Leclaire unbeatable (again), Jackets win 3-0

Goaltender Pascal Leclaire made 32 saves for his 3rd career shutout and second straight as the Columbus Blue Jackets blanked the Phoenix Coyotes 3-0 to push their overall record to 2-1.

The Jason Chimera, Manny Malhotra and Jared Boll line carried the flag for the offense last night as that line combined for 6 points and scored a goal in each period. The three also ended the night a combined +8. Rookie Jared Boll notched his first ever career goal off a nice bank pass from Manny Malhotra that sent the 19 year old in free on a breakaway that he roofed top shelf.

Lit it up

What can you say about Leclaire? He was dominant again in nets last night stopping 32 of 32 shots for his 3rd career shutout. He made the saves he should have and then some. As Leclaire said in the paper this morning, credit also goes to the team in front of him who is playing much better team defense and working for the goalie. Still though he was the team's best penalty killer during 7 Coyotes power plays. One would think Hitch would ride the hot hand going into Colorado on Saturday and start Leclaire.

Jason Chimera found his legs last night after a no-show at Minnesota. He fed Malhotra a beautiful pass in the slot on the Jackets first goal and then scored his own after a puck deflected off his leg and went into the Coyotes net. He also assisted on Boll's 3rd period goal. Last night is the kind of game we need from #25 on a consistent basis and I think we are going to see it more often than not.

Manny Malhotra (pictured right) continues to play strong which started in training camp and has certainly carried over to the season. He notched his first goal of the season and went 10 for 15 in the faceoff circle. Manny is doing all the little things it takes to win and it certainly didn't take long for the chemistry between he and Chimera to show back up.

Jared Boll. How can you not like this kid? He not only fought Daniel Carcillo of the Phoenix Coyotes and was generally just a pain to play against, he also notched his first ever goal as professional off a dandy of a bank pass from Malhotra. The FSN Oho Blueline better start printing off some Boll jerseys because this kid is gonna be a fan favorite in no time.

Jan Hejda. He is another player that responded from an off night in Minny notching 2 assists, a +3 and logged over 23 minutes in ice time to lead the team in that category. He also led the team in hits with 3 which is an area I thought he needed to improve on.

Penalty kill. Again the team continues to excel in this area early in the season killing off all 7 man power advantages for the 'yotes. It seems everyone on the team is contributing here and the results are showing up.

Replays...we have REPLAYS!!! Finally, the game ops staff is showing more in-game replays for the crowd at Nationwide. The lack of replays has been a big problem for me in the past and last night I noticed a much greater depth of replays shown throughout the contest. As a fan its hard to see all the action from your seats so to be able to watch more replays than of just the goals really helps me at least catch all the action I can. That and I think it keeps the fans much more active and engaged in the game.

Cannon. Still love it!

Dim the light

Its a shame the Nash-Modin-Vyborny line did not earn a point last night as they were more often than not very dominant - especially down low where it seemed the Coyotes defense could not handle the size of Nash and Modin. Modin had the best looks of the three at the net but was unable to bury it. Look for this line to stay together for Colorado on Saturday. I would like to see Modin do a little better in the face off circle as he went 10 for 22 at the dot.

Duvie Wescott had the hit of the night early in the first period on Carcillo that really set the tone for the evening. Duvie I thought had by far his best game so far including preseason. He was engaged playing over 18 minutes, made smart plays and was physical with a couple of good hits.

Kris Russell was another player that bounced back well. Remember he's still a rookie but he was an even on the night, had 3 shots and played over 16 quality minutes. I love watching this kid play as he's so damn smooth out there. I really thought he was gonna get one last night but alas it wasn't meant to be. Its coming soon for this kid though. He's adjusting well.

Nikolai Zherdev continues to impress me with his solid two way game. I'm not sure what we've got with #13 as its early but if its the guy I've seen the first 3 games of the season then he isn't going anywhere. Zherdev seems to be finally trusting his teammates and using his incredible stick handling skills to the advantage of the team instead of to the advantage of the individual. He's making moves when he has at the right point of the ice to gain space and make plays. He really set the table on a couple of great scoring chances but unfortunately nothing fell last night.

Michael Peca had a solid debut between the kids of Fritsche and Brule. Peca isn't quite as big as you'd think but he's quick and just looks like a seasoned veteran out there. A couple of times that line got hemmed down in the defensive zone. Hitch played it pretty conservative with #19 but you can tell right away if this guy can stay healthy he could really help this team. He's got veteran written all over him and the patience he displayed on the cross ice shorthanded pass to Adam Foote was a perfect example of the kinds of things he can help this team with.

Busted Bulbs

Attendance 11,900 - yikes! That would have to be the lowest announced attendance in team history. Having been to many a game that was probably about right in terms of people there but I have seen similar crowds with higher announced attendances. I have a feeling when MacLean was booted so were the inflated ticket numbers that were produced under his regime. Either that or the Jackets just stopped handing out as many free bees this season. The good news is that team won again and if they keep that up, the fans - especially the casual ones - will return.

