The End of the Road

I elected to stay in last night. It came down to the money, mostly. But I did watch some great hockey on TV though- the Toronto-Montreal game was one of the best hockey games I've seen in a long time. I could try to give you a run down on this post, but I couldn't do it justice. The final was 6-5 Toronto, and one of the Canadiens had a natural hat trick within 6 minutes. Alas, the effort went for naught. Despite the Leafs' big win, the Isles' shootout victory over the Devils today kept Toronto out of the playoffs and granted New York the 8th seed.

The Jackets didn't fare so well. Even a late rally couldn't put them past Selanne and his cronies. Despite this, it sounds like it was a fun evening iniside the arena, and if the cards were stacked differently, I would have been there.

Norrena solidified his place as the first CBJ goaltender to amass a greater than .500 record. For that, he deserves congratulations. After all, he's the only Blue Jacket to do so, aside from maybe a call-up or two that only played a couple of games in Columbus. It really shows a lot about Norrena though, that he can have a winning record, yet the team as a whole is just 33-42-7. Leclaire really struggled early, and Conklin and Boucher... well, there's a reason why they didn't play any more than they had to.

It's one more season in the history books for the Jackets, and it 's bittersweet. It's always tough to see my favorite sports team end their season, knowing it will be nearly 6 months before I see them take the ice again. But it's chance to say good riddance to a season that has effectively been over for months. But I digress. We Jacket Fans need a week or so to cool off and reflect on the past 82 games. There were a lot of changes, a few surprises, and another disappointing ending. But I'll make an effort to keep a positive (all be it realistic) attitude toward the offseason and next year. ...right after I get the 06-07 season out of my system.

1 and 1 weekend for the Jackets

Jackets won one and lost one this past weekend. Friday's game against the Sharks surprised everyone when the Jackets blanked San Jose. Michael at Army of the Ohio noted a couple of unexpected features of the game, including some key plays by players I have trouble with.

Sunday shaped out a little different, however. The Jackets hosted the Montreal Canadians for only the second time ever (Thank you NHL scheduling). Even though the Habs came in on a multi-game skid, they managed to scrape together one more goal than Columbus to get the win.

21 year old Halak was in net for the Canadians and he put up 31 saves. He also had this to say to a CBS Sportsline reporter:

"It would have been nice to get the shutout but we got the two points."

I don't like the vibe I get from that- opposing goaltenders coming into Ohio half expecting the shutout. It's particularly pompous from a guy who's in his first NHL start!

Anyway, the Habs scored all three of their goals in the second. The third period demonstrated some strong play by our younger players as Zherdev and Brule lit the red lamp. Seeing those guys execute and make plays even when down two or three goals is incredibly important to the recovery of the CBJ organization. Frankly, it's almost worth the loss at this point in the season.

The Jackets' six game home stand is now finished, and the team will be headed to St. Louis on Tuesday in what will surely be a "we're not going to the playoffs, you're not going to the playoffs" demonstration of young talent and some scrappy play by Nash, Svitov and Tollefson, who have become increasingly violent. (Or is it just me?)

On an unrelated note, this marks the 100th post on The Jacket Times!

Jackets Set New Franchise Record!!!!!

I wish I could be excited about the Jackets setting a new record, but lo, I am not. The record set in tonights 3-0 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes was the record for most times shutout in a season. 12. And there's still about two months of the season yet.

I don't know what happened tonight. I caught the first five minutes of the game on CD101, as I was still driving home from work (which took over two hours), and I watched the last five or so minutes on FSN. Ugly, ugly hockey. The Jackets didn't look incredibly enthused about the game, and looked pretty poor compared to the Coyotes. Phoenix managed three goals and a few big hits in the game, and Roenick smashed up Eriksson pretty good. (He had a nasty bloody lip during the 3rd.)

I'm pretty disheartened by the whole experience tonight. Not a good night. Terrible weather, terrible drive home, terrible performance by the team. I hope they do something (players only meeting?) between now and Thursday in so that they can put on a better performance against Kipprusoff, Iginla and the rest of the Calgary Flames. I'll be at the arena for that game, and it will likely be the last I attend this season. I've been attending games above my means this season as it is.

(Try a Google image search for "shutout". Why are there so many hockey pictures?)

Box Score

What rulebook?

Lightening didn't strike twice for the Jackets this weekend. Despite a huge thriller of a win at Anaheim, Columbus couldn't repeat that success in San Jose.

Losing 5-2 against the league's #2 team, Jacket fans have reason to be up in arms about the failure of on-ice officials to know the rulebook. As chronicled in this article in the Dispatch, the officials managing the penalty box made a detrimental error that allowed Clowe to score a power play goal when play should have been 4 on 4. Clowe went on to score a third as well.

The wrong-doing was that the wrong player and time remaining on the penalty were used following a San Jose powerplay goal.

The Jackets captains and coaching staff inquired immediately about the penalty box error. The incident was apparent to any avid hockey follower, fan, or player. On the inquiry, the response the Jackets received was that the wrong player was released from the box because of "a new rule."It was a lie to cover a blunder, that quite possibly cost the Jackets the game.

The Jackets are particularly susceptible to falling into a funk when down a goal or when dealt a tough blow from officials. No doubt, this error could have cost them the game.

Jackets lose 5-2
Box Score

Jackets shut down in L.A.

The Jackets lost last night in true Columbus fashion. 3-0 to the Kings. I didn't catch the game, as the Pacific time zone starts are killer on my sleep schedule. I did catch the article in the Dispatch, which seems oddly unfinished.

This Jackets team can't win, it's "squadoosh" as Tony Reali would say.

Anyhow, the Jackets continue their California road trip with games in Anaheim and San Jose.


