STRAIT JACKETS

2011-12

February 4, 2012

by Dannie

(My comments in bold. Obviously.)

If the Blue Jackets were not the last-place team in the NHL, Jeff Carter would be a happy, productive member of the team. (I’m sure being in last place has nothing to do with all of the goals he didn’t score while being hurt 375 times.)

That is an interesting premise. Does it hold? (No…)

Failed relationships in sports can be ugly things. (Nikita Filatov says hi.)

I covered Brendan Shanahan when he begged off the Hartford Whalers in 1996 (token Whalers/”I am old reference” to validate his nonsense). It was a punch in the gut for the fans who felt big-timed, but at least Shanahan made his decision public and accepted the wrath he knew was coming. (“At least” he was public in being unclassy.)

I covered Adam Foote (you mean He Who Shall Not Be Named, Michael, get it together) when he bailed on Columbus in the midst of a playoff hunt in 2008. In his last days as Jackets captain, before any trade had been consummated, he waffled publicly while, behind the scenes, his new Colorado Avalanche equipment was ordered and a plane was gassed up and waiting to whisk him away. (Buh bye.)

Now, we have Carter. (Who once, actually, you said “should not be judged on rumors.” www.bluejacketsxtra.com/content/stories/2011/07/28/carter-shouldnt-be-judged-on-rumors.html)

Jackets fans celebrated when he was acquired last summer (for Jake Voracek, a first-round draft pick and a third-round pick). I was among those ballyhooing. Carter was to provide something the Jackets had been lacking throughout their history: a top-line center and a first-rate sniper. The fans bought in and filliped season-ticket sales.

Carter, after a month-long absence because of a shoulder injury (a whole month we could have used his goal scoring prowess to, I dunno, win games), re-entered the lineup in Anaheim last night. He had 10 goals and 17 points in 30 games. He was ranked 267th in the league in scoring, one point behind Blue Jackets defenseman Nikita Nikitin. Although there is a host of Jackets players who have underachieved during this wickedly depressing season, it is fair to say that Carter has played as if he has one skate out the door (really? his points per game ratio is higher than everyone except Rick Nash).

It is convenient to hark back to when Carter was acquired, and to think we should have seen this coming (you told us not to judge him!). The trade shocked him, and the Jackets had to send a weighty contingent of emissaries — general manager Scott Howson, then-coach Scott Arniel and captain Rick Nash — to the New Jersey shore to assuage him (not make a big deal out of a guy needing some time?). It is easy to say, in hindsight, that he never wanted to be in Columbus, but that is a one-sided view (Arace-sided).

As Carter’s agent, Rick Curran, told The Dispatch in September: “The big challenge there is not wondering whether he’ll find comfort there. The question is, can you be in position there to win enough games to have success.” (If he played 20 more games and therefore created chemistry with his linemates and, maybe, scored 10-15 more goals we might have won 10-15 more games = success, but it’s okay, I understand. Jeff Carter is high talent, he deserves to play on a better team, it’s his Constitutional right.)

Put another way: If Carter did not want to be in Columbus, who could blame him? (The guy who paid him $6m to be here? I don’t want to go to work every day but my company expects me to work for that $13/hr, man.)

The same sort of circular logic will apply if the Jackets win the draft lottery and the right to select the consensus No. 1 prospect, Nail Yakupov. (Already paving Yakupov’s road out of town?)

If you are a Jackets fan who has lived through Nikolai Zherdev and Nikita Filatov, you might be saying, “Oh, no, not another Russian.” And if you are Yakupov, you are aware of Zherdev and Filatov and you might be saying, “Oh, no, not Columbus.” (I appreciate you justifying his future poor behavior. Wait, no I don’t.)

It is the worst-kept secret in the NHL that Carter will be traded before the Feb. 27 deadline. (Is it in the same secret pool as Hitch taking over on October 30th?) He has made no public demand (he has said all the right things publicly, FOR SHAME!) and the Jackets have made no proclamation, but their divorce is imminent. (“These people don’t SAY they hate each other, but 50% of marriages end in divorce, so we have a 50/50 chance of being right. Let’s go for it, guys!” – The Dispatch) The only questions now are to whom, and for what?

