Blue Jackets season in review

Sunday,  April 26, 2009 - 3:17 AM

By Aaron Portzline, The Columbus Dispatch

 

A four-game sweep by the Red Wings was not how Blue Jackets fans envisioned their first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  But taken as a whole, the 2008-09 season probably will be remembered as a smashing success, as the Jackets set franchise records for wins (41) and points (92) and finally played more than the 82 regular-season games.  It was a wild ride.  Last summer's roster overhaul brought in lots of new faces, and a slew of promising rookies spiced the plot.  Steve Mason has "franchise goaltender" written all over him.  As we've done each season, The Dispatch takes a look at the long, winding path that was the Blue Jackets' season:

 

Read more at http://www.bluejacketsxtra.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/04/26/jackets_season_4-26.ART_ART_04-26-09_C6_5ODLPFM.html?sid=101

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/05/25/daily25.html

 

Thursday, May 28, 2009, 2:00pm EDT

Nationwide Arena sale under discussion

Business First of Columbus - by Jeff Bell

 

The Columbus Blue Jackets are leading discussions about the possible sale of Nationwide Arena to Franklin County, using higher taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to help fund the deal.  Preliminary talks have been held between Blue Jackets and Franklin County officials, state legislators and Nationwide Insurance executives over helping the National Hockey League club solve its economic problems, Columbus Business First has learned.  One option under discussion calls for the county to buy the 18,000-seat arena from Nationwide so the team can work toward getting a better lease.

 

Follow-up story about the Nationwide Arena sale proposal in today's Columbus Dispatch...

 

On thin ice

(Could the Jackets leave town?)

Friday,  May 29, 2009 - 3:11 AM

By Jim Siegel, Aaron Portzline and Bill Bush

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

After losing $80 million in the past seven years, Columbus Blue Jackets owners are hoping that selling Nationwide Arena to the county could stave off serious discussions about moving the team to another city.  The team has floated a proposal to local, state and Nationwide Insurance officials that would allow Franklin County commissioners to impose tax increases on beer, wine, liquor and cigarettes to fund the purchase of the 18,000-seat arena.  The hope was to stick the plan in the upcoming two-year state budget, but that's not going to happen, at least in the near-term, a Senate GOP spokeswoman said.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/05/29/ARENA.ART_ART_05-29-09_A1_6NE0SVF.html?sid=101

Blue Jackets' financial pinch

Money problems familiar to NHL

Sunday,  May 31, 2009 - 3:39 AM

By Aaron Portzline, The Columbus Dispatch

 

As far back as the 2002-03 season, members of the Blue Jackets front office indicated -- mostly through hints and whispers -- that the club was losing money.  As a private company, the team didn't have to reveal specific numbers.  Last week, however, as the Blue Jackets went public with plans to get a more advantageous lease agreement with Nationwide Arena, team president Mike Priest told The Dispatch that they have lost $80 million over the past seven years.  As staggering as that figure sounds -- $80 million is more than half what Nationwide Arena cost ($147 million) to build barely a decade ago -- the news hardly caused a rumble throughout the NHL.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/05/31/nhl_economy.ART_ART_05-31-09_A1_64E1F92.html?sid=101

Hopefully we can focus on the on-ice Blue Jackets concerns instead of these off-ice issues.  But while the Nationwide Arena lease issues are still in the news...

 

 

Background history on the support (or lack thereof) for public financing of sports facilities in Central Ohio and the current Nationwide Arena proposal from today's article: Sin-tax idea likely being put on shelf.

NHL AWARDS: MASON NAMED ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Mason thanks family, Blue Jackets for honor

Friday,  June 19, 2009 - 3:05 AM

By Aaron Portzline, The Columbus Dispatch

 

The Blue Jackets tore it up in Las Vegas last night.  Goaltender Steve Mason won the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL's top rookie, and captain Rick Nash won the NHL's Foundation Award, recognizing his charity work.  "It's a great night for the Blue Jackets," Mason said.  "We were very well represented."

