Puttin’ on the hurt!

And I mean that literally, St. Louis.  For you lost a hockey game and TJ Oshie.  Plus some pride.  I have to admit that I did not have a lot of confidence going into Nationwide last night, hoping that the Blue Jackets could score their usual three goals and hold St. Louis to only two.

The Jackets didn’t do much wrong last night and the Blues’ defense didn’t do much right.  They reminded me of the Jacket defense of last season, slow and prone to turnovers.  Yes, I know they were without Barret Jackman, a man who thinks that hitting someone from behind is the way to play.  When he retires, he is going to open up the Checking From Behind Hockey School.  The jerseys for the students won’t have numbers on the back.

The only negative aspect of the game was that Derek Dorsett can’t remember that Ken Hitchock is no longer coaching the team.  When you have a seven goal lead and things have calmed down in the final minutes of the game, Derek, you’re supposed to ease up and plan for the next outing against the Blues.  You’re weren’t playing D League hockey against a co-ed team where the local custom is to celebrate every goal and trash talk.

I don’t want to read too much into the game last night because it’s still early and things happen quickly in hockey, especially bad things, but that was an impressive win and a confidence builder for me.  I can’t make the game Friday, but the Jackets have a good chance against an injured Colorado team.

I’m sure Mason will start the game and I hope he can put together back-to-back wins.  He had some good saves last night, he had some good luck with St. Louis missing the net a lot, and he also had the misfortune of a Fedor Tyutin giveaway for the only St. Louis goal.

After Colorado, it will be three tough games on the U.S. West Coast.  Three points would be nice, four better, and five unbelievable.

Again, last night was something.  A total team effort.  Great job from the old man Clark, from Brassard showing that he is what he is supposed to be, from Voracek getting the monkey off his back, from Filatov showing some toughness, and on and on.  As we used to say in Detroit, Bless you boys!

This Blog

OK, we had a healthy discussion about my blog and I really appreciate ALL of the comments, even those that said I was an idiot.

I won’t make the game tonight because of hockey work, but I’ll watch it when I return, probably Monday.  Things are positive at the moment, but we’ll all know more when we play St. Louis, Nashville, and Detroit.  If the Jackets can at least split those series’, we have something worth getting excited about.

Returning to this blog.  Do I pick on The Dispatch?  Yes, I do.  I would pick on our local TV stations too, but they don’t really cover hockey.  Unless Jim Tressel goes to a game.  (And really, do we want Mindy Drayer involved with hockey?)  Is there a second local print media covering the team?  No, we have the benefit of living in a one paper town.  And I give a professional courtesy to all local bloggers, no matter how much bullshit they write.  Because without them, there would be no coverage or discussion of hockey in this town.

Every time I hear someone tell me about all the hockey fans in this area, I look at OSU hockey to say, no, there really aren’t that many fans here.  Last night, with no CBJ game scheduled, no OSU football this weekend, the hockey Buckeyes had their home opener.  There could not have been more than 1,000 fans in the building, counting the band.  All the boys scouts helped swell the numbers, but really, where were the hockey fans?  Parking is FREE and the you can get a seat for a fraction of what it costs at Nationwide.  You can’t have a beer, but I hear that students can help you get around that.

So I will continue to blog about hockey and at the same time rant against The Dispatch whenever I feel it is warranted.  I wish nothing but success for the team and the best sports journalism that The Dispatch can offer.

Brassard and Montreal Media

A big deal about nothing. But just the same, Aaron Portzline, the man who thinks endlessly about trades the Jackets should make and spent way too much time pushing Kevin Dineen for the coaching job, is jealous.  Portzline wants to be the guy who trips up the Jacket players.  The guy who didn’t say a word while Doug MacLean was killing the team, the reporter who told us that Adam Foote was a weasel but couldn’t offer proof, that guy.

“Nothing to see here, move along!”

