A Good Step

Nick Foligno

In a four point road game against a Metropolitan Division rival, the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 4-3.  Had Philly won, they would have been doubling up the CBJ point total in the 2014-15 season with 18 to our 9.  With tonight's win, they remain at 16, while we move to 11.  The CBJ have a lot of work left to do to reach a level of relevance in the Metro, but they have a lot of time to do it.

Tonight's win, of course, broke the franchise record tying losing streak at 9 games.  Like last year, before they really started to win, the CBJ have been playing better, but yet losing.  Tonight they put together a fairly full game, and more importantly, played that distinctive brand of Blue Jackets hockey, with all lines working hard on puck possession in the offensive zone.  The third line of Wennberg, Cracknell, and Tropp was particularly disciplined and effective at this style of play, and it caused real problems for Philadelphia.  Over these last 3 or 4 games, and particularly in the last game, the light has gone on for Alex Wennberg, and he has figured out how to drive that type of play as a centerman.  He and his linemates were very effective tonight.

Finally breaking loose, and scoring more than 2 goals, the CBJ broke the trend from the losing streak of scoring 2 goals but giving up 4.  Both Wisniewski and Foligno scored twice, while Ryan Johansen had 4 assists in the game, a career high.  McElhinney looked much more comfortable in goal tonight.

It was a really great team effort.  Now they need to come back and face a San Jose Sharks team that is already in Columbus.  That should make for a really fun game tomorrow night.  I'm looking forward to it.

GO JACKETS!!

The Hangover, Part IX

Hee, hee.  Couldn't resist.

I wasn't sure where I was going with this post when I found the picture from previous use.  It was downhill from there.  The losing streak is like a bad hangover, lingering long after it should have stopped.  The goal tending is a throbbing headache that seems to defy medication, the injuries are the unexplained black eye that greets you in the morning.  It will get better, but it will take some time, and until then its ugly.

And, like a bad hangover, the current state of the CBJ is something to be endured.  Fortunately though, the cure to all our problems becomes clear!  Hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate some more!  And while we're at it, forecheck, forecheck, and forecheck some more!!  OK, time to get a little more serious.

One thing I keep forgetting about the current crop of AHLers that occupy the lower lines of the CBJ, just about none of these guys (except Chaput) spent the year or two with Brad Larsen down in Springfield learning this system that last year's team had available.  The house afire alacrity that Derek MacKenzie always brought to a good old 'cycle down low' is something that this crop of players needs to learn.  The good news is that they showed last night that they are learning the lesson.  As the game progressed, they really started to play the unique Blue Jackets style that last year's team perfected, but has escaped these guys to date.

Late in the first period, already down 2-0 of course, Nick Foligno put on a real time clinic on puck possession below the other teams net.  Moving his feet, protecting the puck, making the opposition come to him.  And darn if late in the third period, there is Alex Wennberg doing the same thing, moving his feet, protecting the puck, taking the banging that it entails.  That, my friends, is good stuff.  Wennberg's skill is going to be there.  The will to play 'keep away' along the boards in the offensive zone of another NHL team is a learned attribute.  But it pays big dividends, which is why it's so hard.

I felt I saw some really good things in that Caps game.  Things you can build off of.  I'm not really seeing an end to this streak soon, and won't be surprised if it continues for a few more games.  I'm not being a negative nancy, just not being unreasonably optimistic.  They will emerge from this at some point; just as no team has won them all, no team has lost them all.  But the lessons the young players are learning from this will pay dividends down the road.

This current streak is something to be endured, like a bad hangover.  So you find the humor where you can, and soldier on.  Because the combinations are almost limitless in this situation.  McTank for McDavid.  McFlop for McDavid.  McDive for McDavid.  You could do that all day....

GO JACKETS!!!!

Six Questions for Russian Machine Never Breaks

The guys over at Russian Machine Never Breaks (RNMB) approached us about swapping a Q and A session.  Unfortunately, life (i.e. work) got in the way, but I had already launched my questions.  Doug was kind enough to respond to my questions, even though he was unable to launch his own.  So we owe them one, and will reciprocate later in the season, when hopefully we have something to talk about other than injuries.

