^ I was planning to post this clip from Slap Shot if the CBJ lost to Toronto tonight.  But since you posted the Panic Button...

 

See youtube post above.  More of the same against the Leafs last night:

 

CBJ gets an early first goal (nice play by Jenner) then defense gives up three straight goals to go down 3-1.  Offense works hard to tie it up 3-3, then defense and Bob cough up two more goals before an empty-netter sets the final 6-3 loss.  Hopeful - awful - hopeful again - then awful again.  Rinse and repeat for an 0-5 start.

 

- NSFW game thread:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/16/9558373/game-thread-5-blue-jackets-vs-maple-leafs

 

- SFW game recap:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/17/9558873/game-5-recap-fibrillation

 

And on to Chicago tonight...

...sixth verse, same as the first five:

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/18/9562655/game-6-recap-ohandsicks

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/18/9560139/a-crisis-of-confidence

Seventh game went like the first six . . .

 

. . . and now the reckoning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[glow=red,2,300]http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/21/9582348/richards-fired-torts-hired-holy-sh-t-open-thread[/glow]

Richards Out, Tortorella In

POSTED OCT 21, 2015

BY AARON PORTZLINE, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The Blue Jackets have fired Todd Richards this morning, replacing him with John Tortorella, one of the NHL’s firebrand coaches who has been out of work since Vancouver fired him a year ago.  The news was first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger.  A Blue Jackets spokesperson this morning declined to confirm the report.

 

Richards was fired just hours after a 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders dropped Columbus to 0-7-0, matching the worst start to a season in modern NHL history.  Tortorella, 57, is expected to make his debut behind the Blue Jackets’ bench on Thursday when they play the Minnesota Wild in Xcel Energy Center.  He did not immediately respond to messages left on his cell phone.

 

Tortorella led the Tampa Bay Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup and led the New York Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals in 2011-12.  He is 444-371-115 as coach of Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers and Vancouver, but has gained a reputation beyond the wins as one of the league's most passionate, short-tempered coaches.

 

MORE: http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/2015/10/richards-out-tortorella-in.html

ROFL I don't know Tortorella, but wow the reactions on that open thread are ... intense.

ROFL I don't know Tortorella, but wow the reactions on that open thread are ... intense.

 

The CBJ fan reactions to Tortorella are intense because Torts is ... intense.  The guy has won the Cup before with Tampa Bay.  But his next coaching job with the New York Rangers was a mixed bag.  Then he hit rock bottom with Vancouver two seasons ago during this game against Calgary:

 

 

So, if CBJ fans wanted a more "fired up" coach than Todd Richards, they got it and then some!  Honestly, I'm not a huge Torts fan.  But maybe this is what this team needs right now.  They're much much better than the way they're playing now.  To paraphrase what someone on Jackets Cannon said, "Torts is an a$$hole; but maybe this team needs an a$$hole coach right now".

 

And no coach lays into a team more than Torts.  Here is a Torts "pep talk" from 2012 when he coached the Rangers.  And, word of warning if you're at work, this is very NSFW with multiple f-bombs being dropped by Torts:

 

Official press release from the CBJ.  Also a youtube link to the team press conference is at the link below:

 

John Tortorella replaces Todd Richards as Blue Jackets head coach

 

The Columbus Blue Jackets have relieved Todd Richards of his head coaching duties and named John Tortorella as the club’s new head coach, General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced today.

 

Tortorella, who signed a three-year contract through the 2017-18 season, will make his Blue Jackets debut on Thursday when Columbus visits the Minnesota Wild.

 

Tortorella, Kekalainen and Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations John Davidson will meet with the media today at 12:45 p.m. in the press conference room, located in the dressing room hallway at Nationwide Arena.

 

MORE: http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=784133

 

^ The youtube video stream of the Torts and Kek press conference was interesting.  Torts was very calm, almost humble at this new coaching chance for him with the CBJ.  Just as interesting was the post analysis from Jody Shelley, current CBJ/Fox Sports Ohio TV broadcast analyst and former player under Coach Tortorella at NYR.

