Apparently, Hitch has decided to move Zherdev to the top line where he will centre Nash and Vyborny. At least for a little bit. Intereseting move by Hitch but I think it's a move to show Zherdev that we want him to succeed to tell him that this is a new chance for him. A new start. Hitch has a way of molding people and gosh darn it he is going to try it with Zherdev.
"My focus is to be successful offensively, your best players have to have the puck more," Hitchcock said. "This is an opportunity for him to have the puck more. Regardless of who plays centre ice, whether it's Vyborny or him or whatever, or if we decide to go with (Sergei) Fedorov or (Michael) Peca there, we want people to play together that are creative."
Training camp opens tomorrow without Alexandre Picard and Zenon Konopka. And, the pre-season begins on Sunday playing the Nashville Predators.
With the article that came out in today's Dispatch about our left wingers. I figured I should post something up about the guys. Our left winger is our strongest position...we have a bunch of third and fourth line center's who need to reach position. And, our right winger basically is all Nikolai Zherdev...soon to be Jakub Voracek. Let's look at our left winters...Rick Nash, Fredrik Modin, Jason Chimera, and Jody Shelley. That sounds pretty amazing to me.
General Manager Scott Howson described Nash:
"We now see him as one of the top left wingers in the league," general manager Scott Howson said. "But he's getting better, and I'm of the belief that he'll be one of the better players in the league pretty soon."It's true...Nash is full of potential he has only reached one season. With Hitch behind the bench he will force all the boys to be better.
Fredrik Modin, with his newly (sorta) inked contract is ours for a few more years.
"Modin is a professional player, and we needed that element on our hockey club," Hitchcock said. "I didn't want even a chance that we'd lose a guy like that."
Hitch also said that he was "wildly underappreciated" well yeah. The guy had no center...and still doesn't really. Well unless someone steps up (I personally am hoping for Gilbert Brule to prove himself.)
Jason Chimera, like the rest of the team, needs to be consistent. Jody Shelley is our fourth line winger, our tough guy, but knowing what I know about that locker room he plays in EXTREMELY important role. While talking to Aaron Portzline about him he said, that if Shelley wasn't a fourth line winger he would be our Captain. He is so passionate, so amazing, and goes out there and fives it everything he has every night.
"I would say the strength of this clubs is our wings, anyway," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "But our left side has a real good chance to be dynamic. You've got the power forward element with Nash. You've got Freddy Modin, who is the consummate pro. Jason Chimera gives you speed and size and the potential to do a lot of damage on that third line. And Shelley … everybody knows he's one of the toughest guys in the league, one of our real heart-and-soul guys."
While the offseason is good...the season really needs to hurry up and get here. I miss hockey dang it.
Round 2 ~ 41st Pick ~ Joakim Lindstrom Round 3 ~ 65th Pick ~ Ole-Kristian Tollefsen Round 3 ~ 96th Pick ~ Jeff Genovy Round 4 ~ 98th Pick ~ Ivan Tkachenko Round 4 ~ 119th Pick ~ Jekabs Redlihs Round 5 ~ 133rd Pick ~ Lasse Pirjeta Round 6 ~ 168th Pick ~ Tim Konsorada Round 6 ~ 184th Pick ~ Jaroslav Balastik Round 7 ~ 199th Pick ~ Greg Mauldin Round 7 ~ 225th Pick ~ Steven Goertzen Round 8 ~ 231st Pick ~ Jaroslav Kracik Round 9 ~ 263rd Pick ~ Sergei Mozyakin Everybody, even non Blue Jacket fans love Rick Nash. Why? Because, he is awesome. A bit injury prone, but he is getting to be the player everybody knew he could be. He was won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. He was the best fit for our club and has since become the face of the Blue Jackets.
Joakim Lindstrom has played in 12 games with the Blue Jackets. 9 in the 2006-2007 season. To be perfectly honest, I don't know why we drafted him. He really isn't that great and hasn't impressed me...like at all. He has a total of 1 goal in the NHL and 4 penalty minutes.
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen on the other hand, is great. He has really developed as a defenseman. He is gritty, a hard hitter, he has a ton of potential. I feel like he makes the right decisions on the ice and is a great guy to have around last season he was +2.