So here were my questions for RNMB:

1. We here in Blue Jackets land have been playing against Barry Trotz coached teams for our entire existence.  Those Nashville teams typically featured good goal tending and solid defense, as that's how the teams were constructed.  What has been Trotz' approach to a much different personnel set in the Capitals so far this year?

RNMB:  You put your finger on exactly why Trotz was brought on, and why so many people here are hoping against hope that we can turn this squad around this season. The Ovechkin-era Caps were from the start a reflection of Ovi and his play: explosive offense, wildly unpredictable, a bit shaky on defense. Those 2008-2009 Capitals? I've never seen such maddeningly exciting play.

But that's clearly not been enough. When Boudreau was jettisoned, the squad veered into "Hunter Hockey" - where they tried to reign in this team's natural scoring skill and turn it into something it just isn't. Hunter and Oates always felt like trying to squeeze the square peg into the round hole. So far, however, it seems Trotz has started to find the right balance between respecting what the core of the squad is and adding D to it, rather than shaving away the O.

2.  How do you see the relationship of Trotz and Ovechkin?  I think it's fair to say that Trotz never had a player like that in Nashville, so it must be a novel experience for him.

RNMB: I think it's fair to say there haven't been many players like Ovi anywhere, so any coach coming in was going to have that. Ovi is the tent-pole in this circus; everything else frankly hangs off that; including, it seems, the coaches. When each of our last three coaches left, there was all sorts of murmuring about whether Ovi had anything to do with it, or if he simply quit on his coach. I'm really not convinced about any of that, especially anything malicious, but Ovi is a force unto himself, and converting him into something else may just be a fool's errand.

Right from the get-go, Trotz has both worked to build good communication with Ovi, and the rest of the team, but not at the expense of making clear who's in charge. I think it's very possible one or two of our recent coaches were more focused on the latter than the former. One thing that is notably different so far, however, is how assertive a coach Trotz is during the games. He clearly sees his job as coaching every minute of play, and does not shy away from doing his job from the bench. Most important, I think, is that the entire team, Ovechkin and every one else, is ready to listen and follow Trotz, and he's highly respected by the entire organization.

3. Jason Chimera was a much loved player here in Columbus, and a lot of us were unhappy to see him go in the trade for Chris Clark.  How is he doing?  Does he meet fan expectations?

Looks Like I Picked A Bad Week To Quit Sniffing Glue

The classic Lloyd Bridges line from the old Airplane movie summed up how it felt to be at the wedding reception, pop open the CBJ app, and see it 2-0 before the game was even 10 minutes old.  Down 4-0 at the end of one, I was fortunate to be in a place well supplied with strong spirits.

Go ahead.  Go through any NHL roster, scratch out 3 of the top four centers, and their starting goal tender, and you are looking at a squad in trouble.  Injuries are not an excuse, this is true.  They are a reason.  I am reading in other blogs that defensive coverage was not good.  But this is a pretty darn good Tampa team, and if I read the score sheet correctly, it wasn't so much Stamkos, a bona fide sniper tearing us up, it was further down in the lineup, where the injury losses are more significant.

I like the fact that the team pushed back.  That's a good sign.  But at the end of the day, it's not such a stretch to think that a Tampa squad hitting on all cylinders might beat an uninjured CBJ team by 2 goals (discounting the empty netter).  Giving up a touchdown is a whole different thing.

These are grim times in CBJ land.  It looks like we have another week to ride before reinforcements arrive.  Time to pin your ears back and dig in.  Probably not a good week to start some self-improvement project though....

GO JACKETS!!

This is How the NHL Wanted It

No, they didn't want Columbus to McTank for McDavid, they wanted games ended in overtime.  The combination of an untimely penalty and the long change from switching ends conspired to do in the CBJ in overtime, as they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2, to be a mere point ahead of lowly Buffalo for last place in the NHL.

