Can NHL Rookie Patrick Kane stop the Blue Jackets point streak?

The home team is in Chicago tonight to play the Blackhawks. The Jackets are looking to extend their point streak to 7 consecutive games. It will be ht second meeting for the Jackets and 'Hawks, with the first game resulting in a 7-4 win for the Jackets.

Patrick Kane, the first overall pick of the 2007 Draft, is leading the Chicago offense with 17 points. Not yet Crosby-esque, but nothing to shake a stick at either. He's going to need some help to out-gun Nash and crew tonight though.

Khabibulin will likely be in net tonight, and he's looking for a win. The Stanley Cup winning goaltender (Tampa Bay) is sporting a 5-6 record and 3.10 GAA, showing us that he's having a rough start to the season. Lalime is faring a bit better at 2-1, but the 'Bulin Wall' is expected to be the #1 in Chicago for a while longer.

Due to the fact that the Blackhawks also play in the Central Division, this game is critical for the Jackets. They need every win against division teams they can get. Detroit is several games ahead in points and will need a major setback to yield room for another contender to get a shot as the top team in the division. The number two spot is up for grabs this year, however, and the Jackets look the most able to seize it.

Tonight's game will be on FSN for Columbus in HD, as well as on Chicago's local FSN station. It will be the first time ever that the Jackets will play in the United Center in front of not only an in-house Chicago crowd, but a over the airwaves Chicago fan base as well.

Jackets start 1-0 in Central Division

The Blue Jackets put together a great offensive package last night in Chicago, winning the division opener 7-4. The seven goals include two by Nash, two by Novotny and three assists by Peca.

Interestingly, the Jackets still had three players with a -2 rating on the night: Chimera, Malhotra and Boll. It's likely they were playing on the same line together, and were simply no match for the Chicago offense. Norrena still let by 4 goals- all four were scored or assisted by the 2007 draft's first overall pick, Patrick Kane.

Kane may not be getting Ovechkin or Crosby status just yet, but if he keeps scoring like that, anything is possible.

Not soon enough: Blackhawks to get TV Coverage

As mentioned in our Bill Wirtz obituaries, the Blackhawks have not been covered by local television affiliates in years. Bill Wirtz, the team's late owner, chose not to broadcast games to encourage fan attendence.

Since Bill's passing, his son, Rocky Wirtz, has taken ownership of the team is changing media policy. Team representatives are already meeting with Comcast SportsNet to arrange for games to be televised.

The earliest the contract could go into effect is November 11, but until the papers are signed it is difficult to tell. The Jackets are in Chicagoland tonight and will not be televised by FSN, Vs, or any local affiliate. If you want to check out tonight's game, you'll have to do it fireside chat style.

Jackets 1-1 Weekend, Leclaire's Streakiness and Big Games Upcoming

A one up, one down weekend for the home team. The Jackets marched into Buffalo on Friday and brought home a satisfying win that will tack on another 60 minutes of shutout hockey for Pascal Leclaire. Sunday's affair wasn't quite as successful, however. The Jackets were knocked down by perennial Jackets killer, Marcus Naslund and his Vancouver crew.

Same old Leclaire, or is it a new Pascal?

It's easy to suggest that it's a new day for Pascal Leclaire, as he already has three shutouts on this young season. In those games (vs. Phoenix, Anaheim and Buffalo) he played to the caliber that he has always been said to be capable of. But in the other two games he has started (vs. Colorado and Vancouver) He gave up five and four goals, respectively. In many ways, this is the same streaky #31 we've been watching for years.
Leclaire has been known to have had a lot of mediocre performances interlaced with flashes of brilliance. Over time, the flashes have become more common, but the mediocrity still lingers, waiting for an early goal or two to open the flood gates. If Leclaire and his defense could get a stronger grip on consistency, the chances of pulling off a win would increase dramatically.

To be fair, it may not be just Leclaire to fault for some of the losses. This team has always had a tough time playing from behind. It's as if giving up a goal or two early just breaks their heart and kills their morale. Sometimes, there's just no coming back. The Jackets are 3-3-1 thus far- a record for which I am pleased. However, their 3 wins are all Leclaire's shutouts. That means the team is 0-3-1 when the other team scores at all.

Upcoming Action

The Jackets open up division play in Chicago tomorrow night. Eleven of the next sixteen games (through most of November) are division opponents, including six games against the Blackhawks and Blues, whom the Jackets should have the mettle to beat. With this many critical games coming up, the Jackets could very well make or break their season by Thanksgiving.

2007-2008 Blue Jackets Season Outlook and Expectations

I'm writing this the day that the 2007-2008 training camp begins. Having not seen the team in action -be it on the practice ice or otherwise- I have no new basis for which to establish my expectations. But having been a fan since before the beginning, I have watched the waxing and waning of hope in this team's fan base as seasons have come and gone. I've seen the promise of the Columbus "Mad Cows" and the depths of the Lockout. Does that make me some sort of hockey authority? Hardly. But I'm a fan and a blogger, and that's 21^st century talk for "expert".

