Somebody gets it...

I've hammered on about how ridiculous this "upper body" "lower body" mumbo jumbo has really become in pro sports. Well finally there is a franchise who is doing something about it.

I would like to applaud the Montreal Canadiens for the following:

Growing weary of widespread rumours and gossip surrounding injured players, Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau on Wednesday said anyone sidelined indefinitely will now have the nature of their injuries released to the media.

No longer will the team report such players have upper- or lower-body injuries.

Carbonneau said the decision was reached following a meeting between himself, general manager Bob Gainey, vice-president (hockey operations) Julien BriseBois and the team's communications department.

To that extent, injured winger Georges Laraque has revealed he's suffering from a back, not groin, injury as has widely been reported. The veteran, signed as a free-agent this season, has played in only 17 of Montreal's 42 games this season – none since Dec. 21, against Carolina. Laraque has two assists.

He has skated three times on his own this week, and believes he'll be able to resume practising with the team in another week.

Meanwhile, captain Saku Koivu, who practised with the Canadiens on Monday, has suffered a setback in his recovery from a high ankle sprain. He wasn't on the ice yesterday, and isn't expected to return until this weekend.

Thank you for taking the lead on this Montreal. We can only hope franchises (especially and selfishly the Jackets!) follow suit and put an end to this nonsense.

-LTL

Jackets pull to .500 off big win

Where to start.

I guess I'll start by saying that was a huge win against a very good Montreal team. Methot, Umberger and Modin all with goals. Huselius and Brassard with nasty finishes in the shootout.... and what about Mason? The Jackets aren't in this game without his play in the 1st period.

Sure the are still plenty of areas to improve upon (ahem...special teams) but even when this team gets down they are proving time and time again, they aren't out.

Honestly, these past two home games have been some of the most fun I've had in a looong time at Jackets games. Of course winning always helps!

STOPLIGHT GAME REVIEW

GREEN

* This team never gave up. It was up and down and all over the place at times but everybody had a hand in winning this one. Tough start aside this team is showing some really good signs over the past 5 games that we could have something here.

* This team is not in this game without Mason's performance in the first period. That is a what your goaltending needs to do -- keep you in games until the team in front of you wakes up. We also can't overlook that shootot performance.

* Fedor Tyutin played over 30 mintues last night. That has got to be close to a Blue Jacket record. He had an unbelievable assist on Modin's goal, 2 shots, 1 block and 4 hits. He wasn't killer on the PP as he bobbled some keep ins but for the most part I thought he had a real solid night in all situations.

* Marc Methot with another goal had 4 hits and 3 blocks. He's just been a big tree trunk back there who is getting his nose dirty all over the ice. This guy is just playing some fantastic hockey and I don't know where this offensive flair is comin from but I love it!

* I often overlook Jan Hejda on this blog which is my fault b/c he's been playing some great hockey, especially lately. He led the team in +/- last night with a +3 and even collected a couple of helpers. He's finding some chemistry with Commodore and is certainly living up to his "black hole" defensive billing.

* Big up to Hitch for putting Brass in the shootout and increasing his ice time (17+ last night). The kid has earned it.

* A shootout win! I almost forgot what that was like... Huselius' was sweet but Brass's attempt was just nasty.

* That was a hard hitting game. Both teams were throwing their weight around. Jackets had 33 hits led by Tyutin and Methot with 4. Montreal was alot more physical than I was expecting with 27.

* We have replays in Nationwide Arena...and lots of them!! YES!

* Brassard continues to be amazing in the circle. He won 10 of 14 last night. His ability in the circle has been one of the biggest suprises for me in his game.

* How hot is RJ Umberger? He notches yet another goal last night..his 4th in 3 games.

* Well done section 108!!

YELLOW

* Kristian Huselius had some bad turnovers last night and generally it wasn't his strongest game. He gets a yellow because he had some awesome defensive plays on the backcheck that really broke up some quality chances for the Habs. Those kinds of things all add up to wins.

* Rick Nash is starting to look like Rick Nash. One has to wonder if there was an injury somewhere in the mix here and he just now starting to get over it? Or it could just be a condidence thing. He was strong all night and how about that feed to Methot for that even up tally in the 3rd? Nice.

* Good atmosphere in the arena again last night with a crowd of 14,600. Give Habs fans some credit, they certainly showed up to support their team . The Jackets fans did a great job of drowning them out.

* Quite night for Voracek.

* Speaking of quiet... Modin may have the quitest 6 points 8 games on the team.

