You say "the defense is pretty sound and mostly healthy," but they've still been giving up a tremendous amount of shots on goal; only Bob's insane save percentage has been able to be the equalizer.  Maybe that's just because the offense is so depleted that we can't keep the puck in the opponent's zone for long stretches, and they can to us

 

That's much of it.  Another big part of our depleted offense is several missing centers.  Last season we had Dubinsky, Anisimov, Letestu and MacKenzie as our centers taking the lion's share of the faceoffs.  All of them were over 50 percent in faceoff wins (some well over 50%).  This season all four those centers have been mostly unavailable due to injury (D-Mac left to sign w/ FLA).  This season's centers have averaged under 50% in faceoff wins.

 

Losing faceoffs both hurts the offense and the defense.  A defensive zone faceoff loss gives possession to the other team for SOG's and scoring chances.  An offensive zone faceoff loss takes away our SOG's and scoring chances.  And when this happens,  only good goaltending and good defensive play can make up the difference.

... but regardless of the reason, that's one reason I keep seeing the other shoe dropping at some point.

 

Reversion to the mean, the other shoe dropping or just a bad game against a good team with a top goaltender?  We'll find out more after the Christmas Break.  First regulation loss in December for the CBJ:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2014/12/22/7438899/game-33-recap-bah-humbug

The Jackets gave us an after-Christmas present with a stunning 6-2 win over the big bad Bruins last night: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2014/12/27/7455853/game-34-recap

 

Scott Hartnell returns to the lineup after missing two weeks with a broken finger. (YAY)  Bobrovsky was a late scratch because of a stomach illness. (BOO)  Backup Curtis McElhinney started in the net and Anton Forsberg got an emergency recall from Springfield to be C-Mac's backup.  ---  The Jackets traded goals in the first period with Hartnell scoring first and then the Bruins equalizing only 20 seconds later.  Then Hartnell scored his second goal of the night 51 seconds into the second period (man it's great to have Harty back).  Which set the stage for the rest of the second period madness.

 

Two minutes later Bruin forward/cheap shot artist Milan Lucic "got his revenge" against CBJ defenseman Dalton Prout.  (Prout got Lucic with a punch to his jaw that buckled Lucic to his knees when last CBJ & BOS met.)  In this game Lucic ambushed Prout into a fight when the puck and all the action was at the other end of the ice.  Though Lucic had the advantage with the ambush, Prout held his own until the fight ended.  ---  Despite Lucic getting his "revenge", the fight seemed to energize the Jackets instead.  ---  The Jackets scored the next two goals.  Then traded goals with Boston to finish this wild middle period with a 5-2 lead.  ---  The final CBJ goal coming in the final minute on an amazing offensive zone shift from Matt Calvert.  The 5'9" Calvert just crushed 6'3" Lucic against the glass then tracks down the loose puck to let loose a slap-shot for a goal!

 

The final period saw the CBJ tack on one more goal when Jeremy Morin got his first goal as a Blue Jacket.  Overall, a dominating team performance by the Jackets.  Backup goalie McElhinney was solid, after a shaky start.  Hartnell got 2 goals in his return.  Connauton continued his amazing run with 1 goal and 2 assists.  But my player-of-the-game goes to Matt Calvert - 1 goal & 1 assist plus an offensive team high 21:33 of ice time(!) on 30 shifts.  Box score: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400563753

 

Unfortunately, one of reasons Calvert got this extra ice time was because of injuries to 2 other forwards (of course).  On Cam Atkinson's second shift of the game, he took a hard hit into the boards and would not return.  Then Jack Skille left early in the second period after taking a puck to the head/face and would not return.  No word on the status of either player as of this posting.  ---  But that's been this season for the CBJ: return one injured forward, then lose two fowards during the same game!  ---  Some good news on Bobrovsky though.  Goaltender Forsberg was reassigned to Springfield after last night's game.  So it would appear that Bob's "stomach illness" has "passed". :laugh:

Last night's win puts the CBJ at 15-16-3.  They'll close out this current home stand and 2014 with a New Year's Eve tilt against Minnesota.  After that the CBJ have a central/mountain time zone road trip:

 

- Sat 1/3/2015 at Arizona (13-18-4; 14th in the West)

- Sun 1/4 at Colorado (13-14-8; 13th in the West)

- Tue 1/6 at Dallas (15-14-5; 12th in the West)

 

Not exactly a murderers row of western conference teams.  Plus, Minnesota is 16-13-4; 11th in the west.  So these next four games are all winnable/pointable games for the CBJ.  And they'll need all the wins/points they can get.  Because, despite winning 8 of their last 10 games, the Jackets are still 9 points behind the 8th-place playoff spot in the East.

Yeah.  But I'm still glad to see that the team is not just tanking and using the injuries as a perfectly plausible excuse--that they're still going out there and fighting to win games (and quite often doing so against the best in the NHL, too), and still fighting like a team that wants to make the playoffs and, at least for the moment, still believes it can.  But like you said, we've still dug ourselves a nasty hole to climb out of ... and our recent winning run still isn't as long as the prior losing run, and we've still got a bunch of salary sitting on the bench.

Nice 3-1 win over Minny on New Year's Eve.  That win capped off a 10-1-1 record in December, which ties a franchise record for wins in a month.  That win also brings the CBJ to .500 (16-16-3).  Which is the good news.  The bad news is at 35 points, the Jackets are still 9 points behind the playoff line in the East, with about 45 percent of the season played.

 

Still, like Gramarye said, its good to see this team fighting to make the playoffs and win games.  Its a steep climb, but over half the season is remaining.