Dan Fritsche really had a tough night. The first period was absolutely brutal for him. I'm a big #49 fan but we need much better nights from the Parma Ohio native and I think we'll get em. Hitch was asked about his performance in the post game presser and instead of beating on the kid Hitch defended him and said that he is playing a wing he's not used which was kind of refreshing. Hitch seems to be a master at mental side of the game and I don't think we are going to see him even on the worst of nights throw any of his players under the bus publicly. I get the sense the "teaching" as he calls it will all happen behind closed doors and that is a very good thing.

How fun is it to see this team win, even dominate some opponents for once? I know its early but I can certainly get used to this and for alot of you long suffering Columbus Blue Jackets fans who have stuck with this team since the beginning, I'm sure you share the same sentiment.

-LTL

Tollefsen scatched tonight

According to the Dispatch blog OK Tollefsen has been scratched from the lineup tonight. According to them its got nothing to do with OK's performance. Apparently there will be an ongoing rotation amongst defensemen for the next few weeks (read: until someone gets injured).

This is certainly an unexpected move one in which I don't really agree with. I understand that somebody needs to sit but your taking the most physical defensemen we have out of our lineup even though our identify as a team strives to be a big physical team to play against. So if its not based on performance then it really comes down to a numbers game -- you carry 7 d-men but are only playing 6 then somebody has to sit.

I gotta figure Russell was kept in the lineup b/c you don't want to scratch him and chance hurting this kid's confidence this early in the season. Hejda was a free agent acquisition so scratching him may also send the wrong message. So it comes down to Westcott and Tollefsen and apparently Hitch felt Tollefsen was the right guy to hold out of the lineup tonight.

Something else I'll throw out there is perhaps the team is showcasing a player for a potential trade and scratching him may send the wrong message to a team looking at possibly acquiring said d-man?

Lets see how it unfolds but as a fan I'll certainly miss his physical presence out there and am fairly certain we'll see an even more fired up player next game he's back in the lineup.

-LTL

Blue Jackets activate C Peca from IR

Its official!

Michael Peca has been activated from IR and will make his Blue Jacket debut tonight at Nationwide Arena.

Its likely Curtis Glencross will now be sent down on waivers and the unfortunate part of this is that he could be claimed in the process.

Phoenix Coyotes @ Columbus Blue Jackets 10/10/07 7:00 P.M. EST

Probable Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets

Nash-Modin-Vyborny
Novotny-Fedorov-Zherdev
Fritsche-Peca-Brule
Chimera-Malhotra-Boll

Foote-Hejda
Klesla-Hainsey
Tollefsen-Russell

Leclaire
Norrena

Phoenix Coyotes

Doan Kapanan Vrbata
Carcillo Reinprecht York
Winnik Hanzal Weller
Tjarnqvist Zigomanis Mueller

Ballard Boyton
Meyer Jovanovski
Jones Morris

Aebischer

Game Notes

Both teams are 1-1 after two games. Both teams haven't played since Tuesdays. Both teams have been picked by the "experts" to finish last in their respective divisions. Both teams probably look at this game as a "must win" to get off to good starts.

In its two games at home Phoenix has scored 4 goals and given up 5. The Jackets have played one at home and one on the road scoring 6 and giving up 3.

The good news for the Jackets is that Michael Peca will play his first game tonight. According to the Dispatch Ken Hitchock is ready for him:

"You cannot have enough competitive players on your team, and we're adding another one to our lineup," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "On smarts alone, he's ahead of most guys in the NHL."

With Peca back in the lineup that means Hitch will be going with 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. The Dispatch thinks that Wescott will be the scratch tonight although I'm not quite as certain. I think it will either be he, Hejda or Russell.

Modin has been moved to center for tonight. He played a little bit of center last year with mixed results. Modin and Nash give that line a big physical presence. Vyborny is the play maker who can feed either as they are both shoot first, pass second type players. I'm not sold on moving wings to center but as I've said before, Hitch is casting a large net to see what works best in that #1 hole.

Nikolai Zherdev is off to a great start with 3 assists in 2 games. Everything about his game has improved since last year the question now is can he sustain it? The test continues for #13 tonight as he'll flank Sergei Fedorov.

I'm excited to see what this Fritsche-Peca-Brule line is gonna bring. Seems to be a good combination of youth and energy with a scoring touch. Also Chimera and Malhotra have been reunited. Those two have played the majority of their two seasons together and have developed some good chemistry. Throw young fireball Jarod Boll into that mix and that line has the potention, if nothing else, to be disruptive, agitating and punishing.

Hedja, Russell, Chimera, Modin and Vyborny all struggeled again Minnesota so lets watch how they in particularly respond tonight. In fact, lets see how this team as a whole responds after a tough road loss which saw them give up a 1 goal 3rd period lead. This game could go a long way towards giving us an idea of the character of this team. That and this team cannot afford 6 to 8 game losing streaks early in the season like we've seen in the past.

