Standings Update.. March 9th

Welcome to the final 16 games.  Current standings place Columbus in 6th place, only four points out of 5th place, and only two points ahead of 9th.

Does this concern anyone?  It should.  The Blue Jackets are 5-4-1 during their last ten games, the majority of those wins coming in the early stages of that ten game stretch.  A massive win against Detroit certainly rebuilt confidence in the team from the fans perspective, but as we have seen in past years, strong finishes are far from what we as fans are used to.

With the addition of Vermette, but the loss of players like Mike Peca and Freddy Modin, the Jackets will have to find new forms of chemistry with different players to really create the depth necessary to retain a spot in the playoffs.  With so many teams trying to acquire the 8th spot, it will take at least double digits in wins, which means an 11-5 or 12-4 run will be absolutely necessary.

What do you fans think?  Do we stand a chance against some of the other teams like Nashville who are streaking right now?  Will it take a change in the lineup, or are the lines we have formed sufficient?  Who will be the whipping boy down the stretch?  

My players to watch are RJ Umberger, Steve Mason, and Antoine Vermette.  RJ has been huge these past months in terms of energy and secondary scoring.  He scored his 22nd and 23rd goal of the season on Saturday, and I am ready to watch him score thirty goals this year.  Vermette's presence showed a high quality special teams on Saturday against one of the league's best, and if he can continue to bring that presence, his numbers will also be on the rise.  Something about Nash and Vermette on the penalty kill actually gets me excited!  Finally, the Mase.  He was huge against Detroit, and he will have to be huge again.... Probably 15-16 times.

Carry the Flag!

Expect the Unexpected?

Last night was a first for me..  I regrettably admit that I was unable to watch the Blue Jackets absolutely punish the Red Wings with an 8-2 victory, but you can thank Time Warner Cincinnati for choosing collegiate basketball over a professional sport.  (think of the worst and meanest thing you could possibly say to someone, and I probably said it to Time Warner last night)

That being said, and putting my bitterness aside, I am excited to talk about what I saw in the highlights of an 8-2 drubbing.  I may as well break this up into points, because I believe I have enough ammo thanks to Anna feeding me in game information...

Rick Nash.   Oh captain, my captain.  A NASHtrick in only a way he can score it.  Three unassisted goals puts Nasher into the record books as the only player in history to achieve such a hattrick outside of the great Maurice Richard.  What a tremendous display from an explosive player who can force turnovers every game at pivotal moments.  The best thing I can think to say right now, is let's hope he carries that momentum into the next couple weeks.

Steve Mason.... HAD A GAME!  44 saves, including four or five unbelievable pad saves on NHL Network recap to stymy the Red Wings.  If this was not a wake up call for him, I do not know what it would take, but a .957 save percentage against one of the league's most potent offenses can only spell confidence for this rookie goaltender.  In the post game, he admitted he has not been living up to his own personal standards, and was quite pleased with his play.

RJ Umberger..  Scored two goals, including a sweeping deke to the inside of the hash marks and a quick shot that really impressed me.  His confidence in a Blue Jackets uniform seems to grow every game, and is by far the Jackets best secondary player.  While there may be some disappointment that RJ was unable to take on the number one center role, this position plays far better into his strengths, and should the Jackets make the playoffs, will play big dividends in getting them through their first playoff series.

Special Teams...  SUCCEEDED!  1 for 2 on the powerplay, and also kept the league's best powerplay at bay on six different occasions.  I will gladly hand that stat over to my boy Vermette, who is well known as a PK specialist, and can win draws against the best in the league.  

Here is hoping this was the wake up call they needed.  Carry the Flag!

Vermette is Finally a Blue Jacket

The Blue Jackets finally got their guy.  After months of speculating, Antoine Vermette was traded to Columbus for Pascal Leclaire and a second round draft pick in the upcoming draft.

Vermette is a tremendously versatile player, spending most of his time in Ottawa playing the secondary role, and killing penalties.  His defensive abilities are clear when down a man, but has the finesse game and dangling skills of an elite scorer (when he is given the opportunity).  He has scored nine goals this year, which is actually a drop in production based on previous years, but many attribute that to the slump Ottawa is in right now, and expect Vermette to rebound well with a new team.