Failed relationships can be ugly things, but they can be managed. For Shanahan, the Whalers got Keith Primeau from the Detroit Red Wings. Primeau was a soulful player and a born leader. For Foote, the Jackets got a first-round pick they flipped to Philadelphia for R.J. Umberger. Howson won that deal in a rout. (Except now we’re overpaying RJ to underachieve. Dammit, recurring theme.)

The Jackets will extract value from Carter — they will not get back what they paid, but they can get something that fits well into their pending rebuilding project, whatever that might look like. (Why don’t you tell us, oh Knower of All Things?)

Here is a suggestion: Show an eye for young talent, grow the franchise from within and build something for which the players and their city can be proud. You know, like Nashville. (…………but were doing that and it wasn’t enough so he had to buy talent. LET’S TRADE THAT TALENT!!!!!! Also you said that growing of talent was allowed to hate Columbus. Freakin’ self fulfilling prophecies.)

If the Jackets were not the last-place team in the league, would Carter be a happy, productive member of the team? (OSU is only right up the street. And we have beer!)

Maybe he gets going now as he auditions for prospective employers.

Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch. (…and how.)

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2011-12

January 28, 2012

by Dannie

We’re not dead yet! Sure, it’s been a good… few weeks since anything of substance has made it’s way onto our page here (blame school & real life & bad hockey), but the gears are turning and the ideas are starting to flow again!

With the announcement this morning that our beloved team will be the host of the 2013 NHL All Star game, I’ve got some great ideas in mind and this is where I need YOUR help! Please give me your story! Either how you became a fan, that first magical moment where you fell in love with the team, or your absolute favorite memory in team history. Short or long, I want to hear them all! Please don’t hold back! Don’t leave them in the comments here – please email them to dannie[at]strait-jackets.net. And don’t forget to let me know how you want to be attributed – real name, Twitter handle, etc. Thanks, guys!

Go Jackets!

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2011-12, Springfield Falcons

December 31, 2011

by Katharine

The Falcons lost 2-1 in the shootout last night v.s. the Providence Bruins. Another big crowd in the nest and it’s becoming a bad habit that they lose in front of big crowds.

I will start out saying the Falcons deserved to win the game. They played a good 60 mins and the Bruins Anton Khudobin was good, but lucky as well. The Falcons hit the post a few times.

Maksim Mayorov scored the Falcons goal in regulation. At 9:52 of the 3rd period. Nice to see Mayorov on the scoring sheet. Assists to Brent Regner. &Martin St. Pierre.

In the shootout Manny Legace allowed 2 goals to Ridderwall & Jamie Arniel (who is Scott’s nephew I believe). While the only Falcons shootout goal came off a beautiful shot from Alex Giroux. Wish he have better chemistry with his linemates. Need more offense.

Dalton Prout dropped the gloves with Bobby Robins who is a recent re-call from the Jackets and Falcons ECHL affiliate the Chicage Express. Robins was also called for kneeing. Prout got the takedown.

The Falcons outshot Providence 40-28.

David Savard was re-called to Columbus today and Mike Thomas was re-assigned to Chicago. Tim Spencer postgame told me that he is playing today, not shock since CT has newly assigned idiot Sean Avery and they are a more physical team as well. Looks like Patrick Cullity will take Savards place in the lineup.

No update on Nick Holden as I did not get to speak to him postgame.

Anton Blomqvist looked alright in his 1st game back. Has rust which is expected after 2 months. Skating is a lot better than the beginning of the season. I believe the groin injury that kept him out pre-season in Columbus was still affecting him here.

The Falcons are back in action today at 5 @CT Whale. I will be tweeting from the game.

Tags: AHL, Falcons, Prospects

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2011-12

December 31, 2011

by Dannie

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”

Thomas Jefferson

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2011-12

December 11, 2011

by Kat

This is pretty much going to be bullet points based on my impressions from last night’s loss to the Bruins, with a little bit of commentary potentially thrown in there.

Ryan Johansen is going to be REALLY good when he’s gotten a full season or two under his belt. He has been one of the few forwards on this team that Derick Brassard has seemed to develop some chemistry with, which is good for DBrass, too.

John Moore still is a little rough around the edges, but he was probably the best puck-moving d-man that the Jackets had on the ice last night. This should also bode well for the future of the club. He’s also going to be strong.

