The State of the Union Blue

By Rick Gethin

 

     27 games into the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets are currently 13-9-5 for 31 points. Contrast this record with that of one year ago; 11-13-3 for 25 points through 27 games. This simple statistic says much about the improvement of this club and shows that they’re heading in the right direction.

     Lately, there has been a hue and cry for some form of drastic change to take place within the ranks. The refrain from Ckicken Little of “The sky is falling” has been heard with too much frequency. For a city that is used to the short term attention span of a 12 game season (OSU football), the concept of showing patience over the course of an 82 game season is alien to them. Hockey is not a sport in which change happens overnight. Talented skaters are groomed, often from within the organization; and they might take years to develop. Trading for a short term “rental” type of player doesn’t really help the team as a whole. Many pay lip service to team chemistry and identity, but they are the fabric upon which successful  teams are built. The chemisty is here while they are starting to find their identity.

     While they got off to a fast start winning 5 of their first 6 games, it’s been an up and down ride since. The issues that seemed to haunt this team last year have been replaced with new ones this season. The power play was ranked dead last in the league a year ago. Presently they’re 3rd, netting almost 1 of every 4 shots they take for 24%. The penalty kill was decent last year but now sits in 22nd, clicking along at 77.7%. The injuries to the forward corps in 08-09 are well documented. Since the beginning of the season it’s been the defense taking the hits. Jan Hejda is back to being a top shut-down D-man and Mike Commodore is getting better by the game. The biggest hit so far was the recent loss of original Blue Jacket Rostislav “Rusty” Klesla; out with a torn left groin muscle and a torn stomach muscle. He’ll be gone for at least the next 6 weeks after undergoing surgery. With those injuries, I wouldn’t look for him to be back in the line-up much before the Winter Olympics. My guess is that he won’t be back to close to 100% till March 1st.

     Steve Mason has had some bad games; but then, so has the team as a whole. I’m still not convinced that Mason is experiencing a sophomore slump. He had a stellar year last season with the expectations from everyone that he would pick up right where he left off. It’s taken him a while to settle in this season, but he’s looking better and better with each passing game. The additions of back-up Mathieu Garon and goaltending coach Dave Rook have to have a positive effect on the young netminder, taken in the context of a whole season.

     The team as a whole is still young, and being a young team you have to expect that mistakes will be made. They are still learning how to play with a lead; they don’t yet have the killer instinct to keep their foot on the opposing teams throat. They have learned to put a bad loss behind them much quicker than in seasons past. They’ve shown that they can score goals at a remarkable pace this season, but at the same time they are giving up many goals. They are a blue collar team that sometimes has the blinders of youth on. Thinking that they are better than they are leads to them trying to make skill plays when the skill is not there. Don’t get me wrong, this club has alot of talent on it. If they can learn to harness that talent and play within the system, there’s no telling how deep they might go in the playoffs. As you well know, that system works; Ken Hitchcock has the Stanley Cup ring to prove it.

     Columbus Gm Scott Howson has said that the fix for this club will come from within. That doesn’t mean that he won’t make a move, if one’s warranted. He’s proven to be a cautious and patient GM who won’t be pushed into making a rash decision. Some fans “get it”, as evidenced by the slogan In Hitch and Howson we trust. Others are slow to realize that they might actually know what they’re doing.

     Which brings us to The Captain, Rick Nash. He’s still young at 25, yet he made a commitment to the franchise and city of Columbus by signing an 8 year contract extension over the summer. That says not only that he wants’ to win in Columbus, but that he believes he will win in Columbus. That speaks to his character in a huge way that many elite atheletes, regardless of the sport, seem to forget.

     He’s playing at better than a point a game, going 15-13-28 in the first 27 games. He’s never been the jump up and down, super vocal type of captain. He expects the younger players to follow his lead and the youngsters are showing signs of doing just that. He will always be who he is; which I personally think is a great way to lead if you have that ability. The team needs to “tune in” to both captain and coach, and they will go far.

     With the condensed schedule because of the olympic break, look for this team to settle down before Christmas. They will make a run in the playoffs again this season. Are they contenders for the Cup yet? In a word, no. But look for them to get to that plateau within the next few years. Like I’ve been saying all along; these aren’t the Blue Jackets of old, but it will take some time. To all of the Blue Jacket faithful I have but one word to say that you’ve heard before, but actually carries meaning now; patience.

 

I’m grateful to Tom at the Dark Blue Jacket for providing the image above.

Rick Gethin is the Associate Editor of The Hockey Writers and also the Columbus Blue Jackets correspondent.

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