has tremendous broadcast experience and a deep passion for the game of hockey. She is an outstanding addition and will compliment one of the most experienced and talented broadcast teams in the NHL."

DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 24: Vancouver

Vancouver 4 - Columbus 1
6-15-3, 5th in Central Division, 15th in Western Conference

The dreaded West Coast Road Trip opened tonight in Vancouver, with the Columbus Blue Jackets falling to the host Canucks, 4-1, in regulation.

1. YAWN - 10PM start times suck.  They just suck.  It is cruel and unusual punishment for the NHL to force Eastern Time Zone teams to play in the Western Conference.

1a. DRINK 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM - That being said, I am amazed at how many Blue Jackets fans were drinking beer...and whiskey...(and grain alcohol?)...instead of coffee to make it through this game.  You'd think that more would be working off an I.V. drip of coffee to stay awake.

Running the Gauntlet

Simon Kenton runs a Shawnee Gauntlet - by Steve White

The Columbus Blue Jackets have had a rough year so far.  With a horrendous start under their belt, they have managed to play consistent competitive hockey for the last 6 or 7 games.  One would hope at this point that the third annual 'December Swoon' was moved up to October, and they have that out of their system.

Regardless of their record to date, the next three weeks were always going to tell us a lot about the team we have.  If they can consistently play the kind of hockey they have been playing, and garner a good many of the points laying out there, they will have done so under trying conditions, and against very good talent.  For Christmas, we should get a pretty good assessment of how good of a team we really have.

I'll get into the Ohio History part of the whole thing later on.  For now, all we need to know is that the gauntlet starts on the second to last day of November.  Just how long the gauntlet is remains to be seen.

The past week: DBJ's take

It's taken a few games, but Jeff Carter appears
to be getting in the groove with his linemates
and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

I've now had a chance to watch condensed versions of three of the four games played by the Columbus Blue Jackets - I'd have watched the Buffalo game, but GameCenter Live hadn't made replays available yet as I finished writing this.  And I watched most of the St. Louis game.  Thus, I believe that I've seen enough to build some impressions.

First, it looks like the team chemistry is indeed improving.  This is especially important in the top line, where Jeff Carter pretty clearly needed to find his groove (but let's be clear - this still is a work in progress that has been set back by Carter's broken foot).

Next, coach Scott Arniel's bizarre offensive scheme has been dialed back and players actually appear to be playing defense.  The irony of this adjustment is that the Blue Jackets have been scoring more as a result.  Well, when not playing against a Ken Hitchcock team - but that's more of a statement about Hitch Hockey than about anything Arniel did or didn't do.

DBJ's 5 Thoughts on Game 23: St. Louis

St. Louis 2 - Columbus 1
6-14-3, 5th in Central Division, 15th in Western Conference

Ken Hitchcock brought his streaking St. Louis Blues into Nationwide Arena and, after grabbing a one-goal lead, locked the game down and added two standings points at the expense of the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1 in regulation.

1. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ - Yes, it was Hitch Hockey.  Yes, it was slow moving hockey that largely was played from faceoff circle to faceoff circle, punctuated only by the occasional breakaway.  Some will stick up their nose at this "boring" brand of hockey, but let's face facts: IT WORKS.  It wins games. If your team plays this type of hockey, you are watching your team play into April and May.  Right now, I'll take that over "exciting" hockey.

A Cautionary Tale...Do You Want to be Denver?

No no, silly. I'm not confused. I don't mean the Avalanche (what is the plural of avalanche anyway? Avalanchi? Avalanches? Seems awkward). But allow me to present a brief comparison of our beloved Blue Jackets to the Denver Broncos. Allow me to tell a story...

Last season was a disappointment so the Denver Bronco's have been a team that is looking to make an impact. They start a player, Kyle Orton, in a key position that the coaches and team leadership deem to be "the best". They've got some good minds involved in that decision-including the legendary John Elway. The hopes and dreams of the team are seemingly tied to this player. All eyes are on him. That doesn't go well. No wins. Hopes are dashed, fans are frustrated? Kyle Orton? Yeah. Booed when he steps on to the field of play. And then, the fans calls are seemingly answered. A much ballyhooed back-up, in the form of Tim Tebow, comes in to that key position, regardless that his skill may not be what it needs to be for a long term impact with the team, (Elway publicly says Tebow is not the solution for quarterback) and suddenly the team is winning! The players rally around his leadership! Eureka! Orton is waived. The problem is seemingly fixed! All is right in the world. Until next year...

If you can't guess, the players that I see as interchangeable in this story are our own Steve Mason as Kyle Orton and Curtis Sanford and Tim Tebow.

Let me be clear on two very important things
1. This is not about bashing Sanford. I - as much as anyone - am thrilled to have a goalie in net who can help build confidence within our team, play confident consistent hockey, and help bring home the wins. I like him. We need him. I want him around. As Dannie at Strait Jackets pointed out, Sanford is a quality addition to our roster. The team is clearly responding to him and that means something.
2. This is not about bashing Mason. While Mason is not having a great year, I still can't put every goal on him and he is still the youngest #1 goalie in the league clocking in at 23 and has bore the brunt of being really the only solution at goalie for a while.

