Jackets End Three Game Slide - Fan Fight in 102

The Jackets curbed a non-winning streak last night, topping the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 4-2. The top line and the energy line each managed two goals, not including another that was unfortunately waved off.

Shelley was on ice a fair number of minutes, though his enforcer role was filled by Boll. A number of times during the game, the 'Hawks wanted to rumble and twice the Jackets obliged. Boll faught Byfuglien in the first period, then Nash went at it with Vandermeer after the final horn had sounded.

Fans Fight in Section 102
The players weren't the only ones looking to fight. Late in the third period, two fans in section 102 started throwing punches. From my vantage point in 217, I could see some pretty good fist-to-face contact. It was several minutes before the ushers and police were able to respond. In the meantime, the brawlers moved between a few rows of seats and the spotlight operator flashed his light on the scene in hopes of drawing attention. With play still going on the ice, few noticed what was happening.

Standings
The Jackets are headed back to St. Louis tomorrow, hopefully to shut out the Blues for the third time this season.

CBJ is 9-6-3 for 21 pts for 2nd in the division. Only 2 points separte the 4th place Predators from the Jackets.

Scoresheet

SI and YouTube Present: Five of the Worst NHL Hits

Sports Illustrated doing exactly what they do best, illustrating sports, has posted an online slideshow of ten of the most infamous hits in the NHL. Being that SI.com only provides photos, I took it upon myself of rounding up a few of them on YouTube. So here they are in all their glory horror.

Cam Janssen hits Thomas Kaberle. This happened last week.


Chris Neil hits Chris Drury, leading to the "Buffalo Brawl". This clip happened before the segment posted on the prior post regarding this incident.


Marty McSorley nails Donald Brashear's head with his stick.


Dale Hunter drills Pierre Turgeon after he scores a goal in the 1993 Playoffs.



And the one I hate the most... Todd Bertuzzi attacking Steve Moore. This clip gets me fired up... this hit isn't hockey at all. It's a malicious assault.

Buffalo Brawl Leads to 136 Penalty Minutes

Last night's Ottawa-Buffalo game created quite a spectacle. I didn't watch the game personally, so I don't know what kind of rough-and-tumble sort of play led to this, but this is one of the most egregious hockey fights I've seen in a while. It seems like everyone was throwing punches, and it ultimately leads to a goalie fight. (I've never completely understood the goalie fight. It's not like one laid a cheap shot on the other or anything.) It's some great Emery on Biron action though.

Check out all the penalties from the game on the official scoresheet.

Oil Slick

Following last Thursday's victory in St. Louis, I thought I'd spend a few bucks and head down to Nationwide to see the Oilers game.

The joke is on me. CBJ is now 0-4 on games I've attended.

The jackets gave one away on Friday night. Despite beginning the first period on a long offensive streak with a very long possession, many shots and good cycling, the jackets couldn't get one in the back of the net.

The Oilers, being a solid all-around team, weren't about to let us keep that up. They quickly shut down any offense we would get the rest of the game, exempting only one power play goal by Anson Carter, which happened to be the 1000th goal in franchise history. Oh, and Fedorov went 80% on faceoffs.

About the only thing a Jackets fan could salvage from Friday night's game was the fighting, which yeilded 20 minutes in penalties, and another 20 in misconducts.

I'd love to put some of the team on notice right here, but the notice area isn't big enough. Instead:

ON NOTICE:

Gerard Gallant - Coach Gallant, you gotta get it together. You have the players, you have the fans, you have everything you need. Get these guys motivated and turn this season around or it will be your head!


Oilers win 4-1
Jackets 5-9-1, 11 pts. Last in Central Division

Box Score

Jody Shelley: The Enforcer ...but for how long?

Brian's post about Monday's game vs the Coyotes brought up an interesting topic: Jody Shelley. Good ole #45 has been with the Blue Jackets organization from the very beginning. As early as the inaugural 2000-2001 season, Shelley played 69 games for the Syracuse crunch and once for the Jackets. Since then he has been a staple on the Columbus roster, playing 50-80 games per season.

Jody Shelley is a role player, his title: the enforcer. Shelley is known for one thing and for one thing only- to establish a physical presence on the ice and defend his team from the roughest players on opposing teams. When an opponent tries to rough up one of Columbus' younger or more defenseless players, Shelley is the man who steps out on the ice like a bodyguard. A few checks into the boards usually fixes the problem, though a few more deliberate punches to the face are also in the repertoire.

It is well known that the NHL is attempting to "crack down" on fights by enforcing stricter penalties for instigators, and at the very least making quicker efforts to stop the punches before they're thrown. Without getting into the merits of on-ice fights in the NHL (we can do that another time), the crackdown on this scenario takes away the need for a physical player like Shelley.

As Brian said, Shelley's days are numbered. Beyond fighting, Shelley is not an incredibly useful player on the ice. In 280 NHL games, Shelley has amounted to only 27 points- 10 goals, 17 assists. In the same amount of time he racked up 856 penalty minutes. Granted, that number is slightly skewed by the fact that a fighting penalty is a 5 minute major and cedes no power play, but it still amounts to over 14 hours in the box. But how many of those minutes are forcing the Jackets into a penalty kill situation? The one stat that I don't have available is how many minutes he actually spends on ice. I think the penalty box to ice time ratio would be ridiculous. What I do know is that he averages over 3 minutes in the box per game and in the first three games of this season has not found himself there yet.

Outside of games, Shelley has a different role with the team. As one of only a handful of Jacket players who have a strong grip on the English language and a likeable public personality, he has spent more time than any other player doing promotions and advertising. Local car dealerships utilize many commercials with his likeness projecting toughness. The mobile Blue Jackets promo team also frequently have him making public appearances (formerly in tandem with Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre). Video highlights and ads inside Nationwide Arena often include him advising the safety habits of fans and demonstrating the strength and physical play of Blue Jackets hockey. In essence, he has become the quintessential face of the Blue Jackets. It's hard to imagine Columbus hockey without him. As this site would reflect, he's certainly a fan favorite.

The reason for which I have the most respect for Shelley is not his physical play, not his defense of his team, and certainly not his advertising spots. I admire Shelley for his tremendous work ethic and never-give-up attitude. Having attended a Blue Jackets practice, I can attest that #45 was the first one on the ice and the last one off. To be frank, the guy works his ass off to be the best player he can be. You can't blame a guy with that much effort. To his dismay, his hard work on his slapshot and stick handling hasn't yielded him any more than 10 points in a season, even while taking the ice in 80 games. However, I must imagine that this attitude and commitment to the team carries over inside the locker room. It's near impossible for any outsider to speculate what impact he may have on the other players.

I have nothing but the biggest dreams for the Jackets, and as such I wonder what role Jody Shelley will have on a playoff contending team. Is his slot on the roster and his salary best spent on an enforcer that can no longer legally enforce? Should he be sent back to Syracuse so that a younger player with stronger potential can take his seat on the bench? These questions will be answered in due time. In my opinion, Shelley needs to evolve. He either must find a more legitimate and effective way to fill the enforcer role, or develop his skills to better deserve his seat on the bench.

And now without further ado, a video of Jody Shelley's "Greatest Hits":