Jeff Genovy went to Clarkson University and played 4 years with them. Then during the 2006-2007 season he played for the CHL's Laredo Bucks. Ivan Tkachenko has spent his time since being drafted in Russia playing for the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv...he has done pretty well over there...and will probably stay over there. Jekabs Redlihs went to Boston University then started his professional career in 2005-2006...and in 2006-2007 he spent his time in between the AHL and ECHL but most of it was spent in the AHL. Lasse Pirjeta played 2 seasons with the Jackets and did ok, then he went on to play with the Pittsburgh Penguins and is currently playing over in Europe he seems to bounce from league to league so it's hard to say where he will play next year. Tim Konsorada has been bouncing around from the AHL to the ECHL. Jaroslav Balastik has bounced around from the AHL to the NHL to the SEL...in fact last season he played in all 3. After playing 6 games in the NHL Greg Mauldin has spent most of his time in the AHL until last season when he played in the UHL and then went on to play in Europe. Steven Goertzen has played 46 games in the NHL, and has 0 goals and 0 assists...and 54 penalty minutes...uhm...that's not so good. Jaroslav Kracik has spent his entire career over in the Czech League. Sergei Mozyakin has spent his entire career in Russia.
So that is the 2002 Draft. It was pretty much the best draft that I have covered so far. With guys like Ole and Rick it doesn't get much better than that does it?
Mostgirls already know Rick Nash as the hottie on the Jackets...but he is so much more than that. Rick is our heart and soul player. He has the potential to be the best player on the team. When Ken Hitchcock took over the team last season, he changed Rick and starting developing him as, "a more complete player." A player who can play on the power play and the penalty kill. Having Rick on the penalty kill proved to be a blessing when he scored a short-handed goal against the New York Rangers on February 24th.
Rick Nash was born on June 16, 1984, in Brampton, Ontario. Rick played 2 seasons with the London Knights, playing 112 games, registering 138 points (63 goals 75 assists) and 144 Penalty Minutes. In 2002 Nash was drafted first overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets. In his first season with the Jackets he had 17 goals and 22 assists. Then, in the 2003-2004 season he scored 41 goals, and won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. The year of the lock out he played in the Swiss-A League for Davos playing alongside Joe Thornton. Now, Rick wears the 'A' on his jersey and is one of the teams leaders. He has played 4 seasons in the NHL. In a total of 283 games he has 116 goals 91 assists (201 points) and 289 penalty minutes.
This was posted on the Blue Jackets website a while ago but I never got around to post it so here is the list...enjoy :)
10) Modin notches his 200th career goal and 400th career point in two straight home games.
Realizing that we're cheating a bit on this one by combining two into one, we couldn't ignore the achievements of one of Columbus' new defining players. Fredrik Modin, a first-year Jacket, scored goal No. 200 March 20 in a 5-2 win at home against Chicago. The next time Modin stepped on the Nationwide ice — in a 4-1 win over St. Louis — he scored No. 201, which accounted for his 400th career point. March was, indeed, a milestone month for Modin, and he might record a few more in a Blue Jackets sweater. He tallied 20-22-42 this year and agreed with the organization to a three-year contract extension in February.
9) Vyborny ties and wins game in overtime against L.A.
One of the original Blue Jackets and one of their most reliable players, David Vyborny collected a total of 64 points this year. Three of them - on two goals and an assist - came March 7 in a memorable come-from-behind overtime win at home against the Kings. With the Jackets trailing 2-1, Vyborny scored his first with 5:02 remaining in regulation to knot the score and sent the game to overtime. A shootout seemed inevitable until Vyborny's skillful wrist shot sailed past the goaltender, sounded the horn and sealed the Columbus victory.
8) Nash hits overtime game-winner to give Jackets season series win over Dallas.
This top moment should be fresh in everyone's minds. After trailing 1-0 for most of the game April 5 at Nationwide Arena, Columbus got a game-tying goal from Manny Malhotra at 13:03 in the third period and forced overtime on the Stars. It wasn't long into the overtime until Rick Nash skated from the right flank and ripped off a blistering shot past goaltender Marty Turco for a 2-1 CBJ win. This year, the Blue Jackets mustered a 3-1 record against Dallas, further proof that the Jackets play their best when playing against the better teams.
The chants of "Let's go, Buff-a-lo!" resonated through Nationwide Arena, evidence of the traditionally strong road following from Sabres fans. But in the end, it was "Let's Go Jack-ets!" that triumphed. In a playoff-like environment, the Jackets battled back from a 2-0 deficit by scoring three unanswered goals to defeat the eventual President's Trophy winning Sabres 3-2, Jan. 26. The win also came in the midst of three straight home wins over standout teams, with the Buffalo win sandwiched between victories over Detroit and Minnesota. Rostislav Klesla tied the game early in the third and Dan Fritsche, who had a career year this season, recorded the gritty, game-winning goal.
6) Leclaire records first career shutout in home win over L.A.
It might have only been October, but the Jackets young goaltender was defining one of the best moments of the year and of his young career. From the initial puck drop, Pascal Leclaire was in the zone. He turned away 38 shots from the Kings in a 2-0 win at Nationwide Arena. Even more impressive, Leclaire withstood eight power plays and led the Jackets to a much-needed win, breaking a four-game losing streak. When Leclaire returns to the Jackets' lineup next year, they hope that this historic night in October was a sign of things to come.