What this IS about, is that regardless of how this goalie situation shakes out for the 2011-12 season (I am still quite anxious to see what Dekanich brings to the table) as people who care about our team and our franchise, we need to be cognizant of the fact that Sanford is not, cannot be, our long term, franchise goalie solution. This is a goalie that other NHL franchises were not fighting us for, and age is not on his side. He is good, no doubt, but we need to respect and applaud his accomplishments for us with context.

Scott Howson continues to have work to do on the goalie front. I, for one, still have many active questions: can/will Mase respond when he has a strong back-up with whom he can change off games (instead of going 8 games in a row)? Is Dexshow better than Mase? Would Mase ever be a good back up or is he too expensive? How much more gas does Sanford have in the tank?

You see, like the Denver Broncos, right now we have the good fortune to happen upon a guy who is making a difference. And I do love Curtis - I love how he's playing, I love the energy he brings to the team, and I most of all love the wins ;), but the opening for a franchise goalie remains just that right now, OPEN.

Stranger in a strange land

(a.k.a. "What in the world have you done with my crappy hockey team?")

I'm back in Ohio, fresh off a week of near-debilitating sinus pain quality time with family in the desert Southwest.  The turkey was good, the little cousins got to play and the Dark Blue Mom is healthy after all.  (Don't ask.)  So let's try to quickly catch up...

First and foremost, thank you to the ever-growing Dark Blue Jacket blog team for covering in my absence.  Gallos offered the post-game "5 Thoughts" and did it better than I have done, I might say. His "Regarding Brassard" appears to have been timely, seeing as Brass still hasn't found his way into a meaningful place on the roster.

And then, permit a long-overdue welcome to our DBJ newcomers.  No better way to welcome your friends to the board than by saying, "I'm outta here for a week!  Have fun!"  Somewhat akin to tossing your loved ones to the wolves.  But of course, Greg and Alison showed exactly why I was giddy to have them join our merry band.  I mean, come on.  "The Power of 2"? "The Dark Side"?  This is great stuff.

But now, let's get to the subject of this blog - the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Dark Blue Jacket's 5 Thoughts on Game 22: Buffalo

It was Vinny Prospal's night!

Congratulations to Vinny Prospal for playing his 1000th NHL game.  To put that in perspective, our franchise has not yet had 1000 games.  A significant achievement for Vinny, and I am proud that he accomplished this milestone as a Columbus Blue Jacket.

And now, on to the five thoughts on the game:

1. Vinny's Night - It was fitting that Prospal's 1000th game would come on game 22, his number, and that his teammates would respond with a very solid effort.  During the bad times of our horrible start, it was often that Vinny's play was the only bright spot, and it seemed like he was an important catalyst to turning this thing around. What a consummate professional, and it was a stroke of luck that allowed us Jackets fans to truly experience Vinny.

The team will present him with the traditional silver hockey stick for 1000 games prior to the December 17 game against the Tampa Bay Lightening, an organization where Vinny played nearly 500 games.  It is fitting that Vinny's old mates would be in the barn for this celebration.

2. Consistent, Solid Play - The CBJ have been turning in some very solid efforts, on a very consistent basis.  Home/Road, with lead/playing behind, they seem to have found their groove.  The whole lineup is contributing, and the effort is tangible across the board.  Very nice to see.  This was especially evident last night at the beginning of the second period.  Even though they had a two goal lead, they clearly still had their foot on the gas.  What is fueling that ......?

3. The Sand Man - Curtis Sanford continues his very strong play in goal.  He really shut things down, and was especially solid in a couple of Buffalo flurries of shots early on in the game.  He has a 1.27 GAA and a save percentage of .950 according to NHL.com.   These are sparkling numbers.

Live Long and Prospal

Vinnie, vidit, vicit

Tonight will be the 1,000th game in Vinnie Prospal's long and winding road through the NHL. There is also a a 67% chance that he will register his 700th career point in tonight's contest against Buffalo (based on the fact that he has scored a point in 14 of the Blue Jackets' 21 games this season).

To put those accomplishments in the proper perspective, let's look at the Blue Jackets career leaders in these categories. Rick Nash leads all Blue Jackets, past and present, in games played at 613. In other words, he's only 61.3% of the way to accomplishing what Prospal will tonight. Who is second among all Blue Jackets players? David Vyborny at 543. And third place goes to Rusty Klesla with 515 games.

In terms of points scored, Nash again leads all Blue Jackets, past or present, with 503. Vyborny is second with 317, not even half of what Prospal has done so far. And you would never guess who is third, because you would probably never guess Nikolai Zherdev, who stands at 181 points.

These are milestones the likes of which fans in Columbus have never had the chance to stand and acknowledge, nor will they anytime soon. And that is why I am going to try like all heck to go to Nationwide tonight. Our hats are off to you Vinnie Prospal! Well done, sir. May you live long and Prospal for years to come.

Update: Dannie at Strait Jackets has designed a very cool tee shirt to celebrate Vinnie. Check it out,