Who's smokin, who's chockin - halfway point

Here we are... one game past the half-way point and the Jackets sit with a 20-18-4 record which currently puts them one points out of 8th place. In fact they are just five points out of 5th place at this stage.

Digging a little a deeper from 5th to 14th place teams are separated by just 9 points. The only teams that are running away from the pack are San Jose, Detroit, Calgary and Chicago. That leaves 4 places still up for grabs in a very competitive Western Conference.

...and the great news, the Jackets are most definitely right in the fight with no signs of slowing down despite many key injuries!

WHO'S SMOKIN

* The Jackets collectively are a smokin bunch. They went 4-2 on what I believe was the most important road trip in franchise history despite up to 7 regulars out of the lineup. They have won 7 of 8 at home. They are 6-4 over their past 10.

* Steve Mason. Just where would the Jackets be without this guy? I shudder to think. He currently leads the league in Save%, GAA and Shutouts. He is the single biggest difference why the Jackets have remained in this fight and his excellent play has gotten contagious.

* Young guys all stepping up and contributing. Voracek has 20 points in 41 games ..what's most impressive about him is he's a +13! Guys like Dorsett and Methot have really been contributing... and then of course we have the Russians in Filatov and Mayorov who are helping out.

* Speaking of Filatov... first career hat trick at the tender age of 18... 4 goals in 6 NHL games.. the future is indeed bright.

* Attendance has improved of late (although according to ESPN we are still ranked 29th). Reasons for improvement is better play by the team and I think the marketing staff is getting much more creative in putting butts in the seats as well.

* PK is also on the rise getting as high as 10th... its sitting at 19 killing at 81%.

* Coaching has done a good job using what they have (or have left) and getting them to buy into a style that they have to play to win. Its not pretty or entertaining a lot of times but if it produces two points who cares!

* Jackets are allowing the 6th fewest shots per game at 28.3.. more importantly the shots that are coming most of the time are of the low quality variety in low scoring areas of the ice.

* Mase has been great but so has the 'D' in front of him. Commodore/Hejda are one of the best shutdown pairs in the NHL. Tyutin has really solidified that second pairing and has worked really well with Methot. Kris Russell has looked fantastic after getting sent down.

* Commodore and Tyutin are both on track for career years point wise. In fact with 18 current points Commodore has already surpassed his season point total from of 14 last year. Tyutin had 20 points all of last season and has 18 already this year.

* Nash was on a tear before he went down with an "lower body" injury. He was named player of the week and has racked up 14 points in his last 9 games -- just 4 of those were goals. To me the best part is he was scoring key goals (penalty shot!) and making the players around him better which those assists illustrate -- alot of those were the 1st assist types for tap in goals..

* Big wins against San Jose, Philly, Colorado & Washington!

* R BAR!!

* Even strength goals continue to "carry the flag"... They are tied for 11th in the league with ES 77 goals.

* The Jackets are 9th overall in GAA. They've allowed just 2.64 goals per game.

* Mike Commodore is 3rd amongst NHL defensemen with 109 hits. Jan Hejda is 11th with 92.

* Commodoroe is 11th in blocked shots with 94, Hejda is 18th with 83.

* We've got more replay... less sponsor promos... better music and they have almost done away with those stupid movie clips... game ops is on the right track!

* Back to back to back shutouts for Mase. Back to back t0 back NHL "Rookie of the Month" awards for the Blue Jackets!

* Malhotra currently sits 5th overall in the league winning 58.4% of his draws. He is playing his best hockey as a Blue Jacket as well.

* Nash an "all star" for the 4th time.

* Folks who regularly comment on this blog -- your thoughts make this blog a much better place for hockey nuts like us! Thanks for contributing!!

WHO'S CHOKIN

* No 5 on 3 goals to date.

* PP ranked 30th in the league. Its done a little better of late but just imagine where this could be in the standing if they had a middle of the pack PP...

* Christian Backman. Just 1g, 3a for 4 points and is a +1. He hasn't been as horrible lately but if Howson gets a chance to dump this guy I'll drive him to the airport myself.

* Derick Brassard out of the year. That one is still stinging.

* Injuries have completely engulfed this squad but they are hanging in there.

* That LA Kings 3-0 loss on Dec 23rd. The worst game of the year and perhaps a moment we will reflect back on as the turning point in the season for the Jackets.

* Still desperately need a PPQB and could use another center.

* The "war room". Puke.

* 4 straight losses to the Phoenix Coyotes who are battling the Jackets for one of those remaining playoff spots.

* Glasscal Leclaire injured yet again and its safe to say is having a very down year.

* Me for believing this team was toast heading into a 6 game road trip.

There you have it. Feel free to add more in the comments section!

-LTL

Who's smokin, who's chokin - 20 game mark

Welcome back to another round of "Who's smokin, who's chokin".

For this round we'll take a look at who/what areas have performed well and who/what areas have plenty of room for improvement.

WHO'S SMOKIN
* Derick Brassard has been on fire since the first drop of the puck. He's tied with Chicago's Kris Versteeg in rookie scoring with 20p in 19 games. He's also a +9 and has a 6 game scoring streak. He's currently leads all Jackets in scoring and is tied for 21st in overall league scoring.