One of the main reasons the Jackets went 10-1-1 in December was the goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky.  Bob was named one of the NHL's three stars of December.  For the month, Bob went 9-1-1 in 11 appearances, with a 2.14 goals-against average, .937 save percentage and one shutout.  He also helped the CBJ win 4 shootouts in the month.

 

Another standout player for the Jackets had been forward Nick Foligno.  Foligno was acquired three seasons ago via trade with Ottawa.  His first CBJ season was the strike-shortened 2012-13 year.  Last season Foligno had a career-high 18 goals in 70 games (while going through some scary medical issues involving his newborn daughter that year).  This year Foligno already has 17 goals in only 34 games.  He leads the team in goals and is tied with Johansen for team-lead in points.

 

Beyond the stats, Foligno has emerged as a team leader over last year and through this year's injury-ravaged season.  No CBJ win is now complete without a post-win on-ice hug between Bob and Foligno! --- Nick comes from an NHL family.  His father, Mike, played over 1000 NHL games and is currently an assistant coach for NJ.  His younger brother, Marcus, plays for Buffalo. --- Nick is 27 and on the final year of a 3-year, $9.15 million contract he signed after being traded to Columbus back in 2012.

 

Nick played his 500th NHL game on New Year's Eve.  And it was on New Year Eve's that the Blue Jackets announced a six-year, $33 million contract extension with Foligno.  At an average of $5.5 million/year, this new contract is the type of core-player contract the CBJ signed Dubinsky to last summer.  Like Dubinsky, the Jackets have decided to build their future around Foligno.

 

More about Foligno's 6-year contract extension at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/1/7477381/foligno-signing-strengthens-blue-jackets-core

- Sat 1/3 at Arizona (13-18-4; 14th in the West) -- Awful 6-3 loss; Bob gets pulled in the 3rd; Jackets fall below .500

 

- Sun 1/4 at Colorado (13-14-8; 13th in the West) -- Gritty 4-3 win with C-Mac in the net; good team effort but the Jackets should feel like they stole two points here; Dubinsky gets his first 2 goals of this season; Savard's defensive mistakes led to the first two COL goals; then Savvy gets the game-winner with 1:01 left in regulation

 

- Tue 1/6 at Dallas (15-14-5; 12th in the West) -- Top quality 4-2 win for the CBJ (except for letting DAL back into it after racing to a 3-0 lead); Atkinson back in lineup after missing 3 games with shoulder injury; Letestu back in lineup after missing two months - and scores the final CBJ goal of the night; former DAL d-men Connauton scores (his 6th fty) in his first game against the team that let him go via waivers.

 

- So the Jackets won the game at Dallas.  The CBJ are now 18-17-3.  First time over .500 since October. 

 

But Connauton, with his career 44-games at Dallas, "won" even before the game started with this tweet:

 

Kevin Connauton @KConnauton  ·  2 days ago

@DallasStars during which TV timeout will my tribute video be played?

 

Well played sir.  Well played indeed.

Hah!  Solid.  A scoring defenseman is great to have.

 

Just Googled and Connauton's contract is $650k.  If he keeps up this pace for the rest of the season, that will be some of the cheapest production we've ever hired.  His contract is $800k next year and I have a sneaky suspicion we're going to end up paying it.  (RFA after that.)

The World Junior Championships (WJC) in hockey is an annual event held for all junior-level hockey players.  This generally means players ages 16-19.  Junior League games are huge in many Canadian cities (plus a few American cites like Erie PA, Saginaw MI and Plymouth Twp MI in the Detroit Metro who are part of the Ontario Hockey League).  The NHL has a rule that drafted players cannot play in the AHL (the NHL's minor league) until they reach age 20.  This means that drafted players must either play for their NHL team or play for their Junior League team.  Since most newly drafted players are not ready for the NHL, this means alot of talented 18 and 19-year-olds playing Junior League hockey.

 

I don't normally watch the WJC, but the Blue Jackets had four prospects playing on three different teams in this tournament.  Plus the NHL Network was showing all the U.S. and Team Canada games.  So I starting tuning in.  The WJC format is like the Olympics.  The U.S. advanced from group play and was eliminated in the Quarterfinals by Russia.  Russia and Canada advanced to the final game, which was played on Monday.  More at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/6/7499861/2015-world-junior-championships-canada-wins-gold --- Really glad I saw that championship game, it was an epic final. --- Canada races to a 5-1 lead in the second period.  Over the rest of the game, Russia kept chipping away at that lead until in was 5-4 in the third.  But Canada held on to win 5-4, including during the final minute with a pulled Russian goalie for an extra attacker.  Did I mention the tournament was being held this year in Canada?  Joy for Canada in Toronto!

 

What really impressed me was the high level of play.  Sure, this was an all-star version of typical junior hockey.  But the speed and physical pace of these games came very close to NHL-quality.  Plus playing on the home ice of Toronto and Montreal in front of capacity crowds help give this "NHL" impression.  The four Columbus Blue Jackets prospects showed well in this tournament.  Here is a rundown on them:

 

- Forward Sonny Milano was the Jackets 1st-round pick (#16 overall) in 2014.  He currently plays for Plymouth in the Ontario Hockey League.  Milano played for the U.S. and finished with 2-2-4 in five games.  He was a constant offensive threat on the U.S. top line and on the power-play.  Milano shows a need to round out his game defensively, but his puck handling abilities are amazing.

 

- Defenseman Ryan Collins was the Jackets 2nd-round pick (#47 overall) in 2014.  Collins is a 6'5" 205 lb freshman at the Univ. of Minnesota.  Collins was a seventh defenseman for the U.S. team.  In junior hockey, teams can play 7 defensemen, instead of only 6 in the NHL and AHL.  So Collins got to rotate in.  He had no goals or assists in the WJC.  But he was reliable and solid in his classic stay-at-home defense role.

