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08
Feb
11

Game 53 – PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

By thejacketsblog Closed
Categories: Uncategorized
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The Blue Jackets make their only visit to Pittsburgh this season, and unlike when the Pens visited Columbus, they won’t have half the city filling the Consol Energy Center.

7:00pm EST, Consol Energy Center

Fox Sports Ohio, High Definition

Don’t try to tell me that the Blue Jackets have forgotten what happened that fateful Saturday night in December in Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets, their fans, the entire city and organization were embarrassed by a group of fans that has swelled due to recent great successes, and were promptly run out of their own building.

The Pens are coming off of a tough loss to bitter-rival Washington, while the Jackets are riding pretty high off of back-to-back wins against Detroit and Edmonton.

The Jackets need to remain in desperation mode if they want to overcome a depleted and scrappy Pittsburgh squad. The Penguins boast the Eastern Conferences best defensive corps… the Vancouver of the East perhaps, but as everyone knows are without star forwards Evgeni Malkin and Sid “The Kid” Crosby.

To come away from Steeltown tonight with 2 points, the Jackets must red-hot winger RJ Umberger (who plays in his hometown tonight) and must continue to play solid D in front of Steve Mason.

Huge two points on the line, even if it is the Eastern Conference.

Go Jackets.

05
Feb
11

Game 52 – EDMONTON OILERS

By thejacketsblog Closed
Categories: Uncategorized
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Lower expectations lead to better-feeling results… After last night’s HUGE win in Motown the Jackets need to do it against the bottom feeder of the Western Conference.

7:00pm EST, Nationwide Arena

Fox Sports Ohio, High Definition

The Jackets return to the friendly confines of Nationwide where they have to make headway if they want to stay in the race for the post season.

A lot of credit for last night’s win is due to Steve Mason, but even more is due to the team in front of him playing so well. They helped limit Detroit’s chances, and Detroit also failed on a few easy chances… sounds like a team we all know and love.

Tonight the Oilers bring a completely different challenge with their youth, pugnacity, and speed. Edmonton is no Detroit, and rightfully so sits a full 30 points behind the Wings in the standings. The Jackets sit 6 points out of 8th place and must continue to accumulate points, but especially at home where they have struggled mightily (12-12-1).

I’m personally looking forward to what John Moore brings tonight in his expected-NHL-debut, but more intriguing is what kind of play will we see out of goaltender Steve Mason?

A new “feature” thanks to some facts and figures at SportsClubStats.com…

Who to root for tonight:

CBJ over Edmonton (obviously)

Boston over San Jose

Red Wings over Predators (can they both lose?)

Go Jackets.

04
Feb
11

Game 51 – DETROIT RED WINGS

By thejacketsblog Closed
Categories: Uncategorized
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The Jackets are playing in Detroit, why should anyone expect something other than the usual?

7:30pm EST, Joe Louis Arena

Fox Sports Ohio, Standard Definition

First off, how is a game against a division rival, on the road, broadcast to the home fans in standard definition?

I promise to never stop complaining about FS-Ohio. Until every game they broadcast is done so in High Def.

Back to the preview…

With the Jackets sitting 8 points out of 8th place this morning, the next two games become far more massive than originally believed.

The Jackets have just plain sucked against the Wings ever since the CBJ blitzed them 8-2 back in March of 2009. That was almost two years ago, and Detroit apparently hasn’t forgotten.

With the call-up of top defensive prospect John Moore, the Jackets will try to match the speed of the Red Wings, but will still fall far behind when it comes to experience.

Who will Moore go in for? It’s tough to imagine Methot, Clitsome, or Russell getting the scratch, nor would potential-trade-target, Jan Hejda. Leaving only Tyutin and Stralman as potential scratches.

In my opinion, Tyutin’s positives far out-weigh the negatives in his play, so the obvious answer to me is Anton Stralman… ye of near-arbitration fame.

The Jackets have to be ready for the Wings tonight who’ve made the playoffs since before I was born, and CBJ-fan-favorite, Johan Franzen, is coming off of a 5-goal game against the Senators on Wednesday.

Even with out Datsyuk and Holmstrom, the Wings are always dangerous. Will the energy of guys like Moore, Clitsome, and Calvert be enough to propel the Jackets onto the winning track and fighting to the final horn for the playoffs?

Go Jackets.

01
Feb
11

Game 50 – CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

By thejacketsblog Closed
Categories: Uncategorized
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The Blue Jackets look to start a run tonight, fresh off the All-Star break, and all they need to do is win 2 of every 3 games… doable but is it likely?

7:00pm EST, Nationwide Arena

Fox Sports Ohio, High Definition

For the first time in half a decade I failed to make it to Nationwide Arena for a home game in January… alas I’m not in attendance again tonight, but job conflicts maybe are a blessing in disguise tonight, rather than drive through whatever weather befalls Columbus.

As I mentioned previously, the Jackets are needing to win at a clip of 2 of every 3 games. Sportsclubstats.com projects 94 points to be the cutoff, and the Jackets need to go 20-10-3 in the final 33 games.

I would love to see it happen, but am not going to get my hopes too high and be disappointed.

What’s more important, is the next 12 games that remain before the NHL Trade Deadline. If the Jackets can garner 15+ points they could be in the market to “buy”, but on the other hand if they gain 12 points of less, they should be in the “sell” mode.

A lot of things hinge on tonight’s game. Let’s hope it’s a good one!

Go Jackets.

