OFFICIAL Columbus Blue Jackets Thread

[jimotis4heisman]

Originally Posted by scarletandgrey

NO playoffs this year but if we were healthy all season then I think we would've had a good shot at them.

doug realizes it too, thats what gilbert has been sent back to the whl. save him on a first contract for another year.

[scarletandgrey]

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

doug realizes it too, thats what gilbert has been sent back to the whl. save him on a first contract for another year.

Makes sense to me

[jimotis4heisman]

heres the deal on the playoffs.
36 games left
22 games againts teams currently 1-8 in points (playoff teams if the playoffs were to start today)

in the next 12 games (before the olympic break) the jackets play 10 of these "playoff" teams. the playoffs are a long stretch. but well see how good this team is and what could have been in the next month.

on the bright side we have the blues 4 more times and the blackhawks 5 times.

[jimotis4heisman]

draft related stuff and central scouting info from the hockey news
http://www.thehockeynews.com/en/news...p?idNews=19887

Monday, January 16, 2006
<form name="frmNews"> <input name="txtTitle" value="AMERICANS TOP CSS DRAFT RANKINGS" type="hidden"> <input name="txtType" value="article " type="hidden"> </form> AMERICANS TOP CSS DRAFT RANKINGS

<input name="sTitle" value="Americans top CSS draft rankings" id="sTitle" type="hidden"><input id="sQueryString" value="?idNews=19887" name="sQueryString" type="hidden"> <input id="sPage" value="news/news.asp" name="sPage" type="hidden"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"> <script **********"**********"> var winPrint=null; function Print() { if(winPrint && !winPrint.closed) winPrint.close(); winPrint=window.open('print.asp?idNews=19887','win Print','width=625,height=400,left=50,top=50,toolba r=yes,status=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,menub ar=yes'); } var winShare=null; function Share() { if(winShare && !winShare.closed) winShare.close(); winShare=window.open('../share/blank.asp','winShare','width=395,height=495,left=5 0,top=50,toolbar=no,status=no,scrollbars=yes,resiz able=yes,menubar=no'); document.frmShare.submit(); } </script> <form name="frmShare" method="post" action="../share/share.asp" target="winShare" onsubmit="return false;" id="frmShare"></form> <tbody><tr> <td class="cell-util-detail" align="center">EMAIL</td> <td class="cell-util-detail" align="center">FEEDBACK</td> <td class="cell-util-detail" align="center">PRINT</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Phil Kessel was considered the runaway No. 1 pick for the 2006 NHL entry draft earlier this season, but his countryman, defenseman Erik Johnson, has overtaken the high-scoring center in the latest rankings.

Both members of the U.S. team that finished a disappointing fourth at the World Junior Championship in Vancouver, Johnson, a native of Bloomington, Minn., and Kessel, from Madison, Wis., sit one-two in North America in the mid-season ranking of draft-eligible players as compiled by the NHL's Central Scouting Service.

A record total of 12 players born in the U.S. are ranked in the first round.

The highest number of Americans ever drafted in the first round is eight, set in 2005. American-born players have never been selected one-two in NHL draft history. Brian Lawton and Pat LaFontaine were selected first and third overall by Minnesota and the New York Islanders in the 1983 draft.

Johnson is in his second season with the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., and was a dominant player at the WJC, scoring a goal and four points to go along with 18 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound blueliner has three goals and eight points in seven games with the Under-18 team, which competes in the North American League.

Jonathan Bernier of the QMJHL's Lewiston MAINEiacs is the top-rated North American goaltender, while right winger Michael Frolik of the Czech Republic and goaltender Jhonas Enroth of the Swedish Junior league are the top-ranked skater and goalie in Europe.

The top-ranked Canadian-born skaters are Winnipeg's Jonathan Toews (currently playing at the University of North Dakota) at No. 3, and Thunder Bay's Jordan Staal, who plays for the OHL's Peterborough Petes and is the younger brother of Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal, at No. 4.

The 2006 draft will take place June 24 in Vancouver.

To view the full list of North American skaters, click HERE.