Welcome back, Rick Nash. Why don’t you try sniping like that when you’re in the shootout?

When Derek Dorsett shows the most heart of any of your forwards, and the strongest nose-for-the-net, it’s not a good thing.

HOW do you call interference on a guy driving to the net??? Thomas clearly tripped Dorse, even watching it live. It was more clear that this was the case watching the replays on the scoreboard. But when I got home and watched on the replay at midnight I was skipping back, and pausing and looking closely. Thomas INTENTIONALLY stuck his stick between Dorse’s legs (and Seidenberg had his stick in front of his lead leg) and yanked. Completely bush. And this all happened OUTSIDE of the crease. Just everything about that call stinks. And there’s definitely no way a Shanaban could come down for something that wasn’t even penalized. All I can do is wish DD a speedy recovery.

Wow, nice of the team to show up after Dorse went down.

Who the hell picks a fight with SAMMY FREAKING PAHLSSON? Let’s get real, Bruins.

It’s nice to know that the love affair with Sanford is still strong, even after 5 goals allowed on 29 shots (about 83% save pct.). Too bad Mase never gets that sort of benefit of the doubt. One bad night and everyone is out for his head. No wonder he’s so deep in his own head, so afraid of one slip-up that they just snowball.

3 goals in the last 1:35 of periods and one more in the first minute of a period. This is a whole-team lack of concentration and it’s really got to stop. That’s the coach’s job. Why is there no fire, no passion, no “get your heads out of your arses?” coming from that direction?

Thank you for coming, and thank you CBJ for making Joe Corvo look like Mario Lemieux.

Tags: 2011-12

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2011-12, Recap Soundtrack

December 11, 2011

by Dannie

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcorBDVeSAM

When you were yourself there was tasting sweet
Sours into a routine deceit
Well this drama is a bore
And I don’t wanna play no more
Losing a whole year

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2011-12, Prospects, Springfield Falcons

December 4, 2011

by Katharine

Sorry for the lack of posts this past month. I will be posting a November review hopefully tonight. Wanted to start off with a post about the Falcons weekend.

It was another 3-in-3 weekend with the birds going 1-2 on the weekend.

12/2 @ Worcester Sharks

The Falcons opened up on the road in Worcester Friday night. Losing 4-3 in OT. I was not in attendance for the game, but was told goaltender Manny Legace was not stellar in net. OT winner going 5hole. Wade MacLeod opened the scoring at 3:10 of the 1st with assists to Aaron Bogosian & Brett Lebda. Cam Atkinson scored on the PP at 5:25 of the 2nd. Assists to Martin St. Pierre & Alex Giroux. Ryan Russell closed the Falcons scoring at 18:13 of the 2nd. With the only assist going to Brett Lebda.

1 fight

Dane Byers v.s.Sena Acolatse
Ryan Russell & Benn Ferriero also received minors for roughing.

The Falcons had the lead each time they scored, but could not hold the lead and lost at 2:22 of OT.

12/3 v.s. CT Whale

The Falcons lost 6-3 in what was a a bad game and horrible 3rd period.

After a scoreless 1st period in which the Falcons had two 5-on-3′s

Dane Byers opened the scoring at 2:34 of the 2nd period. Assists to Alex Giroux & Nick Holden.

Tim Spencer scored the Falcons 2nd goal of the game at 5:00 of the 2nd period. Screened Whale goalie Chad Johnson and tipped it in. Assists to Wade MacLeod & Ryan Garlock.

Dane Byers scored his 2nd of the game at 2:17 of the 3rd period. Looked like a redirection from my viewpoint of Matt Calvert’s shot. Assists to Calvert & Brett Lebda.

This is when the wheels flew off. The Falcons allowed 5 PP goals in the 3rd period. 5.

Former Falcon Andre Deveaux scored 2 for the Whale and was part of a play that lead to a major and game misconduct for interference (thought it was a high stick myself) to Adam Mair. A play that I believe may land to Mair being suspended again.

A couple of bright spots in the game were Cam Atkinson and Brent Regner having solid games. Regner was solid on defense. Something that has not happened a lot this season.