Special teams have been very special for the Jackets thus far ranking in the top 5 in both PK and PP. The defensemen have played a very key role in getting the PP off to a good start with the encouragement from the coaching staff to jump up in the play. The Jackets need this to continue. The PK is operating at 100% efficiency right now and is off to a hot start, the key to a good PK is above anything else, great goaltending, so we'll need Leclaire to continue to play strong.

The Jackets return home for their second game of the season. This team must absolutely play better in their barn this year (they went 18-19-4 last year) and make it a tough place to play. They are 6-5-1 against Phoenix at home all time and certainly need to improve on those numbers.

For Phoenix, Shane Doan and Radim Vrbata lead them in scoring with 2 assists a piece. For the Jackets, Rick Nash has 4 points (2g 2a) with Nikolai Zherdev and Ron Hainsey close behind with 3 points.

Leclaire will get the start tonight and offseason free agent pickup David Aebisher will get the start for the 'yotes.

Game will be televised on FSN Ohio and can be heard on cdc101.com or 1460thefan.com.

Hope to see many of you down at the arena and/or Rbar tonight.

Go Jackets!!

-LTL

Week 2 Power Rankings and Peca expected to make Columbus debut tomorrow

Here are some updated power rankings for you this evening:

SI.com - not much movement for the Jackets as they are still ranked dead last at 30:
Maybe a full campaign under Ken Hitchcock is just what this team needs. After finishing 26th on the power play last season, the Jackets may have figured things out -- through two games -- with four PP scores, good for fifth in the NHL. If you're wondering, the PK has been perfect (11-for-11).

CBSSports.com - Jackets don't fare much better here coming in at #29:
Good signs early in Columbus; Rick Nash has scored a pair of goals and assists to go along with 11 shots in his first two games.

FoxSports.com - Whoa, Jackets all the way up to 11 in this ranking:
(.500) Solid goaltending in Week 1 allowed the Blue Jackets to finish high in the rankings, as Columbus only surrendered three goals in the two games it played. Pascal Leclaire recorded the team's only win, shutting out the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Anaheim Ducks, 4-0 on Friday night.

ESPN.com - Jackets check in at 28 here (note to ESPN, we've got a new logo and no it wasn't a fluke!):
Was that 4-0 win over the defending Cup champs a fluke?

CBC.ca - Jackets up to 24 here as those Canandian writers actually watch these teams instead of basing opinions off the past:
Fedorov and Zherdev showing signs of life.

Dispatch.com - Finally our good friends over at the Dispatch.com take a shot at rankings this week in their blog, Jackets check in at #23:
Decent start, but let's see if they can maintain.

So there you have it. Despite some teams going 0-2 the Jackets still remain at or very near the basement in a couple of these rankings. Its a long road to gain respect and I firmly believe the Jackets are up to the challenge for the first time this season.

Also on the Dispatch's blog Portzline says that Michael Peca, the UFA center signed late this offseason by the Jackets, looks ready to go.

Portzline loves Peca's hitting ability but I'm personally more interested in his face and two-way play making ability. He's been lined up between Fritsche and Brule who both play similar styles to Peca and if that line holds til tomorrow's game it should certainly be an interesting one to watch. Peca the responsible two way cagey veteran between two young and energetic forwards still looking for their first points of the preseason.

-LTL

Mason returned to London

According to the Dispatch blog 19 year old goaltender Steve Mason (pictured right) has been returned to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Mason, a 6'3" 190 lber 2006 3rd round pick, had a stellar camp and was held with the big team longer than expected for insurance in case Fredrik Norrena or Pascal Leclaire weren't healthy and because of his strong camp. Obviously the organization is happy with what they saw with Norrena/Leclaire over the weekend thus returning Mason to his junior club for the season.

I'm sure in London right now they are breathing a little easier now with this news as their team has went 0-6 without Mason and their two star forwards from last season in Partick Kane and Sam Gagner (both of whom went in the first 6 picks of this past summer's draft).

To me this was absolutely the right move for both the organization and for Steve Mason. Mason, right now, is clearly the goaltender of the future for the Jackets and needs to be playing and developing and not sitting. He'll now start just about every game for London and have a legit shot at playing for Team Canada on the biggest junior stage at the World Junior Championships.

As far as the Jackets its now up to Pascal Leclaire and Fredrik Norrena to "carry the flag" between the pipes for the Jackets. Both guys have shown the ability and now need to show the durability. If one goes down then the Jackets will have to rely on Tomas Popperle who is the starter in Syracuse which for us win now fans, is a risk as goaltending is the most important position on the ice and Mason has definitely passed Popperle on the depth chart. The Jackets cannot call up a player once they are returned to juniors until after their season concludes which is why Mason is now, for all intents and purposes, out of the pro picture this season.

In other CBJ news these are the lines used in practice today:

Nash -- Modin -- Vyborny

Novotny -- Fedorov -- Zherdev

Chimera -- Malhotra -- Boll

Fritsche -- Peca -- Brule

I think its safe to say that Hitch will be going with four full lines come Wednesday thus a defensemen will be scratched.