 

- Defenseman Dillon Heatherington of Canada was the Jackets 2nd-round pick (#50 overall) in 2013.  Heatherington is a 6'3' 196 lb d-man with the Swift Current of the Western Hockey League.  Much like Collins, Heatherington rugged stay-at-home defenseman.  He played that role on Canada's third d-line, with no goals or assist in the WJC, but helped the home team get their gold medal.

 

- Forward Oliver Bjorkstrand of Denmark was the Jackets 3rd-round pick (#89 overall) in 2013.  Denmark was not one of the tournament favorites, but did manage to reach to Quarterfinals before being eliminated.  Bjorkstrand was an offensive force for the Danes.  He finished the WJC with 4-1-5 in five games and was named one of Denmark's top three players in the tournament.

I see a poll had been added at the top of the page asking "How many games will the Blue Jackets win in the 2014-2015 season?".  I didn't add the poll.  If I did I would have asked how many points the Jackets would get this season.  It's a small difference, but the point total determines NHL standings, not just wins.

 

But we can go with wins in the poll.  For some context, here are the most recent season records for the CBJ.  All but one season is the standard 82-game regular season.  The stats are W-L-OTL: Wins (2pts) - Losses (0pts) - Overtime or Shootout Losses (1pt for OT/SO loss):

 

2013-14:  43-32-7  (93 pts) - 82 gms - finished 7th in Eastern Conference - made playoffs

2012-13:  24-17-7  (55 pts) - 48 gm strike shortened season - 9th in Western Conf. - missed playoffs by tiebreak

2011-12:  29-46-7  (65 pts) - 82 gms - finished 15th in Western Conference and dead last 30th in the league

2010-11:  34-35-13 (81 pts) - 82 gms - 13th in Western Conference

2009-10:  32-35-15 (79 pts) - 82 gms - 14th in Western Conference

2008-09:  41-31-10 (92 pts) - 82 gms -  7th in Western Conference - made playoffs

 

This season, the CBJ are 18-17-3 (39 pts) thru 38 games.  They have 44 games remaining to play, including tonight's game at Toronto.

The Jackets started this 4-game road swing with clunker loss at Arizona - then put together two wins - and ended it with a clunker loss at Toronto last night.  CBJ's back to .500 (18-18-3). :-(

 

But the news yesterday wasn't all bad.  Before yesterday's game, the Blue Jackets announced they signed goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to a four-year contract extension. :-)

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/9/7522757/jackets-sign-sergei-bobrovsky-to-4-year-extension

 

http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=747811

 

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/09/bobrovsky-signs-four-year-29-7-million-extension-with-jackets/

 

This four-year extension (which starts next season) has a average yearly salary of $7.425 million.  Maybe a bit higher than some thought (Bob is on the final year of a 2-year, $5.625 million/year deal).  But the new 4-year term is just right (not too long, not too short).  And the 7-8 mil range is the going rate for a franchise-quality NHL goaltender. --- But maybe the best part of this new deal, is that it got done now.  Not during the off-season.  So no Johansen-type negotations to go through again.

The on-ice news hasn't been too great with the Jackets dropping their last two games.  But the off-ice news has been much better.

 

First, Bob's contract extension.  Now, the announcement that three CBJ players will be on the NHL All-Star roster:

 

 

Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen, and Sergei Bobrovsky will be representing the Blue Jackets in the upcoming All-Star Game to be played in Columbus on January 25th:

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/10/7526181/3-blue-jackets-named-to-2015-nhl-all-star-game-roster/in/7282062

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/11/7528331/blue-jackets-all-stars-what-youre-saying-on-twitter

Even better CBJ All-Star news just in:  Nick Foligno has been named captain of the home team - now known as Team Foligno - for the upcoming NHL All Star Game.  Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews will captain the other squad.

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/14/7546581/nick-foligno-named-captain-of-home-team-at-2015-nhl-all-star-game

The All-Star Weekend is over:

 

- Nick Foligno had a great All-Star Weekend.  He got to captain the home team that he and his alternates drafted on Friday (see that here).

- Ryan Johansen had an even better All-Star Weekend.  He was a stand-out in Saturday's Skills Competition (see that here).

- Unfortunately, Sergei Bobrovsky suffered a groin injury on Wednesday - the Jackets final game before the All-Star break!  That meant no All-Star Game for Bob and no All-Star Hugs for Bob and Foligno.  What a disappointment!!!

 

Despite this, the All-Star Game was a huge success for Columbus and the Blue Jackets.  Lots of fun for everyone.  Go see the ASG thread for more.

So.  Now its time to start up the season again.  No Bob for 4 to 6 weeks.  Anton Forsberg has been recalled from Springfield to backup Curtis McElhinney:  http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/26/bobrovsky-out-4-6-weeks-jackets-recall-goalie-forsberg/

 

The CBJ are 20-22-3 going into the unofficial second half of the regular season (45 games played / 37 games remaining).  This is similar to their records in the past two seasons - when they went on fantastic runs to make the playoffs last season and barely miss the playoffs via tiebreak two seasons ago.  But this season is different because of . . . INJURIES.

 

In this "season of the injury", Bob's 4-to-6 week injury looks like the final blow to the Blue Jackets season.  Although the CBJ record is similar to the past two seasons, their playoff position is not.  Columbus is 14 points behind the playoff line - currently held by the Washington Capitals, whom the Jackets face tonight.