A few bad notes…

Allen York looked shakey in net. 5 were PP goals, but he was down alot, leaving the goal open.

Holden had 2 penalties which is very unlike him. Both lead to goals.

Alex Giroux with undisciplined play and a penalty. The rule is, the retaliatory penalty gets caught.

12/4 v.s. Portland Pirates

The Falcons got back to winning, with a 2-1 win.

Dane Byers opened the scoring at 13:25 of the 1st period. A SH breakaway goal. Assist to Andrew Joudrey.

The Falcons scored the GWG at 19:45 of the 2nd. Alex Giroux with assists to Martin St. Pierre & Brett Lebda.

A few notes…

Manny Legace was injured by Brock Trotter with just over 5:00 to go in the 2nd. Legace was down on the ice a few minutes before getting up and staying in for the rest of the period.

Allen York would replace Legace in the 3rd period.

Legace is out with a lower body injury. As of tonight I could not find out the extent of the injury.

Allen York looked to possibly injure his right leg with a few minutes left in the 3rd period. York made a save and when the play was back int he Portland zone, York was still down on one knee. He did get up and was shaking his leg. He stayed in he game since we had no other goaltender available. York looked to be ok postgame, hopefully no injury.

Dalton Prout was also injured in the 3rd period. Lower body injury, to put it gently. Stick to the groin. He was in obvious pain still postgame with a major limp. Get well soon kid.

David Savard has looked bad the past few weeks. Lots of turnovers and his positioning has become a major issue.

Brett Lebda is putting up some good points with assists, needs to pick up his defense to climb from the 3/4 pairing.

Tomas Kubalik seems a bit lost this season. Hate to say it, since he is my fav. Hope he can find his game and put up points soon.

Falcons only taking 2 penalties(both to Kubalik unfortunately) is very refreshing. And killing both. Tiny victories!

A few other notes from the weekend…

Nick Drazenovic missed the weekend’s game with an injury.

Maksim Mayorov returned to the lineup after missing 9 games to injury. He played 2 of the 3 games.

Cam Atkinson has been looking good, great moves and his speed is amazing. Needs to finish more and he will be in the NHL fast.

Cody Goloubef has been steadily improving. Not seeing the glaring mistakes of last season. Not NHL ready by any means, but a good 3/4 AHL d-man.

Also the Falcons released goalie Danny Taylor this week. If you follow me on twitter, you know my thoughts. Happy Danny has landed a contract with another AHL team (Abbotsford Heat) and I wish Danny all best!

If any readers would like specific players to be highlighted, always feel free to leave a comment or tweet me at @KatyLovesHockey

Tags: AHL, Falcons

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2010-11 Season, Recap Soundtrack

December 3, 2011

by Dannie

So, I’ve been wanting to do this little feature for a while and have had a hard time starting it, so I’m going to need a little bit of help with it (paging Dr. Gethin, DJ Extraordinaire). I’d like to follow up each game with a semi-appropriate song (or maybe a sixty-minute long laugh track, when they have those games). Feel free to fire your suggestions my way at any time! (dannie [at] strait-jackets.net)

Game 26: Sister Hazel – Your Winter

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2011-12

December 2, 2011

by Kat

Okay, so apparently Derick Brassard’s agent is in the press stating that DBrass wants a trade and that Scott Arniel (and to a degree Scott Howson) doesn’t know how to deal with young skilled forwards.

On the surface, there is definitely some truth to that. Arniel has seemed a bit at a loss when trying to deal with young skill guys like Brass, Jakub Voracek, Nikita Filatov (though, honestly, every coach who has touched Fili has had the same issue) and Matt Calvert when they go through offensive struggles. But to lay this at the feet of Arniel with an “he was an enforcer” justification/rationalization is missing something of the point.

I love Brass, but he’s been awful this year. If Arniel didn’t know how to handle him he would not have had the 47 points last year that he did. As struggles go, Brass has been in one all season; even the preseason when he was one of the few CBJ players who looked genuinely lost while the rest of the team looked like legit contenders. And the trade for Jeff Carter (which sent Brass’s best friend on the team, Voracek, to Philly) was orchestrated to take pressure off of Brass and allow him to blossom on the second line. Instead, he’s looked like an AHL-lifer, at best.