Just as I have expressed in previous posts, this team is still in a rebuilding phase. While considering that phrasing today, I decided that the "re" prefix seems unnecessary. It hardly seems justified to consider it a "rebuild" given that there are aspects of the team that were never built properly in the first place. To explain what I mean, please allow me to entertain you with an analogy I just came up with:

The whole situation is comparable to having a contractor build a deck (hockey team) on our house (Columbus). We had adequate financing (McConnell) and an experienced carpenter (King) to do the work, but the foreman (MacLean) who gathered the parts, coordinated the blueprints, and hired assistants didn't fulfill the order the way our homeowners (fans) had in mind. The original carpenter knew how to lay a foundation, but wasn't able to construct much atop that. The contractor has had difficulty locating reasonable priced and qualified parts, and has kept himself too occupied with the saw and not enough with the plans. At one point, he even tried his own hand at carpentry, and when he failed he passed the job to an apprentice. Today, our house has a deck that's a bit misshapen. Some of the wood (Fedorov, Foote) is decaying and all we can do is wait for it to fall off to be replaced. Other parts (young guys) of the deck are attached but haven't been stained yet, so they're not ready for the abuse of the weather. There's a railing (Leclaire) that's supposed to be made of some fancy pressure-treated material, but it frequently breaks and takes a long time to fix. The stairs (Nash, Vyborny) could help set the whole deck above the field, but there's not enough support from the rest of the deck and the stairs have to be used more to prevent the whole thing from tipping over rather than elevation. Lastly, there's one piece of wood (Zherdev) that seems to detach and reattach itself whenever it wants from the rest of the team. When it's connected properly, it looks great- when it's just laying in the yard, however, it's a waste of money. Despite having to pay a premium to get workers and materials to our home so far off the interstate (major hockey cities), we've managed to bring in both a new designer (Hitchcock) and a new contractor (Howson) to make some structural adjustments. We've already secured a couple of our important planks (Modin, Vyborny, Nash) and brought in some tough lumber (Peca) but it's still going to be a while before our deck is as functional and decorative as the Jones. (Detroit)

That's all prelude to today. So what does that mean for our deck ...er the team this season? This season is as close to a Start Over as we're likely to get without the ownership pulling an Art Modell. With Hitchcock getting a full year's experience in Columbus including training camp, I'm expecting our team to be in better shape physically and mentally. The Hitchcock system should have sunk in by now to those who didn't pick up on it right away last season. Harder checks, tougher play in the corners, and an intensity through the latter stages of the game should be noticeable. Norrena could very well be our starting goaltender with Leclaire as the backup. After all, Norrena out performed Leclaire substantially last season (even relative to games played) and even accomplished a winning record. The top line is still TBD, and will likely change throughout the season -just as it always has. Nash and Vyborny will continue to hold their own, but will have a difficult time developing chemistry with an ever-changing centerman. Fedorov is the likely choice for the starting role, at least initially, but may have a tougher time keeping up down the stretch. With Svitov gone, Brule (pending performance) could wind up on the top line as well. As far as results, the Central Division is a tough call to make. Detroit is the perennial favorite, and this year is no different. Chicago and St. Louis are in the same straits as Columbus and could fall anywhere in the latter places of the division. The three teams are pretty much a toss-up, much like last year. Also questionable is Nashville, who has certainly fallen from grace after a failed playoff run last season. During the off-season, they lost both Paul Kariya and their questionable trade deadline acquisition of Peter Forsberg.

I didn't answer my own question in that last paragraph, so let's try it again: What does it all mean for the Jackets this season? The combination of Hitchcock's system, a more able-bodied team, the lack of any major departures, the sole (notable) acquisition, a willing GM and the opportunity to make some noise in the division will give the Jackets the wherewithal to finish second or (more likely) third in the division, and at the very least remain in the playoff chase after the All-Star Game.

There. One sentence.

Image from www.nhldigest.com

American Idol and Keith Tkachuk Have More in Common Than You Think

Hello to all you Jackets and NHL fans, my name is Dan Griffin (jackets time handle: sports723) and I am the sports director for a Jackets radio station affiliate. I have been asked to contribute to this blog and seeing that News Radio is at commercial, I agreed.

Paula Abdul must be a huge fan of the Western Conference's Central Division ( it will always be the Norris to me, darn you Gary Bettman) because opposites attract when looking at this mess of a division. You have NHL front runner in Nashville, who if they can get consistent goal keeping from the ever streaky Vokoun, are a legit cup contender now that they have added Forsberg to play along side Kariya in what might be the wussiest yet most fearful line in the whole NHL. Detroit's grit and combination of youth and veteran talent always makes them fearful in the playoffs (provided they get out of the first round). Then you have yearly bottom dwellers in Columbus, Chicago and St. Louis.

The Jackets as we all know have begun cleaning house, trading Anson Carter for nothing and his dreadlocks for a fifth round pick. Chicago seemingly has no game plan as no NHL team in their right mind would take the massive contract of the formerly good Nikoli Khabibulin and the often injured Adrian Aucoin. St. Louis however has begun the massive exodus of their fading stars. The Blues traded aging vet Keith Tkachuk to Atlanta for a first-round draft pick and a third-round selection this year, and a second-round choice in 2008. If the Thrashers re-sign Keith, the Thrashers must also send St.Louis the rights to their 2008 first round pick.

Now, if this were 1998, I would applaud the move by Atlanta. But since Seinfeld is only in reruns and Jordan Knight just gave me my potato ole at my local Taco John's, I'm going to guess that its 2007. Atlanta now thinks they are legit title contenders. Being only one point behind Tampa Bay for the 3rd seed overall and the South East Division lead, I can understand this. But trading for a 34 year old winger with only 43 points in 61 games doesnt make much sense. Especially with Marian Hossa being an elite winger to play along side Kovalchuk, it would make more sense to trade for a second line center to compliment Bobby Holik (especially since he has just 28 points this year).

But what do I know, Im just a sports director. Look for the Central's cellar dwellers to continue to sell before the deadline, these teams do have talent that can help a contender.