OFFICIAL Columbus Blue Jackets Thread

[Bucky Katt]

Originally Posted by Buck Nasty

I saw you, if anyone has the game recorded you can see Mr. Katt in all of his Commodore glory with about 3:53 left in the game. Nice Robe!

Thanks. I borrowed it from my wife. I'm glad it looked white, because I know for a fact that some asshole tinted it pink in the laundary a couple months ago.

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

what section were you in?

116

editi-if what happened pre game had happened in just about any other league their would have been a red wing player or two leaving on a stretcher. classless.

Dare I ask what went down?

[jimotis4heisman]

Ryan, Versteeg, Mason selected as nominees for Calder Trophy
mason finalist for the calder (rookie of the year)

[generaladm]

Originally Posted by ysubuck

Has there ever been a LESS competitive series than this one?

The Blue Jackets are completely dominated in every phase of the game.

Rangers vs. Isles, first round '94 comes to mind. Scores were like a Pete Sampras first day Wimbeldon match: 6-0, 6-1, 6-0...

The Jackets are just out classed in every phase of the game in this matchup. Bad luck of the draw, but I don't know if we would have done much better against Vancouver. The Wings are still riding the wave of success that Scotty Bowman, Ken Holland, and Mike Ilitch started building 15 years ago. You had an owner and GM who were willing to give a HOF coach whatever he needed to build a championship team. Bowman created a system where he could build a playoff contender around a small core of veterans, and plug in role players as needed; if a player didn't buy in to the system, or could be replaced by a younger, cheaper player, they were sent packing. Detroit is successful because every player on the ice knows their assignment, and everyone else's. The left wing lock forces the puck carrier into a position where he is double teamed, and his passing lanes are cut off. Once the Wings recover a puck that is turned over or dumped, the first pass could be made while blindfolded, because the support man is in the correct position nearly every time. That's the obvious difference between these two teams: when the Jackets get the puck, they have to look around for the next play, when the Wings get the puck, they already know where the open man is. Of course, there are a bunch of guys on the Wings who can just flat out play, too.

It will be interesting to see how DET's next opponent fares. The Wings are looking like the most impressive team in the playoffs, and I don't think it's because the Jackets are terrible. With Osgood playing as well as he has been, it's going to take a team with a tremendous amount of talent to give the Wings a good series. VAN looks like the only team in the west with a shot. Like jo alluded to, CBJ are a very young team who have a lot of potential, but they ran into a playoff savvy team with a ridiculous amount of experience. Hope the Jackets can build off of their first taste of playoff hockey. This season was a success just to make it this far.

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

to this point, im not a believer in static events.
look at it this way either your team is getting better or worse in the short term and long term their either up the escalator or headed down it.

wings
lidstrom 38
rafalski 35
lilja 33
osgood 36
draper 37
sam 32
maltby 36
holmstrom 36


all those goes are wearing low on tread, 1-3 years of the kind of hockey you expect from them.

then you have their next chunk of guys
zetterburg 28
kopecky 27
hudler 25
franzen 29
fipula 25
datsyuk 30
cleary 30
kronwall 28
lebda 27
stuart 29


the wings have 51m+ in committed cap next year, that is before hossa, sam, hudler, kopecky, chelios, and a back up goaltender are addressed.

if you bought into the team being soft you bought into make believe. what 5 presidents trophies, 4 cups, 8 or 9 div titles in the last 11 years?

Here is how I foresee the off-season playing out (just for giggles):

Sammy is as good as gone.

IF they resign Hossa, Kopecky and Hudler are both gone. IF Hossa doesn't resign, Hudler will stay but Kopecky is still gone I give a Hossa re-signing at 50/50 chance right now. Locking up Franzen was a key IMO.

Lilja may never come back. He has a bleeding vein on his brain and they may never clear him to play ever again. There's a chance Chelios will not come back and if he doesn he'll be the league minimum.

my shocker of the off-season is Holmstrom retiring. He just isn't the same impact anymore and can't play more than about 50 games per season without spending significant time on the IR. And I think he realizes it too.

As for the "youth" of the Wings, their minors have had nearly 2 decades to build and they really haven't had to trade any big pieces away lately to acquire anyone. Darren Helm is 24 (I think he's probably younger) and he will likely be the next Kris Draper type player for the team. Justin Abdelkader is all of 21 years old and he'll see significant time next year.

Jonathan Ericcson is already up with the team and making a huge impact in Lilja's absence. He's also in his early 20s.

The wings will be fine if they can find any goalie to replace Osgood down the road here. they have more than a few capable players in their system and let's face it, they are thought of as a model franchise to play for. While I doubt the recent run of dominance will fade slightly, they aren't going anywhere anytime soon either.

[jimotis4heisman]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeMike80

Here is how I foresee the off-season playing out (just for giggles):

Sammy is as good as gone.
1.2m contract this year cap hit wise, 40 point player, 32 years old.

IF they resign Hossa, Kopecky and Hudler are both gone. IF Hossa doesn't resign, Hudler will stay but Kopecky is still gone I give a Hossa re-signing at 50/50 chance right now. Locking up Franzen was a key IMO.
hossa, what do you think it will take to resign the guy? hes 29, 4 time 80+ player with two 90+ one of which was 100 pts. currently due 7.45m this year. theyve already got 51m against the cap with next years new contracts kicking in.

hudler 1.015m, 25, 42 and 57 pts the last two years. rfa, theyll likely tender him something and likely hopefully he is offere sheeted/traded. should have good value in that.

kopecky 27 500k ufa back to back 40+ point seasons.

agreed franzen at 3.9+ cap hit was a good signing.