I ain’t blogging what can’t be blogged.  It’s been two weeks since my last post, but the team is about as interesting as … you tell me.  I’ve been to the Anaheim game and the Philadelphia game and even though both were victories, I couldn’t wait to get home to turn on the television and watch a real hockey game.

I’m not alone, either.  Puck-Rakers has gone to posting every other day, too.  Yesterday, they even borrowed a Bob Hunter piece about U. of Minnesota football and ran with that.  By the way, Bob, nice thoughts, but you know what?  Maybe the ticket prices for CBJ hockey (and Wild hockey) are too damn high!  Maybe people who love hockey like yours truly can’t justify spending the money that our local team is asking for what they put on the ice. Sure, winning would solve a lot of the problems, but in the meantime, how about a reasonable price for your product?  You charge the right price, you could solve a number of issues, including the gauntlet of scalpers that attack everyone who heads to Nationwide.

Leclaire

Oh no.  He’s hurt again.

The Senators goaltender lasted a mere two minutes six seconds into Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes before leaving with what team officials described as a lower-body injury. He was replaced by Brian Elliott.

I guess they didn’t closely follow CBJ hockey in Ottawa when they traded for Pascal.

Ten Years

Mike Arace has a nice piece in The Dispatch this morning about our local hockey team’s tenth birthday.  The whole thing is worth reading, a nice summary of how far the team and our city have come since that first season.  Hockey appreciation has grown fast in this town, almost at a level that is comparable to our neighbors in the north, and by that think of the State of Ohio, not just Michigan.  But don’t get too cocky, Columbus.  A few weeks ago, a local youth association had its House evaluations and many families did not show up because the sessions conflicted with the OSU-Miami football game.

Nationwide will be noisy tonight once again, thanks to all the Blackhawk fans.  I just hope this continues forever.

Ovechkin Goal

Did Alex Ovechkin score a goal, or did Pascal Leclaire give one up?  Listen to the Caps’ announcer as he makes an attempt to say it was a goal scorer’s goal.  Right.

Marty Turco

Now I see why Dallas let him go.  For those of you who doubt me, just skip to the 1:53 mark.

Arace Gets Political

Who is he writing about?  Obama?

In 40 months, general manager Scott Howson has overhauled the roster and the coaching staff. His predecessor had 111 months and left a nine-year mess. Is it cleaned up? Not fully, not yet.

Jackets Going Wild?

This morning, the usually rational Dispatch writer Michael Arace wrote a piece comparing the 2010 Blue Jackets to the Minnesota Wild of last season.

The Wild instituted a seismic change in the summer of 2009. It parted ways with the only coach the franchise ever had: Jacques Lemaire, the famed French trapper. Minnesota fired its original general manager, Doug Risebrough, and replaced him with Chuck Fletcher. Fletcher hired young Todd Richards as the new coach, and Richards came in preaching an up-tempo style.

…

In Richards’ first season, the Wild scored 219 goals, allowed 246 and missed the playoffs by 11 points. The previous season under Lemaire, the Wild scored 219 goals, allowed 200 and missed the playoffs by two points.

Oh yeah, Arace later whines about not having Kevin Dineen back in Columbus.  I don’t see the same thing that Arace does because the Wild really never had an offense last season.  They got rid of Marion Gaborik (taken ahead of Klesla) and bet on a Koivu brother for scoring.  Imagine the Blue Jackets trading Rick Nash and then trying to score more goals.  I know, but death is not an option.

The Jackets are an unknown at this time.  They might still be a Ken Hitchcock team with the addition of the little Russian kid.  They might be an NHL version of the Manitoba Moose.  But it is too early to label them.  We might not find out until January how they play.  Speed is critical in the NHL, like it always has been, and we shall see if the team can keep up with the rest of their Conference. I’m going to withhold judgment, not because I’m lazy, but I simply don’t know what to believe.  Was last year’s team good enough to try them again this year?  Did the rest of the NHL hold steady, so the Jackets merely followed course?