 

It's estimated that the CBJ would need to go 24-9-4 or better down the stretch to have a decent shot at earning a playoff berth.  That's a tall order for any team.  Particularly for a team that been decimated by injuries and is now missing their top goaltender.  C-Mac's been playing well lately and Forsberg was a AHL All-Star for Springfield.  But, this looks like too steep of a climb this season.

 

Regardless, the team should give it their best shot and play hard.  Just don't expect any miracles.  And if we don't reach the playoffs this season - at least we had the All-Star Game!

The real question is: Do we effectively toss in the towel and go into sell mode, or do we keep fighting with largely the personnel we have now for what will likely be a finish 2-4 spots below the playoff line?  I saw a BR column pushing to go into sell mode, but I'm really not so sure.  This looks like a pretty good club to carry into next season if we can only get everyone healthy (with the likely exception of Horton :-(), and reasonably young, too.  I'd hate to see us start selling assets to contenders at this point and break up what seems to be a pretty good thing.

Well, it looks like it's time to give up on the playoffs for this season.  The Jackets followed the ASG break with a nice home win over Washington, then two road losses in Florida.  The 0.4% chance they had to make the playoffs at the ASG break (according to a NHL probability site) is now approaching zero.

 

So Gramarye raises a good question.  Does the CBJ just go into sell mode or keep fighting with the personnel we have now?  Personally, I would guess the latter for the following reasons:

 

- Injuries scuttled this season, not poor personnel.  So there's no reason to dump older players by the trading deadline and go with a youth movement.  Plus, the current roster isn't really set up to do this.  The Jackets "veterans" are either just reaching their prime years (Dubinsky, Foligno, Bobrovsky, Anisimov) or getting to their prime years (Johansen, Calvert, Atkinson) or are just getting their NHL careers started (Jenner, Murray, Wennberg).  Out of all these players, only Atkinson and Calvert seem vulnerable to being traded.

 

- This leaves only a few players with expiring UFA contracts that other teams might want (Letestu, Leopold) and an older veteran w/o expiring contract (Hartnell).  Extra defenseman Leopold (who was acquired with a 5th-round pick during the worst of the d-man injury wave in Nov.) will likely be let go for a 5th-7th round pick.  Letestu would bring a bit more, but the CBJ would probably like to re-sign him.  Hartnell is the kind of gritty veteran the CBJ would like to keep around.

 

- The current glut of defenseman might yield some trades.  Leopold (discussed above), Prout and Goloubef are all healthy scratch extra d-men on the roster, now that Murray has returned from his knee injury and with the emergence of Connauton.  Prout and Goloubef are RFA's at season's end.  Trading either of them at the trading deadline or during the off-season might yield only a mid-round pick for each.

 

- But the biggest reason to stay pat with the (mostly) current roster is we've got alot of players returning from injuries.  Dubinsky, Anisimov and Letestu are back.  Murray is back.  Jenner should be back in a few weeks.  It would be more helpful to have these players regain their timing and play as a team for the sake of future seasons than letting them continue to sit idle.

 

- Plus, the Jackets are already in decent position for the 2015 draft.  Here are the full league standings: http://espn.go.com/nhl/standings/_/group/1.  As of this posting on 2/3/15, the Jackets are 26th (five spots from last place).  However, the bottom four teams (Arizona, Carolina, Edmonton and Buffalo) are probably going to remain in the bottom four.  They've had a big head start on losing.  The CBJ are likely to finish somewhere between a low of the #5 pick to a high of a #9 pick.  Which is not bad, given the depth of talent in the upcoming draft.

 

However, with all that said, the Jackets (26th) face Arizona (27th) in Nationwide tonight.  A loss against 'Zona would put us only 1 point ahead of them (though the CBJ still hold 2 games-in-hand over the 'Yotes).  So let's just see how this plays out until the March 2 trade deadline.

Well, the CBJ lost to Arizona in Nationwide on Tuesday.  So the Jackets are now tied in points with Arizona for 26th/27th place overall, though the Jackets now hold 3-games-in-hand over 'Zona going into tonight's game.

 

Or, to look at it another way - the Jackets are now tied for the 4th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.  Which logically leads to articles like this:

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/2/5/7982881/2015-nhl-draft-who-should-the-columbus-blue-jackets-pick

Let me set the stage for last night's CBJ game against the St. Louis Blues:

 

- STL is near the top of the western conference point standings; they were on a 7-game winning streak (plus winners in 9 of 10 previous games)

- CBJ is near the bottom of the eastern conference point standings; on a 3-game losing streak; and their previous game was a lackluster 4-1 loss in Arizona, a team at the bottom of the western conference standings

 

So, everything was set up to produce an ugly blowout game last night.  And in fact, it was.  But not the way it "should have gone":  http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400564588 and http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/2/7/7994817/game-50-recap-inexplicable

 

Instead, it was the Jackets who raced out to a 4-0 lead by mid-second period, chasing the STL goalie to the bench, on their way to 7-1 blowout win for the CBJ!  Foligno broke his scoring draught with two goals to reach 20 total for the season.  Hartnell also broke a draught with a goal to reach 11 for the season.  Johansen got one to reach the 20-goal mark.  Atkinson and Calvert each chipped in a goal.  Even 4th-line grinder Corey Tropp got a goal - his 1st of the season in 36 games played!  ---  But even in this feel-good blow-out win, the "Season of Injuries" reared its head again.  Late in the third period, d-men Wisniewski and Murray each got injured and will not make the trip to Ottawa for tonight's game due to lower-body injuries.