The NHL Network had a really good interview with John Davidson, CBJ President of Hockey Operations, about the Tortorella hire (below is the link).  In it, JD explains why the CBJ organization fired Richards and hired Tortorella:

 

- NHL Network interview with John Davidson about the Tortorella hire

The Columbus Blue Jackets 2015-16 Season 2.0 begins 8PM tonight at Minnesota.  And as the Jackets Cannon humorously points out in their game 8 preview at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/22/9591914/game-faceoff-8-blue-jackets-at-wild

 

Columbus Blue Jackets - UNDEFEATED UNDER TORTORELLA

at

Minnesota Wild - 3-1-1, 7 pts - 5th Central, 7th West

 

As someone in that preview commented: "The road to 75-7-0 starts here." GO JACKETS :-)

New Coach. Another loss. But perhaps a step in the right direction: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/22/9601180/highlight-recap-blue-jackets-at-wild

 

CBJ fell short 3-2 last night at MIN.  But Bob played well.  And the team was hustling all game long - falling short on a goal that came on a 4-minute power-play in the second period.  The defense (JJ) still coughed up a bad turnover/goal, but stablized after.  And the CBJ really put on the pressure in the third for a tying goal that never came.  If the Jackets keep playing this way, the wins will start coming.

 

A mid-season coaching move won't change everything overnight.  But it was interesting to see Torts in-game moves.  He rolled all four lines thru the first two periods.  But in the third period, he started shortening the bench.  Eventually using only the top two lines.  And he switched Dubinsky to center the top Saad-Foligno line, while demoting Johansen to a lower line.  This is what everyone says about Torts: "If you play hard, you'll get playing time.  If you don't, you'll sit."

 

Not only did Johansen get demoted, but he didn't even play for the final 6:10.  Johansen is a very talented player, but he also has shown a lack of engagement during some in-game stretches.  It's interesting that Torts picked up on that in his very first game.  I liked former Coach Richards, but one of his failings was a lack of accountability via playing time.  Not anymore.

JACKETS WIN!  JACKETS WIN!

 

Okay, so the CBJ won their first game of the season last night at Colorado.  Sure, they're still only 1-8, but it feels good nevertheless:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/25/9609730/game-9-recap-jackets-finally-in-the-win-column

 

And it was a quality road win.  Avs got the first goal.  Boone Jenner got the next two to put the CBJ up 2-1.  Then Avs go ahead in the second period 3-2.  But the Jackets came back in the third to tie on a Murray goal, then win it 4-3 on a Savard slap shot that rebounded in by Dubinsky:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/24/9609290/highlight-recap-blue-jackets-at-avalanche  ---  http://espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400814979

 

Dubi had his second straight strong game under Torts.  This time centering the top line in the absence of Johansen (more on that later).  Boone came out strong with the first two goals and was a beast all game long.  Murray got his first goal of the season and an assist.  Savard got two assists.  Bob was strong in the final period preserving the 4-3 lead with a help of many blocked shots (a Torts trademark) including a key one from Karlsson.  A good team victory.

Now, about the Johansen absence from yesterday's win.  RyJo was sent back to Columbus with an undisclosed illness.  If this is on the level, it would explain his lackluster play on Thursday (another report said he felt bad after the first period in that game).  And sending him home early might make sense.  The rest of the team will be returning later to Columbus before heading out to New Jersey for a Tuesday road game.

 

If this isn't on the level (i.e. smokescreen for something between RyJo and Torts) it would be a bad omen for Johansen's future with Columbus.  Although all current reports say this is not the case.  So stay tuned to see if this is something or nothing.

 

More: http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/2015/10/johansen-ill-heading-home.html

This Ryan Johansen illness thing is taking an odd turn.  The Jackets Cannon has it covered at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/26/9616542/the-ongoing-ryan-johansen-injury-illness-thing

 

And here are the on-going reports from the Dispatch that the Jackets Cannon references:

 

-- Johansen had heart-rate issue in offseason

-- Johansen Undergoing Tests

 

Apparently, Johansen went to a Vancouver hospital during the off-season with an elevated heart rate.  Afterward, he was checked locally and by team doctors, but “they found no issues with his heart” according to the reporting.  GM Kekalainen and Johansen's agent confirmed the reporting but both said Johansen’s current undisclosed illness was not heart-related.

 

Currently, Johansen is undergoing further tests in Columbus and will not join the Jackets for their Tuesday game at Washington.  Coach Tortorella said, "Joey doesn't feel well; he lacks energy, so we'll list him as day-to-day.  He’s just getting some medical tests done.  We’re going to leave him alone and see if he can get that straightened out."