In the good news department, according the Syracuse Crunch blog, Alexandre Picard is back:

Syracuse forward Alexandre Picard is back in town. He wore a brace on his left knee, courtesy of the operation he had to repair two torn ligaments that he suffered against Rochester at the end of last season. When he starts playing again, he'll need to wear that brace.

Pic's return date could be sooner than expected. He's been skating in Columbus for three weeks. Now, in Syracuse, he will skate after practice. In three or four weeks, he can start going through drills with the team. And a couple of weeks after that, he should be ready to play again. So right now, we're looking at mid-November, which is a couple of months ahead of schedule.

"Before I skated, I was really worried, how's it going to be on the ice?'' Picard said. "Once I started to skate, it's the same (as before). I feel good on the ice. I feel like nothing happened.''

That is fantastic to hear he is ahead of schedule and even better to hear he's skating and it feels like nothing happened.

Kramer also mentioned that Zenon Konopka was in Columbus and saw some doctors regarding his hand injury. He wasn't cleared yet but was given the OK to resume skating. He could be back in two weeks.

-LTL

Hitch was on 92.3 this morning..

A buddy of mine gave me the heads up that Hitch was on 92.3 (local Columbus radio station) this morning for an interview. He had a couple of interesting nuggets that I thought I'd share:

Hitch said he likes the cannon a lot and that it doesn't go off right after the goal is scored so its a little startling. Said most off the feedback has been all positive and that it really does a good job if tying in with the Blue Jacket name and Civil War history. The radio interviewer then said what I was thinking in that the timing was a little off for the home opener but they should get that squared away quickly.

Since we are on the subject, here is how it works for those that haven't seen it live yet (which btw I posted a youtube video on the right side of this blog if you want a taste):

1. Home goal scored

2. Goal horn sounded

3. Snippet from ACDC song played "For those about to rock"

4. after "...rock" the cannon is fired -- KABOOM!

5. Cannon fire followed by another ACDC snippet "We salute you!"

6. "Crowd Chant" by Joe Satriani played after.

Okay...back to the Hitch interview. He was then asked now that he's been here a while, is the team:

A. Less than what you expected?

B. About what you expected?

C. More than you expected?

He answered B and went on to say that he saw a competitive spirit when watching video on the Jackets pre-hire and (paraphrasing here) that spirit needed collected and harnessed.

The other notable piece from that interview was they asked him the following fill-in-the-blank question -- ______ has surprised you most about the Jackets?

His answer was the depth of the youth within the organization. Said between the ages of 18 to 25 Columbus has one of the best, if not the best, collection of young talent in the league.

This being a country station he was giving the interview to they then went on to talk some country (Hitch is a big country music fan) but all in all a very entertaining listen.

-LTL

More line changes and the NHL Network coming to Time Warner?

Aaron Portzline has an update in his blog regarding new line changes for Wed's game:

Nash- Modin-Vyborny

Novotny-Fedorov-Zherdev

Chimera-Malhotra-Boll

Fritsche-Peca-Brule

The good news is that Peca is back practicing today and might finally make his debut as a Blue Jacket on Wednesday.

As far as these line combos, I'm not a big fan of playing wings at center but I know Hitch is casting a large net trying to find a center that works between Nash and Vyborny. I think eventually Howson and co. are going to have to look at the trade market for the answer and maybe throw some kind of package deal together. There will be some teams off to slow starts looking for a shakeup so keep an eye on those as they could make nice dance partners.

Remember Hitch likes to keep pairs of players together. We have Nash/Vybes and Feds/Z as the only two pairs thus far kept together in large part due to only playing 11 forwards through the first two games. Lets see what shakes out with Peca back.

With Peca back it would appear that the Jackets will start with 4 complete lines and 6 defensemen as opposed to the 11 forwards and 7 defensemen they were rolling. So the next big question is who gets scratched on the backline?

I think Foote, Kesla, Tollefsen and Hainsey are safe for now....so it comes down to Westcott, Hejda or Russell....my money is on Hejda. Of course this all assuming Peca is good to go on Wed.

Glencross and Shelley remain the extra forwards and I think Jacket fans better start getting used to the idea of no Shelley in the lineup for a good part of this season.

Also here is some new news regarding the NHL Network that I just read in this article:

NHL Network, the first national network dedicated entirely to hockey, is being launched in the United States, beginning this month, through carriage agreements with Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable. Based on the carriage arrangements, NHL Network will be accessible to 75 million homes.

“Our fans across the U.S. and Canada now can have access to the hockey programming they want, regardless the time of day,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “We have joined with six of the most-respected cable and satellite distributors in the industry, and that is testimony to the appetite and demand for the NHL.”

This link also says the following:

Operators will also have access to a full-time high-definition TV channel, although it's unclear how many distributors will offer that 24-hour simulcast.

I am going to have to call Time Warner and see what's going on in terms of this network being offered in Central Ohio b/c if it is, X-mas has come a little early for this fan especially if there is an HD channel offered!

I'll keep you posted with what they say.

