January 8-14 CBJ Prospect Week In Review

Greetings Blue Jackets fans, yes you read it right on twitter(if your on twitter and follow me but details details) I'm back baby. First I wanna thank Craig at Firethecannon.com for letting me post my stuff there for the last 2 seasons. He was the first person to give me a shot and I really appreciated it. So without further ado lets go.

Starting off in Springfield it was your normal 3 in 3 weekend for the Falcons starting at home taking on Portland and in that game the Falcons pretty much pulled a Blue Jackets leading 4-1 going into the 3rd then allowing 3 straight Pirate goals finishing with a 5-4 shootout loss. I know he's not a prospect in the true sense of what I normally cover but Mark Dekanich started the game and made 27 saves then stopping 3 of 5 in the shootout, one of the goals he allowed was on a penalty shot. On Saturday it up to Maine to finish off the home and home with the Pirates, this time the Falcons pulled off a 4-2 victory with old man river Manny Legace making 26 saves in the win. On Sunday it was back to the nest and another episode of the Dexshow, and it was another rough one. Dekanich stopped 24 of 28 along with a empty net goal by Ohio State product Matt ("Chuck" at least that's what id nickname him) Bartowksi which was his second of the night. On the weekend it was Maksim Mayorov and Martin St. Pierre leading the way with a goal and 2 assists. The only other Falcons with multiple points were Cam Atkinson with 2 goals(20,21) and Andrew Joudrey, Matt Calvert and Alexandre Giroux with a goal and assist. Mark Dekanich's weekend went like this 0-1-1 with a 3.89 GAA and a .864 save percentage.

After a winter in Chicago a week long trip to Florida probably sounded great to the Express but you have to play the games, the Express went 0-2-1. Allen York only made it into 1 game trying to clean up Paul Dainton's mess entering the game when the score was 5-2 allowing 2 goals on 14 shots, York then served as Peter Mannino's back up in the team's loss and overtime loss to the Everblades. Steven Delisle played in all 3 games and I think Steven made a friend for life because in the first 2 games Steven fought the same opponent both nights taking on Scott Fletcher. Everything else pretty much went wrong on the trip for Steven including being a -4 in the Express's 7-2 loss on Friday then being a -1 on Saturday night, Sunday is when it got wild. On Sunday the Express battled to a 3-3 tie going all the way to a shootout and it was a quick one only took 15 rounds. Shooter 15 for the Express just happened to be the 6'6" 210lb defensemen all of 1 career point(a assist) Steven Delisle and he missed which gave Florida first place in the South Division.

New Look Jackets Behind Todd Richards

Sometimes the atmosphere around an arena can become stale.  I am not one who normally attends practice, and after experiencing an Arniel practice shortly after the new year had arrived, I was not really left with the need to attend another one.  The drills were reasonable, and the effort was somewhat there, but the atmosphere was heavily lacking.  With that said, I attended my first Todd Richards practice on Monday morning, and I must say, the difference was clear.

Players were upbeat and into the drills with quite a bit of effort.  When the time was appropriate, they enjoyed ribbing each other for scoring or not scoring, and were giving Mason (the goalie who happened to be on our side of the ice) all kinds of cheering when he made a big save.  Dorsett, Boll, Brassard, and Prospal were the most audible for me, and there were times when I was openly laughing at their antics.  I would never suggest that the team play to the fans during their practices, but I truly enjoyed watching some of the character bleed out.

The drills themselves were very satisfying to watch.  High compete level with specific parts of their game in mind, and I'll share a couple here.  The first drill is designed to have a forward head into the zone with the puck and take a shot on net.  Once that has been accomplished, two skaters take the puck the other way on a two on one, and the job of the original shot taker is to back check hard to try and get back into the play before the shot is taken on the opposite end.  It is a very creative way of getting the back checker a bit tired first, not unlike how he would feel in a game.

A New Addition to Carry the Flag

The long standing goal of Carry the Flag has always been to share a unique perspective with the fans of the Columbus Blue Jackets (or at least those willing to listen with a very open mind!).  That being said, it has been a goal to increase the depth of discussion, and one area that has been poorly covered is the Blue Jackets prospects throughout the course of the playing year.

With that in mind, and with our own eyes falling on the coverage provided via Twitter, we have welcomed @CBJProspects to Carry the Flag.  While his efforts on twitter are greatly beneficial for instant updates and various 'newsy' items at the prospect level, he also offers a weekly update for Columbus prospects, which we feel is of great value to those interested in getting a direct line into the success of the 'farm' without spending hours on google.