5) Columbus holds off Red Wings 4-3.
The Red Wings rolled into Nationwide Arena Dec. 18, hoping for a victory over the Blue Jackets. What Detroit got was a highlight reel goal from Rick Nash, who took a great pass from Sergei Fedorov and finished. The Jackets got a shorthanded goal from Jason Chimera and jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then survived a furious third-period comeback from the Red Wings to earn a tough, entertaining win.
4) Jackets steal a shootout win at 'The Joe'
It's always nice to leave "Hockeytown" with two points, and Mar. 22, Columbus did just that. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen tied the game late, and Sergei Fedorov scored the game-winner in a shootout against his former team, stirring up boos from every corner of Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Fredrik Norrena was nearly perfect, allowing only one puck past his gear, while stopping 35 others. The win marked only the fourth win ever at Detroit for the CBJ and cost the Red Wings a point in their push for playoff seeding. The win was also the third over Detroit in 2006-07, the most for Columbus in a season over the Red Wings.
3) Norrena = nada: Goaltender records back-to-back shutouts in midst of shutout streak
Goaltender Pascal Leclaire had just gone down with a groin injury in December, and Columbus needed someone to step up on a Western road trip. Rookie Fredrik Norrena not only stepped up but also set a franchise record by going 155:28 without surrendering a goal, resulting in back-to-back shutout wins for the CBJ and a new individual club-record for longest shutout streak. It started Dec. 2 at Edmonton's Rexall Place. Norrena saved all 21 Oilers shots, earning his first career shutout in the NHL as the Jackets dominated, 4-0. He followed up that gem with an even more impressive encore in Denver at the Pepsi Center, a building Columbus had yet to win in. Norrena kept an astounding 42 shots out of the net to earn his second straight shutout. The performances gave momentum to Columbus' season best five-game win streak.
It seemed like the shootout that would never end and finally, Manny Malhotra decided he'd had enough. In the 11th round of a shootout at Nationwide Arena on Nov. 3, where both teams had answers for each other, goaltender Pascal Leclaire denied the Flames' Chuck Kobasew to give Columbus a chance to win it. With most of the spectators having abandoned the edge of their seats in favor of standing up, Malhotra ignited the crowd by calmly firing the puck past Calgary goaltender Jamie McLennan to end the game.
The Blue Jackets had to regroup just to force overtime. After losing an early 3-1 lead thanks to three straight Calgary goals, forward David Vyborny capped a Columbus power play with a clutch goal at 7:09 in the third period. After that, both teams played to a stalemate until the Jackets' No. 27 sent everyone home happy.
1) Comeback Jackets! Columbus scores four third-period goals to rally past Anaheim.
The puck didn't even drop until 10 p.m. EST on Jan. 5th, and admittedly, with the Jackets down three in the third, even devoted fans all over Ohio were clicking off their TVs and calling it a night. All they did was miss the greatest moment of 2006-07.
Columbus earned the first of two wins this year at the Honda Center in Anaheim by rallying from a three-goal, third-period deficit for a stunning 4-3 regulation win. What's most staggering is that the Jackets didn't begin the comeback until halfway through the third, scoring all four goals at even strength. Anaheim had dominated the game until this point, getting two goals in the second period and one in the third from star Teemu Selanne.
Defenseman Rostislav Klesla, who posted his best offensive effort of the year, started the rally at 10:02 with his fourth goal of the season, cutting the lead to 3-1. The Czech blueliner wasn't done, though; he notched the Jackets second goal after a nice setup from center Alexander Svitov, who would end the game with three assists. Suddenly, with a little over three minutes left to play, the Jackets had trimmed the lead to one and had a slim chance to come back and force overtime.
They wasted no time tying things up 33 seconds after the faceoff, after Klesla's second goal. Fredrik Modin knotted the score at three, much to the chagrin of the Ducks' faithful. It appeared things were headed for overtime until clutch-performer Manny Malhotra squeaked the puck past Ducks' goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov at 18:40 to make it 4-3 game in favor of the Columbus.
The good guys from Ohio held on for the last 1:20 to stun the home team and crowd, but not without a huge save by goaltender Fredrik Norrena. With 21 seconds left, Selanne was awarded a penalty shot and Anaheim had a chance to force overtime, but Norrena secured the win by denying the Ducks' center.
"He was spectacular. He was head and shoulders above everyone."
Steve Yzerman
Team Canada general manager
"I don't have to tell you that Rick Nash took over this tournament for us. He stepped up and he was huge. That was some of the best hockey I've ever seen played."