 

Wiz got struck by a puck while defending a shot.  No further word on the severity of his injury - these can range anywhere from missing a game to missing a month, so we'll wait and see.  --- Murray's injury looked more troubling.  It occurred when Murray was on his knees with his legs sticking out behind him.  Johansen then fell onto Murray's left leg!  (UGH!)  This was not the right leg/knee that Murray had two surgeries on this season.  But after the incident, Murray couldn't place his weight on his left leg as he was helped to the bench and locker room.  Murray (and the CBJ) just can't catch a break on the injury front!!!

Speaking of this "Season of Injuries":  I found a couple of interesting graphical representations of just how bad the injuries have been for the CBJ this season.  This is from the comments section at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/2/4/7976515/should-hctr-be-under-fire

 

The comments section had a link to a twitter feed at https://twitter.com/LW3H that contained these two graphics posted below.  We commonly hear about the 300+ man-games lost by the CBJ to-date.  And it's the most in the NHL with Colorado next in the 260's.  But another figure known as CHIP (Cap Hit of Injured Players), shows another level of injury severity to the CBJ.  The CHIP (Cap Hit of Injured Players) totals the salary of the injured players for each team.  It's similar to the man-games-lost number but adds in the per game salaries.  The higher the number, the more higher paid (and thus important) players lost by each team:

 

 

The CBJ not only have the highest CHIP (Cap Hit of Injured Players) of any team, but their CHIP for forwards alone outpaces every other team's total, except for three!

 

Below is another chart from that twitter feed which shows a "Heat Chart of Injuries" per team:  Green is fully healthy -- Less green is less healthy -- Yellow to Orange to Red indicates lessening levels of team health (i.e. greater amount of injuries). --- Guess which team does not have even one green square on their line?

The CBJ won their second-straight impressive victory with a 4-1 win at Ottawa last night.  A great "success", or "failure" depending on if one believes the CBJ need to lose for a better draft position over late-season winning.  And this win did move Columbus over Ottawa in the standings (and conversely, below Ottawa in the upcoming draft).

 

No more word on Wiz's injury.  But, the team officially announced the extent of Ryan Murray's:  4 to 6 weeks with a high-ankle sprain.  Because, of course, "Season of Injuries".

Great finds on those graphs.  I love that kind of graphical data, though of course, I don't exactly like what the data is showing.  But I like how it's showing it, anyway! :-\

Quick injury update:  Wiz back in lineup; Bob might be back by end of month; GM sez Murray and Jenner have not been shutdown for the season.

 

And our leading goal scorer Nick Foligno is out of the lineup (day-to-day) with a lower-body injury, because #SeasonofInjuries

Given where they are in the standings and the lateness of the season, the only role the CBJ will likely play in this year's playoff race is the role of spoiler.  Well, if its a spoiler's role is all that's left, then let's play it for all it's worth.  Up first is Philadelphia.

 

The CBJ were without leading goal scorer Foligno and the Flyers were desperately needing the two points at home.  So you'd expect Philly to come out with a sense of urgency.  You'd be wrong, because it was the Jackets up 2-0 (on goals from Wiz and Johansen) only seven minutes into the first period.  The Flyers showed more life in the second (outshooting the CBJ 20-6) and tied it up 2-2 with two goals in the final three minutes of the second period. --- But it was the Jackets who finished the game with a stronger third period, scoring twice on goals from Calvert and Dubinsky to go up 4-2.  Calvert added an empty-netter for his 2nd goal of the night to finish the 5-2 victory at Philadelphia.

 

Not only did Columbus win this game, but they also took the season series - winning 4 out of the 5 games played with Philadelphia.  If the Flyers fall short of this season's playoff race, they can point to these losses as a major reason why.  But then, Philly did take the DNC from C-BUS, so f- those guys! :-D

 

That gets the Jackets up to 25-27-3 (and 11 points behind the eastern playoff line).  Up next is a fairly murderous stretch of 3 road games in 4 nights against above-the-playoff-line eastern teams:  PIT on Thurs (on NBCSN); MONT on Sat; NYR on Sunday.

Next up on the spoiler schedule was last season's playoff foe: The Pittsburgh Penguins

 

In a nationally televised match, the CBJ came up big.  They took a 1-0 lead late in the first on a Hartnell goal.  Then the Malkin tied it 1-1 midway in the second for the Pens.  In between, Crosby got tired of Dubinsky checking him and started a fight! --- Then the Jackets took an ill-advised penalty with four minutes left in the third.  And it looked like the golden opportunity for the Pens.  Instead, the Jackets penalty kill team forced a turnover in the neutral zone.  Tyutin taps the puck to Calvert, who skates past a Pittsburgh player and gets to the goal.  Calvert's shot is stopped by Fleury, but the rebound comes out to Dubinsky who was trailing the play.  The Pittsburgh player trying to stop Calvert runs into Fleury, leaving the goal open for Dubi to net the game-winner!  Jackets win 2-1.

 

Recap w/ video: http://espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400564485

Recap w/o video: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/2/19/8073573/blue-jackets-penguins-game-56-recap-the-dubi-show

 

Dubi got 2/3 of the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick".  Hartnell, who was known as a Pens-pest in his years at PHI, comes through with another fine game.  And backup goalie Curtis McElhinney stopped 29 of 30 Pens shots and had a second straight stellar game (he stopped 42 of 44 shots in the 5-2 PHI win on Tuesday. 

 

The #SeasonofInjuries might have prevented the Jackets from reaching the playoffs.  But this spoiler thing is fun!

I also want to say this about the way Jackets have played over the last two games:

 

-- This Jackets team is as close to the Jackets team 'we thought we would have had' so far this season.  This team is not 100% healthy and is still missing Jenner, Murray, Bobrovsky and some depth players.  But it's now healthy enough to show us 'the team we should have had', instead of the injury riddled team that we did have.