Lilja may never come back. He has a bleeding vein on his brain and they may never clear him to play ever again. There's a chance Chelios will not come back and if he doesn he'll be the league minimum.

chelios will be a vet incentive contract, no biggie. granted hell be collecting social security next year right?


my shocker of the off-season is Holmstrom retiring. He just isn't the same impact anymore and can't play more than about 50 games per season without spending significant time on the IR. And I think he realizes it too.
guy plays a hard banging physical game. if he does that 2.25 in cap space. not that i think you can get a guy of his caliber for 2.25m but youll need that space (see hossa, so that makes the 51m 49+.) the guy is 36...

As for the "youth" of the Wings, their minors have had nearly 2 decades to build and they really haven't had to trade any big pieces away lately to acquire anyone. Darren Helm is 24 (I think he's probably younger) and he will likely be the next Kris Draper type player for the team. Justin Abdelkader is all of 21 years old and he'll see significant time next year.
young daren helm is a nice young player. the griffins are good but the wings dont at this point have the super studs theyve yanked granted they tend to develop and create players and role players. my point in general is what youve seen the last 11 years is amongst the better runs of any franchise of any sport in a long time...

Jonathan Ericcson is already up with the team and making a huge impact in Lilja's absence. He's also in his early 20s.
big kids, hes 25. lets be frank, lidstrom is debateably the best defensemen of all time, ever. hard to replace that. the two of top three for sure are 38 and 35. im in no way saying the wings will suck in 3 years but in a new era of caps and what not replicating what theyve done will be tough. granted they are banking on the new cba including ammedments in the buyouts (as are the habs, leafs, etc). those things will make things tougher. you just cant replace a lidstrom, you cant. imo best player in the league...

The wings will be fine if they can find any goalie to replace Osgood down the road here. they have more than a few capable players in their system and let's face it, they are thought of as a model franchise to play for. While I doubt the recent run of dominance will fade slightly, they aren't going anywhere anytime soon either.
no doubt, im not saying thelly suck. but the dominance will come to an end. zetterberg, datsyuk, etc. granted you have to wonder how many of those guys will be able to go to the lidstrom fountain of youth and play 35+ years of age.

bold.

point it simple. this blue jackets team is young, improving and without shoving make believe down peoples throats things are still on the upwards swing. heck even if you break down the 15 years of the wings dominance they had a big learning curve with zetterberg/datsyuk, etc and their playoff experiences.

[3074326]

jo, what happened pre-game that was classless?

[BuckeyeMike80]

yeah what the hell happened? being in Denver, the divealanche hotel I'm staying at doesn't carry Versus as one of it's TV stations and the internet here is a bit spotty for streaming video.......

[jimotis4heisman]

Originally Posted by 3074326

jo, what happened pre-game that was classless?

centre line was crossed.

pucks crossed the red line in/around the area of a franchise type player when both teams took the ice early the first time.

[JCOSU86]

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

centre line was crossed.

pucks crossed the red line in/around the area of a franchise type player when both teams took the ice early the first time.

Pretend I have no idea what you are talking about...

[Brutus1]

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

centre line was crossed.

pucks crossed the red line in/around the area of a franchise type player when both teams took the ice early the first time.

Is this encrypted ? Is your tuque a little too tight ?

[generaladm]

I didn't see it, but I believe he means during the pre-game skate around, Wings players were crossing over into the Jackets half of the ice and/or shooting pucks at players, I'm assuming Nash or Mason. Basically, they pulled a Mike Hart.

[Bucky Katt]

Sitting in a new section tonight. Club level, section C12.



I like being a bit more elevated so I don't have to deal with the glass, but I definitely prefer sitting along the ice rather than behind.

Front row of the section, though...so I won't have to deal with douchebag assholes who can't find their way back to their seats until halfway through the period.

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by generaladm

I didn't see it, but I believe he means during the pre-game skate around, Wings players were crossing over into the Jackets half of the ice and/or shooting pucks at players, I'm assuming Nash or Mason. Basically, they pulled a Mike Hart.

[censored] _ichigan

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by generaladm

I didn't see it, but I believe he means during the pre-game skate around, Wings players were crossing over into the Jackets half of the ice and/or shooting pucks at players, I'm assuming Nash or Mason. Basically, they pulled a Mike Hart.

Crossing the center line probably but shooting pucks I don't think so. That would have definitely touched off a brawl of major proportions. If they did shoot some pucks and the Jackets did not respond, they are a bunch of weenies.

[generaladm]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

Crossing the center line probably but shooting pucks I don't think so. That would have definitely touched off a brawl of major proportions. If they did shoot some pucks and the Jackets did not respond, they are a bunch of weenies.

I guess "shooting" was a poor choice of words, but jo specifically said that pucks were crossing the line at/near a particular player, more than once, so that implies, to me, intention. I doubt they were shooting the puck with force, or being obvious about it ("Hey pass it over here...Oops, missed it!"), maybe "flipping" would have been more accurate. But it sounds to me like they were trying to intimidate/harass a certain player. Pretty classless, if true, but the sad thing is the Jackets couldn't do much about it, except start a brawl, which would have only been a moral victory.

BTW, you guys are really suprised at jo4h being cryptic? I've clicked on the link in his sig a million times, and I still don't see what it has to do with anything.