Mike Cammalleri
winger for Team Canada and the Los Angeles Kings
"He's a hell of a hockey player. The guy (Finland defenseman Pekka Saravo) was draped all over him. I couldn't score in an empty net with a guy draped on me like that, and he scored it against a goaltender."
Alright, I have been to a ton of hockey games. But, never really experienced what I experienced yesterday. The crowd was a pretty big mixture of Red Wings and Blue Jackets fans...which made for an interesting game. I think the thing that sticks out the most to me with this is the Red Wings fan trying to boo Sergei Fedorov in OUR building. I mean seriously who does that? It's rude not only to the player but to us Blue Jackets fans in attendance. To counteract the booing we starting cheering for him. Everytime he touched the puck I was screaming for him to go! As everybody...well anybody who reads my blog knows I love Fedorov and think he is one of the best hockey players in the league. Notice I didn't say scorers but I said a hockey player. One who can see the ice...and make the plays. Anyway, the game was rough for us Jackets fans, because until about a minute left in the 3rd period we were getting shut out. I personally am not a fan of those...so I was getting discouraged but I kept on cheering my boys on...and finally Mr. Rick Nash...put one in the back of the net.
Now, I usually don't have a problem with Red Wings fans...because let's face it...I usually am one...except when they are playing the Jackets. With 2 minutes left some idiot threw an octopus onto OUR ice...in OUR arena. That made me really upset...this is the our house...this is where WE play. Do NOT bring your traditions or your damn octopus into it. I don't care what the score is...we wouldn't do it there and you shouldn't do it here. Anyway...I'm proud of my boys...in the first period they played great. I was especially impressed with Brule...he was one of the only one's I saw crashing the net most of the game. And, he was getting a little frisky with one of the Wings. At the very end of the game...Manny and the guy who was pushin on Brule were having some words back and fourth...I wanted so bad for Manny to drop the gloves but I knew that it would solve nothing.
Alright, now I have all the respect in the world for goalies...I will always appreciate a great goal tender and will always cheer for them when they have good games...even when they are against my team. BUT last night Hasek during the singing of OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM didn't take off his helmet. Why? I don't know...but it made me mad. Then, he had a really good game...and got named 2nd star...and didn't skate. When you are one of these elite goal tenders...you have fans no matter where you go...so you probably should skate when you are named a star. Martin Brodeur does...and for that I'm very thankful.
Anyway, I suppose that is all for now. I'm at work and suppose I better get back to it. I am hoping to finish my Leaf post sometime soon...which brings me to another thing. WEAR A LEAFS JERSEY AT A LEAFS GAME!!!! not a Detroit and Columbus game...and not a Columbus and Dallas game...I mean seriously. Sheesh.
I try really hard to be supportive of my boys and ya know what...it's time to call them out. The past 2 games Norrena has stood on his head for these guys. And, well we just haven't gotten the offense. The goalies job is to give the other players a chance to win. There is no reason why we can't score 3 or 4 goals in a night. People need to stand up and it's like Hitch always says "Our best players need to be our best players" and quite frankly they haven't done it. Vyborny, Nash, Modin, and Fedorov need to step it up. I don't have such a problem with Fedorov because to be honest he is playing really well. Last night against Dallas he was hitting, getting rough with guys, and was taking some hits. Then tonight against Nashville he was playing on the blue line...and he did an amazing job. But, Nash, and Vyborny need to step it up. Modin...from what the announcers have told us has been injured and playing on a hurt food or ankle or something. Anyway, I'm just really disappointed in my team...but I still love them. And, just to be clear...I am in NO WAY talking smack about the goalie, Fredrik Norrena!
And, some idiot wore a Leafs jersey to the game...a Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets game...way to be skill.
AND, look at this video...there is a quote that Tootoo says he's not a dirty player...what a joke.
