Why DBJ thinks this Draft Lottery sucked

If you haven't seen from Gallos' earlier post, the Columbus Blue Jackets - enjoying a 48.2% chance of winning - watched the Edmonton Oilers win the 2012 NHL Draft Lottery.  As a result, Edmonton will pick first and the CBJ will pick second on June 23.

Some suggest that losing the lottery means that the Blue Jackets now no longer will have OHL phenom Nail Yakupov, and that's possible.  But not having the inside track on the number one prospect in this year's draft doesn't mean that the team is lost.  And, honestly, I'm not crestfallen at the notion of not getting a given player.

You see, the top of the NHL draft is a crap shoot.  You have imperfect people trying their best to determine which child - one who won't be allowed to drink in the U.S. for two to three years - is best suited to solve the immediate problems of a team that probably has countless immediate problems.  The likelihood of a drafted rookie having a meaningful impact on their new team, even when they are drafted first overall, is slim.  So I'm just not upset over that part of it.

Scott Howson! Come on Dow...Oops! What?

It's one thing to be bad, it's another to be unlucky.  It's bad to be both.  But that's our CBJ.  With  a 1 in 2 chance to win the NHL draft lottery, we lose, and the Edmonton Oilers pick first for the third year in a row.  Grandma, I bite my tongue!

DBJ's Most Valuables for the 2011-12 CBJ season

Sorry, Scott, we'll get to you
in another post.

The season is now over, and it's time for the post-mortems.  Logic would dictate that we'd do a recap first and then jump into the awards, but that's not going to happen this year for a couple of reasons.  First, I started working on the awards about two weeks ago and haven't yet started on the recap.  Second, there will be more than one recap coming out of this blog in the spirit of offering a variety of viewpoints, and we all need time to gather our thoughts.  Ergo thus therefore, it's awards time.

In what should be a tough year to pick a "Most Valuable" - I mean, seriously, how does one offer rewards solely for on-ice performance in a season where the team you enjoy is dead last by a country mile? - I found clarity incredibly fast.  As in, faster than I found that damned bug on the Mayan Riviera.

So who deserves recognition in The Season That Should Never Be Discussed Again In Mixed Company?  Simple.

THE TRUE BELIEVERS

What do I mean by "The True Believers", you ask?  True Believers are the people who, despite the truth of the failed season right in front of their eyes, are keeping the faith with the Columbus Blue Jackets.  They refuse to accept the abject failure that this season has been and instead suggest a brighter future that we fans should embrace.  They are the Keepers of the Kool Aid, and it tastes delicious.

With no further ado, here are DBJ's four Most Valuables for the 2011-12 Columbus Blue Jackets season...our True Believers.

Your CBJ 2012 Green Jacket winner...

...John Moore!

2011 Green Jacket winner Kristian Huselius fits 2012 winner John Moore.
(Artistic license taken by the Dark Blue Jacket)

Moore, as well as Fedor Tyutin, didn't benefit from the end-of-season boomlet in Columbus Blue Jackets goal scoring productivity and team defense due to his injury, so he was stuck with his negative rating.  It's worth noting that Brassard, Nash and Wisniewski all saw their plus/minus drop over the last few games.

Here is your final leaderboard:

WITH 82 HOLES COMPLETE	+/-
John Moore	-23
Fedor Tyutin	-21
Derick Brassard	-20
Rick Nash	-19
James Wisniewski	-13

Game 82: Los Endos

Nash added a goal tonight to reach 30 goals

Tonight the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the New York Islanders 7-3.  It was a strange game.  It wasn't really as close as the score indicated, but it was a lot closer than the score indicated.  The CBJ blew open a tight game in the third period by scoring twice on a 5 on 3 penalty chance, which really changed the complexion of the game.  The DBJ 5 thoughts follow:

1. The Captain, Rick Nash -  In spite of potential back spasms that might have kept him out of the game, Nash skated on a night that has been widely speculated to be his last in CBJ uniform.  When asked if it felt like his last game in Columbus, he said no (as reported in Puck Rakers).  Nash scored the opening goal, which helped get a very sluggish Jackets roster engaged in the game.  No one really had any legs at the start of the game.  Who knows what the off season brings, but with his no trade clause, Nash is the only one who really decides if he is going to be in Columbus.

2. Cam Atkinson - Cam continues his tear, scoring twice on the night following his hat trick in Colorado.  When Atkinson looked slow in the first period, I remember thinking that none of the team had their legs.  He got his legs as the game went on, and I hoped and prayed I was tossing another hat.  In spite of a real nice look that he poked wide as time wound down in the third, Atkinson played a very explosive game.  He seemed to get better with every shift.  He finished the game with two goals and an assist, a very capable repeat of his hat trick the last game.

Turning the page

Cam Atkinson seized the Columbus Blue Jackets scoring
mantle, at least for one night, against the Avalanche

Pushing aside the schadenfreude-laden glee of seeing the Blue Jackets end the Colorado Avalanche's playoff hopes for a moment, I thought it might be worth commenting on a little of the "inside baseball" that we witnessed last night in the course of the 5-2 CBJ thumping of the Avs.

That, of course, was the seeming transfer of the scoring torch that we saw on the ice.

It started as a mesmerizing contest within a game.  Cam Atkinson, the rookie trade deadline call-up from the AHL, scored first at 6:35 of the first period.  Captain Rick Nash answered at 17:29.  Nash then added number two on the night at 6:47 of the second, but Atkinson matched him at 11:51.