* He only collected an assist but I thought Jason Chimera had another strong game last night. He's so much more patient with the puck this season....looks really confident out there and he's even staying onsides most night. He also had a team high 6 shots. My one criticism is he's got dump that puck at the end of regulation there -- you can shoot and miss the net...that led to the Canadiens breakout that ultimately resulted in the tying goal.

* Peca was really good on the PK but was brutal in the face off circel only winning 5 of 19 for 26%.

RED

* You know I'm not really even going to get into the reds for this one. The same problems we've had all season showed up especially with special teams (we've got to score 5 on 3!) but I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy this one.

* I give myself a red for not remembering the new face off rule when a player takes a penalty.

3 BRIGHT LIGHTS ON THE NIGHT

1. Jackets find a way to get two points.

2. Steve Mason was really good, especially in the first.

3. Not a lot of passengers last night...some strong performances from a number of players including Methot, Nash, Tyutin and many more.

With the win the Jackets improve to 6-6-2 on the season which is good for 14 points and 3rd in the Central (1 point behind Chicago). They are 3-0-2 in their past 5 and certainly appear to be digging themselves out of their early season hole.

The Jackets won't have time to enjoy this one as they get right back at it tonight versus the Calgary Flames.

I won't be at this as I'll be supporting the Columbus Crew in their first home playoff game in 3 years. Not to worry as I'll be watching the game on DVR as soon as I get home!

Those who have followed this team through the years have had a lot of long years but there are finally some strong signs ladies and gentlemen that we just may be onto something this season.

We can certainly call this team a lot of things but boring isn't one of them!

Lets see if the boys can keep this ball rolling tonight!

GO JACKETS!!

-LTL

Fan video of last night's shootout

This one is courtesy of David:



Great vid David... thanks for sharing!!

Game review will be up in a bit.

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Streaking Habs come to town

The Montreal Canadiens make their 3rd ever visit to Nationwide Arena tonight - a place where they have won their previous two visits.

The Canadiens are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and make no mistake about it, they are a legit Cup contender and a favorite among many to come out of the East this season.

They are 8-1-1 and are undefeated on the road. They are winners of their past 3 and boast a high powered offense and strong defense that has only given up a league best 24 goals (granted, they've also only played 10 games). To top that off they are well rested having not played since last Saturday.

If the Jackets want a challenge they've found one. The Jackets however are on a little run of their own. They are 2-0-2 in their past four and although they are having problem keeping puck out they are certainly finding way to bury them averaging 3 goals per game which is good for 14th in the NHL (now if they could only get the PP going!).

The good news if your a Jackets fan is that this team tends to play to the level of their competition.... look for that to trend up tonight.

KEYS TO LIGHTING EM UP

* The Habs can bring scoring throughout their lineup. They are fast and move the puck exceptionally well. They can burn you quick in alot of ways. The Jackets will be fully aware of this and will have to neutralize it and counter quick of rushes of their own.

* Mason is going to have to play better than he did in his previous outing. Its certainly trial by fire you don't want to expect to much out him... he just needs to make the saves he should to give the Jackets a shot at this one. He's got to be our best penalty killer.

* Halak gets the net for Candadiens. He's got 2 wins and has a 2.52 GAA and .918 Save%. In other words he's played well when he's gotten the shot. The Jackets can't assume just because Price is out that its going to be any easier to score on these guys.

* PP. Its been well documented the struggles in this area. I really liked the past game how Hitch put 5 forwards out on the 5 on 3 -- it didn't produce anything that time but I think its a step in right direction given our offensive problems on the blueline. I also like how they were trying to utilize Modin's ability with the one timer. I think we need to keep trying those kinds of things to find a spark here.

* Jackets must continue to stay out of the box like they have been the past few games. They've been really good at limited penalties and that's a trend that needs to continue.

* Special teams. Montreal comes in with the 20th ranked PP and 13th ranked PK. The Jackets are 27th on the PP and 17th on the PK. In other words neither have been great on special teams to this point but should one get hot -- there is your game.

* Got to contain Markov on defense. He is a tremendous offensive d-man and leads this team in points with 13 in 10.

* Tanguay, Koivu & Kovalev are off to nice starts. Guys like Plekanec and Kostistyn brothers are struggling out of the gate and are just waiting for a breakout game. Can't let it happen.

* Offensively the Jackets have to keep doing what they are doing. Pretty much everyone is working well at even strength and Nash showed signs of breaking out whatever slump he was in the 3rd.