Well with my beloved Jackets not playing until tomorrow…I don’t have a lot to say. Tomorrow night we’re playing the LA Kings and I think we should do alright against them. Because, well let’s face it they suck….and not only do they suck…they suck worse than us…so that’s always a good sign. The Jackets really need this win tomorrow night. We’re trying to get some consistency going at the end of the season. Even though we’re out of the playoffs we still need it and will take our role as ‘spoiler’ very seriously. I am already excited for next season. I don’t know if a lot of people know the history of Ken Hitchcock but when he took over for Dallas (the season before they won the cup) they were just like us. Had no consistency and their star player all he could do was shoot. Then the next year they went off to win the cup. Now, I am by no means saying that we’re going to win the cup next year. But, I do think that with Hitch’s experience and with the boys that we have…we have some serious potential. In all reality we should have been there this year but that’s beside the point. Anyway, that’s all just that I am excited. This week the Jackets don’t have a very busy schedule tomorrow night they are taking on the LA Kings at home. Then on Friday night the Dallas Stars are in town and I will be attending that game. I just hope that the boys can pull off this win…and I hope Adam Foote is in…but it is highly unlikely. I am very pumped to see some of our Farm boys in though. It’s always nice to see how they are playing and get hope that they’ll be ready for the big dogs this coming season. Anyway on after Friday night playing Dallas we head down to Nashville for the last game with our enemy divisional rival…whom I hate with a passion. A little note on Nashville Forsberg was out their past 2 games. He was out when they played the Ducks and I’m pretty sure he is out tonight when they played Detroit…but don’t quote me on that. I will have to look. They are saying he has an “Upper Body Injury.” Quite descriptive eh? Anyway, you never want players to get hurt or to be out of the line up. But, since it is Nashville this does give me quite a bit of pleasure. I don’t think that I ever talked about the game against the Coyotes. But, I watched it and couldn’t believe how pissed off Gretzky got. I mean gosh…he was an angry man…he frightened me quite a bit. They Jackets would have one that game with probably a shut out had it not been for all of the penalties they were taking. We had our newly acquired back up goalie that we plucked off waivers in net and he was playing against his old team. And, well he played pretty well…considering going into the game he only had 1 win under his belt. And, after the game he now has TWO! Oddly enough he holds the NHL record for most consecutive shut outs so that’s pretty impressive. Maybe we can tap into that a little bit. I am still hoping that Leclaire leaves. I am not impressed with this guy at all and now with him being out for the season…I don’t know it just seems pretty ridiculous to keep him. I realize that we have him under contract for next season but I am pretty sure someone would take him. Hell I’d be willing to give up a draft pick to anyone who would take him off our hands so we can get a decent goalie. There is no doubt in my mind that Norrena will be our number 1 goalie next year. Unless something crazy stupid happens. I’m not sure if anyone reads “The Hockey News” but I was checking out this issue and they rank the GM’s and not surprisingly Doug MacLean comes in 29. I know we get high draft picks and what not…so why can’t we win?! It’s for sure not because of the talent we have. We have some extremely talented guys. Rick Nash got the Rocket award in his 2nd year in the NHL. If that doesn’t scream talent I don’t know what does. I try not to give the players themselves a hard time because I do feel they are doing the best that they can do…but at some point the GM does have to step up. Anyway here’s what The Hockey News says about it: “Doug MacLean can’t be faulted for sitting by and fiddling while his organization burns, but his aggressive moves have done more to hurt than help. The Blue Jackets have been plagued by a failure to capitalize on high draft picks and a number of curious personnel moves. They’ve picked in the top eight in every draft and will do so again this June, but have a dismal record getting NHL-caliber talent beyond the first round. Taking on Sergei Fedorov’s salary seemed like a bad idea at the time – and even worse now.”
Now here’s what I say about that…I agree whole heartedly with most of that, however…I like Fedorov. I don’t care what anyone says. The guy can play. Yes he does get paid a lot and I don’t know if I like him of who he is now or who he was. But, I have always been a Fedorov fan and will continue to do so. I love all of our veteran guys really. Foote, Modin, they are all wonderful and most nights come out there with more heart than our young guys (including Nash and Vyborny.) Anyway, I don’t know hopefully this year we do well in the draft with Hitch on our side. I suppose that is all for my ranting on that stuff.
