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Blue Jackets Nation doesn't like where this road leads. (Photo by kentaddition/Flickr)
By Rick Gethin
“These losses have to really start hurting. It’s really got to start being painful for us.” ~ Columbus forward RJ Umberger on what it will take to play a full 60 minutes.
What will it take for the Blue Jackets to start feeling the pain of losing? Gone is the locker room filled with laughter and joking. In it’s place is a room almost akin to after-school detention. The same words are being said night after night; we have to fix it, need to play a full 60 minutes, etc. Coach Ken Hitchcock knows this team hasn’t hit the bottom yet. He sees that the hunger for victory isn’t there and acknowledges that the players haven’t taken losing to heart. “Losing has to hurt that much,” said Hitchcock, “and winning needs to be paramount in everyone’s thought process that they’re willing to anything for it. We’re not there yet.”
In front of a somewhat quiet crowd of just under 15,000 and the long anticipated return of former captain Adam Foote, Columbus fell to the Colorado Avalache 3-2. The score would indicate a close game; it really wasn’t. The Blue Jackets seemed to put skill over work once again, expecting a different result. No-look passes, forcing the puck, lackluster play and tentativeness with the puck all made an appearance in this game. I’ve addressed these very issues before and nothing has really changed. “We’re just making too many mistakes,” said Rick Nash. “We’re allowing goals that shouldn’t be goals. We have to go back to way we were playing last year.” Somehow, they need to find a way of getting back to that inspired play of one season ago.
The last 10 games have not been the best of games for Columbus, with only 2 wins in a stretch that dates back to November 19th. Coincidentally, that was the game that forward Derek Dorsett was injured in. His grit and energy have been sorely missed by the Blue Jackets. I doubt that he’s the cure-all to fix what’s ailing this club. But I do think that he provides a much needed spark that has been severely lacking in their game. Hitchcock knows the impact that Dorsett has; “I’m scared to even look at our record without Derek in. I don’t think it’s very good.” Dorsett is expected to be back in the line-up this week.
With the Blue Jackets set to have the first real practice they’ve had in three weeks, look for some serious competition to take place for ice-time. The coach has shown that he’s not averse to changing up the lines, and now would seem to be a prime time to show some players that their game needs to be elevated. The players need to be angry about losing; that fire needs to be stoked. Otherwise, the Blue Jackets will keep on singing the blues…
“Oh, I’m standin’ at the crossroads / just like a ship adrift at sea…”
Rick Gethin is the Associate Editor of The Hockey Writers and also the Columbus Blue Jackets correspondent.
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