Well, the spoiler tour got spoiled this weekend.  But it wasn't because the CBJ didn't play hard against two of the best teams in the East.

 

-- Saturday in Montreal, the Jackets went down 2-0 to the Habs in the first period.  Then the CBJ halved that lead with a goal in the second.  And they very nearly tied it with the last shot in that periord.  Atkinson's last second shot rang off the right post, then deflected off the left post - all while the puck straddled the goal line.  Atkinson thought he got the goal, the goal light went on, but no goal. --- With under 2 minutes left in the third, the score was still 2-1, when the Habs committed a penalty, giving the Jackets a power play.  The Jackets also pulled their goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage.  Instead of the CBJ getting the tying goal, the Habs got a short-handed empty netter to clinch their 3-1 win.

 

-- Sunday, against NYR in MSG, the Jackets spotted the Rangers 3 goals(!) before they mounted a comeback.  But it was a great comback.  Rookie Marko Dano got his 2nd goal of the season early in the second period, followed by an Anisimov goal late in the period.  Finally, it was a Savard slapshot from way outside with 4:19 left in the third to tie it up 3-3.  After a scoreless OT, the Rangers eventually won the shootout.  But not a bad showing for the Jackets.  The CBJ were on the second game of a back-to-back and travelling into NYC - while the Rangers hadn't played since Friday.

 

On a non-game related, but interesting, note:  MSG hosted two Ohio teams on Sunday.  The Cavs played the Knicks at 1PM Sunday.  That game ended at 3:15PM.  Then the MSG crew removed the basketball floor, moved the seats, uncovered the ice, and set up the rink walls and glass over the next 3 hours(!) for the CBJ/NYR 7:30PM game start.  Pretty impressive turnaround time from basketball to hockey setup!

There was one "interesting" lineup move for Sunday's game.  Veteran d-men James Wisniewski was a healthy scratch for the Rangers game.  This set off some speculation that a Wiz trade might be in the works.  But according to the GM, this is not the case:  http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/22/columbus-gm-says-theres-no-pending-wisniewski-trade/

 

Head coach Richards later said Wiz's healthy scratch was "performance related".  Although it also might be possible that they just wanted to give Wiz a rest because off the back-to-back (plus 4 games in 6 nights) and to showcase Jordan Leopold, who replaced Wiz in the lineup.  Leopold is a pending UFA that hadn't played in a while and is very likely to be traded by the coming trade deadline.  So stay tuned.

The CBJ spoiler tour went officially beyond its expiration date this week:

 

--- Tuesday, the Jackets hosted the Buffalo Sabres - the team with the worst record in the NHL.  With Bobrovsky set to return as early as this weekend, and with McElhinney having started in all the games during the last 4 in 6 nights stretch, the Jackets decided to start rookie Anton Forsberg.  "Wouldn't it be nice to beat Buffalo and get Forsberg his first-ever NHL win?", the team probably thought.

 

Well, they thought wrong.  Forsberg let in a weak shot for Buffalo's first goal midway in the first.  Then allowed a second goal during a CBJ power play, when he made a poor decision to come away from his net trying to stop a breakaway Sabre.  The Jackets halved the lead early in the second period.  But then Forsberg gave up a third goal only 42 seconds later.  Followed by a Buffalo power-play goal 2:30 minutes later to put the Sabres up 4-1.  The Jackets eventually got a second goal and then took control of the third period with an 18-to-4 shot advantage.  But by that time, Buffalo's goalie Michal Neuvrith was in the zone, stopping 45 of 47 shots for a 4-2 win.

 

--- Thursday, the Jackets hosted Montreal.  Much like Saturday's game at Montreal, the Jackets went down 2-0 to the Habs in the first period.  The CBJ halved that lead with a goal later in the first on a really nice play by Dubinsky.  But because this is #SeasonOfInjuries, Dubi got injured after scoring the goal when he was tripped up by a sliding Montreal player trying to block his shot.  Dubi got twisted around and landed HARD on his upper shoulders.  He left the game and did not return. (The Jackets went on to lose 5-2.)  After the game, the team announced Calvert suffered a concussion during this game and was out indefinitely, because #SeasonOfInjuries.

 

In other #SeasonOfInjuries news:  Jack Skille will be having season-ending shoulder surgery.  He was a UFA that many thought the Jackets would trade by the 3/2 trade deadline.  Looks like they won't now.

There was one "interesting" lineup move for Sunday's game.  Veteran d-men James Wisniewski was a healthy scratch for the Rangers game.  This set off some speculation that a Wiz trade might be in the works.  But according to the GM, this is not the case:  http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/22/columbus-gm-says-theres-no-pending-wisniewski-trade/

 

Apparently, GM Kekalainen was correct in saying that there was "no pending trade" involving Wiz.  But according to a report in the Dispatch, Wiz is actively being shopped around to other teams.  Wiz has a limited no-trade contract which gives him the right to select 10 teams to which he would not approve a trade.  The Dispatch reported Wednesday at http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2015/02/25/blue-jackets-notebook.html that the Blue Jackets requested that list from him last week.  So, once again, stay tuned.

But the biggest CBJ news came a hour prior to yesterday's game, when the Blue Jackets announced they had traded Nathan Horton to Toronto!  My initial reaction was similar to that of the Jackets Cannon: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/2/26/8118143/wait-what-nathan-horton-traded-for-david-clarkson/in/7849230

 

The injured Nathan Horton was traded to Toronto in exchange for winger David Clarkson (!)

