Another Loss but Better Hockey

CBJ head coach Ken Hitchcock (Photo by Dave Gainer/The Hockey Writers)

By Rick Gethin

     Although Thursday evening brought another loss by the Blue Jackets at the hands of the Coyotes, the fans can take heart with the way the team played. Granted, it wasn’t a full 60 minutes of effort; but they did come away with a point after the shootout was over. They played better than they have in weeks, once they got the motor running. Sound familiar?

     We’ve played (the last 5 periods) almost identical to the way we did when we were having success”, said Ken Hitchcock. There is still work to be done, but it seems that the message is finally sinking into the heads of this young club. Said Hitchcock “I think alot of guys are starting to play much better hockey”. Once again, they started slow and the crowd was just as slow in responding. They haven’t had much to cheer about lately so that, perhaps, is understandable.

     Jared Boll came out of his shell and maximized the use of his ice time with some sound hits and a fight in the 2nd period. This seemed to breath some life into the listless crowd. It started to get progressively louder the deeper into the game it went. When Rick Nash scored on the power play, the crowd roared their appreciation. “The crowd really helped us in the 3rd period”, Ken Hitchcock said. “they were like us; they were waiting. Oh boy, what’s gonna happen next?” Both the fans and the team need and feed off of each other; a blue-collar synergy, if you will.

The Columbus Blue Jackets bench (Photo by Dave Gainer/The Hockey Writers)

     By no means does this mean that they’ve turned the corner and everything will start smelling like roses. But this band of youngsters have their hands on the edge and are at least peeking around the corner. They still have aspects of their game that need work, but the situation is not as dire as it would seem. A loss is never easy; but they played well enough to deserve the win. And that’s what really matters. Once they figure out how to start the game playing with that intensity, the crowd might be hoarse by the start of the 3rd period. And that’s a good thing.

     So take solace in the fact that your team is beginning to play better, earlier in the game. The last two games, although both were losses, helped to show this club that they can play a sound game. It comes it fits and starts and is slowly being pulled into one complete game. They have a four game road trip over the Christmas holiday before they play again in Nationwide Arena versus the arch-rival, the Detroit Red Wings. The next two weeks will show if this team has turned the corner, with 7 games in 14 days to close out 2009. It’s not the end of their season if they don’t perform well and garner some wins. But if they stay on the old course of listless play, it may very well be.

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