A quick thought before I bail, as this is a crazy weekend, and I will be on the run.  The old school philosophy for building a competitive team in the NHL is to build up the middle, starting with goal tending, and then centermen.  Who remains on IR for this team?  Goal tenders and centermen mostly.  Until the middle of the ice is beefed up, it's going to be tenuous.  On the other hand, we now have the annual 'drop to the bottom of the league before running to the playoffs' out of the way, and we can focus on the running to the playoffs part of the equation.

Gotta run.  Big night tonight for Columbus on a lot of fronts.

GO JACKETS!!

Why the CBJ Misses Derek MacKenzie

DMac in 2013-14 Training Camp

The CBJ have no running game.  That is because we no longer have a center who understands the value of the running game, and was willing to do the things necessary for a good running game because of their intrinsic value.

But hockey doesn't have a running game!  Well yes, and no.  My Dad is a sports nut.  Loves football, baseball, and college basketball.  Hockey is okay live, but he doesn't live in Central Ohio like I do, so is pretty ambivalent about it, and doesn't understand the game well.
Last year I was talking to him about hockey, and about cycling the puck deep in the offensive zone.  And the analogy I used to explain why that deep cycle was good, was the running game in football.  They are very similar.  If you want to possess the puck and cycle it behind the other team's goal, than you had better be prepared to work darn hard, and be pretty physical.  Our fourth line last year was exceptional at establishing this type of possession (which tends to yield no Corsi advantage), and Derek MacKenzie understood and drove that type of possession game.

Having your fourth line play 'keep away' below the red line in the offensive zone is very analogous to the running game in football, and conveys the same benefits.  It is hard to do, so you are accomplishing something when you do it.  You make your opponent expend extraordinary amounts of energy recovering the puck, and that has a cumulative effect in a game.  And their offense doesn't have the puck.

The 2014-15 CBJ like to get the puck deep, but then tend to cycle it back out to the points for a shot that is often blocked, and possession goes the other way.  Last year, when the chips were down in a game like last night, DMac and company would come over the boards, and start to play keep away.  And more often then not, that lead to penalties, or other momentum changers that would allow the CBJ to get back in the game when they were being out skated.

While Chaput has done very well, he has more of a scorers mentality, when we need our fourth line center to embrace the cycle game, and use that to drive momentum.  You want to know if Jared Boll is being a successful player?  It's if he can get with his linemates, get the puck down low, behind the other teams goal, and play 'keep away'.  If they can't learn to do that this year, it will be an important indication that one of the factors that allowed us to make the playoffs last year is missing this year.

We need to get our running game back on track.  And is starts with Chaput and the fourth line.  Derek MacKenzie had the right appreciation for the value of this, and made choices as a center to drive that grinder possession game.  And we don't have that right now.  But we need to get it.

GO JACKETS!!

Uh-Oh

No Caption Necessary

Tonight's Officials were Greg Kimmerly and Tim Peel, and they were absolutely brutal.  Your job boys, is not to be right all the time, which is impossible, but to be consistent.  If the hit on a chip and chase is interference in the second period, it needs to be interference in the third period.   Piss poor job boys.  Hang your heads in shame.

That, however, had little to do with the extent that the Hurricanes outplayed the Blue Jackets tonight, as they prevailed 4-2.  Out shooting the CBJ 37-19, the Hurricanes deserved the win.  Nick Foligno personally dragged the Jackets back into the game, scoring both goals, but the 2 goal clip that the CBJ have been scoring these last 6 games, all losses, ain't gonna get it done in the NHL.  McTanking for McDavid is all of a sudden a very real possibility for this team.

As is often the case in a death spiral such as this, individuals are trying too hard, Jack Johnson, and thus breaking down the system.  When we need to play a tight cohesive system in the face of injuries and adversity, players that care become a liability when they try to do too much.  Which pretty much sums up the last, empty net goal.   Everyone trying to do too much individually, which results in poor team play.  The Hurricanes at least played a team game, and all of a sudden are playing well and with confidence.  The Blue Jackets confidence is shaky at best.  Curtis McElhinney has been poor in goal.  I think HCTR needs to give the net to Forsberg until Bob returns, or CMac wins it back some how.  Or sign Marty Brodeur to be the back up.  He's looking for work.  CMac is just not looking solid early in the games, and it's costing us.  We score 2, his GAA is above 4.  Do the math.  It ain't working.