Take a look at the Box Score, complete with 11(!) penalties. There's your problem.
Box Score

Choked by the Octopi

Ouch... Last night's visit to Detroit didn't go so well, to put it nicely. The Jackets were crushed by the Red Wings 5-0.

Norrena was in net until five minutes or so into the third period. Conklin, who proudly displays his apparent nickname 'Conks' on his mask, replaced him. It was a rough night for Norrena, who was only able to stop 17 of 22. It seems like when Norrena's on, he's on... and when he's off, he's really off.

Even Hitchcock would agree that you can't attribute the blame to Norrena. The skaters failed to score any goals, and even a somewhat better performance by Norrena wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome. The Red Wings were dead-set on revenge following their fall 4-3 on Monday. They got what they wanted- particularly Hasek, who went from giving up 3 goals in the first on Monday to shutting down the Jackets entirely last night. When playing against the Red Wings, the Jackets need to be on their game. Detroit has been and will probably always be one of the best teams in the league. They're an opponent you have to play up to, otherwise you'll be crushed.

The Jackets had a rough time getting anything going, which is fairly common when they find themselves down by a few goals. One of the old, lasting patterns of this Columbus team is to all but surrender when the odds are stacked against them. It's incredibly crucial for the Jackets to score first. A stat I recently came across stated that the Jackets were something like 10-1-2 when scoring first.

If the inability to generate scoring chances wasn't enough, the Jackets did have one goal disallowed. The puck definitely ricocheted off of a CBJ skate, but it was not a 'kicking motion' that would rule it disallowed. However, the ref saw what happened immediately and nixed the goal, then contacted the Toronto war room. It seemed like a situation where the Toronto folks did not have sufficient evidence to overturn the on-ice ruling, but were not necessarily convinced that the puck was kicked past Hasek.

I've got to shake this game off. The Jackets need to pull out a few more W's in the next week so that they can end December >.500. It's entirely possible.

Jackets lose 5-0 to the Red Wings
Box Score

Photo from Dispatch.com

Head Coach interview #2

After another dismal performance by the Blue Jackets, a new coach can't get here soon enough. This team looks like garbage. We can't score, we can't defend, we can barely move the puck on the ice. Last night's game was as bad as I've seen, as it barely missed a shutout by 14 seconds. The Jackets hadn't scored in over 130 minutes of hockey.

I'm ready for anything that might make this team act like its playing in the NHL.

Andy Murray, former coach of the LA Kings, is in town today to meet with the McConnells and MacLean. While the CBJ officials have a few more interviews yet to conduct, sources reporting to the Dispatch say that Hitchcock is looking like the strongest candidate:

A source with knowledge of the Blue Jackets’ hiring process said Hitchcock was "very, very good" — with great stress on "very, very" — during his interview.

The fans want him too. Reportedly, they chanted for Hitchcocks hiring at last night's game in between boos. As Aaron Portzline put it:

A chorus of boos could be heard as the final horn sounded. It would have been louder, but most of the fans had already left.

If this team can't turn around soon, MacLean and McConnell are going to have a lot more to worry about than what happens on the ice. The team is losing its fan base quickly. With the fans go the money, with the money goes hope. I can't blame the missing fans. As much as I love this team, I can't bring myself to shell out $20 to go to a game. I can make myself depressed for free.

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

Jackets vs. Sharks 10/23/06

In all the Blue Jackets games I've been to, I've never left the arena in as bad of a mood as I did on Monday. The game against the Sharks was god-awful. The Jackets played like a high school hockey team that smoked too much pot before the game. Nearly every player appeared uncoordinated, unenthused and indifferent to what was taking place on the ice. It didn't look like the team even realized where they were til midway through the third period.

I want to believe in the Blue Jackets, I truly do. I want nothing more than for this team to succeed. Finally we have the personnel to make a statement in the league, and yet we can't even lose with dignity.

The biggest problem I noticed was neutral zone passing. Anytime the puck left the stick of a jacket near center ice, it was immediately headed back towards Leclaire. We couldn't coordinate our forwards to get the puck past the blue line more than once or twice per period.

To the San Jose Sharks credit, they played textbook hockey. Everything about the Sharks performance was by the book. Passes were well chosen, plays were carefully set up, and execution was at an acceptable level. The Sharks didn't need to play an exceptional game to beat Columbus. All they had to do was show up.

Penalties were a serious issue. The jackets took 10 total penalties and all but 3 were for Tripping or Hooking. On the flip side, the sharks also took a fair number of penalties and the jackets couldn't produce. Even playing 5 on 4 we could only generate a handful of shots.

Finally, we were once again outshot by nearly 10, including a 15-4 second period.

ON NOTICE:
This is a new segment of my post for players who I shall scorn until I see some noted improvement. (Viewers of the Colbert Report should be familiar)

Rick Nash for outright missing a golden opportunity. While Nash was standing next to San Jose's goal, a shot was deflected by Toskala, flying right by Nash, who had a wide open net for what seemed like several seconds. Nash was clearly looking the other way.

Adam Foote for not doing more about Cheechoo's goal. Even though the jackets were down in a 4 on 3 situation, the play that put the puck in the net was textbook. A cross-slot pass to Cheechoo who was waiting at the back door. As a veteran defenseman, there is no excuse for not seeing this play the whole way in. Foote stood there and watched the entire play while hardly moving from in front of the net.

Rostislav Klesla - Rosti, you're killing me. You're a solid player, but you were the only skater to be on-ice for all 3 goals. What's up?

San Jose Sharks 3, Columbus Blue Jackets 0

Jackets are now 2-4-1 with 5pts. Last place in the division. *Sigh*

Box Score