The Jacketsblog: An Unofficial Columbus Blue Jackets Blog

NSH 5 – CBJ 3

What else can be said at this point? It’d be nice to get a point here and there, and now the Jackets have only won 2 of their past 13 games. A positive spin? The Jackets usually lose to the Preds, at home or away, so the result shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise, the power play scored twice, and the penalty kill didn’t give up a goal on 4 tries by Nashville.

The problems tonight came back to the turnovers, and from the start Nashville was all over the CBJ and dominated play for most of the first period. Somehow the Jackets were able to get on the board getting out of the first tied at one. It was a small miracle to survive the first not down 3, 4, or 5 goals. Mason bailed out the defense multiple times and received little help on the back-end.

The second period was a complete joke, thank God it was free food night, or I would’ve left Nationwide completely depressed. I guess I should be happy I’m not utterly hopeless at the moment considering the swoon the Jackets are on. I’ve lived and died with this team for quite some time, and it doesn’t get any easier to see poor performances across the board.

If anyone knows a website or other resource that keeps track of offsides calls for every game, I’d be very curious to see the percentage by player and opponents and other stats associated. I’m fairly convinced that Jason Chimera makes up a crap-load of the CBJ’s offsides calls in any game, and throughout the season for that matter.

It’s really late, and I’m sure my thoughts aren’t completely coherent.

In case you didn’t know, tomorrow’s game is not on TV due to the Versus blackout rules on Tuesday night… don’t even get me started. Neither Columbus nor Minnesota is broadcasting the game on TV, so enjoy the sweet sounds of George Matthews.

All I know is that something has to give one way or the other…

The Jackets look to continue their recent stretch of improved team defense with a much-needed win tonight against the Ducks.

7:00pm EST, Fox Sports Ohio, Website says Standard Def, but advertised as HD… stay on your toes for this one!

After a tough shootout loss on Thursday night the Jackets return home to face a dangerous Ducks team. This team isn’t quite the one that won the Stanley Cup a few years ago, but they still are very dangerous.

Yes, that is indeed Fredrik Modin, who is scheduled to make his return to the Blue Jackets line-up tonight. It is very difficult to gauge what his presence will mean to the CBJ, be it over a 3 game span, or the rest of the season. My heart goes out to #33 as he has struggled to stay in the line-up for any meaningful length of time. From all reports, Hitch loves the guy, with his size and style of play and skill all wrapped into one big guy.

In my opinion tonight’s game is a must-win. Not sure why I feel this way, but it might have more to do with the recent attendance figures than losses. If the CBJ can muster some momentum, they could begin to draw in big crowds again over the holidays much like last season.

CARRY THE FLAG!!!

FLA 0 – CBJ 3

Behind the puck-stopping of Steve Mason, the Blue Jackets were able to get off the schnide again and collect a win against Eastern Conference foe Florida.

On a remarkable goaltending night across the NHL, Steve Mason collected his first shutout of the 2009-10 season, he probably would have attracted more press had he not been one of FOUR teams posting a shutout last night.

The first period was largely dominated by the Jackets as it seemed they should be winning 4-0 when the waning moments approached. Jason Chimera launched a shot and followed it after Vokun seemed to make yet another save, but Chimmer was able to poke it through the pads and score in his third consecutive game.

The second period was mostly garbage and probably went exactly as Hitch would want, lots of dump and chase, decent defense, and only one penalty to kill.

In the third period, drama began to run high for the small crowd. After killing back-to-back and overlapping penalties the Jackets did what one would hope and seized the momentum. The momentum came to a head off of an awesome drive to the net by Derick Brassard growing the Jackets margin to 2 goals. Many in the stands were giddy, but also realized what had happened far too often the previous 29 games. Not tonight though, the Panthers would get another power play the Jackets successfully killed, and in an odd move, the Panthers pulled their goalie with 1 second remaining in their PP with just over 2:30 remaining on the clock. The faceoff ensuing at the 1 second mark led to the 3rd goal of the evening, this time for Sammy Pahlsson.

Moments remained, and the Jackets helped the Calder Trophy winner collect his first shutout of the season.