Edit: I called Time Warner and pointed them to this news release. The guy I spoke with hadn't heard anything about it yet (which considering this was just announced today I'm not surprised) but said its likely they will be carrying it according to that press release. He took my name and number and will call me back once he figures it out. He did say it would be an extra $3.49 a month as part of a sport tier and is only available with digital cable subscribers.

Again I'll update this post when I hear more details.

-LTL

Leclaire to start on Wed against Phoenix..

A few nuggets to report and comment on this morning.

According to the Dispatch Pascal Leclaire will get the start this Wednesday at home against Carolina. As you know Leclaire posted his second career shutout on Friday in the season opener blanking the defending Stanley Cup champs 4-0.

Coach Ken Hitchcock has said he'll use both Leclaire and Norrena unless one shows he's the clear cut #1. Its still very early but after the first two games I don't think either showed better than the other even though one got the shutout win and the other didn't. Norrena played well Saturday night but unfortunately so did Minnesota and our guys lost some of the intensity from the opener. This will be a good story to follow and good problem to have if both guys continue to play well.

Again its early but the Jackets are off to a nice start on the special teams. Penalty killing is clicking at an 100% rate which is 4th in the league and the powerplay is firing at a 30.8% which is also fourth in the league.

The Dispatch also notes that all of our PP goals have been generated off the defense:

When the Blue Jackets are on the power play, Hitchcock wants to see the point men willing to creep down low when the numbers dictate it.

Penalty kill units have gotten so adept at clogging passing and shooting lanes, Hitchcock said, that puck movement down low is the key. So he has urged Kris Russell, Ron Hainsey, Sergei Fedorov, Duvie Westcott and others to take the risk.

"If you're going to score, you have to pour more numbers up there," he said. "Literally, if they have three, you've got to have four."

All three Blue Jackets' power-play goals were scored with defensemen playing well off the blue line.

They 'D' has most certainly been moving better on the PP than I've ever seen before on a CBJ team and its paying off early. The danger here though is getting caught if the puck is turned over and giving up some quality scoring chances shorthanded. As long as guys like Fedorov, Hainsey, Russell and Westcott continue to read the play well we should be in good shape and see a much improved PP throughout the season.

Again though this is another example of what elite coaching gets you -- do you think Gerard Gallant would have implemented this?

As noted in this blog Nikolai Zherdev is off to a very good start over the first two games and coach Ken Hitchcock tends to agree :

"I think he's fully engaged," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "This is what we can expect on a nightly basis with Nikolai … a very dangerous player."

"I think he's played very well," Hitchcock said. "He's skating and competing. When a highly skilled player does those two things, good things happen.

"We're counting on him. We're relying on him. He's one of the best players on our team at creating opportunities off the rush."

Good for #13 -- hopefully the light is finally starting to go off upstairs. Again the re-occurring theme of this blog post is that "its still early".

The great news for Jacket fans is that #13 and #61 have been our best players through two games and offensively speaking that is a must. I have also been impressed with Gilbert Brule as well -- he doesn't have the points to show yet but if he keeps playing the way he has been, they will come.

Chimera, Vyborny, Modin, Hejda and Rusell all need to pick up the play on Wednesday though as they were for the most part no shows on Saturday night.

Also don't forget hockey fans that there are a couple of early games today. The Caps take on the Islanders at 2 EST and then Devils take on the undefeated Senators at 3 EST. Center Ice is till free so if you have today off like me, then don't forget to tune in for some early NHL action.

Second year player Paul Statsny if off to a very hot start for the Colorado Avalanche notching 4g, 4a in 3 games played to lead the league in scoring -- remember though, its still early!

Happy Columbus Day!

-LTL

The Flag Bearer

I just got around to checking my email this evening and noticed that the Jackets have a new "e-magazine" called The Flag Bearer:

They have some pretty cool stuff in there like a Q&A with Adam Foote and a monthly message from GM Scott Howson.

Here is some of the Foote Q&A:

How would you describe this year’s Blue Jackets team compared to the previous two since you joined the club in 2005?

I think there is a lot of good leadership. The young players who were here two years ago are now that much older and with the changes there is a new, fresh start and we have a clear thought process of how we’re going to become a championship team. I think that all of that together from top to bottom we’re just a better team.

Outside of Nationwide Arena in Columbus and the Pepsi Center in Denver, what arena do you enjoy playing in the most?

I’ve always loved playing in Chicago. I think it has a lot to do with the old Chicago Stadium and I love the city. It has a lot of character. United Center has kept a lot of those feelings, so I’ve just always liked playing there.

What meant more to you… winning a Stanley Cup championship or helping Canada win its first gold medal in 50 years?

I thought the Cup would be way more important and I’d feel a lot better after winning it, but I’d have to say winning the gold medal was very close to having the same value to me. That surprised me, but today when people in Canada talk to me they talk more about the gold medal than the Cup. I guess it means a lot to them.

I'm not exactly sure how you can sign up for this news letter but they do include an email for anyone with questions so I would recommend contact them @ ticketservice@bluejackets.com

Next month they will have an interview with Ole Kristian Tollefsen and you can email questions in to him at flagbearer@bluejackets.com

Great stuff. I love they way they've embraced the logo/flag and their civil war roots. We now have an identity to be proud of (i.e. nobody will think of our name as a bug - thank gawd!).