The likelihood of Antoine becoming a 35 goal scorer is slim, but sometimes players find new life once they have been removed from their first NHL team.  It was a well known fact that Jacques Martin punctured the young forwards confidence early in his career, but it seems like regardless of what is thrown at Vermette, he comes out of it smiling.

One other very important feature about Vermette is his faceoff ability.  In the game Howson attended against Vancouver, Antoine went 14-0 on the draw, winning key faceoffs during penalty kills.  This kind of skill will be tremendously valuable to the Jackets, who had been known to struggle in the draw earlier this season.

Expect Vermette to play the second line for the time being.  As we all know, Hitchcock rarely messes with chemistry, and arguably, the top line has it right now.  According to BlueJacketsXtra, Vermette is going to see time with Umberger and Modin on the second line.  Here's hoping that changes to Umberger and Voracek sooner than later.

Carry the Flag!

Deadline Day...

We all know the Jackets are not going to be sellers this year, and Howson has made it very clear that he will not lose roster players, or young players at the deadline..  Now, do not expect many teams to jump on the few options he has left on the table, but expect there to be plenty of talk regarding Leclaire and possibly Klesla.

Personally, I think Dan LaCosta can become our secondary goaltender, and a guy like Pazzy is far too talented to be the secondary goaltender on an NHL team.  Based on that, I think using Leclaire as trade bait either this week or during the off-season would be of great value to them.  They can easily cite his poor ankle as the cause of his dip in play, and suggest that his surgery repaired any error in said play.

Second on the block has to be Klesla.  His inconsistency in health this year is extremely exhausting for fans.  While he is a strong player when on the ice, he does not have chemistry on this roster, and could easily bring back a big name, most notably, Tim Connolly out of Buffalo.  That would make the Jackets a far more complete team considering how great Nash and Connolly could play together, and he is a position the Jackets have sorely sought after throughout the last couple years.

There are other options for the Jackets, most notably Vermette and Antropov, but I think the best option is Connolly.  If not Connolly, I really think the only other positive option is Vermette, who could give a much needed boost in the center position and their special teams.  Optimistically, Vermette or Connolly would only cost them one of either Leclaire or Klesla, which means they could still have off-season 'sellables'.

Considering the last couple games, it is rather clear that while chemistry is still fairly good within the team, but having this kind of shakeup, even if we need to sweeten the deal with a Novotny or Murray would be extremely beneficial for a playoff push.  We will see extremely soon whether Howson is seriously pursuing a trade, and when it happens, I will make sure you all know.

Carry the Flag!

Standings Update..

I have been watching the standings over the last couple weeks on account of the 'red bar' that dangles below the Jackets, and while they are not doing themselves any favours, they are still bouncing around the 5/6 spot.

With only 20 games remaining in the season, the Jackets need to take advantage of their recent momentum swing from their win against Edmonton, and ride the wave as long as they can.  They need to loosen their grip and let the puck find the back of the net, and have confidence in their defensive abilities.

Here are my steps to assuring a playoff spot:

1 - Score goals..  No one needs to rely on Steve Mason any more than the Jackets defense.  Having the offense only scoring one or two goals a game simply will not cut it down the stretch.  While that may be a heavy task against goalies like Roberto Luongo tonight, the Jackets snipers have to have to be consistent and shooting from high quality scoring areas.

2 - Everything always seems to fall on Mason..  There are few times this year where the team has taken the game away from the competition.  On almost a nightly basis, Mason has stolen games and made it impossible for the opposition to take the momentum.  When he does not, the team loses almost every time.  If they want a good spot in the big show, he will have to finish out his rookie campaign with another few brilliant performances.

3 - Special teams, special teams, and special teams..  The Jackets powerplay has been abysmal all year long, and they know it.  12.5% is nothing short of embarrassing, especially for a team that wants to make their presence known in the playoffs.  They need to make a very strong turn around, even if it means making the right move at the deadline to bring in someone that can make a significant difference with the man advantage.  In my opinion, their best option with what they have is simply to not allow Backman or Modin any playoff time.

