Game 68: A Sense of Drama, CBJ 3 - Canes 2

The Columbus Blue Jackets broke their 7 game slide tonight in Carolina with a 3-2 win.  Steve Mason played much better tonight, he was tight an efficient for most of the game, and carried a shut-out late into the third period. 

Pondering the Goal Tending

As we watch this season fade from view, and prepare to grasp these last few games to our breast in preparation for a long summer without hockey, I think on the goal tending these last few games.  What is our situation?  Mason has proved inconsistent.  Stellar at times, leaky at others.  This is the calling card of youth, so should not be a surprise.  Matty Garon has been the best backup in CBJ history, no holds barred.  However, when the chips were down, Mason was on a slide, he was unable to provide stability, and the desperately needed wins. 

So what must change?  In the absence of a real NHL goal tender in the pipeline, you either keep Mason, or trade him for a bona fide goal tender.  Keeping him is probably the best deal you will get.  Rook must go.  A nice experiment, but if he can't get his pupil to play confidently, then its not working any more.  It was a grasp at the past, when he did good work with Mason.  So its time for some 'tough love' for Mason.  A new goal tender coach who will not coddle him, and another goal tender in the off season who will push him aside with their play, if he falters, and seize the number one job.  Think Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price.

As I said, Matty is the best back up we've ever had.  His chance to remain backup evaporated in this last losing streak, with everything on the line, when we needed him to come in and stabilze the situation.  That didn't happen, season lost.  Its ridiculous how few points it would have taken to keep this thing alive.  And Matty was the guy we needed it from, and it didn't happen.

Don't get me wrong.  This losing streak is not about the goal tending.  If you had to name one factor I would say it was Brassard's injury.  But the goal tending was a contributing factor.  I wanted us to strongly consider re-signing Matty.  I no longer think that.  Its time for some tough love Mason. 

GO JACKETS!!!!!!!

Games that matter, 3/12/11

[So I thought it over and have come to the conclusion that I might as well follow the "Games that matter" series through until/if the Columbus Blue Jackets are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.  Consider it this blog's show of support for the team...hoping that a miracle will happen.]


YESTERDAY: Yeah, last night hurt a lot.

• Kings beat Blue Jackets
• Ducks beat Avalanche

The CBJ's playoff hopes dropped by 2.2%, plunging their chances to 1.4%.

Maxxed out?

It's been 8 games since the February 22nd party in the Columbus Blue Jackets' locker room following the 4-0 obliteration of the Nashville Predators - you know, the one where majority owner John McConnell came down from the owner's box to offer hugs and handshakes of congratulations with the team.

The Blue Jackets fanbase was thrilled.  Our team was roaring into the trade deadline!  General Manager Scott Howson had the green light to get active in the trade market - and traded away oft-injured, ill-fitting defenseman Rusty Klesla for sparkplug forward Scottie Upshall and (somewhat) puck-moving defenseman Sami Lepisto after grabbing veteran blue liner Craig Rivet off waivers.

Since then, the CBJ are 1-4-3.  The one win was the first of those eight games (before the reinforcements arrived), meaning that the Blue Jackets haven't won in seven straight games.  And that pretty much took a team that was in striking distance of the Stanley Cup playoffs (4 points out of 8th) and pushed them out of contention.

Game 67: Jackets Fan, Angst is thy name: LA 4- CBJ 2

Patrons of Nationwide Arena saw the Columbus Blue Jackets fall to the LA Kings tonight 4-2.  The capsule summary of the game would be Anze Kopitar 3-CBJ 2.  But Dougie Mac assures us the Gilbert Brule is better than this Kopitar piker.  Oh-kee-doh-kee.

And in spite of the inequities in the officiating, and my inability to show personal discipline and refrain from attempting to chat with them from the upper bowl, this loss is about the CBJ's inability to execute in pressure situations.  You could tell which team was ready for the playoffs, and which team wasn't.

Where, oh where has the confident bunch we saw in February gone?  Right now, they are playing with zero confidence, and not surprisingly, the losing streak was extended to 7 games.  We are winless since the trade deadline.  Mrs. G. commented that it was as if the players sort of exhaled once they survived the deadline.  So who had it going tonight, and who didn't??

Coming Soon: Shootout Showcase

Straight from the Fox Sports Ohio email, a development of which I wholeheartedly approve:

FOX Sports Ohio and the Columbus Blue Jackets to feature “Shootout Showcase”

The network will present a youth hockey shootout tournament during Blue Jackets Live pregame shows beginning March 15th. The final teams will compete live during the telecast on March 29th, when the Jackets take on the Florida Panthers.

COLUMBUS, OHIO – FOX Sports Ohio and the Columbus Blue Jackets are excited to feature youth hockey players from Central Ohio in a “Shootout Showcase,” presented by The Chiller Ice Rinks.

Capital Amateur Hockey Association, Columbus Chill Youth Hockey Association, Easton Youth Hockey Association, and Newark Ice Hockey Association entered two teams each, for a total of eight teams competing in a single elimination shootout tournament. Each team consists of three shooters and one goalie.

Games that matter, 3/11/11

YESTERDAY: A quiet night on the ice - at least as for as the Columbus Blue Jackets' playoff chances go...

• Predators beat Wild
• Coyotes beat Flames

The CBJ's playoff hopes did not change one lick by these happenings, keeping their chances at 3.6%.  Same number of games left, points to 8th and points to 96.

They reap what they sow

[Funny how things go.  I write a blog post about having fun and then jump into this meaty - and not necessarily fun - topic.  Hey, I don't write the news stories...I just comment on them.]

If you follow NHL hockey and haven't been living under a rock, you've probably heard about the hit by Boston's Zdeno Chara on Montreal's Max Pacioretty.  It was a nasty hit, with Chara driving Pacioretty into the stantion and inflicting both a concussion and a fractured vertebrae on Pacioretty.

Chara took an in-game penalty for the hit but received no supplemental discipline from the NHL, something that has ticked off the people of Montreal, the Montreal police, the owner of the Canadiens and even Air Canada, an NHL sponsor.  It also brought the whole issue of hockey violence and safety back into focus in the public consciousness - as is evidenced by this New York Times article, which I found featured fairly prominently on their front page.

I'm going to comment on the issue, but not on the hit itself.  I'm no NHL rule expert, not a referee.  But I do have some thoughts on the larger issues at play.

In a nutshell, the NHL reaps what it has sown.  Why do I say that?  Read on.

About this blog

Things got a tad rancorous here on the DBJ blog of late, as well as in the Columbus Blue Jackets Twitter world in general, so I figure now is as good a time as any to share a few navel-gazing thoughts about this blog.

Games that matter, 3/10/11

In light of recent events, I'm not sure how much longer I'll continue this series.  Suffice to say that the March to the Playoffs is not going as hoped.  I could keep this going until the Columbus Blue Jackets are mathematically eliminated, but we'll see.  I could cut the cord sooner.  


YESTERDAY: A tough night all around, punctuated by losing ground by one more point in the chase for 8th place in the West.

• Blues beat Blue Jackets in overtime
• Kings beat Red Wings
• Ducks beat Rangers
• Flames beat Stars in a shootout
• Lightning beat Blackhawks in a shootout

The CBJ's playoff hopes dimmed another 2.2% last night, dropping their chances to 3.6%.