-LTL

Elmira Jackals new ECHL affiliate of the Jackets

In an unexpected move the Columbus Blue Jackets have dumped the Dayton Bombers as their ECHL affiliate and have teamed up with the Elmira Jackals who are making their inaugural season in the ECHL (they were part of the USHL). This is a one year agreement.




Here are some quotes from the official press release:

"We are very pleased to have the Elmira Jackals as our ECHL affiliate. The foundation of any successful franchise is the development of its young players and we think this relationship will be a very positive one for our organization," said Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson.
"We think the close proximity of Elmira to our AHL affiliate in Syracuse will be a tremendous benefit for both those clubs and an asset to our efforts to develop players at the minor professional level," Howson added.

Elmira and Syracuse are approximately 90 miles apart, benefiting the Blue Jackets organization with reduced travel costs and more timely transactions between their two minor league affiliates. Columbus had previously been affiliated with the Dayton (Ohio) Bombers of the ECHL.

“We are excited with the opportunity to have our ECHL affiliate in Elmira,” said Syracuse Crunch President and CEO Howard Dolgon. “The affiliation with Elmira is an opportunity to link the Twin Tiers and Central New York, allowing fans of both organizations an opportunity to follow the development of Columbus’ prospects.”

Not sure about anyone but certainly didn't see this coming. Its interesting that the organization chose to move the ECHL closer to AHL affiliate instead of staying with the in-state ECHL team and move the AHL affiliate to say Cleveland or Cincinnati.

I'm also surprised to see only a 1 year agreement signed. I suspect that if things roll smoothly that this agreement will be extended. I'm pretty sure that the Crunch affiliation was extended to the 2009 season.

I'm sure there are fans of the Dayton Bombers who are not happy with this turn of events but affiliates change all the time in pro sports.

-LTL

Blue Biscuits

I thought I'd take some time and update everyone on where some of our affiliat teams stand as well as some of our top prospects.

Lets start with the Syracuse Crunch whom opened their season Friday Oct 1st with a loss to Rochester 6-4. Derick Brassard notched his first goal as a pro and Joakim Lindstrom, Steve Goertzen and Derick MacKenzie scored the other three. Thomas Popperlee got the start but after allowing 5 straight goals off of 8 shots was pulled in favor of Dan LaCosta. The Crunch made a game of it scoring the next 4 goals but it wasn't enough.

The Crunch followed that loss up with another one last night in a 3-2 loss to W-B/Scranton. Derick MacKenzie scored his second of the campaign with Geoff Platt notching his first. Thomas Popperlee got the start again and had a better outing stopping 25 of 28 shots but it ulitmately wasn't enough.

The Ohio Junior Blue Jackets also kicked off their season this past weekend. They opened the 2007-2008 season on the road against Green Bay. The swept both games against the Gamblers winning 5-4 on Friday night and 6-3 on Saturday. Pretty good start for a team that won only 13 of 60 games in last season.

There are also some Blue Jacket prospets off to very hot starts in the Canadian Major Junior leagues.

2007 2nd round pick Stefan Legein (pictured right) is the hottest of them all and is currently leading the entire OHL in scoring with 16 points (8g, 8a) in only 6 games played. That is one point better than super phenom John Tavares who if were to be eligible to be drafted this season would be a sure fire #1 overall pick. Legein had 43g, 32a for 75 points in 64 games all of last season. At this current pace he would shatter those totals and then some. I expect Legein to cool off a bit but may still break that 100 point total.

2007 first round pick Jakub Voracek is also off to a strong start in the QMJHL. In just 2 games played thus far Voracek has already rung up 1g and 6a for 7 points.

A good place for those that want to keep up with the Jackets propsects is to go to Hockeysfuture.com and look at their list of top prospects for the Blue Jackets. From there just google them or the league they play in and you can track their progress.

Finally one more quick note from Aaron Kramer's Syracuse Crunch blog:

Rookie power forward Tom Sestito has an injured hand that he hurt in a preseason fight with Buffalo's Andrew Peters. He's getting it checked out on Thursday.

-LTL

Jackets blow 3rd period lead, fall to Wild

The Columbus Blue Jackets carried a 2-1 lead into the 3rd period in Minnesota last night only to fall to the Wild 3-2.

Last year the Jackets lost only one game when carrying a lead into the 3rd. Minnesota also had the 2nd best road record in the league last year.

The Jackets got on the board first in the first period off a very pretty pass from Nikolai Zherdev to a pinching Ron Hainsey. Hainsey wasted no time unleashing a wicked one timer past Wild goaltender Niklaus Backstrom. Jason Chimera also notched an assist. The Wild countered off a Jackets turnover and a subsequent Pierre-Marc Bouchard breakaway that beat Fredrik Norrena.

The 2nd period saw the only goal come from a captain Adam Foote short handed goal off a seeing eye slap shot just inside the Wild blueline that caught Backstrom flat footed. Nikolai Zherdev collected his 2nd assist of the evening while Jiri Novotny collected his first point ever as a Blue Jacket.