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/06/19/nhl_awards_6-19.ART_ART_06-19-09_C1_LNE7NID.html?sid=101

Congratulations to Mason and Nash, very well done!! Too bad i dropped Mason from my fantasy right before he started to get hot.

Blue Jackets busy in first day of free agent market

 

No contract extension for Nash yet.  But the team added two players yesterday on the first day of NHL free agency.  They signed checking-line center Sami Pahlsson to a three-year, $7.95 million deal and signed backup goaltender Mathieu Garon to a two-year, $2.4 million deal.  Pahlsson will replace the departing Manny Malholtra and Garon, who briefly played for the Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals, will be a veteran backup for Mason.

Done Deal

Exhale, Columbus.

 

The Blue Jackets have signed captain Rick Nash to an eight-year, $62.4 million contract extension, The Dispatch has learned.  That's an annual cap hit of $7.8 million.

 

Read more at http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2009/07/done_deal.shtml

It's hard to overestimate what Rick Nash's long-term contract extension means to the Blue Jackets.  And according to the coverage after the announcement, it sounds like Nash wanted to stay in Columbus almost as much as Columbus wanted him to stay.  That's great to hear.  Below is a round-up of links to recent articles about the Nash contract signing...

 

• Nash structures deal so it helps Jackets

 

• Michael Arace commentary: Captain has shown he's worth every penny

 

• Bob Hunter commentary: Lifelong sports heroes in Columbus a rare breed

 

• Nash signing could help Jackets draw more talent

The puck drops tonight for the 2009-2010 NHL season! 

 

The Columbus Blue Jackets season begins on Saturday night with a home game at Nationwide Arena against Minnesota.  The Jackets are coming off their first postseason playoff appearance in franchise history.   

 

Below is the link to the Blue Jackets/NHL season preview in today's Dispatch.

 

2009-10 Blue Jackets/NHL Season Preview

 

ARTICLES WITHIN THE SEASON PREVIEW

• Meet the Blue Jackets
  
• Blue Jackets coaches
  
• Blue Jackets basics
  
• What they're saying
  
• Jackets now have opponents' attention
  
• Middle men
  
• Top two pairs can expect some relief
  
• How to draw the lines?
  
• Power-play, penalty-kill units seem set for improvement
  
• Central Division forecast
  
• Western Conference preview
  
• Eastern Conference preview
  
• Blue Jackets by season
  
• 2008-09 rankings
  
• Record book
  
• Attendance report
  
• Nationwide seating chart
  

BLUE JACKETS: 2009-2010 SEASON PREVIEW

 

The Columbus Blue Jackets are coming off their first postseason playoff appearance in franchise history.  And for better or worse, the Jackets will have the full attention of every NHL team this year.  Success does have its price.  :-D  After a 7th place finish last year in the Western Conference, both Fox Sports Ohio and the Dispatch predict a sixth place finish this year.  Sports Illustrated predicts a ninth place finish - which would seem discouraging except that SI predicted a next to last finish for the CBJ last year.  In any case, a return to the playoffs would not be a surprise this year.  So there's no sneaking up on teams this year.

 

GM Scott Howson and Coach Ken Hitchcock are both starting their third full season with the Jackets.  Much of the first two seasons were spent cleaning up the mess left behind by former GM Doug MacLean.  The first step was ridding the team of poorly-fitting players and poorly-structured contracts - notably Federov and Zherdev, who are both completely out of the NHL.  The second step was reworking the team and bringing in quality affordable players like Umberger, Huselius, Vermette, Commodore, Hejda, Tyutin and Torres. 

 

The third step was drafting and developing a cache of quality young players like Brassard, Voracek and Filatov.  Voracrek got a full season of quality experience last year.  Brassard was on pace for a rookie-of-the year season until a season ending shoulder injury.  Filatov is the youngest and more of a wild card.  He had a hat trick in one of his few games at Columbus last year.  But his all-around play is still raw despite his scoring ability.