So I decided since I just got my Center Ice thing that I would live blog the Columbus game…like I normally do but I wanted to watch it with the Dallas point of view. I am curious to see what is different. Also, if you are thinking about getting Center Ice but don’t know if you should or not…I have had it for a day and I LOVE it!!! You get every game out there. Me, living where I do, am really thankful for it. Is it bad that I’m already annoyed with the Stars coverage? Man I hope the Jackets crush them. What an obnoxious team with obnoxious colors. I wanna know which goalie is starting and I am anxious to see if they play Smith in the playoffs, because as we know Turco is a bit of a choke artist in the playoffs. Alright I changed my mind, I have on my Columbus guys. I just can’t stand to not hear the usual guys callin the game. Oh man, Foote just took a weird hit…and he is going to the dressing room. It’s Mike Modano’s fault!!! Grrr. I hate seeing Adam like that. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is back…that helps a little bit. Oh man Glencross, Konopka, and Shelley are all in the line up tonight. That’s a scary line…a hard-hitting line also. Why is it that I love hard hitters? I don’t know why. Oh well. Columbus took the first penalty Nash took it…darn him. We were able to kill it off…thank goodness. Since Leclaire is out for the season (WHY CAN’T HE GO AWAY?!) Norrena who will be out number one goalie whom I love so dearly is in…and backing him up is Brian Boucher. So Adam Foote is having his foot x-rayed. I am sad. If Foote isn’t in for the game that I’m at next week I will be so sad. He is my mom’s favorite. Heck yeah, Manny Malhotra just scored the first goal of the game. When we score first we are 17-2-4 I think is what they said. So, that’s a good sign. Malhotra was tripped up and no penalty was called. I am really shocked at how quiet the Stars arena is. I watched the Kings vs Ducks game last night and it was loud in there. Where are the Stars fans at?! There may not be a lot of Jackets fans but we are at least vocal…or maybe I am bias. The Jackets outshot the Stars 10-7. And, the score is 1-0 Jackets. To be honest, I wasn’t going to watch this game because I’m going to the game on the 9th and I didn’t really want to see what it was going to look like…but I figure why not. May as well. Why is the NHL sponsoring this movie 300? It kinda scares me and I think it’s so weird. GOAL: Malhotra (CBJ) ASSISTS: Chimera, Brule SCORE: Columbus – 1 Dallas - 0 Sergei Fedorov just scored. I wasn’t really paying much attention. I get so distracted with youtube. Tollefsen roughed up somebody after the whistle…I’m not really sure who. But man I love Tollefsen. The way he plays. He plays with a ton of heart and is very very entertaining. Columbus is going to take a penalty. Vyborny took it for hooking. Norrena is playing excellent tonight. But, with a 2-0 lead…they always say is the most dangerous lead in the league. Which I was right…with Dallas on the powerplay they scored. And, now right after that Mike Modano scored to make it 2-2. Man I hate that. Hopefully Hitch gets the boys together…he called a time out. Why is Modano not the captain of the Stars? That doesn’t make sense to me. He seems to be the leader. The Jackets tend to get all out of sorts when the team they are playing score like that. This is starting to becoming quite the game. It just keeps going back and fourth which I love especially when both teams are playing so hard. Dallas because they want to catch up to Anaheim and Columbus because we have our young guys up…they are trying to prove themselves and not doing too bad of a job. The future of the Jackets I think is looking quite bright. Next year is our year…I know I keep saying that but it’s the truth!! HAHA they just showed Turco mic’d up from the All Star game. That was hilarious. ‘Can you guys go celebrate somewhere else?’ Classic. Turco seems to have quite the personality. Foote has a high ankle sprain they just said. I am sad. Hopefully, he will be back soon. It seems like Columbus is the place for injuries. These refs aren’t very good. I have seen quite a few very obvious penalties and they just aren’t seeing them. GOAL: Fedorov (CBJ) ASSISTS: Methot, Modin GOAL: Sydor (DAL) ASSISTS: Ribeiro, Robidas GOAL: Modano (DAL) ASSISTS: Jokinen, Sydor SCORE: Columbus – 2 Dallas - 2 Ya know trying to avoid a hockey game score when you’re watching a hockey game is hard as hell. I’m trying to avoid the Jersey game because I am recording it. Now I am watching an interview in Laraque. I like him. I like his style. He is a tough guy. How much do I love center ice? I love it…I keep flippin through all the games in the NHL…quite exciting. These Stars keep knocking down Nash. It’s starting to piss me off. The refs are clearly blind or mentally retarded…and know nothing. We can’t get a power play to save our life! We just took another one. I hate these refs! And, YES, I am being bitter. I know that we did have those penalties but it’s like the refs are choosing not to see the penalties that the Stars are doing. Stars should have had another penalty. Again we were able to kill off that penalty and limit them to only 2 shots on goal. Alright finally we are getting on the power play…hopefully we can make it effective. The last few minutes of this 3rd period is pretty aggressive. These refs are killing me…there have been at least 2 hits from behind this period and both of them were not called. That does not thrill me. That could hurt our boys…and we already have enough guys injured. It’s looking like this game is going to go into over time. It always makes me nervous when we go to over time…because that means that we have a chance of going into a shootout. SCORE: Columbus – 2 Dallas - 2 Alright, here we go time for 5 minutes of 4 on 4 hockey. Nothing really has happened so far…but there is still 3:30 left. Modano just took a shot and Norrena made a great save. Zherdev had a breakaway and it went just wide of the net. 2 minutes left in OT…no other real scoring chances. Haha my mom just said, “Come on guys just score so you don’t have to go to the shoot out…you never win in the shoot out.” Maybe she’s not as clueless about hockey as I thought haha. This is just getting brutal…I want to win this game so bad. I get so emotion in over time games. I don’t know why. AHH!! It’s going into a shootout…and I hate it. SCORE: Columbus – 2 Dallas - 2 SHOOTOUT!!!! Let’s see who is gonna come out. Chimera - SCORE HOLLA!! Zubov - STICK SAVE!! Konopka - MISSED THE NET!! Modano – WENT WIDE!! Klesla - Didn’t get to shoot… Jokinen - SAVE!! SCORE COLUMBUS – 3 Dallas - 2
