The Blue Jackets may have lost a game tonight, but they gained far more than that. In trading scoring blows with the Detroit Red Wings, taking the best they had and giving it right back to them, the Jackets climbed far up the ladder in seasoning, respect and character.
There will be plenty of time to analyze the brain dead call for too many men on the ice with 1:34 left, when there had been exactly zero penalties in the third period prior to that. Was it a penalty? Sure. Should a neutral zone line change be whistled on a play that would otherwise have been icing, at a critical point in a playoff game? No.
The Jackets remarkably came back from 3 - 1 and 5 -3 deficits, using goals by Nash, Umberger, Russell and Modin, on top of a 1st period beauty by Huselius. Two power play goals, lots of energy, good hitting. Our defense remained suspect, but prevented any meaningful chances in the second half of the game, until the fateful power play.
On top of it all were the fans. I was worried about the attendance and the attitude, but I needn't have been. Nationwide has never, ever been louder. Incredibly, the 18,889 in attendance made more noise than the 19,246 on Tuesday. The crowd stood for the entire third period. Kudos to all !!!!
I have player reactions and more concerning this one, but that will come tomorrow, followed by more analysis of this historic season as the days go by.
Proud to be a Jackets fan tonight, win or lose. Go Jackets!!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
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2 comments:
Such a brutal call to end the game. There's no shame in losing to a defending cup winner. The Blue Jackets left it all on the ice last night. They never gave up.
The fans, were amazing.
Is it October yet?
Well, JAL, I don't see how any Jackets fan can be disappointed. Sure, if the Jackets had played every game of the series with the intensity they played last night, they could have (maybe) taken the series to seven games and who knows?
But, come on. Before the season, how many people truly believed that there would even be a play off in Columbus, this season? The team gave us a wonderful season with many surprises. All thanks to Howson, Hitch, the team and, as always, Mr. Mac. Everyone on this year's CBJ team - players, coaches and office personnel - can hold their heads high and walk proudly.
Now, I can hardly wait to learn what Howson, et al, will do to improve our team for next season. And you just know that, having tasted the play offs and scored his first post-season goal, Nasher is eager to get back to the post season for more.
GO JACKETS!
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