To view the full list of European skaters, click HERE.

To view the full list of North American goalies, click HERE.

To view the full list of European goalies, click HERE.

[jimotis4heisman]

6ft 5 235lbs winger mike rupp suffered a broken ankles monday against the ny rangers. time table unknown at this point.

tonight the red wings come in to nationwide arena for a central division show down.

[Bucky Katt]

Adam Foote returned to the lineup last night. He probably wishes he hadn't.
I definitely made the right choice in choosing to go to the b-ball game.

RED WINGS 4 | BLUE JACKETS 0
Wings leave Jackets dazed and confused
Squandered early chances, second-period penalties help fuel Detroit
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>MIKE MUNDEN | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Detroit’s Tomas Holstrom (96) celebrates with teammate Pavel Datsyuk after scoring his second goal of the game. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>MIKE MUNDEN | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Mark Hartigan of the Blue Jackets gets caught in a squeeze along the boards between Mathieu Schneider of the Red Wings, an unidentified Red Wing and teammate Trevor Letowski. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

The Detroit Red Wings calmly picked apart a panicky Blue Jackets team in Nationwide Arena last night. The final score was 4-0. A crowd of 17,089 began heading for the exits with five minutes remaining in the third period and the fans’ easy progression was a sharp contrast to the fire drill at ice level.
The Red Wings got two powerplay goals from Tomas Holmstrom, even-strength goals from Mark Mowers and Mathieu Schneider and a shutout from goaltender Chris Osgood (26 saves). A Wings fan threw a squid on the ice just before the final horn, and the humiliation was complete.
"We were outshot and outworked and that’s disappointing," Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "When you get outworked in your own building, you’re not going to beat these guys. Losing a game 4-0, that shouldn’t happen."
The Blue Jackets (16-29-2) were presented with prime opportunities in the first period, when they had four power plays and 77 seconds of five-onthree. They squandered their advantages. In the second period, the game hinged on special teams. Which is to say, the Wings went on the power play.
"The four penalties in the second period killed us," Gallant said. "To me, that was the turning point of the game. It got (the Wings) going, and they just kept coming and coming."
Gallant’s penalty kill had an interesting wrinkle: As Holmstrom took his customary and immovable position at the top of the crease, the Jackets played in front of him, and gave him space, rather than trying to root him out from behind. The aim was to cut down on the shots coming in, screen Holmstrom and perhaps give goaltender Pascal Leclaire more room to pick up the puck. (The problem was Holmstrom was allowed to back into, and bump, Leclaire).
The tactic worked well until the Wings’ third power play of the night, when Holmstrom redirected a one-timer to the back of the net. That was the first goal of the game, at 7:06 of the second period. The Wings struck again late in the period, moments after another of their power plays expired. Nicklas Lidstrom intercepted a rimmed pass in the Jackets’ zone and threw a shot down from the right wall, and Mowers redirected the puck under Leclaire’s arm.
The Wings had 20 shots to the Jackets’ five in the middle period.
"I think we’re a little unsure of how to play without the puck," Jackets center Sergei Fedorov said. "It’s not easy. There’s a lot of skating, a lot of maintaining of position. It’s not easy."
The Wings played their puck-possession game to perfection. They got away with a litany of slick hooks and holds, won all of the much-discussed "little battles" and threw a ton of rubber at Leclaire. The Jackets were wholly frustrated and discombobulated by the start of the third period.
"You can’t get frustrated, and you can’t walk into their trap — which we did too many times," said Jackets captain Adam Foote, who returned after missing nine games with a groin/hip injury.
Holmstrom scored another power-play goal, on a one-timer from the hash marks (nice feed, Pavel Datsyuk), and the reek of a rout began to permeate the building. Schneider tossed a wrist shot through a screen for the final tally with 1:47 remaining.
"They outplayed us," Rick Nash said. "I’m not going to overanalyze it. We’ll just move on to the next one. We know we played bad."
The Blue Jackets had won four of their previous five. Their special teams, so hot of late, went cold. Nash was held scoreless for the first time in 10 games; he had gone 9-7—16 in the previous nine.