An opportunistic 3-1 win for the CBJ in NJ last night:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/28/9624742/game-10-recap-opportunistic-win-in-jersey

 

The Devils coaching and management is all-new this year, but it felt like one of those "old-time New Jersey" hockey games, with low scoring, few shots and many hits.  The Jackets only had a measly 10 shots-on-goal after 51 minutes(!) - and the Devils not much better with 18.  But then the Jackets broke thru with two quick cannon shots.  Boone Jenner with 9:03 left (BOOM) then Cam Atkinson 35 seconds later off a sweet pass from Dubinsky (BOOM).

 

The Jackets went up 3-0 on a Hartnell goal with just under 5 minutes left and the Devils got their only goal on a power-play with the goalie pulled at 2:30 left for the final score.  Good road win for the team.  And Bob looked like "BOB" in net.  Particularly key was his stick sweep save with 14 minutes remaining in the third, when the score was still 0-0 (you can see that save in the below highlight video):

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/28/9625472/blue-jackets-3-devils-1-game-highlights/in/9385627

 

So that's two wins in the row!  To paraphrase Manager Lou Brown in Major League, "Two in a row. That's what's known as a winning streak. It has happened before."  Now on the Washington Friday then back home for a Halloween night match with Winnipeg.

Johansen's illness still remains "undisclosed" by everyone.  But whatever it was/is, it's said to be "not long-term", and is apparently over for now.  Johansen is scheduled to be in tonight's lineup at Washington.  And according to the reporting from Dispatch (see below) Johansen says he feels "100 percent for now":

 

http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/2015/10/johansen-set-to-return-vs.-capitals.html

 

The Jackets still won't 100% healthy because Saad will be out of tonight's lineup.  However, his illness has been disclosed and is all too known for those who've ever had it.  It is the infamous "stomach flu"!

So much for the winning streak.  Since then, the CBJ dropped back-to-back one-goal defeats.  More about that below:

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/31/9649058/game-11-recap-capitals-sneak-by-jackets

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/1/9653084/game-12-recap-jets-ground-blue-jackets

 

The Jackets are now 2-3-0 under Torts - with all 3 losses by one-goal.  Much better than the 0-7-0 start under Richards that featured multi-goal losses.  And although the team is playing much better under Torts, individual miscues keep popping up.  You could argue if Prout doesn't make a bad defensive play that leads to a late Caps goal on Friday and if Bob didn't start on Saturday (he gave up all 3 goals in the 1st, then got pulled for C-Mac who gave up 0 in the final two periods) the Jackets could've either won or got a point from both of those games.

 

So the losses seem like moral victories, to a degree.  But after each close loss, Torts says he "doesn't believe in moral victories".  And moral victories still count for zero points in the NHL standings.  So, although improved, the CBJ must still do better.  And they'll need it next week, because they play three road games in California.

 

Given yesterday's Halloween home game, this season feels like a Halloween where you thought you'd be wearing this costume:

 

But you ended up wearing this one instead:

When starting a three game California road trip, it's always good to begin with a win.  And the CBJ were very good last night in San Jose:

 

-- Blue Jackets 5, Sharks 2 - Road win is season's best effort to date:  http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2015/11/04/blue-jackets-sharks.html

 

-- Game 13 Recap: California Dreamin':  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/4/9663796/game-13-recap-california-dreamin

Another California road game.  Another improbable win for the CBJ:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/6/9680296/game-14-recap-no-love-lost-in-l-a

 

It was a tough 3-2 win that features lots of chippiness and fights.  Foligno and Campbell each got five-for-fighting.  Surprisingly, Boll - our "designated fighter" - did not.  And neither did Prout for us or Lucic for LA (remember that one-punch knockdown Prout did to Lucic when he was with Boston last season?).  Hartnell didn't have an official fight on the night, but he almost caused a half-dozen fights (including one with the LA goalie!).

 

The game was a real team effort with 8 different players scoring or assisting.  Bob has solid in the net, only giving up one goal in the first 59 minutes, until LA pulled their goalie for an extra attacker and scored to make it 3-2 in the final minute.  The CBJ survived a zero shots-on-goal(!) second period but rebounded to outshoot LA in the third period.

 

Two game winning streak again for the Jackets as they finish up their California road trip at Anaheim tonight.  A team that is very much like the Jackets, in that they also had playoff hopes and started this season badly.

No California road sweep for the Jackets: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/7/9680932/blue-jackets-ducks-quick-thoughts

 

Before this road trip, you would have figured the CBJ's best chance for a win would be against the equally slow starting Anaheim Ducks and then booked losses against the stronger starting Sharks and Kings.  Instead, it was the other way around - with the CBJ netting two strong wins at San Jose and L.A. before dropping the final game against the Ducks.