Tonight will be a prime example of whether they are going to play with desperation or not.  Vancouver will not want to see themselves tied with the Jackets after this game, so tonight will definitely be a 'who wants it more' style game.

Carry the Flag!

Final Game in a Western Swing

Thursday saw a massive win for the Blue Jackets.  In a few words... Exactly what the doctor ordered.. Steve Mason had a big game, stopping all 19 shots he faced.  While the game was more tilted towards Roloson, Mason made all of the important saves, and looked competitive for 60 minutes.

Not only that, Raffi Torres got physical, getting into a fight, and also scored a great goal which ended up being the winner.  Consider it a massive confidence booster for a guy who has struggled greatly throughout this year.

Tomorrow night, the Jackets play the Vancouver Canucks, who have been trading the 5th spot back and forth with Columbus for over a week now.  They have been playing strong hockey, forcing the Jackets to do more chasing than leading, but tomorrow will allow Columbus to tie them for 5th with a win, albeit with two games in hand.

The one major concern I have is scoring.  The last couple games have been miserable in terms of goals for, with only a combined four goals in their last three games, including a 1-0 shutout against the Oilers.  If that does not send warning signals down the spine of every coach, player, and fan, I do not know what should.  Rick Nash needs to make himself more offensively available, and Huselius needs to take advantage of the secondary scoring position he has been given.

I will update after the game.  I am looking forward to a strong effort.

Carry the Flag!

Is our season getting poke checked?

When I first started watching hockey on television and I heard an announcer say "poke check," I would've sworn he said "pope check." Now, of course that doesn't make any sense. Why would the Pope be at a hockey game? Why would anyone be checking him? OR . . . maybe we, as the audience, were supposed to pray suddenly and (assuming one was Catholic) therefore check around for the Pope? I don't know. . . but it sounded like Pope check to me.

Of course now I know better. I know that the announcer really said "poke check," as in poke, as in to poke. As in to poke away. I still giggle when they say it and find myself shouting it out at live games randomly. . . "Poke check!!"

Answers.com defines poke check this way: A check in ice hockey in which a defender uses the blade of the stick to push the puck off the stick of an opponent. And at eHow.com they provide step by step instructions on How to Do a Poke Check.

1. Skate near your opponent who has the puck. A poke check is done by a player who is trying to steal the puck from another one; so you'll need to be within a stick's reach from the puck.


2. Wait for the player with the puck to make a small mistake. All you need is for the player to push the puck out a little too far in front of him or to fail to guard the puck for one second.


3. Use the blade of your hockey stick to poke the puck away from your opponent. A poke check should be a simple jabbing motion at the puck, not a swipe.


4. Skate hard after the puck as soon as you've poked it away from your opponent. Remember speed is key here because your opponent will be trying to get the puck back just as quickly as you are trying to get it safely away.

Reading these instructions . . . I ask you Jackets faithful: Is our season getting poke checked from us? Everyone is staying close to us, trying to steal it all away from us. They are waiting for us to make tiny mistakes and then capitalizing on them (and no...this is not exactly rocket science strategy here, but it works). "Fail to guard the puck for one second . . ." that line just has the Anaheim game of last Saturday written all over it. We let them score first and they moved on to step #3 - they used a "simple jabbing motion." Calgary did this last night as well. They saw we were not giving 150% and they jabbed and chipped and kept at it. And that is really all it takes. Earlier this season, I would have said a persistent kicking motion would be the end of my sanity but now I think it may be the jabbing of a poke check!

My biggest fear right now is that more and more games and teams are going to follow through with step #4. They are going to knock the puck away, skate like mad away with it, and we are going to be left in the dust. I am still holding hope. I have NOT given up. I STILL believe!! But is it possible the Jackets are already in step #4 and are now chasing after the puck to get it back? If so, then we as fans need to continue to cheer, continue to rock the Arena, and continue to . . . (awww come on, you knew this was coming right?) check for the Pope!!! Because we need all the help we can get!!

Carry the Flag!!