* Defensively there is still plenty of work to do to shore things up. We can't keep giving up short handed goals and we need to watch the turnovers. The puck movement and breakout has been better from the blueline back which needs to continue.

GAME SPOTLIGHT

I'm going to say attendance. A Friday night with an original 6 team we won't see very much....would be really nice to get a decent sized crowd in the confines. At the very least the Jackets have been playing an entertaining brand of hockey (even though I've come close to death about 4 times so far this season b/c of it) and scoring a lot of goals -- casual fans dig that stuff so if your on the fence, grab a friend or family member and head on down to the arena tonight.

This is the 2nd game of the Canadian hat trick. We've beat Edmonton, we have Montreal tonight and then tomorrow night its those nasty Calgary Flames who come to town.

See you all at the Garage Bar and I'm being told two weeks til the new R Bar Arena opens -- can't come soon enough!

GO JACKETS!

-LTL

Montreal unveils All Star jerseys

You can't see them really well but the Montreal Canadiens unveiled the All Star jerseys for this season.

The All Star jerseys are on the left.

This is their 100th year anniversary and they are pulling out all of the stops as they've got a Cup contending team, the All Star game and the draft this summer. They are also wearing all of those old vintage Canadiens jerseys pictured above throughout the season.

-LTL

Pre-game thoughts: Jackets end 5 game roady in Montreal

The Jackets are 2-2 right now on this 5 game road trip. Wins against powerhouses Detroit and Ottawa....losses against lesser teams in St. Louis and Toronto.

The opponent tonight - the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal is a good team this year, a real good team. They are 33-20-9 but are only 5-5 over their last 10 and lost their last game. Still though, Canadiens can beat you in a lot of ways.

They have extremely balanced scoring with 6 players - count em 6 players with 40 points or more with a 7th only 3 points from that mark. The Jackets have 2. They have the 1st ranked powerplay and 23rd ranked PK.

In short -- the Jackets have their work cut out for them tonight...and on top of all this the Canadiens are retiring Bob Gainey's number --- think the Habs want to play a stinker in front of their GM who is getting his number retired?

Yeah....this could be a long night for the Jackets.

Keys to lighting em up

Need the same 60 minute effort -- maybe even more -- that the Jackets played against the Sens tonight in Montreal. That's hitting, that's strong defense, timely goaltending, strong on the puck.....the only thing they need more of is goals but what else is new.

Buy in from everyone. With such balanced scoring throughout their lineup the Jackets can't really key on one player so everyone up and down the lineup must do their part in all 3 zones.

PK needs to really step up tonight. Its given up a PP goal in the last 8 straight games - a big reason why they've slid down the standings lately. Goin up against he #1 PP I think this one is fairly obvious -- Jackets must win this game within a game.

Lecalire -- can't give up a softy like he did against the Sens. Jackets got lucky comin back from that and Leclaire himself responded well but we usually lose games where that kind of goal is given up b/c of our lack of offense.

Trade deadline. This is the final game before the deadline. Jackets figure to sell off a few bodies. The Jackets can use it as an excuse or they can use it as motivation. As Hitch has said lately, not much more the coaches can do at this point -- its on the players.

So Fedorov finally got on the board so who is next? Malhotra, Vyborny, Fritsche, Novonty, Brule, Murray -- been quite a few games since these guys have scored a goal. Z, Nash and Modin could use some help.

Finish strong. 2-2 is respectable for the Jackets who have historically struggled on the road. If they could find a way to get out of this game with a point or two it would have to bee looked at as solid trip. Do I want more -- of course but lets be realistic.

Game spotlight

Sergie Fedorov, Adam Foote, David Vyborny, Ron Hainsey, Jan Hejda -- this game could be the last in a Blue Jackets sweater for all of these soon to be unrestricted free agents.

Keep an eye on Manny Malhotra and Gilbert Brule as well. They've been rumored to possibly move by the deadline as well.

*************************

The Jackets have had some decent success in the Bell Center going 2-1-1. The overall series is 2-3-1.

Real hard to get a read on this one. The Jackets have played better lately against teams higher in the standings. However one has to think the Canadiens are going to come out flying in honor of their GM getting his # retired.

How bout the Jackets wearing jersey's with the #23 during the pregame skate in honor of Gainey that will be auctioned off as part of a charity later? Classy move by the Jackets.

Hopefully Hitch gets the last laugh tonight over his good friend (and guy who gave Hitch his first job in the pros in Dallas) with a win tonight.

GO JEKYLL....I mean JACKETS!!

-LTL