Call me a crazy conspiracy theorist of a fan but I find the following Howson quote to be quite a mysterious and interesting bit of info:
From the media day press conference..Question: Scott do you anticipate any invites for try outs, veteran players that you might want to take a look at and if so when do you think you will you be talking about that...??
Howson: it's possible we've talked to a couple already, and were going to talk a couple this afternoon... ehm it may not happen... we've been turned down two or three times so far just because the player thought that the fit wasn't right.... we are not a real attractive team anymore to come on a tryout, unless you are a defenseman I guess or perhaps a natural center...we got the message from the agents, why would we want to come there ?? but there is a void particularly at defense and we are trying to bring in ehhh we'd be open to bring in a veteran NHL defenseman who has played and doesn't have a contract.. but so far that hasn't happened...
The reason I find this quote to be so terribly interesting is because Howson in this interview and several other articles over the last couple of weeks is really praising our group of forwards, even going as far as to say that players that currently aren't signed don't want an invite because they feel like their chances of obtaining an NHL contract through the CBJ are slim, because of our offensive depth.. This ofcourse is fantastic news for the blue jacket fans. However he has also changed his message over the last couple of weeks pertaining to our defensemen... he's been fairly negative about our defense, as of late. A few weeks ago his standard line pertaining to our defense was something along the lines of: "We are very satisfied with our current defensive core, but we would like to add an offensive defenseman if the opportunity presented itself. If the opportunity simply isn't there I feel very confident in our current defensive roster as it stands".. Recently he has been changing his terminology quite a bit, using words such as "void" and "lack of depth".. (unfortunately I can't find the other article with the Howsen quotes, still searching but can't seem to find it.. does anyone some recent howsen urls??)... Howsen is a very calculated and bright GM and it makes me wonder why he felt the need to change the message over the last few weeks ?? Am I being paranoid or has something changed in the last few weeks ??
-P
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5 comments:
just a thought, this could all be a mind game. maybe howson is saying "hey we have a defensive void here in columbus, who thinks they can fill it?". kind of a challenge to any of those older guys to step up and say, "hell yeah i can still play at this level and i think i am the man to fill that void in columbus". might not be the case but just something to chew on.
Very good point... they might not be able to obtain an Offensive D-man and this is Howsen telling the rookies that if you show him something special you could be playing in the NHL this season... Could be it...
Personally I feel our D is pretty solid, although we could definitely use an offensive defenseman.
To me, he's laying down the challenge to 1) our rookies to step up and 2) any unsigned free-agent defensemen still out there that want a chance to play with an up and coming team.
I think he realizes that the unintended consequence of his expression of faith in our blue line has been to discourage interest from outside veterans.
Now, he is trying to take a middle ground, showing some room for a new face to make an impact, but not throwing up the panic flag.
Being a GM is a tightrope walk, that's for sure!
--JAL
A Shot From The Point
Indeed it's a though spot to be in... I am just anxious to see what will happen before the season starts...
Looking at the wingers... we have..
Nash --- Brassard ---- Huselius
Umberger---Vermette---Voracek
xxx----Pahlsson---xxx
xx-xx-xx
5 spots remaining... for Modin, Torres, Filatov, Chimera, Dorsett, Boll, Murray and maybe even Blunden or Picard (if he plays in camp like he did in the AHL at the end of the year.. this kid has a shot).
Something has to give here... especially since management has said repeatedly they would like to see a fourth line of Boll and Dorsett, possibly being centered by Murray or Blunden...(This would make sense, the 4th will be energetic and cheap, a very nice 4th line that's not a defensive liability)
Filatov will have to fit somewhere in the bottom six so that leaves only 1 spot for Modin, Torres and Chimera... and you would have to think Modin, Chimera and Torres would play over the likes of Boll, Dorsett and Murray...
I hope we can make some deal before the start of the season... because we have a traffic jam especially if a rookie steps up out of nowhere... In Howson we trust...
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