There is a lot of season left.  I really like how Wennberg's game is coming along.  I think he has made real strides in the last two games.  He really needs to pot a goal to get him going.

Joey needs to get used to the Nash treatment.  Other teams are gonna put 3 guys on you until we make them hurt for it.  A 6 game losing streak means they ain't hurting.  If you want to be worth $6 million, you have to learn to play through that.  I think you can, but dogging it back up the ice after they put 3 guys on you isn't playing through it.  Yeah it's hard.  Duh.  That's why they put 3 guys on you.  That means someone else is open though, and you have to learn to make them pay for that.  Nash never resolved that, and finally settled on the butt first move off the boards that would allow him to at least get to the middle of the ice one on three.  A crappy shot usually resulted.  Better to find the guy who they are leaving uncovered, which is a hell of a lot easier said than done if you are covered 1 on 3 I might add.  Easy for me to say, but I ain't making $3 million this year.  Bah.  Enough of that.  You'll work through it Joey.

We are not a good team now.  This does not mean they will be a bad team all season long, but it does mean that we have to start playing like a team.  We are not passing well now.  That's a symptom of the jumbled lines, and poor team play.

Classic line from my Buddy Bill:  You're never as bad as you think you are when your losing, you're never as good as you think you are when you are winning.  Probably true.

This team needs a win in the worst way right now, but it looks a long way off.  Last year, the Islanders suffered an injury to their top goal tender, and it cost them a playoff spot.  That's looking eerily familiar right now.  Not sure what else to say.

GO JACKETS!!

It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again

Anton Forsberg at Development Camp this Year

That classic Yogi Berra line seems to fit the situation perfectly.  Much like last year's early season losing streak that forced the Jackets to play catch up in the new year, the CBJ lost last night to a veteran New Jersey Devils squad, to extend the Jacket's losing streak to 5 games. The Devil Wrenches pounced in the right moment with 2 quick goals in the third period to win the game.

Anton Forsberg made his first start as a goal tender in the NHL, and played well.  I thought he looked pretty solid, but he also got a lot more help from the guys in front of him than McElhinney got the night before.  The troops put in a pretty solid effort last night, but did not get rewarded.  Keep that going and the rewards will come.

Much like Vinny Prospal three years ago, Nick Foligno is emerging as the early season leader that is pulling the team forward by sheer will.  Nick had a goal last night, and another scary moment when he went to the dressing room after absorbing a Jack Johnson slap shot to the upper body.  He also got the second assist on the first goal (nice work by Gibbons to get it to Skille), and ended up taking a lot of faceoffs as well.

But two goals isn't going to do it on a lot of nights, <insert whine about officiating, either call the hooks or don't>, and it is unreasonable to expect a guy to pitch a 1 goal game in his first night out as a goal tender.  So problems remain.  A good defensive team focused on shutting down our top line last night, and they were successful, so while the secondary scoring picked up, the big dogs got shut down.

Tuesday we face a team that is perhaps even more hapless than we are at the moment, and it's at home, so that should help.  Reinforcements are coming soon, so as long as the effort remains things should be okay.

Wennberg won 57% of his faceoffs.  That is a marked improvement.  Well done.  He is going to be a pretty solid player, and I really liked the push back in his game last night compared to the night before.  All is not lost, but the wagons are definitely circled at the moment.  It's not about moving forward, it's about defending where we are for now.

GO JACKETS!!!

Still the Youngest Team in the League

On a Halloween night, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat an AHL + team of Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1.  Leafs fans, this is not the foundation of a run to the Cup.  It's a good road win against a depleted squad.  You'll get a chance to play NHL players later in the season.  That will be a better benchmark against how to judge your team.

For the CBJ, the incredible cohesiveness in the preseason that made one think of Red Wings teams of yore has disappeared, and rightfully so.  This is not the same group of players upon which that foundation was built.