In the 3rd, the Wild again capitalized off another Jacket turnover that saw Eric Belanger split the Columbus defense and beat Fredrik Norrena 5 hole. Less than 5 minutes later Brent Burns scored the game winner off a one timer from the point.

Fredrik Norrena stopped 28 of 31 shots.

Lit it up

Nikolai Zherdev continues his strong early performance. Its not a stretch to say he's been the Jackets best all around forward through the first two games of the year. He's doing everything right and most importantly he seems to have found some trust in his teammates as he's using them much more often and getting away from his individual game. If Z keeps this up, he could be in for a very strong season.

Ron Hainsey (pictured upper right) has two goals in two games. I'm personally not the biggest fan of #6 but through the first two games he's done an excellent job of reading the play and jumping up for scoring chances. Both of his goals have been scored in this fashion. He still needs to do a much better job at the transition game but he has played well.

Sergei Fedorov. This guy has also been playing fantastic hockey. We've seen flashes of the Sergei of old in the first two games. He's passing and creating the best I've seen since he's joined the Jackets. He, like Zherdev, could be in for a big season if he continues this high level of play.

Adam Foote is another guy who is playing well. He logged 21.42 in ice time last night and for missing the entire preseason has looked just fine out there. Hitch is playing Foote to his strength's using him strictly in even strength and PK situations and its paying off early. It was also nice to see Footer get that shorty last night.

Penalty killing and Jiri Novotny. PK continues to be strong. The Jackets killed off all 5 man advantages they faced last night. Jiri Novotny has been a key a addition in the area and for me anyways, has looked great for the role we brought him in to play. He reminds me of Svitov without the fighting ability.

Powerplay. The PP went 1 for 1 last night. Its off to a good start going 4 for 8 over two games.

Dim the light

I thought Gilbert Brule and Dan Fritsche continued to play well. They haven't shown up on the score sheet yet but they will. I would actually like to see these two get more minutes but the minutes they have been playing have been quality.

Rick Nash was held off the score sheet last night but I actually noticed him more last night than I did opening night. Funny how those things work. I thought he generated some good chances. Unfortunately for our team we only had one powerplay all night.

Freddy Norrena played pretty good last night even though he didn't get the win. He stopped 28 of 31 shots and the goals that did beat him were two breakaways and a wicked one timer.

Offense. I'm glad to see defensemen getting goals but we needed more from the offense last night and didn't get it.

Busted bulbs

Jason Chimera and David Vyborny were no where to be found last night. Some times the pucks just don't bounce for you and that seemed like the case for these two. Need these two to show up every night.

Young defensemen breakdowns. OK Tollefsen, Duvie Westcott and Kris Russell had tough nights last nights. Russell had a couple of turnovers that lead to odd man rushes and Duvie and Tollefsen got caught flat footed a couple of times. Although I'm still scratching my head how Duvie gets called for a clean hit on Marion Gabrik at the end of the 3rd -- apparently for that moment hitting was no longer aloud in this game. Duvie can give you that though, he's a strong skater and more often that not if your gonna try to beat him wide he's gonna make you pay. He pinched off one of the best skaters in the league in Gaborik on that play.

Points. In a game like this on the road and taking a lead into the 3rd period this team must come out of this with at least a point.

In-your-face. Not enough checking from this team last night. Part of that was due to Minnesota's play as they outhit us 18 to 11. We need to bring that physical brand of hockey with us on the road and we need everyone to continue to buy in.

Overall this team played a pretty strong road game. Sure we blew a lead in the 3rd and sure we had some breakdowns but this team kept battling and played strong systematic hockey. Last year at this time we went to Minnesota for our 4th game of the year and got absolutely blown out of their barn 5-0. Last night this team competed and made a game of it -- which is a large step forward compared to a year ago.

Still plenty of areas to improve on but remember its only one game, lets see how they respond when Phoenix comes to town on Wednesday.

-LTL

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Minnesota Wild 10/06/07 8:00 P.M. EST

Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets

Nash-Fedorov-Vyborny
Chimera-Novotny-Zherdev
Modin-Malhotra-Brule
Fritsche-Boll

Klesla-Hejda
Foote-Westcott
Tollefsen-Russell
Hainsey


Norrena
Leclaire

Minnesota Wild

Demitra Sheppard? Gaborik
Rolston Belanger Bouchard
Radivoiavic Koivu Parrish
Vellieux Moore Foy/Boogard

Schultz Johnsson
Carney Burns
Nummelin Skoula

Backstrom

Game notes

For anyone that thinks we lack centers I refer you to the Minnesota Wild. This is a team that has Walz, Koivu, Belange and Moore down the middle. Walz, according to Aaron Portzline, will not play tonight due to an injury.

I also refer those that think our lineup isn't talented enough to make the playoffs to Minnesota. On paper I think we are easily just as skilled. The difference between the two playoff appearances for the Wild and none for us I contend has always been their superior coaching. We have that now. I contend that if the Wild have enough talent to make the playoffs then so does this team.

