The Jacketsblog

The Claude Noel era got off to the right start on Thursday night, but will the Jackets be able to sustain the energy found with a new coach?

7:00pm EST, Fox Sports Ohio, High Definition

That Jackets could be without the services of Tyutin tonight as he left practice early on Friday and also the morning skate Saturday morning. If Tyutin sits, the CBJ will be without 3 of their top 4 defenseman, Commodore, Klesla, and now Tyutin. In other “news” winger Freddy Modin is out again with an injury and Mike Blunden is on his way up from the ‘Cuse”.

Very interesting last couple of days with the firing of Hitch, installment of Noel and all that brings, and being able to watch the last couple practices. Friday’s practice was very exciting with lots of break-out practice and some nice drilling of point-shot deflections. Going into Noel’s second game I expect to see a few more subtle differences in the way the CBJ do things.

The biggest difference on Thursday night were two things: Playing time deep into the game and how the Jackets gain the zone. A much more balanced use of all 4 lines was clear and should be able to keep players fresher for longer. There wasn’t a complete abandonment of dumping the puck or pulling back defencemen either, but there were definite times when the “Hitch-Jackets” would have dumped and changed where the “Noel-Jackets” carried into the zone and tried to generate something.

Should be an exciting night tonight in Nationwide as there will be a lot of Buffalo fans in attendance. Word yesterday had Ryan Miller taking a night off tonight, but some sources have Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff sticking with his number one.

As Claude Noel suggested on the radio this morning, its time for the fans to “take another step” in their vocal support of the team at home in Nationwide.

GO JACKETS!!!

About the only way you couldn’t have heard today’s breaking news is if you were in a nuclear bomb shelter. This shouldn’t have come as a shock as unfortunate as it is, but after Tuesday night’s shellacking in Colorado, the writing was on the wall.

The Dispatch has been all over this from the moment the story broke around 4:00pm today:

A season after leading the Blue Jackets to their first playoff appearance, Ken Hitchcock has been fired.

Hitchcock, 58, will be replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Claude Noel.

After helping rejuvenate the franchise over the previous two seasons, Hitchcock has been unable to stop a protracted slide, which began in late November and has the Jackets sitting 14th in the Western Conference standings. They are 10-20-7 since Nov. 19 and 22-26-9 overall.

Obviously this season has not gone to plan in any way shape or form, and in professional sports, putting blame strictly on the players only goes so far. Here’s Captain Rick Nash’s comments:

“It’s terrible news,” Jackets captain Rick Nash said. “It’s terrible news, it’s terrible we couldn’t play better, and the coach had to be fired. Hitch put this market on the map. We didn’t really have an identity before he got here.”

Some will site Hitchcock’s mismanagement of young players, especially the class-act Nikita Filatov. The Globe and Mail’s Matthew Sekeres believes that Howson came to the realization a while ago:

At the world junior championship in Saskatchewan last month, Filatov represented Russia and made it clear – without saying so directly – that he had no interest in playing for Hitchcock ever again. That week, I spoke with Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson and again it was clear that, ultimately, he was going to have to decide between his coach and his best prospect.

Personally, I knew that it was only a matter of time before the move was made. The loss to the Avalanche finally pushed me to the edge of the abyss… knowing what awaited in the coming weeks days hours. The world of the Blue Jackets was rocked by a disaster, but like a city or a nation, we will rebuild.

To me, Ken Hitchcock was the first person with the CBJ I really got into and cared about. I knew Rick Nash, Rusty Klesla, Sergei Fedorov, Adam Foote, etc., but many of those players on the team were leftovers of the previous season and the Doug Maclean mess. In a sense, I bought into Ken Hitchcock. Yeah I went to games before Hitch was the coach and yes, we probably lost a lot more often than we won when I went. But Hitchcock came and gave everyone a new hope for the seemingly endless years of losing. But like all good things, they must come to an end, and Hitch’s run in Columbus has reached that point.

Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski believes that this move was made due to a complete breakdown of management:

No question, this move is a desperation attempt at trying to turn around the fortunes of the team on the ice, which in turn brings in the kinds of revenues the team saw during its playoff run last year.

But it also refocuses a ton of scrutiny on Howson, who had received praise for the patient construction of the roster and retaining the services of Rick Nash(notes), but whose below-average, wafer thin blue line (check the depth chart) may be one of the primary reasons the team fell apart this season defensively. (Although let’s not downplay Mason’s role in that mess, either. He’s been terrible.)

Without a doubt, this is a big deal not just in Columbus, but across the NHL. One can hope that Hitch may finally be stress-free for a few nights and that the Jackets can begin the gradual move back towards respectability.

