Jackets try again vs. Colorado

Preview coverage of the Ohio State v Michigan game tomorrow is far more important than the Jackets game tonight, or so the world would lead us to believe.

Jackets home vs. Colorado- Agnew's second chance with the team, just as it is the Jackets' second chance this season against the Avalanche. Hopefully we can keep up the offense while tightening down the blue line too.

See my post about the OSU game on my other blog, The Soap Box.

Ohio University Clinches MAC East

The most important sports news of the day is right here:
http://www.fansedge.com/Images/Product/33-49/33-49466-P.jpg

My alma mater finally did something right on the football field.

GO BOBCATS!

Tough loss for Ags, Nash nearly hats it

In his behind-the-bench debut, Agnew's Jackets fall to the Predators 5-4.

On the bright side, Nash scored two and also managed an assist. According to reports, Nash was likely the scorer on that third but the credit went to Modin. The goals finally put to rest Nash's scoring slump that has undoubtedly contributed to the lack of offense this season.

All CBJ goals came during 5 on 5 play, which says a lot for our offense. Since the inauguration we've struggled at even strength. The special teams was weak however, going 0-5 on the power play, giving up a goal on the penalty kill and worst of all, giving up a short handed goal to Nashville's Fiddler.

Off the ice, Agnew met with each player this week to discuss the coaching changes and his expectations of the team. His effort reasserts personal accountability on the team and should put some pressure on our most skilled players to get the job done.

Ken Hitchcock will also be interviewed early next week, he is likely to be the first of several candidates. Time may become a factor however- according to the Dispatch, Ottawa may also be considering a coaching change.

The Jackets loss at home to Nashville takes them to 5-10-1, still 11 pts. We'll get another shot at Nashville next week though.

Box Score

MacLean must be reading this blog.

Holy crap. My post yesterday must have got a lot more attention than I thought. I put Gallant on the notice board and 5 hours later he's fired. I don't know my own influence.

I kid, of course. A coaching change has been long coming, and the CBJ execs finally recognized this.

Gerard Gallant was removed from his coaching duties today and replaced on the interim by assistant coach Gary Agnew. This specific step is only somewhat promising. While Agnew may already be experienced in the Jackets system, having spent the last 6 seasons with the Syracuse Crunch, he lacks much NHL experience. While I'm open to any change for this dismal jackets season, I expect MacLean to seriously pursue a long term replacement, and not leave Agnew in as a tiny scab on a festering wound.

This Dispatch article discusses a few potential coaching solutions. First and foremost is Ken Hitchcock. He was fired by the Flyers this season, though he is still under contract with that franchise filling in on some administrative positions. Hitchcock holds a 408-284-100 record in the NHL, which supports a nearly 60% winning percentage- almost 20 points higher than any coach of the Jackets.

Andy Murray recently left the Kings, has a winning record, and would be available quickly. He is also the only Canadian coach to win two world championships.

The final coach discussed in the Dispatch article is a name that Jacket fans should recognize. Kevin Dineen, who was on the roster for the Jackets' first three seasons, is now on the coaching hot list. He has already been getting attention from other NHL teams because of his success guiding the Portland AHL team to the playoffs.

Whomever MacLean chooses, I have the best of hopes. A major coaching change may be able to turn the tide for this team. The fans are tired, the players are tired, and the season isn't far from being totally shot. Picking up a big time coach could reassert our position in this league.

MacLean: Just don't do anything stupid, like start coaching the team yourself.


(Update: Check out this article, also in today's Dispatch. Hunter makes some really good points about the status of our team. The problem may very well be far larger than one man, or possibly it is one man -MacLean. Either way, the crony system is going to do us any more favors than it already has.)

Link additions

On the right side of this page, you'll see a few new links. These direct to other hockey blogs, including 2 by other Jacket fans, and one to "Covered in Oil", an Edmonton Oilers page. Fortunately, they haven't given me too hard of a time for Friday's game.

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

And Klesla said, "Let there be light!"

How 'bout last night's big win in St. Louis? What an excellent response to the slump the team has been in. From the opening puck drop, the team played hard. Defense was consistent and puck possessions were long and involved many shots and set-ups in the Blues' zone.

Leading the Jackets tonight was none other than Rostislav Kleslsa, who managed not one, but two goals. The first of which came on a breakaway, after what can only be described as an amazing chance play. Fritsche was down in the Jackets' corner and attempting to clear the puck just as Klesla stepped out of the penalty box. The clearing effort went straight to Rosti's stick. Hardly a deke later, Klesla beat Legace and lit the lamp.

Klesla made it two, five minutes later on a drop pass from Fritsche.

Nash also cracked his scoreless streak with a power play goal in the second. Hopefully Nash will pick it up from here on out. As the team's perennial top scorer, we're going to need his offensive talent to make a dent in the standings.