 

Not a bad road trip at all.  And even the Anaheim loss wasn't that bad.  C-Mac got the start in net and played well.  He gave up 3 goals (ANA got an empty-netter to finish their scoring) but two goals were on CBJ defensive mishaps that weren't his fault.  And these second of back-to-back games are never easy to win.

 

So the Jackets started 0-7-0 under Richards and are now 4-4-0 under Torts.  Much better.  Still room for improvement, but it looks like the ship has been bailed out.  The Jackets will still be looking for their first home win next Tuesday when they face Tortorella's former team Vancouver.  Then its a quick trip to Pittsburgh on Friday and back to C-BUS against Arizona on Saturday.

CBJ still winless at home; took a 3-2 lead in the third, then gave up two straight goals to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/11/9710104/game-16-recap-blue-jackets-canucks-grand-theft-canuck

After the Vancouver loss, no Jackets fan was looking forward to this weekend's games.  First there was a Friday game at Pittsburgh (who had won 7 of their last 8 games).  Then a Saturday game back in Columbus against a surprising strong starting Arizona team that was rested and waiting.  But instead of the weekend being a bust for the CBJ, it turned out like this:

 

-- Tough gritty 2-1 win at Pittsburgh:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/13/9733286/highlight-recap-blue-jackets-at-penguins

 

-- Wild, first-of-the-season 5-2 home win:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/14/9736704/highlight-recap-coyotes-vs-blue-jackets

Whoa!  Two straight home wins!!  Three wins-in-a-row!!!  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/18/9752862/game-19-recap-jackets-defeat-blues-for-third-straight-win

 

Okay, don't plan the Stanley Cup Parade just yet.  But the CBJ have gone 7-4-0 since their abysmal 0-8-0 start.  They're 7-5-0 under new coach Torts and won 5 of their last 7 games.  So things are heading in the right direction.

 

And the Jackets picked a good time get better.  They've got a Thursday road game at Ottawa, followed by a Friday home game against Nashville, then a Sunday home game against San Jose.

Injury recap:  Nothing like last season's #SeasonOfInjuries, but two key centers are on the IR.  First, Wennberg - who came back from an opening game concussion - only to suffer a foot injury on a blocked shot.  He's been out since last week and is expected to be back by next week.  Veteran center Dubinsky went down last Friday with an elbow injury that will keep him out for 2-3 weeks.  Also, veteran forward Clarkson went on the IR with a back injury and is out until further notice.  2013 1st-rounder Kerby Rychel was called up last Saturday and has started two games.  2012 3rd-rounder Josh Anderson was called up today to cover the upcoming road game.

^ Update to the injury recap:

 

Jared Boll was placed on the IR and the CBJ recalled center Michael Chaput from the Lake Erie Monsters.  Boll is said to be sidelined at least a week after suffering a foot injury while playing in his 500th career NHL game on Tuesday:  http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=788586

Last three games seemed like one step forward and two steps back for the CBJ:

 

- Tough luck 3-0 loss at Ottawa on Thursday:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/19/9767612/quick-thoughts-senators-3-blue-jackets-0

- Fantastic 4-0 home win against Nashville on Friday:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/20/9773436/highlight-recap-predators-at-blue-jackets/in/9536119

- Disheartening 5-3 home loss against San Jose on Sunday:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/22/9780026/quick-thoughts-sharks-at-blue-jackets

 

And even the Friday win came with some losses.  The Jackets lost two defensemen to injury during that win.  First, veteran d-man Tyutin gets an elbow to his nose, breaking it.  He was out for the rest of that game and Sunday's game and is listed as day-to-day.

 

But the worse injury came to young d-man Cody Goloubef who was struck in the face with a puck.  He left the game and was went to the hospital with a broken jaw.  He had surgery on Monday and will be out indefinitely.  This is an unfortunate setback for Goloubef's development - he was starting to get more playing time after being healthy scratched earlier in this season.

Some injury news and roster changes for the CBJ going into this week's match-ups (pre-Thanksgiving game on Wednesday at New Jersey; post-Thanksgiving game on Friday at home against Pittsburgh; Saturday game at St. Louis):

 

Rene Bourque was put on the IR with an upper body injury (after he got crunched to the boards in Sunday's game) where he joins fellow expensive fourth-line veteran forwards Clarkson and Boll.  Defenseman Cody Goloubef was officially placed on the IR because of his broken jaw.  Fellow d-man Tyutin was not placed on the IR for his broken nose but is out until further notice.

