I didn't get to catch all of last night's game on the radio but judging by what I did catch and by the box score Predators super pest Jordan Tootoo once again got under the skin of the Jackets and drew a whopping 6 penalties. The Preds went on to win the game 3-1.
The Jackets were badly outplayed in the first period getting outshot 15-2. They bounced back in the second and outshot the Preds 19-0. Unfortunately the lineup, with only RJ Umberger as a top 6 player, was unable to to convert on numerous chances. Be it mostly a Syracuse roster or not the Jackets have to score when they play that kind of period -- that was the game right there.
There were some brights spot, especially Freddy Norrena's continued strong play in the pre-season. He held the fort as long as he could. Grant Clitsome also played another stong game leading the Jackets in ice time with over 24 minutes played. Mirasty also got to drop the mitts with Grant and by all accounts had another strong bout.
Unfortunately the PP continued to sputter and the PK gave up two more PP goals. Both Jared Boll and Derick Dorsett were goaded into double minor roughing penalties from the pest.
The Jackets have got to figure out a way to contain this guy and prevent him from getting in their heads. I know everybody wants a piece of him but that's his game. They need to start hitting first where it hurts the most when they play this team, the scoreboard. Then let Tootoo's antics come to them and turn the tables.
The loss drops the Jackets to 1-3 in the preseason. All losses coming on the road. There are 4 more preseason games left to play and my guess is that these games will have mostly Jacket regulars in the lineup as they start getting down to business with the core for the start of the season on October 10th.
Cuts are expected either today or tomorrow. The Jackets take on the Blackhawks at home tomorrow night at 7 EST.
-LTL
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9 comments:
Is it just me or is Tootoo worse than Sean Avery? It really is irritating how little he stands up for himself, or when he does get in a fight he always seems to throw the first (couple) punch with his mitts on. My favorite Tootoo moment is when he boarded Mike Modano. One of the Dallas D-men came in to blast him and 22 sucker punched him. We need to control that animal...
Max, Tootoo is a worthless piece-of-crap. The officals contine to allow him to take cheap shots all over the place and reward him when teams retaliate.
As long as the officals judge retaliation worse then the original crime, a no talent hack will continue to be able to play his game.
Having said that, the Jackets have to find the right way to retaliate. Ignore him, point out cheap shots to the officals, get a lead, and finish the game.
That will minimize his ice time.
Yeah but you would love to have on your team for that reason and if he was here know one would complain,they would say he is doing his job.
Mark,
Original Anonymous here.
I would not "love" Tootoo on my team. I don't like him, his game, or anything about his play.
I don't respect his play or his gamesmanship. Of the things that are wrong about hockey, him having a place on any team is towards the top of the list.
Clear enough for you?
Different anonymous all together here:
It is irritating to me that Boll and Dorsett weren't smarter than Tootoo last night. Tolly said in the paper that 'he just laughs at him' anymore. When the guy draws 6 penalties against your team, who is really the one who is laughing. Forget about Jordin-effin'-Tootoo and play the game.
Re: pp. Can't hardly expect that a team of 2nd and third string guys who typically don't play on the pp are going to score versus basically all the Preds regular pk'ers.
Had we not gotten a pp goal the other night when our regs. were in the lineup, I might be concerned. Until then, not really.
The fact that we allowed 3 the other night with a lot of our regs. in the lineup bothers me more than our lack of pp in the other three games.
Our pk and goals against need to be top 10 in the league if this team (any team really) is going to go anywhere.
The NHL needs to get rid of the instigator rule because of guys like Jordin Tootoo. Get rid of the rule and Tootoo will stop with the cheap shots.
LTL,
Great article on Mirasty from Puck Daddy...
"Fight Video: Legendary Jon Mirasty drops the gloves in NHL debut"
I especially liked this line...
"...Of course Trotz is absolutely correct in his decision to keep Jordin Tootoo from dropping the gloves with Mirasty. Because there's every chance Nasty would have hit him so hard Kellie Pickler would have felt it. And they broke up last year."
You have to give credit where credit is due.. Tootoo is good at what he does, this argument is clearly supported by the numerous amounts of references he gets in post game interviews and web chatter.. Then again Boll garnishes the same type of attention from other teams.. Tootoo is dirtier I know... but still... I think the fact that so many CBJ fans despise his guts (including me, especially after that game last year where he whooped Chimera) shows that he's contributing heavily to the Nashville lineup.. .But to be honest, better teams such as the wings will raise the skill level of the game to make Tootoo obsolete... Tootoo is a non factor against the top 10 teams... Would I like to have Tootoo on the 3/4th line.. sure.... a Torres/tootoo/boll line would be somewhat interesting wouldn't it ??
I've known Jordin Tootoo throughout his career, and he's always played right near that line. Yes, he does cross it, and that's why people hate him, but it's earned him an NHL job when he has limited scoring skills.
If you're all focused on him doing his job, what do you think the players are doing? That's why he's been successful in keeping his job in Nashville when guys like Darcy Hordichuk have been let go.
There's no book written for agitators, and the code is completely different than it is for fighters. But he does play dirty sometimes, and that needs to stop. His work in Dallas last year was simply brutal, and that should have been punished harshly.
And I'm not one to criticize great bloggers - and that's what you guys are, LTL - but for the love of all humanity, you have the internet if you're able to blog. If you aren't sure of a guy's name, look it up ON THE INTERNET.
Otherwise, keep up the great work!
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