 

The fourth step was getting lucky in finding a franchise goaltender in young Steve Mason, NHL rookie of the year for last year.  If former franchise (and often injured) goaltender Pascal LeClaire doesn't go down with a season ending injury near the beginning of last year, and if his backup doesn't play so badly, Steve Mason probably would have spent the entire season at minor-league Syracuse.  But an emergency call-up turns into a dazzling rookie season.

 

The fifth step was signing key players to long-term deals.  The biggest is THE franchise player himself, Rick Nash.  Nash does not flee to Toronto, but instead signed an eight year extension to remain a Blue Jacket until the 2017-2018 season.  Later signings include young center Brassard, who signed to 2013-2014 and veteran center Vermette, who signed to the 2014-2015 season.  The biggest future signing will be goalie Steve Mason, who is eligible to sign a contract extension after this season is over.

 

After all that, the Jackets are relatively unchanged from last year's playoff team.  Some role players left (C-Malhotla, LW-Williams).  Some new role players were acquired (C-Pahlsson, D-Stralman, G-Garon).  But most importantly the team has talent, depth and is on a stable footing from the beginning of the season.  With this combination of talent and coaching, if the Blue Jackets get off to a strong start, other teams will be chasing us in the point standings instead of the other way around.

 

However, the Jackets are in one of the toughest NHL divisions.  So it won't be easy.  Detroit and Chicago will be great teams again, of course.  But a talented St. Louis team is also formidable.  Nashville looks like the only weak team in the division.  But again, if the Jackets start strong and stay away from major injuries, this season could be even better than last year's breakout season.  LET'S GO JACKETS!!!

A season opening sellout crowd cheers the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 win over Minnesota.  The Jackets win a tight matchup between two great goaltenders.  Umberger scores a short-handed goal.  Rusty Klesla scores the game winner.  It was an eventful night for Klesla.  Not only did he shoot the game winning shot.  But before the game, Klesla signed a four year contract extension.  A nice reward for the only remaining member of the original Blue Jackets team from 2000.

 

More about the Klesla contract extension from ESPN here.

The Jackets start a three-game western road trip with a visit to Vancouver.  This is Vancouver's home opener.  After an 0-2 start on the season, the Canucks are desperate for a win.  And they play like it, pushing the Jackets around in the first period and getting an early 1-0 lead.  The Jackets respond with a tying goal just before the first intermission. 

 

And then the scoring tide for the Jackets washed over the Canucks.  The Jackets score three goals on their first three shots of the second period for a 4-1 lead.  Vancouver goalie Luongo is pulled.  Columbus weathers the Vancouver comeback to win 5-3.  A real team effort with five players scoring goals and 40 saves by Mason.  A very convincing road victory that starts the CBJ season with two wins and zero losses.

The Jackets are off to a great start.  They have won 3 of their first 4 games.  After winning the home opener, the Jackets immediately faced a difficult three-game western road trip.  First, a superb 5-3 win at Vancouver.  Then a clunker game for goaltender Mason in a 6-3 loss at San Jose.  But the Jackets followed up with a gritty 2-0 win at Phoenix.  Backup goaltender Garon gets a shutout and 36 saves in a planned start. 

 

More on last night's win at Blue Jackets 2, Coyotes 0: Backup goalie Garon stellar in first start. 

Jackets 2 | Flames 1

Another gritty win for the Blue Jackets against Calgary at Nationwide Arena.  The Jackets played better then the 2-1 score indicates - they had not one, but two goals disallowed by unfortunate quick whistles.  Great rebound game for Steve Mason in the net after getting pulled during a road start last week.  Rick Nash gets two assists and continues his stellar play with his fourth straight multi-point game. 

 

Columbus is now 4-1 and atop the Central Division after the first two weeks of play.  The Jackets are off until the LA Kings come to Nationwide on Saturday.

Bad news for the Jackets!  :-( 

 

From http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2009/10/hejda_out_4_to_6_weeks.shtml

 

Hejda Out 4 To 6 Weeks

Blue Jackets defenseman Jan Hejda is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks with a sprained left knee.  Hejda was injured with 1:24 remaining in Tuesday's 2-1 win over Calgary in Nationwide Arena, when he and Flames winger Curtis Glencross inadvertantly collided -- left knee on left knee -- as they crossed through the slot in the Flames' end.  He skated off the ice under his own power, but was limping badly on his way to the dressing room after the game.