 

Meanwhile, centers Brandon Dubinsky and Alexander Wennberg came off the IR and will be available for tonight's game.  Lake Erie forward call-up Kerby Rychel is staying with the Jackets.  Other forward call-ups Anderson and Chaput returned to Lake Erie.  And two LEM defensemen with NHL experience were called up - 27-year-old Andrew Bodnarchuk and 27-year-old Justin Falk.

The CBJ fall short of three straight wins this week.  But they're looking better - and are 10-8-0 under Coach Torts now.  Unfortunately, because of the 0-8-0 start, that still leaves the Jackets at 10-15-0.  Which leaves the Jackets second-to-last in the East at the quarter poll in this season.  But if they keep winning and climbing the standings, their place in the standings might look better at the halfway mark.

 

- "Sloppy" 2-1 win at New Jersey on Wednesday:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/25/9803034/quick-thoughts-blue-jackets-at-devils/in/9562817

- "Well-played" 2-1 OT win against Pittsburgh on Friday:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/27/9808986/quick-thoughts-penguins-at-blue-jackets

- "Dubi-less" 3-1 loss at St. Louis on Saturday (Dubinsky got a 1-game suspension for a cross-check to Crosby in Friday's game):  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/28/9812718/quick-thoughts-blue-jackets-at-blues

CBJ last week:

 

-- "Tough" 2-1 loss on Tuesday to Montreal:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/2/9833616/game-26-recap-bad-decisions-cost-jackets-in-2-1-loss-to-montreal

-- "Tough" 2-1 SO loss on Friday to Florida:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/5/9852700/game-27-recap-jackets-fall-2-1-to-panthers-in-shootout/in/9612683

-- "Complete" 4-1 win on Saturday at Philadelphia:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/6/9855882/game-28-recap-jackets-4-flyers-1

 

I may need to start using synonyms for the word "tough".  But the first two losses were "tough" in different ways.  The 2-1 loss to Montreal was tough because the CBJ were tied 1-1 late in third period when a Hartnell penalty came with 2:30 left.  Montreal scored the game-winning goal on that power-play.

 

Coach Torts showed that everyone is accoutable when veteran Hartnell was a healthy-scratch in Friday's game.  The 2-1 SO loss with Florida was tough because the CBJ were tied 1-1 in the third period when Florida committed back-to-back penalties and gave the Jackets 4 minutes of power-play time.  The Jackets couldn't score and the game went to OT and then a shootout loss.

 

Then the Jackets followed with a dominating win at Philly (with Hartnell back in the lineup getting 1 goal, 2 assists and zero penalties) to salvage the week.  A top-quality win.  The CBJ ended up 1-1-1 and got 3 of 6 possible points last week.  But in those first two games, the CBJ gave away 2 points when they couldn't take Montreal to overtime and couldn't defeat Florida in regulation.

 

So the CBJ ended up getting 3 of 6 points, instead of 5 of 6 points.  Getting 3 of 6 points is treading water in the standings.  Getting 5 of 6 points is advancing in the standings.  And with their awful start, advancing is what the Jackets need to do almost every week to have any playoff hopes this season.

 

This week it's LA at home on Tuesday, road game at Winnipeg on Thursday, and back at home Saturday against the NY Islanders.  "Tough" series of games:  L.A. and N.Y. are hot teams, with a road trip to Winnipeg in between.

Bobrovsky To Miss Three Weeks

By Aaron Portzline, The Columbus Dispatch

Posted: December 9, 2015

 

Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to miss three weeks with a lower body injury suffered in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings.  Bobrovsky, who missed time with groin injuries in each of the previous two seasons, left the game with 5:35 remaining, shortly after he made a quick side-to-side move in front of his net.

 

He left with a 2-1 lead, before the Kings rallied to force overtime and win.  Backup Curtis McElhinney came in cold to a game the Kings were dominating.  He had no chance on Jeff Carter's tying goal with 1:27 to play, or the the overtime game-winner scored by Alec Martinez with 26.5 seconds left in regulation.

 

McElhinney becomes the Blue Jackets' starter through the rest of December, beginning with Thursday's game in Winnipeg.  He's 0-4-1 with a 2.77 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. ... Bobrovsky had been on a tear since the start of November, going 9-4-1 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .945 save percentage.  Tuesday's game was his ninth consecutive start dating to Nov. 19.