NSH 2 – CBJ 3

When the Blue Jackets power play looked futile through two attempts last night, there was little hope that we’d see something different on the 3rd power play of the evening. Even more disconcerting up to this point was the lack of shots that the CBJ had generated on Pekka Rinne. In the limited action Rinne had seen it looked to me that he was just not feeling the puck well.

Luckily the Jackets were able to get it going last night thanks to the power play, the positive momentum generated on the 3rd power play lead to a great re-direct of a Milan Jurcina point shot by Derick Brassard. The Blue Jackets were able to carry the momentum into the 3rd period where 8 minutes in, when Juice cashed in on the CBJ’s 4th power play of the night. 39 seconds later, Freddy Modin took advantage of a mishandled puck and rammed home the Blue Jackets 3rd goal of the evening with just over 11 minutes remaining.

We all knew what could happen in the time that remained, and sure enough Nashville stormed back. As long as I can remember following the Blue Jackets, two things have never changed about the Predators, Barry Trotz and resiliency like a lawn weed. Thankfully the Jackets and Steve Mason were able to ride out the storm and came away with a 3-2 victory in the end.

A couple thoughts about last night:

-Raffi Torres was fairly invisible. He registered only 2 shots and didn’t have a single hit.

-Jake Voracek is not completely up to speed. Granted Jake did not play much (10:27), but he was unable to register a SOG, and just didn’t look “with it”.

-Interesting to see that 9 different players registered a point in the win.

-The only skater on the ice for both Nashville goals? You guessed it, Fedor Tyutin

-Steve Mason was solid stopping 29 of 31 shots and will now look to win back-to-back starts for the first time since October on Thursday against the Kings

That’s it, Go Jackets!

It would be a good start for the Blue Jackets if they can avoid giving up the first goal, let alone doing so in the first 2:29 tonight in Minnesota.

9:00pm EST, Fox Sports Ohio, Standard Definition

In case you missed it on Thursday night, Fox Sports Ohio proved how much they care about the hometown team:

Yeahhh… that on top of cutting away from a fight… unfortunately we have no other way to watch the Blue Jackets, but this low-level of coverage cannot continue.

The Jackets are walking into a dangerous game. The Wild have lost 4 straight games, including a valiant effort Thursday night in a comeback against the Red Wings that fell short in the shootout.

When it comes to playoff hopes, the Jackets’ are nearly evaporated:

The cut-off sits right around 95-97 points, which for the CBJ to reach would need a herculean effort at this point.

Match-ups against the Wild through the years have been relatively “boring” defense-heavy games but interestingly enough Goaltender Steve Mason is 0-1-1 in two starts in Minnesota posting a 1.93 GAA. Seems to me, if Mason can continue earning back his playing time, and the offense can continue to manufacture goals one way or another, the Jackets could be in good shape.

The Jackets MUST survive the opening period being tied or only down one goal if they to have a chance to win. We all know they can do it… question is, will they?

GO JACKETS!!!!

TEAM COCO!

CBJ 3 – PHI 5

No surprises last night in Philadelphia. The Blue Jackets gave up a goal in the opening 2:29 for the 5th straight game (remarkable that they’ve won games in that span), showed some fight, but withered in the end.

A night after having arguably his best night of the season, Center Derick Brassard (6-16-22, -14) won only 33% of his face-offs and took two obstruction penalties, one of which led to a Flyers goal in the waning moments of the 2nd period.

It was a bizarre game, not hard-bizarre as Hitch likes to say sometimes, but weird in many ways. I’m going to try to offer various thoughts, one bizarre, one not bizarre:

Bizarre: Mathieu Roy in a fight – Not Bizarre: Marc Methot returning to spectacular levels of suck after his injury absence

Bizarre: Giving up goals to 2 different goons (Asham/Carcillo) – Not Bizarre: Giving up 5 or more goals

Bizarre: Dorsett and Boll not agitating the crap out of the opposition – Not Bizarre: RJ Umberger and Rick Nash carrying the team

Bizarre: Jan Hejda posting a -3 – Not Bizarre: Marc Methot posting a -3

Bizarre: Throwing hats on the ice for the opposition – Not Bizarre: Honoring a former player beloved by fans

Overall the Blue Jackets had a less than stellar night, but the story of the night was had to be the play of RJ Umberger who carried the Jackets about as far as he could. In the 3rd period when it looked as if Umberger had scored his 3rd goal of the night, the Flyer faithful threw their newly acquired hats in what was a classy salute to the former Flyer. A couple links about the gesture and about Umberger’s time in Philadelphia:

Fans Show Appreciation for Umberger

Umberger – A Young Player Who Got It

A bit of other news about the CBJ:

A look at Man-Games Lost by Mirtle – The Jackets are 11th

West Side gets Casino nod – Possibly not going to be a part of the Arena District, time will tell.

Restoring the Rosters – A look at an “all-time” best players drafted at Forward, Defense and in Goal.