 

It's a huge blow for the Blue Jackets, who already are without defenseman Mike Commodore because of a groin injury.  Hejda and Commodore formed the Blue Jackets No. 1 defensive pair last season.  Hejda has a plus-8 rating in five games this season, tied with Dallas Nicklas Grossman for tops in the NHL.  He was averaging 21:45 ice time per game, second on the club to defenseman Fedor Tyutin.

 

UPDATE: In an updated article from today's Dispatch, the injury was confirmed by MRI to be a sprained medial collateral ligament.

The Blue Jackets won Saturday 4-1 over the LA Kings at Nationwide Arena.  Nice all-around effort.  Mason played great.  Rafi Torres scored on a power play (a place to improve over last year).  But the highlight of the game was a sweet unassisted shorthanded goal by Rick Nash. 

 

Nash, like the Jackets, is off to a hot start.  Saturday's win gives Columbus a 5-1 record.  This week, a tough four-game western road trip awaits.  Tuesday at Calgary, Thursday at Edmonton, Saturday at Anaheim and Sunday a rematch at the LA Kings.  Splitting the road trip or getting some ties would keep the early season momentum going.  Let's go Jackets!

Love that they are playing so well!  I only wish more of their games were on tv in Cleveland.

Can you get Fox Sports Ohio?  Almost all their games are on FSO.

I do have FSO but the last game I tried to watch they were playing the Lake Erie Monsters game.  I have a hard time believing there is more of an audience for the Monsters compared to the Jackets even with the Monsters playing here.

^That game when the monsters were on (last Tuesday) I don't think the Jackets were on FSO.  MOST of their games are on FSO, but not all.  However, if there's a Cavs game the same night as a Jackets game the Cavs game will for sure be on over the Jackets.  In West Central Ohio my Dad has two Fox Sports channels... FSN and FSO.  I think the Cavs are on FSN and the Jackets on FSO.  Don't have that luxury in Cleveland.

That last Tuesday game was one of the few non-televised games.  I think something like 75 of the 82 games are on FSO. 

 

I don't know how your Cleveland area cable provider handles game conflicts, but our Central Ohio Time Warner provider will broadcast the Blue Jackets game on the regular FSO channel and then show the Cavs game on an alternate channel.  Also, my dad has a satellite system that has a Fox Sports Ohio channel and a Fox Sports Cincinnati channel.  Most of the time they duplicate programming, except during Cavs/Blue Jackets conflicts.  Then the Blue Jackets are on FSO and the Cavs are on FS-Cincy.

The Blue Jackets hit their bump in this season during this week's four game western road trip.  The Jackets lose 6-3 Tuesday at Calgary and 6-4 Thursday at Edmonton.  The uncharacteristicly high amount of goals were given up against starting goalie Mason on Tuesday and backup Garon on Thursday.

The loss last night hurt.  Up 4-1 in the second, the Jackets give up 5 unanswered goals on their way to a 6-4 loss.  This team will be ok.  They seem to be a much better team this year than they were last year.  They seem to play faster and more crisp and charge the net more than I've seen in previous years.  The defense had also been playing well up until recently.  I'm still very excited for this team and expect to see some good things this year.

The Jackets split the back-to-back weekend road games by winning 6-4 at Anaheim and losing 6-2 against the L.A. Kings.  This leaves Columbus at 6-4 after 10 games.  Not bad considering 7 of those 10 were all western road games.  But the large amounts of goals given up by the defense is becoming alarming.  Still work to be done and get well Jan Hejda.

 

The Jackets return to the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena to play host to Phoenix on Wednesday and the reigning Stanley Cup Champs Pittsburgh on Friday.