 

The Blue Jackets recalled goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from minor-league Lake Erie yesterday.  He'll back up McElhinney tonight, but will likely make his NHL debut at some point in the next few weeks.  Korpisalo, 21, was a third-round pick (No. 62 overall) in the 2012 draft.  He is 5-4-2 with a 2.12 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and two shutouts in the AHL this season.

 

MORE: http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/2015/12/bobrovsky-to-miss-three-weeks.html

CBJ last week:

 

-- Lost Bob, lost lead, lost game in Tuesday's 3-2 OT loss against LA:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/9/9875436/top-cop-down

-- No Bob, no chance in Thursday's 6-4 loss at Winnipeg:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/11/9890614/game-30-recap-jackets-auger-in-with-6-4-loss-to-winnipeg

-- Better but still not enough in 3-2 OT loss against NY Islanders:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/12/10005376/highlight-recap-game-31-blue-jackets-vs-islanders/in/9756299

 

Lost 6 of last 7 games (3 via OT or SO) and have 5 games in the next 8 days between Dec. 14-21.  Merry Krampus!

Attended my annual game Saturday night. Was surprised to see so many empty seats in the lower bowl. Announced attendance of 12,342 seemed very generous.  :-(

Its been an awful stretch for the CBJ.  Going into last night's game hosting Dallas, the Jackets were 2-6-2 over their previous 10 games and were outscored 13-6 over their past three losses.  The team was getting trashed by their coach and the media:

 

-- http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2015/12/28/torts-calls-jackets-embarrassing-and-weak-mentally-blasts-veteran-leaders/

-- http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2015/12/28/blue-jackets-management-must-accept-blame-for-disaster-of-a-season/

 

And the Jackets were last in the NHL in points last night facing Dallas, who leads the NHL in points - so of course we know how this game will turn out.  Right?

 

http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/30/10686648/game-39-recap-jackets-explode-for-6-3-win-over-stars

Even with last night's big win, the Jackets are still last in points and have a huge hole to climb out of.  Here's how 2015 broke down month-by-month:

 

-- October:  2-10-0; 0-8 start, head coach Richards fired after 7 games and Torts is brought in

 

-- November: 8-5-0; Bob goes 8-3 in goal; outlook improves

 

-- December: 4-7-3; Bob gets injured Dec. 8 and misses rest of month

 

It's pretty clear that if Bobrovsky is ineffective (like early October) or injured (like in December), the Jackets just aren't competitive enough.  When Bob's on, the team's good.  During Bob's good stretch (Oct. 24 - Dec. 08) the team was 11-8-2.  But after Bob's injury, they were 3-6-2 (McElhinney was 2-2-2 and Korpisalo was 1-4-0).

 

Bob was taken off the IR today and will likely start for the Jackets first game of 2016 against Washington on Saturday.  They're two games short of the 41-game halfway mark and 11 points under the eastern playoff line.  Barring an amazing run (like last season's 15-1-1 finish) the rest of this season will likely be a race to see how high a draft pick the Jackets will get next summer.

Bob was taken off the IR today and will likely start for the Jackets first game of 2016 against Washington on Saturday.

 

Unless he re-aggravates his groin injury.  Which he did.  And now Bob's back on the IR listed as day-to-day.

 

New year, same as the old year.

Good news / bad news for the CBJ:

 

Good news:  With Saturday's victory over Washington, the CBJ have back-to-back wins over the top two teams in the NHL.  And that 5-4 SO win over the Caps was really a great game too (see the highlights at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/1/4/10707646/blue-jackets-5-capitals-4-so-game-highlights).

 

Bad news:  Our primary backup goalie McElhinney went down with a bizarre non-contact injury during the OT of Saturday's game (see that at http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2016/1/2/10703110/curtis-mcelhinney-injures-himself-by-randomly-falling-down-blue-jackets).  Rookie Anton Forsberg played the rest of the OT and the SO because our primary starter Bobrovsky was placed back on the IR before the game.

So here's the goalie situation going into this week's games (Tuesday vs. MINN, away-and-home series against CAR on Friday and Saturday):

 

- Curtis McElhinney (placed on IR) will be sidelined indefinitely due to a sprained ankle.

 

- As long as Sergei Bobrovsky (groin) and Curtis McElhinney (ankle) are out, Lake Erie goaltenders Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo will be CBJ goaltenders.