 

-- The Jackets Cannon does a great job in breaking down this, at-first, baffling trade:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/2/27/8120481/trade-david-clarkson-nathan-horton-2015-nhl-trade-deadline

 

-- And PHT offers its take:  http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/26/trading-baggage-blue-jackets-grab-clarkson-send-hortons-contract-to-leafs/

 

Basically, it comes down to this for both teams:

 

-- For Columbus:  They trade away a player (Horton) whose career is likely over and would have cost them $26 million over the next five seasons.  The Jackets could have received salary-cap relief by putting Horton on the LTIR - but they would have still been on the hook for his full salary.  (Apparently, Horton's pre-existing shoulder injury did not allow the Jackets to obtain the standard injury insurance that most NHL contracts carry.)  So, by taking on David Clarkson, the Jackets can at least put that "Horton money" toward a non-injured roster player.

 

-- For Toronto:  They wanted to unload Clarkson and his contract.  The price for that was taking on Horton and his contract.  Toronto would be in the same situation as the Jackets with Horton, the LTIR and owing Horton $26 million.  But Toronto is flush with revenue and can afford this cost.  And moving Clarkson out plus putting Horton on the LTIR, clears about $5 million in cap-space for Toronto.  Which the Leafs desperately needed to rework their roster.

 

Acquiring Clarkson is not without it's own risks for Columbus.  He still has five years remaining on his contract and has been unproductive with Toronto.  However, Clarkson was previously a 30-goal scorer with New Jersey before joining Toronto.  So the CBJ are hoping that a "change of venue" will bring back a more productive Clarkson for the Jackets.

More #SeasonOfInjuries news:

 

-- Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky activated off IR: http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=755633

 

-- FW Brian Gibbons recalled from Springfield and FW Matt Calvert placed on IR: http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=755542

 

-- FW Adam Cracknell traded to St. Louis Blues in exchange for future considerations: http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=755335

 

Cracknell makes this #SeasonOfInjuries update because he was acquired via waivers from the L.A. Kings back in October (when a wave of forward/center injuries hit the CBJ).  Since then he played 17 games for Columbus (0 goals, 1 assist) before being sent down to Springfield to play 18 games in the AHL.  Since the Jackets no longer needed Cracknell for their NHL roster, but STL could use a depth FW for their playoff run - the "future considerations" are likely that STL agreed to pay his salary for the remainder of this season.

Two weekend games.  Two weekend losses.  And in continuing #SeasonOfInjuries news:  Both Dubinsky and Calvert were out both games with concussions.  Also Connauton out both weekend games with a lower body injury.

 

This is how bad the #SeasonOfInjuries has been:  After Thursday's game, we get Bob back after a month-long injury - then lose Dubi, Calvert and Connauton!  And I haven't even mentioned in this thread the case of FW Jeremy Morin (acquired in the Erixon trade with Chicago), who has been out since January with a elevated heart rate condition.  That's right, a heart injury!

 

Today is NHL Trade Deadline day.  By 3PM we'll see if some of the trade rumors come to pass, or not.  Stay tuned.

Today is NHL Trade Deadline day.  By 3PM we'll see if some of the trade rumors come to pass, or not.  Stay tuned.

 

Mostly not.  Unless something comes in late, the only deadline day deal made by the Jackets was this:

 

-- CBJ trade veteran D Jordan Leopold to Minnesota Wild for minor-league defenseman and 2015 5th-round pick

 

Not a big deal, but not a bad one either.  The 32-year-old Leopold was picked up from STL back in November for a 2016 5th-round pick.  So the Jackets got back what they gave STL for some injury help.  The minor-league d-man, 26-year-old Justin Falk, appears to be just a throw-in (he asked MIN for a trade and he's an RFA at season's end).  The trade works out well for Leopold though.  He's from Minnesota and his family moved there after the trade from STL.  And his 11-year-old daughter wrote a heart-warming letter asking the Wild to "trade for her daddy" - posted at

So Wiz, nor any other prominent player, got traded away.  Some other possible CBJ trade candidates (Calvert & Skille) took themselves out of contention with injuries.  Opening up the possibility that they might be re-signed during the off-season.

 

The one big CBJ deadline day surprise was Cam Atkinson.  Instead of trading him, the Jackets went in the opposite direction and signed Atkinson to a 3-year, $10.5 million deal that begins next season!  That's a $3.5 M/year average, a healthy jump from this season's $1.2 M/year contract.

So Wiz, nor any other prominent player, got traded away.

 

Posted too soon!  This trade was just announced (UPDATED):

 

Aaron Portzline @Aportzline  ·  33 seconds ago

 

Deal: James Wisniewski and a 2015 third-round pick (Detroit's) to Anaheim for a 2015 second-round pick, William Karlsson and Rene Bourque.

Well, today's trading deadline day pretty much went like this for the CBJ fan:

 

-- D Jordan Leopold traded to Minnesota Wild for D Justin Falk and 2015 5th-round pick: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/3/2/8134579/2015-nhl-trade-deadline-jordan-leopold-traded-to-the-minnesota-wild:  OKAY; EXPECTED; CLASSY MOVE TO TRADE HIM WHERE HIS FAMILY IS (see his daughter's letter)

 

-- RW Cam Atkinson not traded; signs 3-year, $10.5 million extension instead: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/3/2/8134971/2015-nhl-trade-deadline-atkinson-signs-3-year-extension:  NICE; GREAT TO KEEP HIM

 

Then we learned Wiz got traded:  TOUGH; IT'S ALWAYS DIFFICULT TO LOOSE A GOOD GUY & FAN FAVORITE

 

Then we learned what we got for Wiz:  James Wisniewski and a 2015 third-round pick (Detroit's) traded to Anaheim for a 2015 second-round pick, William Karlsson and Rene Bourque:  WHAT?!?!  WE MOVED UP SLIGHTLY IN 2015 DRAFT BY SWAPPING PICKS?  GOT A 20-YEAR-OLD PROSPECT AND 33-YEAR-OLD WASHED UP PLAYER WHO HAS A $3.3 MILLION CAP HIT?!?!?!