The Blue Jackets slump continues.  They looked bad losing 4-1 to Phoenix on Wednesday.  They looked much better against the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins tonight, taking a 3-1 lead deep into the third period.  Then the Penguins scored two goals in 39 seconds inside of three minutes remaining.  The game goes into overtime and the shootout where the Penguins win. 

an interview with R.J. Umberger

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Daddy-chats-with-Jackets-R-J-Umberger-abo;_ylt=AiFuMw_EZ1Xa.L82dMKX0MN7vLYF?urn=nhl,199290

Pretty amazing 5-4 OT win at Washington yesterday.  Torres and Umberger each got two goals.  Nash bookended the scoring with some dazzling individual puck handling for the Jackets first goal and with a great pass to Umberger's stick for the overtime goal.

Pretty amazing 5-4 OT win at Washington yesterday. Torres and Umberger each got two goals. Nash bookended the scoring with some dazzling individual puck handling for the Jackets first goal and with a great pass to Umberger's stick for the overtime goal.

 

That was a great win yesterday, but I am still bitter about that loss to the pitts on Friday.

Reliable Hejda to return tonight for Jackets

Defenseman sorely missed during absence

Wednesday,  November 4, 2009 - 3:13 AM

By Tom Reed, The Columbus Dispatch

 

Blue Jackets defenseman Jan Hejda became a lot more noticeable in his absence.  His teammates learned that strange truth over the past three weeks.  It's why they eagerly await his return to the lineup tonight against San Jose in Nationwide Arena.  "You don't always think about Jan out there, and I mean that in a good way," Jackets captain Rick Nash said.  "He's always in position and never making mistakes. You don't notice him until he's gone, and then you realize how good he really is."

 

The Jackets were 4-1-0 with a 2.20 goals-against average when Hejda suffered a sprained left knee Oct. 13 against Calgary.  In his absence, they went 3-4-1, surrendering 4.25 goals per game and squandering four third-period leads.

 

Full story at http://www.bluejacketsxtra.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/11/04/jackets_11-4.ART_ART_11-04-09_C1_2BFIJTA.html?sid=101

This is great news about Jan Hejda returning earlier than expected to the lineup.  He is a player who rarely shows up in the stats, but is so important to the Blue Jackets success. 

 

Also, I found a video of Nash's great goal during Sunday's game at Washington.  Just dazzling.

 

Saw this in the Cincinnati Enquirer ... what's up?

Could Columbus lose Blue Jackets?

BY JOANNE VIVIANO • THE ASSOCIATED PRESS • NOVEMBER 5, 2009

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Columbus may have trouble holding on to the NHL's Blue Jackets because the club has been losing $12 million a year in central Ohio, according to a report released Thursday by a business group.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091105/SPT/311050036/1062/Could+Columbus+lose+Blue+Jackets?

 

 

 

Saw this in the Cincinnati Enquirer ... what's up?

Could Columbus lose Blue Jackets?

BY JOANNE VIVIANO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NOVEMBER 5, 2009

There is a revenue sharing issue between the Blue Jackets and Nationwide Arena that first popped up in June 2009.  The Columbus Chamber of Commerce released a report on this yesterday that is the source of this article.  I have been posting these articles over at the Columbus: Arena District developments & news thread in the Central Ohio projects section.  See this post for more information. 

 

Obviously this is a serious issue for the Blue Jackets.  But will it cause the Jackets to leave town?  Highly unlikely.  The Jackets have good public support, good team management, and most importantly, good support from local government.  Eventually there will be something worked out to modify the Jackets arena lease and/or provide some additonal revenue support for the team.  This is just the normal negotiating that occurs, despite the headlines. 

 

That said, I would prefer that the Blue Jackets / Nationwide Arena lease issue be discussed at the Arena District news thread.  This thread is for on-ice Blue Jackets news.  I kind of feel like Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock when asked about this issue in the article Jackets notebook: Moving not on their minds - Hitchcock, players keep focus on ice, not arena issues.  Coach Hitchcock: "I've seen this all the time: the discussions you get into regarding the cost of running an arena.  I saw it in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.  I've seen it everywhere and it always gets worked out." 