While two young prospects are tending goal at the NHL level, three other CBJ prospects just finished up play in the 2016 World Juniors Championship in Finland.  Two played for the U.S. team and one played for Team Sweden.  Both teams made it to the semi-final round.  Both teams lost their semi-final game and played each other in the bronze medal game, where the U.S. team won:

 

- Zach Werenski (U.S.):  Top first-round pick (8th overall) in the 2015 draft.  The 18-year old defenseman currently plays for the University of Michigan.  Werenski was named captain of the U.S. team and had 2 goals plus 7 assists for 9 points in the 7 games played.  Was one of the best d-men in the entire tournament.

 

- Sonny Milano (U.S.):  CBJ's first-round pick (16th overall) in the 2014 draft.  The 19-year-old forward currently plays for the Lake Erie Monsters in the AHL.  Milano had 1 goal plus 7 assists for 8 points in the 7 games played.

 

- Gabriel Carlsson (Sweden):  Bottom first-round pick (29th overall) in the 2015 draft.  The Jackets traded up into the late 1st-round to draft this 6'-4" defenseman.  The 19-year-old currently plays in the Swedish Hockey League.  Carlsson had 3 assists in the 7 games played.

Ryan Johansen traded to Nashville for Seth Jones

 

This is trade that's been rumored to be in the works over the past month or so.  But I still didn't think either team would pull the trigger on it.  That said, I don't hate it.  Both teams dealt from positions of strength to address areas of weakness.  The Jackets lack top-pair defensemen but don't lack at the forward/center spots.  While the Predators are loaded with top-line d-men but need a true #1 center.

 

It's a straight up young star for young star trade.  Both players were drafted #4 overall in their drafts (Johansen in 2010; Jones in 2013).  Columbus gives up a 23-year-old #1 center for a 21-year-old defenseman who is currently on a #2 pairing but is a likely #1 d-man going forward.  Seth Jones' stats for his first two seasons (6-19-25 in 77GP for 2013-14; 8-19-27 in 82GP for 2014-15) would have placed him at the top for CBJ d-men.

 

Ryan Johansen has always been a bit of an enigma.  He struggled in his first two seasons with the Jackets (getting sent down to the minors and being healthy scratched in the AHL playoffs during his rookie year for attitude issues).  But it seemed like RyJo had figured it out over the last two seasons (33-30-63 in 82GP for 2013-14; 26-45-71 in 82GP for 2014-15).  But an ugly protracted contract dispute two summers ago and a health scare last summer - combined with a production dropoff and a return of those attitude issues this season - caused the CBJ to be wary of signing Johansen to a long-term deal over the next two years.

 

The danger of trading Johansen is the "Tyler Seguin effect".  Two seasons ago, the Boston Bruins traded away a 21-year-old center Tyler Seguin to Dallas because similar attitude issues made them wary of offering a long-term deal.  Now at 23, Seguin is top-3 in the NHL for goals and total points.  This is the risk of trading a young player.  Sometimes they mature and figure it out.

 

But I don't blame the CBJ management for doing this deal.  Seth Jones is a stud d-man - and the Jackets desperately need defensive help.  And the Jackets still have Dubinsky, Wennberg and Karlsson as their top 3 centers, with Campbell/Chaput available on the 4th line.  Plus, the acquisition of Brandon Saad helps mitigate Johansen's loss on the offensive side.  Like I said earlier, I don't hate this trade.

Couple of interesting takes on the Johansen for Jones trade from NBC's Pro Hockey Talk.  Especially Mike Milbury's look at Johansen's "non-caring" play this season in the embedded video of each link:

 

-- http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/01/06/blockbuster-trade-ryan-johansen-to-predators-seth-jones-to-blue-jackets/

 

-- http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/01/06/johansen-blue-jackets-insist-trade-wasnt-about-torts/

 

-- http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/01/06/seth-jones-sheds-some-big-shadows-readies-for-big-role-in-columbus/

Summing up last week for the CBJ:

 

1 big trade . . .  2 players added to the IR (Foligno, Clarkson) . . . 3 lost games

Good News This Week:  Won 2 of 3 games.  The last two games were won on the back of 21-year-old rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.  Korps had 41 saves in a 3-1 win over Toronto and 29 saves in a 2-1 win over Colorado.  --  Bobrovsky is off the IR (again) and will likely start against Washington next Tuesday, unless Torts gives Korps a chance for 3-in-a-row.

