Support Your Local Broadcasters!!!

According to the Dispatch folks, the broadcasting contracts with Matthews, Davidge, Gare and Rimer are all in limbo, though Rimer appears to be safe.  Check out the article here.  

Now, I can't speak for everyone, but I think this is a bad time to do a shakeup.  I, for one, think that the radio team is very good, with a great balance between the more reserved Davidge and George, who brings that uniqueness that you love in a play-by-play guy.  They have grown with the Jackets, and tearing that team out right now would leave a bad taste in the mouth of many fans.

Frankly, IMHO, if we were looking to make a change, the TV crew would be the one to go.  Don't get me wrong,  I love Danny Gare as a person. He is a great guy, and does know hockey.  He is a train wreck with a Telestrator, and really does not bring the depth that I want to see in a TV analyst.  His period break analysis of certain plays can be good, but all too often his fumbling of the Telestrator distracts from the point he is trying to make, and after several broadcasts in a row, you begin to realize that he is essentially just making the same point over and over.  A TV color guy really needs to bring a lot of depth to the table, as we can already see the game -- now give us more.

Rimer has a good voice and presence, but his constant name-dropping and gaffes in player (and sometimes team) names are really annoying.  He is also spectacularly predictable.  Every time we are in St. Louis , you know that Rimer will interview John Davidson, President of Hockey Operations for the Blues.  This is especially painful when you play road games in St. Louis twice within two weeks.  

Agree or disagree with me, but let's make our voices heard.  Email, call, fax or write  Larry Hoepfner, Marc Gregory or Russ Mollohan at the Blue Jackets and let them know how you feel about the broadcaster teams.  Post your views here as well.  

Out But Not Down . . .

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!!

An Amazing Piece Of History . . .

I may have just witnessed the most amazing period of hockey in Bluejackets history.  In the playoffs for the first time . . .at home . . .against the Red Wings . . . elimination game . . . trailing 3 - 1 entering the period.  

First, under 2 minutes in, Nash on the far post tips in a Klesla feed for the Captain's first playoff goal to bring us within one.  A few minutes later, Umberger scores a second power play goal to tie it, with Steve Mason getting his first playoff assist!!!

Scene shifts to Detroit. Our defense has been awful tonight, and we allowed Detroit to hold the puck forever, with Hossa finally parking one with 13:01 left.  After a suspect cross-checking call to Nash, Hossa backs it up with a nifty power play goal to reinstate a two goal lead.  Lights out, thanks for playing, right?   Wrong.

With 4:15 left in the period, Russell takes the puck from Torres in our zone and leads a tight 3 on 2 break.  He looks off Osgood and parks it high far corner.  5 - 4 Detroit.  Finally, with 1:56 left, we cycled and cycled, looking like Detroit, and Modin scores with an assist from Rome.  Tie game.

The crowd is absolutely bananas. Here in the Press Box, lots of amazed faces.  (No cheering allowed, but there is a tacit understanding that this was an amazing period of hockey).  

Osgood is vulnerable tonight.  We have  a good chance, but need to support the puck better in our zone.  20 minutes  -- live or die -- promises to bring some more amazing hockey. 

Go Jackets!

Time To Shine!!!

About 20 minutes to puck dropping, and unfortunately this is a much different atmosphere than Tuesday.  Where the seats were packed long before the game started then, Nationwide is 70% empty right now, with the majority apparently still outside, perhaps engaging in the consumption of an adult beverage or two.  I am sure the energy will come, but it will have to go a long way to get to the buzz level of Tuesday.  

Looks like Hejda is out, but unclear whether it will be Backman or Rome filling in.  Top line will be Nash, Vermette and Umberger.  Malhotra, Modin and Huselius look like the third line.  

Need to build on the energy we started to build in the second half of Game 3, and the intensity we showed throughout the third period.  Lots of pucks to the net, lots of traffic, and do not let ourselves get caught in 1 on 1 battles in our own zone.  