I really don't want to go down the negativity rabbit hole.  There is so much available.  Rather I would like to focus on performances that I think set the stage for a late season run.  First is Ryan Johansen.  If ever anyone was earning every dime of their contract, than it is Joey.  I really think he has moved his game to another level faced with relentless one on three play.  When this team gets healthy and there are other threats, look out.  In spite of that he has points in 10 straight games.  Way to go Joey.  Outstanding work against incredible odds.  The only thing I can say to you is that other teams will not be able to afford to throw that kind of coverage at you later in the season when your team mates are healthy.  Bwah hah hah hah hah!  <evil laughter>  You have grown my friend, and I look forward to when you have some help.  So keep the legs churning, and your head down, because the worm will turn, and then we'll see.

The other guy I really want to call out in this post is Scott Hartnall.  We would be screwed without his combative attitude, leadership, and hard work.  When things are grim, you look for that guy that will stand in the breach, and Hartnall has done that in a big way.  A little heart to Hart here, from a season ticket holder, we are going to have a lot of fun yet this year Scott.  Thanks for your effort in this down time, but the season is long, and being down early is just an obstacle that can be overcome.  Thanks for your help in keeping the ship of state above water.

Tomorrow we play the devil wrenches.  Whoever gets the goal wins these games, right?  So let's go out and get the goal.

Tonight we were slaking the lime, and laying the bricks for the future.  I have thought that Dano and Wennberg were a little overwhelmed, which is totally natural.  Tonight I thought I saw them get a little pissed off by how things were going late in the game.  The game got out of hand towards the end, but I saw some spirit, and some fight in them before it was over.  At least they are playing big minutes, and we sacrifice this time for future good.  It is intriguing to watch their story play out.  Dano and Wennberg may yet rise up this year and make people take notice.

Tough times in CBJ land.  Stiffen your lip, bend your knees, chop your feet, and carry on CBJ fans.  We are building for the future.  It is worth every cheer.

GO JACKETS!!!

The Stuff of Gypsy Curses

Is He Healthy?  Sign him up!  #Vinning

Credit for the title must go to the incomparable Puck Daddy when they referred to Pascal LeClaire, who, on the bench due to another injury was struck by an errant puck, causing a broken jaw.  Wysh referred to that as 'the stuff of gypsy curses'.  With the announcement today that Mark Letestu is down for 2-4 weeks with a groin injury, the number of player lost to injury in the last 3 days has risen to 4.  The incredible injury toll in the first 9 games of the season can only be explained as 'the stuff of gypsy curses'.

There is no need to go through the horrific toll of injured players, the fan base knows it well.  At present, we have a top line, and a fourth line.  Everything in between is in complete flux.

It was interesting watching last night's game, in a sort of morbid curiosity kind of way.  One of the attributes of the Blue Jackets game, starting with Traverse City and extending through the preseason into the start of the season is that they played with great cohesion.  That cohesion has collapsed due to the weight of the wave of injuries, and they struggle to find it in a scramble of line combinations.  The only saving grace is that this is not a season with a compressed schedule, and they actually have some practice time to try to establish and practice what they want to do.

Apparently Jarmo is in Springfield tonight to scout one of their games.  According to Puck Rakers, this was a pre-arranged trip, that now takes on new urgency. I recommend bringing back Kerby Rychal, Josh Anderson, and Sean Collins.  You might as well throw Rychal, Anderson, Wennberg, and Dano into the fire together, as they will face that type of thing in the future, if the franchise sees long term success.  They will be able to go back to Springfield as people get healthy.

If this was 2002, all of these guys would be playing in the NHL automatically.  In this day and age, we try to bring them along in a more deliberate pace.  However, it appears that baptism by fire never goes out of style.  So let them get their feet wet together, get some experience, and then back to the AHL to digest that experience in a more controlled situation.

Either the young depth keeps the ship of state afloat until veterans get healthy, and we try a late season run for the playoffs, or it will fail miserably and we will be in the hunt for Conner McDavid draft pick, and all that entails.  It is now up to our young depth, and it is to be hoped that the fan base can be supportive of their efforts and tolerant of negative results.   This is not how anyone drew it up.

GO JACKETS!!