* Steve Mason. In 6 games played Mason is 4-1-1 with a .913 Save% and a 2.28 GAA. He's also got a shutout....and oh yeah, this kid is a rookie!

* Rick Nash. After a prolonged slump in the goal scoring department Nash is on fire scoring a goal in each of his past 5 games. In fact in his past 10 games Nash has 13 points. He's currently 15th in goal scoring and 28th in overall scoring in the league.

* Even strength. The CBJ are 8th in the league at even strength scoring 40 goals 5 on 5. At 4 on 4 the Jackets are 2nd scoring 4 goals.

* Overall scoring. The Jackets are tied for 12th in the league in total scoring racking up 59 goals.

* First NHL goals. Voracek, Filatov, Methot & Dorsett have all recorded their first NHL goals through the first 20 games.

* Rookie impact. Brassard, Voracek, Methot, Dorsett & Mason have all been impact rookies for the Jackest who have may key contributions.

* Road record. Believe it or not the Jackets are very respectable 4-4-2 on the road.

* Offseason acquisitions making an impact. While Backman and Torres (who actually had a great game the other night) have struggled Umberger, Commodore, Huselius and Tyutin have all had a positive impact and are producing. Umberger is tied for 2nd in goal scoring with 8. Commodore has 9 helpers which leads all Jackets defensemen. Tyutin is leading the Jackets in minutes played and keeps getting better. Huselius has 13 points in 19 games and does a tremendous job settling things down at there with his puck poise.

* Mike Commodore is 12th in NHL defensemen in hits with 51. Jan Hedja is 27th with 41.

* Jan Hejda is 17th in NHL defesemen with 43 bocked shots. Mike Commodore is 21st with 41.

* Although he's slowed of late Jason Chimera is off to the best start of his career collecting 5g, 9a for 14 points in 20 games. The best part though has been his patience and poise with the puck and his play in all 3 zones.

* The checking line centered by Michael Peca has been very good. I've loved Peca on the PK most nights.

* After digging themselves an early hole the Jackets have dug themselves out going 5-2-3 in their last 10. The players have done a good job staying resilient I give coaching and management a lot of credit here for keeping everyone focused.

* We have replays ladies and gentlemen!

* The Jackets beat some top teams in that first 20 including Montreal, Buffalo, Vancouver & Calgary.

* Depth Depth Depth! The Jackets team has shown that it is by far deeper than any team we've seen before. If someone goes down there is now quality depth both on the team and in the farm to pick up the slack.

* The Jackets finally beat Nashville in regulation!

* Garage Bar for their good beer specials and tater tots.

* The Jackets are 14th in face off % winning 50.3% of the time.

* The great readers of this blog and their excellent contributions in the comments!!

WHO'S CHOKIN
* Special teams. 30th ranked PP at 11.7%. The PK is 22nd killing at 80%. Needless to say they've both been brutal through the first 20. If they could ever get them rolling who knows, the sky could be the limit.

* Attendance. Columbus is 29th out of 30 teams in attendance coming in at 13,384 per game. Lots of hoping here. I hope as this team plays better people start noticing. I hope the marketing staff can find new ways to promote this team (CBJ rush as was mentioned in Puck-rakers). I hope things pick up after football season. That's a scary low number.

* Refs reversal on Nash in Minnesota (yeah, that one still burns me up).

* Leclaire on going injury problems.

* One timers and in general offense from the blueline when up a man. Even strength this group has looked real good. Up a man its been brutal as team know to pressure our blueline and really expose it as a weakness.

* Home record. The Jackets are 5-4-1 at home including playing two of their worst games all season. They need to do a much better job in their own house.

* The Jackets are 2-3 in OT. Those are all precious points that we can't afford to let slip away although I'm fully aware you aren't gonna win em all.

* The Jackets need to do a better job of playing teams below or equal to them in the standings. Islanders and two Phoenix losses sting.

* No R Bar yet... its comin soon though folks!!

* Norrena has really struggled going 1-3-3 with a 3.16 GAA and a .817 save%. His days as a Jacket may be coming to a close.

* Backman. His performance is well documented here.... basically he started off okay and then his play really took a nose dive. Salary dump, mis-advertised, whatever -- at 3.4 mil a year the Jackets need better play.

* Boll. Hand injury in the offseason. Concussion. He had a rough 20 games which has to be directly related to his injury problems.

* Raffi Torres is goalless so far as a Jacket in 10 games. He's of course coming off injuries so a slow start isn't totally unexpected. Still I think its safe to say everyone hopes he has a more productive next 20.

* There are some other players who, while they haven't been horrible, I think can be a lot stronger. Names like Modin, Klesla, Leclaire, Malhotra & Novotny are all guys I think fall into that category.


Bottom line is that the Jackets are very much in this thing after 20. The great news is that I don't think they've come close to playing their best hockey yet.

Check out the new poll to give your thoughts on who/what has smoked the most over the first 20.

-LTL