Some could say that he’s not recovered from losing Jake on his wing. But we’re now a quarter of the way into the season, and he really needs to adapt or else he will continue to sit in the press box. Now, maybe this is where a coach who has demonstrated an ability to work with players of Brass’s style would handle matters differently and get him pointed in the proper direction. However, to lay this all at the feet of Arniel and say he doesn’t understand players of Derick’s type and skillset is rather simplistic. Maybe one of the more simplistic assessments made of what is wrong with this team this season.

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2011-12

November 30, 2011

by Dannie

Although nobody but Fedor Tyutin knows what Nikita Nikitin thinks or says, mostly due to his lack of English, it was no secret that his counterpart Kris Russell did not want out of Columbus. From the mouth of General Manager Scott Howson at the Season Ticket Holder Q&A and from the snips of articles in the Dispatch as he came back on Sunday as a visiting player, the consensus is the same: Russell wanted to stay in Columbus. When the going gets rough, the trade rumors fly, and it isn’t uncommon for a guy to say he’s had enough and to want to leave for greener pastures (or, perhaps, Blue-r). Russell was given the good fortune, despite his misgivings, of being traded from a cellar dweller to nearly the top of the conference on a streaking hot Blues team.

Since he left and rejoined his first professionalhead coach Ken Hitchcock, the defenseman has seemingly been reborn. The year Hitchcock was fired from Columbus, Russell scored his career-high seven goals. Since then, his defense has improved but his offense has stalled. Perhaps it was a misfire between him and Arniel, although they were touted to be a match made in hockey system heaven, but he never quite took off under Arniel’s guidance. Hitchock, who we all know pitches a certain brand of hockey, apparently has some kind of gift – or maybe, finally, Russell has found his game. Whether it is a newfound confidence from his new position, a clean start, being unfamiliar in his surroundings, or a stroke of good luck, Russell is on fire. Over just nine games in St. Louis, he is 3-1-4 and +6. Plus six. Russell finished with a plus in just one of four seasons in Columbus (-12, -10,+3, -9), possibly due to his status on the bottom pairing, often stuck with guys whose NHL careers have since floundered (Tollefsen, Backman, Stralman, Commodore…). Just last night alone, Russell was credited with three shots and six more attempts blocked. Nine offensive chances, even though none made it through: he is taking chances he previously failed to.

At first the trade looked great. Nikitin was a solid fit on a pair with Tyutin, very quietly adding up five assists while being unnoticeably good (he had no points in seven games while struggling to make the lineup in St. Louis). But over the last few games, the pairing has started to fall apart. On Sunday against St. Louis, Nikitin and Tyutin struggled greatly. Tyutin’s penalties hurt the team and according to St. Louis media outlets, Nikitin’sfoot deflected a Blues shot right to Kris Russell who had an open net to shoot into to tie the game at one. How’s that for karma? In Vancouver, Nikitin was a brutal minus four (bringing him to minus one overall on the season). Hopefully, perhaps, this is a temporary struggle, or it could be the “real” Nikitin coming to play.

It’s still hard to say who “won” the trade, if anybody at all. Sometimes they do just work that way: a win/win. Nikitin has stepped into a role that the Blues were not willing to give him, logging heavy minutes on a top pairing – is that because the defense in Columbus isn’t as good as that in St. Louis? Maybe. Or maybe the change of scenery really has done the both of them some good. Eventually, more than nine games will tell the story, and for Blue Jackets fans the best hope is that it is a win/win. If Nikitin can do a solid shut down job, perhaps stick around longer, and either way relieves the Jackets of the 2.6M salary hit divided over two years they would have owed Russell (hopefully with the intent of creating a roster spot for a matured David Savard, or better) then they have received a good end in the deal. Russell did not turn into what the local newspapers made his potential out to be; he moved the puck but never put up Mike Green-like offensive numbers, much to the chagrin of Jackets fans (and beat writers), but the kid never gave up on Columbus. After his first game in St. Louis, he was asked if it felt good to play in a full building, as opposed to what he came from in Columbus. With the opportunity presented to him to make a backhanded, ugly remark about the club and the city that “raised” him, he simply said: “The fans in Columbus are great. They’re just searching for a winner.”

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