25
Jan
11

Game 49 – ANAHEIM DUCKS

By thejacketsblog Closed
Categories: Uncategorized
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The streaking Blue Jackets get their second crack at a Ryan Getzlaf-less Anaheim Ducks squad in the final game before the All-Star Break.

7:00pm EST, Nationwide Arena

Fox Sports Ohio, High Definition

With today’s news of ice-issues at Nationwide Arena it could be a tumultuous few hours before the game gets started (hopefully) tonight. It hasn’t been announced as an alternative, but I imagine the contingency plan would be to move the game to tomorrow night. Surely a pain for the players and fans, but yours truly would finally get to a home game this month.

The last time the Jackets faced the Ducks without All-Everything, Ryan Getzlaf, they were humbled in a sickening way, 6-0 in the Honda Center.

The Jackets should be a more motivated club tonight not wanting to let-up on their 5-game point streak before All-Star Weekend, a win not only increases their point total to 53, but (as of now) would tie them for 10th place in the West (3 points back of 8th place Colorado).

The Cannon has the projected line-ups, including your starting goalie, Steve Mason, although in not a surprising move, defenseman Rostislav Kelsla will sit tonight and attempt to heal up for the final stretch of 33 games.

Huge two-points on the ice tonight, Jackets have to find a way.

Go Jackets.

22
Jan
11

Game 48 – ST LOUIS BLUES

By thejacketsblog Closed
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: ,

After starting the new year 0-5, the Blue Jackets have gained points in 4 straight games and need to carry momentum into a massive game tonight in St. Louis.

8:00pm EST, Scottrade Center

Fox Sports Ohio, High Definition

As we venture deeper into the final half of the season, the urgency with which the Jackets must play increases. Especially as teams ahead of them continue to gain points…

The Jackets have gone 2-9-4 in their last 15 road games and have won only once since March of 2007.

Yikes.

Sounds like I picked a good road game to travel to… they are DUE for a win.

After Steve Mason’s strong outing on Wednesday, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see Mase back in net tonight. The key of course will be to come up with a couple of key saves early in the game as the Jackets will no doubt have a hard time finding their feet as they tend to do early in games.

On a side note, in this time of spread-out games I’d like to be posting more often, but I recently moved and my ISP has been extremely slow when it comes to installing the internet at the new place.

Huge two points on the line… with a (regulation) win the Jackets will jump to 11th place and sit a mere 3 points out of 8th place.

Go Jackets.

19
Jan
11

Game 47 – FLORIDA PANTHERS

By thejacketsblog Closed
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: ,

We’re all just waiting to see how the Blue Jackets respond after a tough, shoot-out, loss last night in Tampa.

7:30pm EST, Bank Atlantic Center

Fox Sports Ohio, High Defintion

I think a loss tonight will force a lot of us fans to take a long hard look at the remaining schedule and swallow that all too familiar pill.

The end is here.

Even with a win tonight, thinks look dire for the Jackets who, according to SportsClubStats.com, need to go 22-10-4 to earn a spot in the top 8.

Ouch.

But life goes on, the Blue Jackets are all of our team, and while sometimes it may be tough to cheer them on, last night they gave a performance deserving of our support.

Tonight of course would be the oh-so-typical CBJ let-down game, but when you’re in the situation the Blue Jackets are, they cannot afford to have let downs. Period.

As we all witnessed last night, Steve Mason did not start (nor did Dan Ellis), but Mason is expected in net for tonight’s contest.

Go Jackets.

18
Jan
11

Game 46 – TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

By thejacketsblog Closed
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: ,

The Jackets travel to the Sunshine State for a two-game trip into the home of the Lightning featuring a showdown with the coach who snubbed the Blue Jackets, Guy Doucher.

7:30pm EST, St. Pete Times Forum

Fox Sports Ohio, High Definition

Not many could have reasonably predicted the Blue Jackets gaining 3 out of a possible 4 points this past weekend against Central Division leading Detroit, but the Jackets found a way to keep the 2010-11 season on life support.

NHL.com‘s preview may have written them off however, with yet another typo-filled game preview…

The players and front office aren’t going to make a big deal out of facing the coach who turned down the Blue Jackets in the summer, but it’s an even bigger deal that not only did he turn down our team and city, but he did it to be with Detroit (and Canada’s) golden boy, Steve Yzerman.

No, I didn’t watch Stevie Y play much, if at all, but I know the one thing I need to know, he’s a Red Wing, who just happens to manage the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Of course, I want Rick Nash to become Columbus’ own Steve Yzerman, but I’ll go ahead and hate Yzerman because of who he played for.

Back to the game at hand. Steve Mason is expected to get his 3rd consecutive start, for better or worse. Look at this past weekend, if Mason had the defensive corps of the Wings playing in front of him, he’d be just as good as Howard is (was) for the Wings. And if Howard or MacDonald played behind the Blue Jackets’ defensive corps… well let’s just say “sieve” would be a compliment.

The Dispatch is expecting Dan Ellis to get the start for the Lightning, let’s hope there are lots of #DanEllisProblems tweets flying around the Twitter-sphere tonight, as he used to be a major problem for the CBJ when he played for the Preds.

For all the rough and tumble past month, the Jackets are still in the hunt for the post-season, sitting only 6 points out of 8th place and having a 3.5% chance at making it to the promised land again. Sportsclubstats.com projects a necessary record of 22-11-4 the rest of the way, or 50 points to make it happen.

It may have started this past weekend, but there’s no excuse to not keep it going now.

Go Jackets.

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