 

My opinion is that this is pretty common in the expansion era NHL.

Pretty strong week for the Blue Jackets.  They tied the best in the west San Jose on Wednesday at home - but were denied a second point in the overtime shootout.  Followed up with a next night road win at Atlanta.  And finshed with a Saturday night home win against Carolina. 

 

Jan Hejda returned to the lineup on Wednesday and looks unaffected by his knee injury.  Mason looks to be back to the form he showed in his rookie season.  And Nash just keeps on scoring.  A goal last night gives him 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 16 games.  The Jackets are still on top of the Central Division with a 9-5-2 record and 20 points after 16 games.  The Detroit Red Wings come to town on Wednesday.

The Blue Jackets are a struggling hockey team right now.  But despite this they still managed two wins in their last three home games.  After a horrible blowout loss against the Red Wings, the Jackets recovered with two straight 3-2 OT shootout wins against Anaheim and Edmonton.  Even more surprising is that the two wins came with backup goalie Mathieu Garon in the net. 

 

They will need to be much better during the upcoming road stretch.  The Jackets start a five game road trip that begins this Thursday in Dallas and ends on Thanksgiving Day in Ottawa.

In other Blue Jackets news - you might want to remove Nikita Filatov from your fantasy hockey team!

 

Filatov leaving Blue Jackets

Russian rookie headed back to homeland

Updated: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 2:54 PM

By Aaron Portzline and Tom Reed

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Rookie left winger Nikita Filatov is leaving the Blue Jackets to return to his native Russia, The Dispatch has learned.  The Blue Jackets today reached a one-year loan agreement with CSKA-Moscow of the Continental Hockey League.  The Blue Jackets have been assured that Filatov will return to Columbus next fall for training camp.  They own Filatov's NHL rights through at least the 2016-17 season.

 

Many expected Filatov, 19, to challenge for the Calder Memorial Trophy, given each season to the NHL's top rookie.  But he has found it difficult to earn the trust of Hitchcock, who has earned a reputation during his long coaching career of making life difficult for young players.  In 19 games this season, Filatov was a healthy scratch six times, including yesterday's 3-2 shootout win over Edmonton.  When he has dressed, Filatov has averaged 8 minutes, 7 seconds of ice time, ahead of only fourth-liners Jared Boll and Mike Blunden.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/11/17/1117cbjup.html?sid=101

I had no idea that NHL teams could reach loan agreements like they do in professional soccer.

The Blue Jackets began their five game road stretch with an outstanding 4-1 win at Dallas.  Mason returns to the net and plays great.  Columbus capitalizes on Dallas penalties and score three powerplay goals.  Two powerplay goals during a five minute major penalty during the second period.  Huselius gets two goals, including a beautiful shorthanded goal scored with 0.3 seconds left in the first period. 

The Jackets have been on the receiving end of some extremely hard hits in the last two games - even by hockey standards.  Below is a video showing a hit by Dallas Stars James Neal on CBJ's Derek Dorsett.  Neal comes in from across ice to elbow Dorsett in the head while his head is turned to the glass.  Dorsett's head hits the glass hard and was knocked out.  Neal received a five minute major, a game misconduct ejection and a follow-up two-game suspension.

 

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

I couldn't find any video of the next hit during Saturday's game at Nashville.  But I did find a description of it from Nashville's paper - THE TENNESSEAN:

"Predators forward Wade Belak didn't see the ice in the third period of Saturday's 4-3 shootout win over Columbus, after taking an undisciplined penalty that led to a Blue Jackets goal.  The Predators were leading 3-2 with less than two minutes left in the second period when Blue Jackets forward Jared Boll hammered Belak into the sideboards.  Belak responded by putting his stick between the legs of Boll and lifting it into Boll's groin.  Belak was called for hooking, and the Blue Jackets scored a game-tying, power-play goal with 58 seconds left in the second period.  "That was a bad penalty,'' Predators Coach Barry Trotz said. "I talked to Beaks about that between periods, very straightforward. It was unnecessary."