I expect the team to leave it all out on the ice tonight.  No reason not to!   Go Jackets!!

A Helluva Show!!!

I will be reviewing the game later, but full marks to the City of Columbus, the Blue Jackets organization, affiliated sponsors, and the fan base for putting on a great, great show.

From the carnival atmosphere on the Plaza, to the massive line for free Blue Jackets flags (nice idea, Nationwide!!), to the elbow-to-elbow crowds at the R Bar and all of the establishments on Restaurant Row, it was a truly amazing show of support, enthusiasm and civic pride.  We stopped at Buca di Beppo for a pre-game dinner, and virtually every patron sported CBJ paraphenalia, as well as the entire staff.  

Inside the arena, the buzz was palpable, long before the teams took to the ice in pre-game.  "March On" flags adorned every seat, bunting hung from the Club Level facades, and fans were streaming to their seats far in advance of the usual last minute rush.  As Aaron Portzline noted in a tweet last night, some of the music selections during the pre-game skate were, uh,  .. different.  

The Pre-Game festivities themselves were spot on.  From John H. McConnell II  skating the flag around, to the "Miracle"-themed video presentation, the build up was simultaneously motivating and moving.  Great touch adding some highlight clips of Tyler Wright and some of the other originals.  Leo was on the money doing the anthem.  

Full marks also go out to Adam Proteau of The Hockey News, who appeared in full Civil War regalia to fulfill a promise in his blog back in December, when he predicted the Jackets would fall short of the playoffs.  THN did a nice piece on the atmosphere, which you can read here.

I did not think the smattering of boos heard were warranted, but that is to be expected in playoffs, when more fair weather fans jump on the bandwagon.  More on that in my game review.  The Game Ops people have been listening and observing -- in-game highlights appeared!!

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a huge WAY TO GO to the CBJ fan base for squeezing out the local Detroit fan poplulation.  Damn few Red Wings backers in attendance, particularly when compared to a regular season game.  We were much more visibly (and audibly) represented in Detroit than they were here.  Good job to those who worked to restrain the octopus-thrower in the third!

Columbus went a long way to showing the NHL and the hockey community at large that we are a vibrant hockey town with a helluva future. Win or lose, last night was a historic step for the franchise and for the community.  Well done, all!!   

Time For A Deep Breath . . .

So Games 1 and 2 have not gone according to plan, from the Blue Jackets' perspective.  In fact, pretty close to as far from plan as could be expected.  Detroit has played like, well, Detroit.  When Detroit does that, virtually every other team in the league becomes spectators, to one extent or another.  The Jackets have fallen prey to that same syndrome during the first two games.

Having witnessed Game 2 in Detroit in person, where you can see the entire sheet at the same time, it is much easier to see what Detroit does, and how they do it so well.  When executed consistently and flawlessly, as they have managed to do thus far, it promotes a cascading sequence of events that overwhelms the opponent's game plan.  

The ability of their defensemen to stand up the opposition at the blue line disrupts the offensive flow. Play gets pushed to the boards, where the whole team excels.  Once they get possession, it is one or two controlled passes forward, through the neutral zone, and at least three wide coming into the offensive zone.  The whole team has played together so long, that passes, at least on the top lines, always go to the point on the ice where the recipient is going to be, rather than where they are. These fine points create space and time for their offense.  They move the puck from low to high better than virtually any other team, maintaining possession for extended periods.  They either create opportunities for quick passes in front, or shots come in on net from the point, with the wings crashing the net as the puck is on its way.

When they do not score, they always have at least a token forecheck in place, even during a line change.  This provides their forward time to set up shop in the neutral zone, and further impede the opposing offense.  The extended possession by the Detroit offense forces the opposing forwards to spend most of their shifts in their own zone.  Fatigued defenders commit hooking and holding penalties, which increases the possession advantage. The result?  Huge advantages in shots and scoring opportunities and power play time.