Well everyone…we went against the odds and WON!! That’s right we won in a shootout. Due in part to Ken Hitchcock’s wonderful idea of having a shootout competition yesterday. I LOVE HITCH!!! I am pumped! My three stars of the game: 1. Fredrik Norrena WOOO!!! Atta boy 2. Jason Chimera 3. Sergei Fedorov
So Ken Hitchcock coached his 800th NHL game tonight. I just can’t even express how happy I am to have this man as the Blue Jackets coach. Next year is our year I’m just sure of it. The first period Adam Foote and Jordin Tootoo had a bit of a tussle. But, Foote being a very large and strong man was able to simply pin Tootoo against the boards. Nashville ended up getting a goal on the power play. Paul Kariya scored on the power play. Ty Conklin is in net for the Jackets. Everyone is pretty aware that I love Ty Conklin. He is a good goal tender and I think he deserves to stay up. Anyway, Foote took another penalty a roughing penalty…but I’m pretty sure that Erat just kind of fell and Foote didn’t do anything. I like what Adam Foote said during the intermission interview…he said Nashville likes to win games in the first 10 minutes of a game, that’s totally true. I have seen these guys play I can’t even tell you how many times and they like making an impression. But then Foote said, “We played better than they did in the first period, and they had more power play opportunities.” I’m so happy he’s our captain…what would I do without him. Marc Methot is playing his first NHL game. He seems to be doing a pretty good job…and he’s a cute little guy. I am hoping the reason he is up is because Berard will be out.
Going into the second period we were down 1-0. But entering the second we were on a power play. We ended up scoring a power play goal to make it 1-1. Modin got the goal. Dumont got the go ahead goal about a minute after we scored the tiebreaker. Let’s hope that Columbus gets things back on track. Well Fiddler just made it 3-1. I think Johnson is having a bad night because both of these goals can be blamed on him…well I don’t want to say blamed but he could have cleared the zone. Nash really is becoming a great two-way player. Last night he got his first short-handed goal, which is pretty impressive. Dan Fritsche got hurt he has a lacerated wrist they didn’t announce the severity of it but he won’t be back for the rest of the game.
Going into this period we are 3-1…lets hope the Jackets can get something going. And we got a goal from an unlikely source. Shelley got his first goal of the season!! I’m so proud. Our rough and tough guy got it. Lets just hope we can get another one. Tootoo just hit the crap out of Zherdev. I hate Tootoo he pisses me off every single time he steps out on the ice. He is such a dirty player and he claims he’s not. I would love to know where he heard that one. Let’s hope the Jackets can get this going and beat the Preds because it’s something we have yet to do. And Hainsey ties it up it’s now 3 all. It’s starting to look up for the Jackets. We really are a good hockey team. I love these guys…I know our playoff hopes are shot but we still are playing pretty well. I just hope that we can get a regulation win against these Preds. Brule had a great shot on goal heading down right at the net. Raced down even got tripped up a bit and took a shot when he was mid air.
And we are heading into over time. We do pretty well on 4-4 I think. So let’s see how we do. Well we out played them pretty much the entire game and that didn’t change during over time. It was still tied so we’re going into a shootout. I hate shootouts…they make me so nervous. I hope Conks stays with it. Well we lost in a shootout and I am sad. We deserved the win…and I’m not just saying that. Oh and random fact Tootoo took a number at the end of the game. How funny is that?! What a punk.
You’ll have to bare with me I am blogging while I watch the game. Well the first 10 minutes of the hockey game was dominated by the Rangers…in fact when they had 2 goals and 6 shots on goal…we didn’t have any shots on goal. I guess Hitch made a comment because we started getting things going. Shelley got into a fight with Orr and it was quite the heavy weight match up. But, in the end they just tired each other out and they were separated. Eriksson got his first goal of the season…so congrats to him!!
Anyway going into the second we were 2-1. Oh and just so know they showed that clip of Avery and Brodeur again and it got me fired up again. If Avery does that crap to Freddy…man I will be ticked!! Second period Svitov got called for Interference and the Rangers got their second power play of the night. Thank goodness we were able to kill that penalty off. We got another penalty…Klesla took a hooking penalty. And amazingly we got a short-handed goal Chimera had an amazing shot over the shoulder of Lundqvist .(random fact it was only the 3rd short-handed goal that the Rangers have given up.) You know people myself included say oh I love watching these young players like Malkin and Ovechkin…but there are games…when Adam Foote is playing really well and it makes me happy to see that. We took another penalty Eriksson took a hooking penalty. HOLY COW!! Rick Nash just scored the go ahead goal another short-hander so that makes the 4th short-handed goal they have given up. My Jackets are stepping it up. We are just now getting our first power play of the night. Sean Avery was called for hooking on Fedorov.