Tune in Monday for each update, and please join me in welcoming him into the fold.

If I Were Scott Howson, I'd Be Asking One Question

Since the termination of Scott Arniel a lot of speculation has gone on regarding the job security of Scott Howson, what trades and re-signing he (or his replacement) should make, and the direction of the team in general moving forward. While I'm here to provide some more speculation and opinion, this post actually spawns from conversations with other Blue Jackets fans following the disappointing loss to the Washington Capitals on New Years Eve. One of the first steps of the Jackets new direction was hiring a coach who fit the direction and style of play that the roster necessitates. I had been leaning towards keeping Arniel for the remainder of the season, mostly because there is not an obvious replacement candidate and teams are unlikely to be willing to part with an assistant coach or AHL coach this time of year. However, this move was not the crux of the new direction. The primary problem I see when analyzing the Blue Jackets roster is players playing above their heads.

Arniel Removed as Blue Jackets Head Coach

After a half season of enormously underwhelming hockey, Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson has decided to remove Scott Arniel from the head coach position.  During his time behind the bench this year, Arniel amassed a record of 11-25-5, with the largest salary in franchise history on the books, and a team who many had high expectations for playing substantially below their capacity.  But that is really only how the books cover should read, as I think it's important to consider some variables:

1 - The Jackets have been short handed due to injury or suspension for most of the season.  As it stands, free agent signings Wisniewski (broken foot), Carter (separated shoulder), and Martinek (concussion) are all out due to injury.  Mark Dekanich is finally competing in full games after his injury, but only at the AHL level, leaving me to wonder how long it will take for him to regain form.  Huselius has found himself on the IR once again for multiple injures, and finally, early acquisition Letestu is out with a broken hand.  To Arniel's defense (and more so to Howson's defense), the team has not had a real stretch of games where they could compete as a full roster.

With this in mind, and what I think to be (at least by mid-season standards) a terrible suspension length to Wisniewski, I have to believe that Howson gave Arniel the benefit of the doubt early on due to the mess of players missing time, leaving large gaps with few ideal candidates to fill the holes.  When the team started showing signs of life in front of Sanford I have no doubt it bought him more time, but the huge slide following that momentum must have been the last straw.  Howson was quoted saying he believed Arniel was running out of potential solutions to the teams struggles, and I am personally under the impression that when something like that is admitted to, or blatantly visible (see line juggling galore) it is time to make a change.

The Blue Jackets Offense: What Could Have Been

Like most Blue Jackets fans, I was very excited for this season. It finally looked like Scott Howson had assembled a group of offensive weapons that could score with the top teams in the league. Rick Nash finally had his All Star centre in Jeff Carter. The defense was still a little shallow, and no upgrade in net was brought in, but the common logic was that this team had the capability to outscore teams, and Steve Mason and company only had to give the Blue Jackets a chance to win. Nearing the halfway point of the season, this obviously has not been proven true. The offense sits at 27th place in the NHL, the defense also sits at 27th, and Columbus ranks 29th in goal differential. So what gives? Where did all the supposed offense go?

Carter or Nash?

With trade talks consistently atop the Blue Jackets discussion list, it came as no surprise to me yesterday when Nash and Carter became a heated debate among Blue Jackets fans on twitter.  Not necessarily where they would be traded to, but IF a trade were to occur (and it's obviously a big IF with Howson repeatedly suggesting Nash will not move), who would be the better option for Columbus to deal.  There are some obvious pros and cons to dealing both players, but I want to take a bit of time to consider the two being dealt and the overall impact to the team and the fan base.

First and most simplistic of the two, consider their contracts.  Nash is currently signed to an 8 year deal that averages his cap hit at 7.8 million per year. He will become a UFA at the age of 34.  Carter is signed to an 11 year deal that averages his cap hit at 5.25 million per year.  He will become a UFA at the age of 37.  The age difference is just under one year, with Nash born in June of 84, and Carter born in January of 85.  The cap hit difference in the two is 2,527,273 (or for the sake of discussion ease, 2.5 million).

Their current 2011/2012 statistics are the following:

As you can see, Nash has the points lead, but the gap is closed quite a bit in the points per game lead, with only 0.09 separating the two players.  Carter has a 0.05 advantage in goals per game and betters Nash in shooting percentage at a difference of 2.6%.  Nash has a clear edge in assists with 8 more than Carter, but is also -11 worse in plus/minus. To take their current output a bit further, check out this piece by the Coach breaking down their current goal output and whether they are meeting their projected goal totals based on previous years.