 

Bad News This Week:  Defenseman David Savard is out long term with an upper-body injury.  --  We're now 1 point away from climbing out of last place!  Why is this bad?  Now is probably the time the Jackets go on a bigger winning streak in a futile attempt to reach the playoffs but instead only ends up eliminating us from one of the top draft spots(!)

This 24-hour period last week seemed to sum up this CBJ season:

 

-- Going into last Thursday's game against Calgary, starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was playing in his second game since coming off the IR for a second time this season because of a groin pull.  Bob only made it halfway though this game before he re-injured his groin and went back on the IR for a third time:  http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/2016/01/bobrovsky-injures-same-groin.html

 

-- On Friday morning, the team thought they would have some fun with outdoor practice session that would inaugurate the just-finished outdoor ice rink in the Arena District:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2016/01/winter-park-opens-in-the-arena-district-with-a.html

 

-- But even that bit of fun went wrong when a player slipped and crashed into head coach John Tortorella.  The collision resulted in two broken ribs for Torts!  He didn't travel with the team for their Saturday game at Boston and is not expected to be behind the bench for the Monday and Tuesday games with Montreal before the NHL All-Star break kicks in:  http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/2016/01/tortorella-down-may-not-travel.html

The NHL's All-Star break is in effect and the Jackets glide into it with an undeniably bad 19-27-5 record.  However, they are going into the break on a bit of a high note.  They just finished back-to-back 5-2 wins over the Montreal Canadiens.  And on top of that was a really nice moment during Monday's win.

 

During the warm-ups, this 9-year-old girl posted this sign:  http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/1/26/10833178/game-50-recap

 

 

Cam Atkinson is #13.  Not only did Cam score, he got a hat trick.  Which leads to one of the best hockey traditions of throwing hats onto the ice (see below).  And the little girl gets her dog.  But only one dog, according to her father, not three to match the goals scored by Cam.  After the game, Atkinson said he would pay the adoption fees when they pick out a dog at the Delaware County Humane Society where they live.

 

Those last two games against Montreal were some sweet, sweet schadenfreude after the way this season started for both teams.

 

Also: Jones is looking better and better, Torts is coming back after the break, and Korpisalo is performing well beyond what anyone could have hoped.

 

We obviously aren't going to make the playoffs, but this is still a fun team to watch and support!

this is still a fun team to watch and support!

 

I agree.  Even though its disappointing that the CBJ didn't meet expectations this season, the games are still very watchable and entertaining.  Its not like the team is uncompetitive and getting blown out.  Most games are real close.  And you get the feeling that if they had Bobrovsky healthy and playing like in 2012-13 and 2013-14, the Jackets would be turning many of these close losses into close wins.

Traditionally during the All-Star break, NHL players vacation in warm places.  Team captain Nick Foligno certainly did that with Dubinsky and Atkinson (see Cam's instagram page below).  But for some reason, Jared Boll decided to go for more snow in Montana:

 

-- Foligno, Dubi and Cam on the beach:

 

-- Boll with former Jacket Wisniewski and former OSU WR Brian Hartline in snowy Montana:

 

As casey mentioned, Torts will be back behind the bench for this week's Western Canadian road trip.  He missed three games after breaking two ribs in that outdoor practice collision with Bourque.  The Western Canada swing is usually tough on the team.  Although Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary occupy the bottom three spots in the Western's Pacific Division - so maybe it won't so bad this year.  But the Western Canada trip is still tough on the CBJ fans, with each game starting at either 9PM or 10PM our time.

The Good News:  The Jackets made national sports coverage today for last night's game.

The Bad News:  It was for this Edmonton highlight.

 

 

The Edmonton player scored that goal was 19-year-old Connor McDavid.  He was the 1st overall pick in the 2015 draft.  He is referred to as a "generational player" and thought to be the best drafted player since Sidney Crosby in 2005.  McDavid scored 12 points in his first 13 games with Edmonton and then broke his his collarbone in a hard crash against the back wall back in November.

 

Last night's game against Columbus was McDavid's first game back after missing 37 games.  He got 1 goal and 1 assist.  In his goal shown above, McDavid shows why he is so lauded.  First he uses his speed to gain the offensive zone.  Then he undresses #7 Johnson with some dazzling stickwork (watch Johnson try to poke away the puck and see how McDavid leaves him reaching for air and speeds by him).  Followed by #44 Falk trying to take the puck away and McDavid faking him out so badly that Falk falls out of play.  McDavid finishes at the net with a flithy deke on Korpisalo and a backhand tap into the net.