The race was on.  Who would get the hat trick?  Would it be the young buck or the Captain who doesn't want to play in Columbus any more?

Game 81: Colorado - And Big Spirit

Cam Atkinson pulls a hat trick against the Avs.

Tonight the Columbus Blue Jackets punched the Colorado Avalanche out of the playoffs, in their own barn.  Dang.  Thoughts from DBJ world:

1. Cam Atkinson - Hat trick.  Several great individual efforts for goals, one great lead pass by Boyce.  Suhweet.  Cam is going to camp for team USA if the Springfield Falcons don't make the playoffs.  This kid is growing used to the NHL game.  Which is trouble for the rest of the league.

2. The power play - A nice 5 on 3 power play with Jack Johnson (JMFJ) and Wiz prowling the points.  Sorry folks, but they just toyed with Colorado, before setting Nash up with a shot that he willed into the net, likely costing him back spasms.  This is just a sweet taste of what next year could look like with Wiz and JMFJ.  The defense of the CBJ has never looked like this, a theme I will develop as golf season comes upon us.

3. Spoilers.  Nice.  Carve one into your pistol butt.  Sorry Colorado, you join us in the lottery excitement.  The CBJ have played with great spirit down the stretch.  Sorry folks, this long time season ticket holder has watched a lot of fruitless CBJ hockey down the stretch of lost seasons, and what we are watching is not what we were seeing then.  Then, we needed to sneak up on teams.  Its obvious to these guys we are coming, but we beat them anyway.  There are reasons for this, which I will milk in the off season.

4. The Captain Cans two - Nash scores two sweet goals.  In what might be his last road game for the CBJ, the Captain was a finisher.  Good stuff.  Importantly, the team around him looks strong.

5. Staying up for the win - Its rough to be in the Western Conference.  Phoenix, get a deal done, so we can watch road games in Eastern Time!

GO JACKETS!!

The CBJ Green Jacket Contest

Stick it up your azaleas - the Columbus Blue Jackets Green Jacket Contest is coming down to the wire.  The holder of the most negative plus/minus rating likely won't be decided until the last minute of the last game of the season.

Yes, it's that time of the season when eyes turn to the leaderboard to see who's going receive the legendary blazer from last year's winner, Kristian Huselius - whose -17 plus/minus held off Derek Dorsett (-15) and Sammy Pahlsson (-13).  Juice can only marvel at what he's seeing right now as he munches nachos in the press box...the grit and determination of this year's contestants is shining through.

LEADERS THROUGH 80 HOLES	+/-
John Moore	-23
Derick Brassard	-22
Rick Nash	-21
Fedor Tyutin	-21
James Wisniewski	-17

What makes rookie John Moore's feat so impressive is that not only is he helping let pucks fly by at a near-record pace, but he's also done it in only 67 games!  Not to be outdone, of course, is the Shanabanner himself, James Wisniewski, with a leaderboard-challenging -17 in just 46 games.

Just outside the leaderboard, yet within striking range due to his tremendous blue line skills, is fan-favorite Aaron Johnson...sitting at -13.  Can AGDMFJ pull off the unthinkable with only 54 games played thus far this season?

Just goes to show you, Big-time Players Make Big-time Plays in Big-time Games.

It doesn't matter who you're rooting for...competition like this can only be good for The Game.  Right?  RIGHT?

Game 80: Phoenix

Phoenix 2 - Columbus 0
27-46-7, 5th in Central Division, 30th in NHL

The Columbus Blue Jackets took the day off yesterday to work on their base burns suntans at poolside and on the golf course, then listened to some motivational speaker, then went out and got blanked by the Phoenix Coyotes, 2-0 in regulation.

Some nights, it doesn't matter what you do.  The opposing goalie is in the zone and just won't let shots through.  Tonight was one of those nights.  Mike Smith was incredible.

I so want the Blue Jackets to poach Phoenix's goalie coach.

2 games left.

NEXT UP: Thursday night, 9PM in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche.  No pregame or postgame show apparently, but Fox Sports Ohio is picking up the game now that NBC Sports Network decided that showing the worst team in the league doesn't make sense in the last week of the season.

Game 79: St. Louis

Columbus 5 - St. Louis 2
27-45-7, 5th in Central Division, 30th in NHL

The Columbus Blue Jackets closed out their murderous Central Division schedule for 2011-12 in style, beating the division champion St. Louis Blues, 5-2 in regulation, at ScottTrade Center last night.

I missed so much of the game that it's not fair to anyone involved to offer an assessment on what little I saw.  Sorry.

Is it time to look at Todd Richards as a
legitimate candidate for the permanent
head coach of the CBJ?

However, I think the events of the past week - wins against Detroit, Florida and St. Louis...playoff teams all (Yeah, I know about Florida...but they would still be in playoff position even if they had to get seeded on merit as opposed to being first in their crappy division...) - warrant a little further discussion.  As recently as February 7, I've been lukewarm-to-negative on keeping interim coach Todd Richards around as permanent head coach. Then, on March 11th (recapping a St. Louis game, no less), I said this in relation to considering keeping Richards on board in a more permanent capacity:

I'd like to see Richards win a couple games that he wasn't supposed to with this type of roster.  I want to see him coach the team to a win or two.

 A reader astutely pointed out that the streak of Colorado, Phoenix (x2) and Los Angeles made for a nice streak.  While I didn't shoot down his assertion, I didn't entirely bite.

Now, I can't look away.