 

-- The Jackets Cannon gives a more complete look at the Wisniewski trade: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/3/2/8135279/2015-nhl-trade-deadline-wisniewski-traded-to-ducks-for-bourque

Also, from https://twitter.com/aportzline:  "Newly-acquired D Justin Falk will report to Columbus.  F Rene Bourque and C William "Wild Bill" Karlsson will report to the Springfield Falcons."

 

So 33-year-old Rene Bourque will be paid to play in the AHL minor-league!!  Plus $2.5 million next year, because he's under contract for 2015-16!!!

Just when you thought the CBJ's #SeasonOfInjuries couldn't get any weirder.  It does.  David Clarkson (who the Jackets traded the injured Nathan Horton for last week) is injured!

 

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/04/season-over-clarkson-out-4-6-weeks-with-torn-oblique-muscle/

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/david-clarkson-out-for-season-because-he-s-a-blue-jacket--hence-injured-215348154.html

 

Clarkson played 58 games for Toronto this season.  Then he gets traded to the Blue Jackets and lasts only 2 full games before getting a season-ending injury in his third game.  So are CBJ injuries now contagious?

Rumors starting to finally make it to mainstream news...saw a blurb from Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch saying CBJ leaning toward moving their AHL affiliate from Springfield MA to Cleveland...as AHL is being realigned.  Current Lake Erie Monsters parent club Colorado is looking to have their AHL team closer to the Denver metro.

 

This should've been done years ago...helps both CBJ and LEM...although one could argue the Indians attendance hasn't benefitted much since Tribe's AAA team moved from BUF to CBus (Clippers).

LEM being the AHL team for the CBJ would be A-OK!  It's not a done deal yet.  Four NHL teams (including Columbus) would need switch their AHL teams to make the LEM/CBJ deal possible.  But it looks likely at this stage.

 

This would give the CBJ more visibility in NEO.  Would not necessarily led to attendance bumps for either team, but it should boost CBJ viewership on FSO.  Plus LEM viewership on STO in Central Ohio.

Yet another example of #SeasonOfInjuries:

 

- Just before last Saturday's game at Calgary, the Jackets get two players back from IR: Boone Jenner, who missed 40 games since Dec. 18 with a stress fracture in his back; and Jeremy Morin, out 21 games since being diagnosed with an accelerated heart rate on Jan. 27.

 

- And then lose three players to injuries: Dubinsky to an unnamed upper body injury; Murray to an unnamed lower body injury; Wennberg to a cut to his hand that got infected.

 

Because #SeasonOfInjuries

Only ten games left in this #SeasonOfInjuries.  But the CBJ are actually on a roll - winning 7 of their last 9 games.  Including a first-in-the-franchise feat of a road sweep of the three Western Canadian teams (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton).

 

2013 1st round pick Marko Dano has 4 goals and 4 assists over that 9-game stretch.  He's been a part of the "Kid Line" centered by another 2013 1st round pick, 20-year-old, Alexander Wennberg and "old kid" 32-year-old Scott Hartnell.  Wennberg has 1 goal and 6 assists in his past 9 games.  Hartnell has 8 goals and 3 assists in his past 11 games.

 

But perhaps the biggest scoring surprise is Rene Bourque.  He has 4 goals in his 8 games with the CBJ (3 in the last 2).

But perhaps the biggest scoring surprise is Rene Bourque.  He has 4 goals in his 8 games with the CBJ (3 in the last 2).

 

And Rene Bourque will miss tonight's game against Anaheim with an upper body injury.  Because #SeasonOfInjuries

I know these final #SeasonOfInjuries games don't mean much.  But the CBJ is on fire, winning 8 of their past 10 games.  Last night against Anaheim, a top team in the West.  Scott Hartnell's on fire too.  He got a hat trick last night.  That gives him 11 goals, 3 assists in the 12 March games (most March goals in the entire NHL).  William Karlsson (the prospect received in the Wiz trade) made his CBJ debut and assisted on one of Hartnell's goals:

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/3/24/8286815/game-73-recap-spoiled-duck

 

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400564595

CBJ ending #SeasonOfInjuries on a number of hot streaks:

 

- 5 straight wins

- 8 wins in their last 9 games

- 9 wins in the last 11 games

- 7 straight road wins with last night's win in Chicago

- back-to-back games with a CBJ hat trick (Hartnell on Tuesday - Atkinson last night)

 

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400564596

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/3/28/8304475/game-74-recap-magnificent

CBJ still red-hot:

 

- 6 straight wins

- 9 wins in their last 10 games

- 10 wins in the last 12 games

- 8 straight road wins with last night's win in STL

 

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400564597

 

Still won't make this season's playoffs because #SeasonofInjuries

Still nice to be above .500 and closing the season on a high note (though it may be that some of the teams that have playoff spots locked are playing at less than 100% to keep people fresh for the Cup).  Nevertheless, a good validation of the management decision not to go crazy at the trade deadline.  This is the team we'll have next year, unless we have another #SeasonofInjuries. :-\

The Jackets won their 7th straight game last night . . .

 

. . . and were officially eliminated from the playoffs with 6 games remaining in the season. :-(