OFFICIAL Columbus Blue Jackets Thread

[jimotis4heisman]

stevie goertzen has been recalled from cuse. i didnt even realize they had platt up. i missed last weekends games while i was in c/u. likely to miss a couple this weekend being in chitown for the football game.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

BLUE JACKETS
?What?s my line?? new game for Jackets
Gallant decides to make wholesale changes to shake up meek offense
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG>


Gerard Gallant spent his summer doing what all NHL coaches do when they?re not cleaning their golf spikes or cracking lobsters. He juggled lines in his mind?s eye until something clicked.
When the Blue Jackets play their next game, against the Blues on Thursday night in St. Louis, Gallant will put on ice the product of his summer fancy.
The lines, left to right, at practice yesterday:
Nikolai Zherdev-Sergei Fedorov-Anson Carter;
Fredrik Modin-David Vyborny-Rick Nash;
Jason Chimera-Manny Malhotra-Dan Fritsche.
Jody Shelley-Alexander Svitov/Gilbert Brule-Steven Goertzen.
"Obviously, I didn?t see David Vyborny at center, and I didn?t see Carter (acquired in September)," Gallant said, "but when I was horsing around, this is how I saw the lines."
Gallant has done a lot of line juggling. Carter, for instance, has played with five centers, including Mark Hartigan, now with Syracuse of the American Hockey League.
The Blue Jackets have scored fewer goals (28) than any other team in the league, and they were supposed to be an offensive dynamo. They have lost seven of their past nine games.
"I like every one of those guys I?ve played with, and I?ll go with whatever we have," Fedorov said. "The purpose is to try something else. I think it?s a normal circumstance after a loss."
There?s a little more weight to the latest changes, because there?s a lot of shifting involved. Zherdev goes from right to left wing, Nash from left to right, Vyborny from right to center.
These are the team?s top threats and, one might say, they?re being moved from more comfortable positions.
Gallant looks at it differently.
"The top six are the guys who should be comfortable playing there," he said. "I would have loved to have had it that way from game one, but some guys weren?t playing well and some guys were hurt. But I like the look of our team now, except for the fact that (injured defensemen) Duvie Westcott and Bryan Berard are out of the lineup. I like the makeup of the forwards."
Rather than experimenting with Malhotra and Svitov among the top six, Gallant has put his scorers together and, by extension, reassembled his third-line energy guys and fourth-line physical guys. Position ? left wing, right wing, center ? is secondary.
Zherdev has played a lot of left wing in his career.
"He might even prefer it," Gallant said.
Nash played right wing in Europe during the lockout and was amenable to a switch. He?s in the midst of one of the longest goalless streaks of his career, nine games, and is amenable to anything.
"I wouldn?t say it?s eating me up right now," he said, "but it?s frustrating because I want to help the team win."
Vyborny prefers the right wing, and he?s not a world-class faceoff guy, but he?s not a stranger to center.
"I don?t really care as long as we play good offense," Vyborny said.
Carter is now back among the top six, which is where everyone envisioned him when he signed a free-agent contract on the eve of training camp.
"We?ve got to play a few together before we can say how it goes," Carter said.
"But the main thing is we?ve got to win some games. We can?t do the same things over and over and lose and just accept it."
This is more than a line juggling. The aim is to more clearly define roles, to remove the muddle.
"You can mix and match the top six, but this is pretty close to what I had when I was thinking about it over the summer," Gallant said. "This is where I think people belong."
marace@dispatch.com

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

BLUE JACKETS
Nash unhappy about prolonged slump
Star winger has not scored a goal in nine games
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



It has been a month since Blue Jackets left winger Rick Nash scored a goal.
For a third-line grinder, that?s no big deal.
For Nash ? aka the big fella, the franchise, the kid, the 2004 Rocket Richard Trophy winner ? that?s an eternity.
"I?m frustrated," said Nash, whose nine-game streak without a goal is his longest dry spell since 11 games in 2002-03, his rookie season.
"Obviously, yeah, I think about it. It?s my job. It?s my life. I don?t really know (what to say). It?s a slump. I?m pretty sure it happens to everyone, somewhere down the road."
Nash knows the drought will end, but when?
The Jackets play the St. Louis Blues tonight in the Scottrade Center.
"It?s not a matter of getting (Nash) going," coach Gerard Gallant said. "It?s a matter of luck. It?s a matter of getting some bounces.
"He?s frustrated, and you can?t blame him, really. That?s his game, scoring goals. But the kid is doing his job. He?s leading the club in shots. He?s getting his chances, they?re just not going in."
Nash hasn?t scored since a 5-1 win over Phoenix on Oct. 9, when the Blue Jackets were 2-0-1 and all was right with the world.
The Jackets are 2-7-0 since then, due in large part to a club-wide dearth of offense. Nash, the marquee talent on the club, has taken much of the brunt.
"It?s a new experience for a young player, but it?s one that everybody goes through," Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean said. "He?s going to get through this, but it?s tough on a young guy.
"I?ve heard it said by some people that he looks like he doesn?t care out there. That?s (nonsense). He cares, big time. If he didn?t care, he wouldn?t be getting all of these scoring chances."
Nash can?t go 10 feet without getting support or advice, he said.
Among the Blue Jackets, it?s a pat on the back or a whack on the padded rumpus with a stick-blade.
On the street, it?s well-intended fans telling him to keep his head up.
"Very supportive," Nash said. "I?ve gotten some cards in the mail, too."
Center Sergei Fedorov used to get out of slumps, he said, by watching film of himself scoring goals.
"It encouraged me," Fedorov said. "Thank God I didn?t have that many (slumps). It was just a couple of times, I think."
Captain Adam Foote is a defenseman, but even blue-liners slump.
"When I was struggling early in my career, I was told by a certain guy to keep my feet moving, to simplify my game and do what I do best," he said.
That guy?
"Patrick Roy. Shocker, eh? "
Gallant said he has studied film of Nash from the last many games.
"Definitely teams are paying attention to him," Gallant said. "They?re keying on him, watching him.
"I haven?t seen him get the breakaway chances or the two-on-ones like he was getting in the past. But otherwise, he?s the same old Nasher. Same game, same shots, same scoring chances. Just not the same bounces."
Nash leads the Blue Jackets with 44 shots on goal, good for 43 rd in the NHL.
Gallant likes that stat. It tells him Nash hasn?t gotten gun-shy, or, worse, too fancy. If anything, he wants his power forward to shoot more, to play offensive with even more abandon.
"If he keeps his head up and keeps grinding it out, he?ll be fine," Gallant said. "I have no doubt."
Nash doesn?t seem worried, either. Frustrated, yes. But not worried. "It?ll come," Nash said. "I?ve always said goals come in bunches. "When I?m scoring six games in a row, I try to never get too high, because you know these days can be right around the corner. "I just think it?s important to stay level-headed. It?ll turn around for me." aportzline@dispatch.com