 

Talk about taking one for the team!  Despite the shot to the balls, Boll will be fine.  However, Dorsett returned to Columbus and was placed on IR.  Hopefully he recovers soon.

 

The Blue Jackets slide into Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers tonight.  They travel to Montreal for a game tomorrow.  And they will finish their five-game road trip on Thanksgiving Day at Ottawa.

After beginning their season-long five game road trip with an outstanding 4-1 at Dallas, the Jackets fell into a season-high five game losing funk.  Three straight regulation losses and two straight overtime shootout losses.  The last one at home on Saturday was the hardest to take.  Full house, white out night crowd at Nationwide Arena.  The Jackets held a 3-1 lead with six minutes left before giving two quick goals to Calgary.  Holding leads has been the biggest problem for the Jackets this year.  In all the recent road losses the Jackets had at least one or two goal leads. 

 

If the Jackets can solve their defensive problems, they could go on a winning streak.  Tonight would be a good time to start.  The Jackets host St. Louis at Nationwide.  Starting tonight, the next 7 of 10 games are home games.

The Jackets halted their five-game losing streak with an impressive 5-2 victory over St. Louis last night.  R.J. Umberger got a hat trick on an empty net final goal.  A great all around game for the team.

 

A dark cloud over the victory was a pretty severe looking injury to key defenseman Rusty Kleska.  Kleska got tangled up with a St. Louis player near the boards.  Though it didn't look bad initially, Kleska stayed down on the ice for a long time before being assisted to the locker room.  Kleska clearly couldn't put any weight on his left leg.  During the replays it showed that the St. Louis player was knocked off his skates by Kleska and then landed with his full weight onto Kleska while his left leg was extended.  More about his injury here.

 

The Jackets travel to Chicago for an 8PM match tonight against the Blackhawks, broadcast on the Versus network.

The Jackets earned a point at Chicago last night with a regulation tie.  Only to lose the second point in a heartbreaking 11 round shootout.  Great entertainment but I wish we could have stolen that second point. 

 

Found a video of the shootout on youtube.  Both goaltenders made stellar saves, but the Blackhawks Huet made one more great save then Mason.  Check out how upset Mason is at the 9:21 mark!  Can't say I blame him.  He is 0-5 in shootouts - it's been that kind of season for him so far.

 

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

The Jackets suffered another shootout loss - this time against Phoenix last night.  This was the fifth shootout loss in the last 15 games for the Jackets.  The team is in a terrible funk right now - getting only two wins in the last 15 games for a 2-8-5 record since Nov. 19.  The Jackets are now at a season low record of 14-14-7. 

 

After a great start to the season and some high expectations, this prolonged slump is starting to effect the fan base.  Fans are wondering if the team is tuning out the coach.  Not only local fans but general hockey fans too.  An article from The Hockey Writers website, "The Young and the Restless — Blue Jackets, Hitchcock Seek Common Ground", addresses the current team dilemma.

WTF is happening to the BJ's 7 loses in a row...are you kidding me!  Havent seen many of the games, been busy.  Any reason for the drop off?

 

Make it 8 losses in a row after the game in Dallas last night. 

 

There's no good reason for the drop off from last year.  Essentially the same roster as last year's playoff team.  But the defense isn't preventing good shots on goalie Mason.  And Mason isn't stopping those shots like last year. 

 

Read more at Power Rankings: Winter meltdown

I'm with sheady!  Can't believe how they are doing!  I had so much hope last year.

well the good news is there is nothing to get excited about the nhl anyway. otoh the 2010 ncaa frozen four is nearby in detroit and that is always great.

 

I was plenty excited about the NHL before the Jackets season started circling the drain.  The 2-1 loss at Detroit on Saturday brings the current losing streak to nine - which ties a team record.  FWIW, the Jackets host Detroit at Nationwide tonight and the game is on Versus. 

I wonder how this is affecting attendance?  Or more importantly the options to get the stadium refinanced?  I would imagine it will be a tougher sell on a tax bailout.