This is precisely the trap our guys have fallen into over the first two games.  In both games, we took control of the neutral zone early, but then power play opportunities arise, and Detroit assumes the neutral zone dominance, and the cycle begins.  This is enhanced at home, where Detroit can use their depth and experience by choosing the matchups of lines.  

We know how to defeat this system, but need to be at the top of our game to do it.  Detroit has a plethora of players who have played together longer than the Jackets have been a franchise.  We need to keep the puck deep, then establish our forecheck, which prevents those quick exits that support everything else Detroit does.  If we can force the puck East and West, establish our own neutral zone presence, and be strong on the puck, the whole equation shifts.  Detroit can be pressured into mistakes, as we have seen, but we need to take advantage of them when they happen.

Observations:

• The Modin experiment has to end.  Bringing Fred back at the beginning of the playoffs, at least on a top line, was a mistake.  He has no presence, and has disrupted the chemistry we were starting to build.  Better that his time is spent on the third or fourth line.  
• Peca, Malhotra and Torres have been invisible on offense. Chimera has energy, but no finish.  Same with Boll and Dorsett, who are game, but lack the skill necessary to change the equation.  We need our senior guys to provide stability for the younger guys here. 
• Voracek, Nash, Vermette, Umberger have been trying to do all the work on the offensive side.  Williams has had flashes in spots, but we haven't been able to put together a cohesive effort.  Huselius has also been invisible, but looked better last game than the first one. 
• Hejda and Methot have been taken to school so far.  Hejda is not reacting well, and virtually all his mistakes have led to goals.  Tyutin has been fair, and Klesla was strong in Game 1, not so much in Game 2.  Russell has been good, as has Commodore, who has been in the unenviable position of having to cover for Hejda's mistakes.  Hence, he has taken more penalites that we should be seeing.
• Our young guys (and some of our older ones) are showing signs of panic -- not making strong passes, dropping back in a prevent defense, clearing pucks along the walls without regard to who is waiting-- incomplete passes in our own zone.  Patience is the key -- we need to show more urgency in getting to the puck, instead of showing the urgency once we have it.

We now have them coming to our house, with Hitch dictating the matchups and 7 years of pent-up frustrations ready to be released.  We need to take this one shift at a time, get a win in Game 3, and then move on to Game 4.  Sure, it is a huge mountain to climb, but we have talent, and need to start showing it.  I know that 19,000+ will be on hand to root them on.  

Go Jackets!

Retribution Day!

A new day has dawned, and the bad taste left after Game 1 is gone. We have taken our initial hits, and know what we need to do. This is not an insurmountable task -- we have beaten the Wings 3 times this year, and played a strong 1st half on Thursday.

We are about to hop in the car and head North -- blue hair, blue fingernails (wife only), jerseys, t-shirts and full regalia in tow. Should be a huge presence from the CBJ fan base tonight.

Keys for tonight:

1. 60 minutes of effort, not 50, 40 or less . . .
2. Simplicity and persistence -- keep putting the puck deep, stay in the zone, force the puck to the net. It will eventually go in. If we have the puck, Detroit doesn't.
3. Defensive pressure -- we started giving Detroit way too much space, much like a cornerback giving the receiver a 10 yard cushion off the line. We have a great goaltender -- rely on him to stop the puck, and create opportunities through pressure.
4. Let Mase see the puck -- be mindful of clearing lanes and getting the puck out of the crease.
5. Tempo -- we need to dictate tempo, not Detroit.
6. Control the neutral zone --- we let the Red Wings possess the neutral zone on both sides of the puck. Take it back. When our defense sets up camp in the neutral zone, we frustrate their offense and create odd man rush opportunities for ourselves.

As with all seven game series, a split for the road team is the goal for the opening pair. We can do that tonight, and get to the friendly confines of Nationwide all even.

Hitch is right, this is a great time of year! The Joe will be rocking with CBJ blue tonight! Go Jackets!