So going into the third we are ahead 3-2. Foote and Avery are having a bit of a battle tonight. Foote is making sure he is staying clear of Freddy. In my opinion nothing is more important than protecting your goalie. Brule is having a great third period. I’m not sure what line he is on this period but he is looking really good. Johnson took a tripping penalty and our penalty kill has been really good tonight. We have killed off 4 out of the 5 penalties, and 2 of the 5 we got a goal. Modin is blocking shot after shot this period. He is just totally killer. I hope we can get that 3 year extension…they said it is probably going to be announced Monday. I think he will really be a key for us. Hopefully we draft well and get some good UFA signings this year. I am loving how abusive our guys are to Avery…Foote slapped his stick out of his hand Fedorov tripped him…and we did all this without a penalty haha. This game is getting pretty intense now. You can tell the Rangers are just hopin to get this win. But, when the Jackets play like this…it’s hard to get a win against us. We don’t play like this too often…but I love when we do. Our goalie has been outstanding. Full props to him. I get so nervous every time Jagr has the puck and starts coming down the ice. He is such a good player. Rangers pulled their goalie and then took a penalty. So Columbus is on the power play to finish out the game. The fans at Madison Square Garden are pretty ticked about this game. It was a huge game for us though. We did amazing!! Norrena did great. I love seeing the goalie love at the end of the game.
I love come from behind wins…there is something so satisfying to me even as a fan. When your team plays as well as mine did tonight it was very gradifying. Oddly enough Freddy didn’t get a star of the game he faced 17 shots in the 3rd period and 42 the entire game…pretty impressive. Nash and Chimera did however. Nash’s first ever short-handed goal.
Well, unfortunately my Jackets lost another game...to the Blue's. But luckily...it was because of a shoot out. It was a pretty decent game from what I saw at least...which what I saw was the third period and the overtime and shoot out. And, well let me start with the third period. Going into the third period Columbus had a 3-2 lead on the Blues. Then we started getting into some penalty trouble...and the Blues scored to make it 3-3. Then we got into more penalty trouble (see a trend?) and they scored AGAIN to get the lead. But did that discourage the Jackets...of course not....we were crashing the net when the stupid ref blew the whistle and RIGHT after we scored. The ref blew the whistle because he thought that Legace had stopped the puck but oh no it was loose...needless to say I was very angry. Anyway there was about 20 seconds left in the game and I thought for sure we were screwed...but oh no Mr. Hitch wouldn't let us go down that way...we won the face off and got the puck to Rick Nash and he had a nice shot right into the back of the net. So we went into OT and nothing really happened...CBJ had 3 shots on goal and STL had 2...it was basically the teams going back and fourth pretty boring. Then we went to the shoot out and we have a crappy shoot out...and well we lost...the end...I know exciting stuff for tonights post eh?! I'm sorry my post tomorrow will be better I am sure...I am quite depressed that we lost...but I am quite excited that the trade deadline is gettin closer and that's quite exciting...I wanna know who Columbus is gettin rid of...and it better not be Foote...I will be one angry fan.....ok thats it for my crappy post...sorry if I seem pre occupied...I'm watching Jackass Number 2...and all I can say is WOW...
I really and truly do not understand why can we play amazing against the best teams in the NHL...and when we play not so good teams...we just break down, and lose. Fredrik Norrena was amazing in net tonight. Stopping all 29 shots he faced from the Sharks. This was such a great game. Lots of hits…not a lot of fights…but a little necessary roughness.
Rick Nash played outstanding…in my opinion at least. He didn’t get a point and actually had 6 penalty minutes. He even kind of got into a fight…which I will have to post the video if it pops up somewhere. He played very good with the puck and was really fun to watch tonight. I am a huge Rick Nash fan but I’m not blind…most nights he just doesn’t seem to play with any heart and tonight he changed that. I don’t know what Ken Hitchcock said to the man but he is really turning Rick around and that makes me happy.
Also, Gilbert Brule got a beautiful goal. He was another one that I just couldn’t believe the way he was playing. I noticed Hitch did a bit of line juggling and it seemed to work out quite nicely. Brule had a goal and an assist for the night.
I was thrilled with the way this game went down and now if we can just get some consistency with it I think we will be unstoppable. I can’t wait until next season to see how Hitch gets these boys into shape and gets us into a great playoff team…cuz you know it’s going to happen! (Not this year though)