Gallant's line changes appear to have worked for now, as we still pulled off a rare win with many of our offensive players in new spots on the lines. The most controversial would certainly by Vyborny's move to second line center. He managed an assist and a 47% face-off rating, more than acceptable for someone new to the position.

Hot List
Klesla - Way to turn it around, keep it up!
Fritsche - Excellent performance last night- a goal and two assists.

It's showing that if the Jackets' slump is going to reverse directions, it's going to have to start with the young guys.

Let's get on a roll Jackets, starting tonight at home vs. Edmonton.

Box Score

Jackets are 5-7-1 for 11pts, 3rd in the central division

Gallant Selects Brave New Lines for Jackets

According to a Dispatch article, Coach Gallant has made some serious changes to the Blue Jackets lines. The fans will get to see his experiment for the first time on Thursday when the Jackets take on the St. 'Most Dangerous City' Louis Blues.

The forwards are as follows:

Nikolai Zherdev-Sergei Fedorov-Anson Carter;

Fredrik Modin-David Vyborny-Rick Nash;

Jason Chimera-Manny Malhotra-Dan Fritsche.

Jody Shelley-Alexander Svitov/Gilbert Brule-Steven Goertzen.

The majority of these positions are unsurprising- Fedorov leading the top line, young guys at the tail end with Shelley. But there are some noteworthy exceptions:

Nash has been bumped to the second line and replaced by Anson Carter, who is more of an NHL veteran. This move may be in hopes of preventing the first line from having too many inexperienced youngsters. A veteran may be more able to adapt to Fedorov's mature play style. Also, Fedorov's bilingual abilities may quickly bring Zherdev into the game.

The second, and much more noteworthy, change is Vyborny playing Center on the second line. In my eye, Vyborny has never been seen as a center. But this fan is willing to recognize that Vyborny is a complete player (and one of my favorites) who can handle both sides of the puck adequately. Initially I would have expected #9 to play wing on the first line instead of taking center. But there's no way he's better at face-offs than Fedorov, so he moves down a line. Vyborny at center also moves Malhotra down, which is an acceptable option. Malhotra has a phyiscal play style that doesn't always gel well with the skilled finesse players on the first two lines. He is best suited to skate with Chimera, and Fritsche will have some guidance as a young player.

I look forward to seeing if these lines make a difference to our scoring woes. Our most skilled players are now spread evenly through two lines, so we're more likely to have solid offense at any given point during the game. Even though I consider these changes to be brave by Gallant, I think its a "so crazy it just might work" situation for the Jackets.

Roster News - Nov. 7

Jackets GM Doug MacLean and Coach Gerard Gallant have made a few small roster moves.

-Shelley was scratched for Saturday's loss to Detroit, though Gallant says that it is only a temporary move.

-Duvie Westcott has elected to have surgery now to repair is broken finger. His spot on the blue line will be filled by Aaron Johnson, though his special teams time will likely go to Anders Erikson. Westcott will be on IR for 6-8 weeks, which is to the serious detriment of the Columbus offense. The defenseman is tied with Rick Nash for 2nd in team scoring.

-Brian Berard is still out of commission following back surgery. The defenseman will likely return to the ice in late January.

MacLean has stated that he is looking to make a trade for another defenseman to alleviate the injury situation. Unfortunately, the trade market is too slow to get any good options. Hopefully it will heat up in coming weeks.

While the jackets injury situation will weaken an already struggling team, I can't help but feel sorry for the Blackhawks. Khabibulin, Lalime, and Havlat are all out for injuries, and Handzus will be gone for the rest of the regular season, minimum.


Other significant injuries from around the league:
Phoenix: Comrie, Reinprecht, and Ricci all out indefinitely
Buffalo: Afinogenov out indefinitely
Carolina: Kaberle, Letowski, Stillman
Florida: Bertuzzi, Nieuwendyk

Are they still in the race?

Its a shame when we get to a point where every game turns into a must win for the Blue Jackets, but here we are again at the beginning of November with 9 points in 11 games. Trouble is, last year, the 8th place team in the conference, Edmonton, finished the season with 95 points. With 11 games down so far this season, the Blue Jackets must get 1.02 points per game to get to 90 points, that's 73 points in 71 games. Keep in mind, however, that the acutal number of points needed may vary, so I've added a tracker to the bottom of my posts that will approximate the number of points the Jackets need to get to 90 pts. As we see how the other teams are doing, I may adjust the 90 point goal higher or lower.

The good news is that there is still a chance, the Jackets need to win 37 games, which is just over the .500 mark, at .521. It's still a decent mark to shoot for. With the shootout win against Calgary last night taking 3 hours and 22 shooters to decide, maybe the team is starting the turnaround. We'll see what happens at the Joe tonight when the Jackets play the Wings. Go Jackets!

Last game:

Calgary Flames 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 5 (SO)
Box Score

Columbus Record:
4-6-1, 9 pts

The (hopeful) Race to the playoffs (90 pts):
71 games to go, 73 points needed (1.02 pts/gm)