Some quick thoughts:

• When it became apparent the Panthers weren’t going to win (after going down 2-0) things got chippier than expected. Vokun was reaching out from the crease and hooking/poking players nearby, and some of the regular skaters dished out a high stick and some other misconduct that I missed while at the game.
• If the Jackets played that level of defense every game, they’d win the Central Division.
• Steve Mason is not perfect yet, but last night he looked like the 2008-09 version of himself.
• It’d be really nice to see some of the earlier chances finished, more important on the road than at home however.
• Big game in Nashville to see if the CBJ learned anything from this win.

With Saturday’s loss to the Avalanche it feels like the Blue Jackets have hit rock bottom (hopefully). While all seems lost, it is nice to take a step back and compare this season to last. So far this year Steve Mason has 9-8-5 record in 22 decisions this season. Not exactly something to brag about especially when you look at his save percentages and goals against average, sitting at .886 and 3.44 respectively. Overall the team is sitting on a 13-11-5 record 29 games into the season. In the previous season their record 29 games in wasn’t much different at 13-13-3 with some dips to close to .500 coming in February 24-23-5, 52 games into the season.

Thankfully with last year’s struggles the Blue Jackets were able to get hot at the right time stringing together multiple game win-streaks and point streaks to make their first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance.

Do I have faith in the Blue Jackets getting it going this year? Surely I do, this is by far the most talented team the Blue Jackets have ever fielded, but they face a major issue with their goaltender:

He needs to make sure “he doesn’t forget where he is and how much of a privilege it is to be here,” said Rook, who worked with Mason when the goalie was a junior star in London of the OHL and joined the Blue Jackets staff this season.

Burnside on ESPN.com

The article states a lot of what many fans assumed about Mason. He was really really good last season, and unfortunately a little bit of that went to his head. The Dark Blue Jacket took a good look at it too:

One would think that a 3.44 GAA and an .886 save percentage would keep him grounded, so holding this attitude despite the facts of the matter make me run for the maalox.  That Rook is taking the media approach in this scenario means that Mason is tuning Rook out at some fundamental level, and Rook is using Burnside to speak to him.  Other approaches could include benching and/or sending Mason to Syracuse for some “conditioning” (you know how those back spasms get), but Rook apparently took the tactic of calling Mason out in public – a little shock value, I suppose.

The Dark Blue Jacket

It really is unfortunate if this is all the case. From a fan’s perspective it is tough to know what goes through all of these guys’ heads. Some, like Mason, make it big early and could take it for granted, while others, Hejda, take a long time to make it big and are quiet and humble from the beginning. Every team in the NHL has a mix of players of every type and they are able to help mentor each other into a balancing the two extreme mindsets.

This little snippet comes from Allan Muir on Sports Illustrated.com

The right move may be enough to shake the Jackets out of their competitive lethargy, but if it doesn’t, it won’t be long before the focus has to shift onto Ken Hitchcock. That’s not a knock on the man’s ability behind a bench. The guy didn’t make the Team Canada staff because they needed someone to regale the group with Civil War stories. But there’s a growing sense of disconnect between Hitchcock and these players that suggests he might just be the wrong coach for this group.

Hitch on the Hot Seat

Of course his points are seemingly valid but this team was just as young and less experienced last season and was able to be very successful, especially in the later stages of the season. I think there is a serious lack of mental toughness and maturity all around, and right now the Jackets are suffering from major growing pains. It is almost impossible to avoid them, and a rash move like firing a coach of a small-market team could be disastrous for the image and continued improvement and building of a fan base. Howson had this to say to The Dispatch:

Tough duty today. With the Blue Jackets in a 1-5-3 tailspin, and NHL clubs so quick to make coaching changes, I asked GM Scott Howson if coach Ken Hitchcock were at risk. Here’s his response:

“Hitch is safe, To suggest otherwise is just ludicrous. It has not even entered anybody’s mind. It’s not something we’d even consider.”

Puck-rakers

A lot of food for thought in this odd 3-day break, the last one for a long, long time. Tomorrow begins an important push to the holiday, time to right the wrongs and get the team going in the right direction.