Norrena gets his chance tonight to start for the Jackets. In his two career starts versus the Wild Norrena has gone 2-0.

Minnesota is a very tough team to beat at home. The Jackets are going to need to match the effort that had last night versus Anaheim to have a chance in this one.

It will be interesting to see if Hitch sticks with 7 defensemen of if he dresses Shelley tonight. Minnesota has one of the toughest enforcers around in Derick Boogard. Will Hitch match that with Shelley or play around him?

Tonight should be a very good test and gauge for where this team stands.

-LTL

Jackets start season with a bang, win opener 4-0

The much talked about cannon made its debut last night and boy did it get a workout as the Jackets shutout the defending champions Anaheim Ducks 4-0 in front of a near sell out crowd at Nationwide Arena.

Rick Nash had a career evening figuring into every goal scored. He ended his night with 2g, 2a and a career high 4 points. Sergei Fedorov scored his first of the season and Ron Hainsey capped the evening with a 3rd period goal of his own. Each player also had an assist. Rookie sensation Kris Russell notched his first career assist. Nikolai Zherdev, Fredrik Modin and David Vyborny rounded out the scoring each collecting an assist of their own.

Not to be lost between the cannon and Nash was Pascal Leclaire's sterling performance. While not tested often, he stopped all 28 shots he faced and notched his 2nd career shutout. He was steady, quick and made the saves when it mattered.

Lit it up
To be honest the whole team deserves a mention here b/c as a team they lit it up. Granted Anaheim was playing its 4th game straight on the road and looked every bit of it, the Jackets came out and played their game for a full 60 minutes. From Leclaire on out, every player on the ice did their part to earn this team win.

While not really even dominating Rick Nash quietly found himself with a career game with 4 points. The thing I really liked about Nash's game last night was his control and patience with the puck, especially on the powerplay. He worked the half boards better than I've ever seen him previously. The scary thing is that there are higher levels this guy can raise his play to. Was good to see #61 get off to a great start this season.

Pascal Leclaire. Any time a goaltender gets a shutout its a good thing. Leclaire looked strong and healthy in net tonight. The team in front of him played strong defense and when there was a breakdown Leclaire was there to shut the door. He's another guy I'm happy to see get off to a good start this season.

Zherdev. This was one of the strongest games I've seen Z play since he's been here. He was flying over the ice, killing penalties, passing, back checking and even threw a couple of hits. I'm the first to criticize this player when he takes nights off (and there have been too many of those) but I'll also be the first to sing his praises when he plays well. Lets hope last night's Z is the player we see most nights this year b/c if it is, he can really help this team.

Special teams. The special teams were well, special last night. The penalty killers killed off 9 penalties, including a 5 minute major from a Jared Boll hit (which quite frankly was a clean hit and terrible call). The power play went 3/8 on the evening and was really moving the puck around well. The biggest difference for me was seeing the movement from the players -- Kris Russell was everywhere on that PP, this kid knows when to jump.

Rbar. Boy did Mike, Natalie and the gang put on a good party last night over at the Rbar. Its was a sponsored event by Miller/Molson complete with free flag give-aways to the first 20 customers, a blow up Molson balloon, grill and roped off patio. It was another fantastic event and the place was hopping.

Civil War theme. Oh man has the game day ops staff nailed it this time. The cannon was a rousing success and the other civil war tie ins were brilliant. From the drummers and fife playing outside the entrance into Nationwide to the bugler (we need more of this guy) to the opening night video presentation it ALL worked wonderfully. A game at Nationwide has truly become a unique experience in the professional sporting world and the identify of this team and its name has been tastefully displayed.

For the most part I thought the Jackets did a better job of staying out of the penalty box. They did give up one 5 on 3 which was killed successfully. The Jackets will need to continue this trend.

Dim the light
Jason Chimera was flying last night and is playing a with a lot of confidence. He had two clean breakaways but failed to convert on them and put this game away. To the Ducks credit Bryzgalov really stood on his head last night. If Chimera keeps playing this way though he is gonna be real hard to keep off the score sheet a lot of nights this year.

Busted Bulbs
For the first time in 7 home season openers, the Jackets failed to sell out Nationwide Arena coming up 300 fans short. To be honest though I thought there were more people there this year than last (which was announced a sell out) and the placed looked packed. The fans also were loud and really into the game. If the Jackets keep this high level of play up on the ice, they won't have to worry about attendance going down as the fans will come back.

All in all it was a heckuva way to kick off the 2007-2008 season. The Jackets are right back at it tonight. I'll have a game preview up next.

The Dispatch has a pretty cool slide show from opening night -- follow this link to see it.

The Blue Jackets were 1-3-2 in season openers before Friday's 4-0 win over Anaheim. The last time Columbus had won their first game of the season was on Oct. 10, 2002.

A quick note from TSN - Jared Boll will not face any further discipline from the league for his hit on Travsi Moen -- and rightfully so as in IMO it was a clean hard hit that shouldn't have drawn a penalty in the first place.

-LTL