[jimotis4heisman]

today i had a very interesting conversation. no real news, but just what is seen as relative trade values. i was very shocked with what some of our guys are worth as compared to other guys in the league. i started the convo but couldnt get an answer for the are we shopping blank question. the response was essentially they are alwasy answering the phones and listening at the min.

[Buck Nasty]

I have got to think Carter is on the market. MaClean said he is looking for some blue line help, and it coincides with Carter going from the 4th line to the top line. I would assume he is showcasing him to get the best value. Brule cannot waste his first contact year on a 4th line with Shelley and another grinder.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OILERS 4 BLUE JACKETS 1
Oilers? quick scores knock Jackets flat

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

</IMG> Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire watches the puck sail into his goal in the second period.

Maybe it?s time for the Blue Jackets to bring back that overweight, shirtless guy. Not to dance; to play forward. A night after flexing their muscles in a win over lowly St. Louis, the Blue Jackets looked fragile and slow last night in a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Nationwide Arena. A crowd of 16,902 was unusually quiet. There wasn?t much to cheer after Edmonton took a 2-0 lead with two goals in the first 2:18 of the second period. "That took a lot out of us," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "It shouldn?t have. But it did."
Oilers left winger Ryan Smyth, who loves playing against the Blue Jackets, had two goals. Ales Hemsky and Joffrely Lupul also scored for Edmonton, which had lost four in a row before it arrived in the Nationwide Wellness Center last night.
The Blue Jackets? only score was a power- play goal by Anson Carter midway through the second period.
Mostly, the Blue Jackets spent their night on the perimeter, firing odd-angle shots and only half-heartedly looking for rebounds. Their best line was the fourth line, with scrappers Jody Shelley, Alexander Svitov and Steve Goertzen.
"Our top guys didn?t show up tonight," Gallant said. "If we?re going to win, the top six guys have to be better than that. I thought we looked tired in the second half of the game."
Falling behind 2-0 so quickly in the second period stunned the Blue Jackets. And it?s how the goals were scored that made such a difference.
On the first shift of the period, the Blue Jackets had a prime scoring chance when Carter pounced on a rebound with goaltender Dwayne Roloson out of position. Carter?s backhand attempt might have been altered by hard-charging defenseman Jason Smith, but Carter?s shot hit the post and caromed away.
"You get a great chance on one end," Carter said, "and if you don?t bury it, it seems like it starts going the other way in a hurry. All you can hope for is a great save."
That?s what happened, minus the great save.
With speed, the Oilers started the other way. Hemsky led the rush, but instead of passing ? as is his preference ? he let loose a wrist shot that befuddled goaltender Pascal Leclaire, beating him stick side to the far post.
The Oilers made it 2-0 only 98 seconds later. After Jackets defenseman Anders Eriksson failed twice to clear the puck, Lupul was set up on the right dot and beat Leclaire stick side with a wrist shot.
"The first two goals hurt us," Leclaire said. "I?d like to see those two again. It was a tight game, and then all of a sudden it?s 2-0. I?ll take the blame for those two. Those two goals were the turning point, I think. That?s on me."
Smyth, who has 12 goals in 20 games against Columbus, scored off a rebound at 12:40 of the second period to make it 3-0.
Then came Carter?s goal, his second of the season and first since Oct. 9. Rick Nash and Sergei Fedorov played tic-tactoe, with Nash feeding Carter in the high slot for a wrister that tucked under the crossbar.
The Oilers got the goal back early in the third period.
At 2:07 of the period, Smyth got behind Svitov and finished off a three-on-two rush to make it 4-1.
It was a sobering night for the Blue Jackets (5-8-1), who haven?t won back-to-back games since Oct. 9.
"We have to find our way back to .500," defenseman Rostislav Klesla said. "We have to put wins together now. That?s what good teams do.
"We can?t just win one, lose one. We can?t get too far behind the pack (in the Western Conference)."
aportzline@dispatch.com