The 5-Hole: Blue Jackets News and Notes – 1/26/10

Every Tuesday, WFNY’s The 5-Hole brings you up to date with the goings-on of the CBJ…

The Week That Was

This Week: 1-2-0, 2 points
Overall: 20-25-9, 49 points (5th division; 14th conference)

The Jackets had chances this week, but just couldn’t put it all together. They’ve struggled on the road all season, and despite a rally in Philadelphia and some last second heroics in Boston, there wasn’t much to get excited about this week. Minnesota never had to sweat on Saturday night to hold off Columbus, and they looked flat and defeated.

Tuesday, 1/19 in Philadelphia – Flyers 5, Jackets 3 (Box Score) – Highlights
Thursday, 1/21 in Boston – Jackets 3, Bruins 2 (Box Score) – Highlights
Saturday, 1/23 in Minnesota – Wild 4, Jackets 2 (Box Score) – Highlights

What’s strange is that if you look back at the team’s last 10 games, they’re actually 5-5. Not great, but not as horrible as it seems. Unfortunately, going .500 over a 10 game stretch doesn’t help a team move up in the standings. The Jackets have basically no shot to make it back to the playoffs (nine points out of eighth place right now), as they just couldn’t ever get “hot” for a stretch like they did last season. They do have a big string of home games coming up, but it may be too little, too late unless they were to somehow rip off six or seven wins in a row.

The biggest issue for the Jackets is that they’ve been consistently playing from behind early. They’ve given up the first girl in each of their last seven games, and all of those goals have come in the first four minutes of the game (and, with the exception of the Minnesota game, they had all come in the first two and a half minutes). In some games they’ve been able to get back even and force the action, but most of the time they’re working so hard just to catch up that they end up getting beat early on and can never recover.

The good news is that there are just nine games to go until a much-needed Olympic break. The better news there is that seven of those games are at home. The bad news? Well, the Jackets will be matched up against playoff teams in seven of those games as well. The only exceptions? On the road in St. Louis (where the Jackets routinely struggle) and at home against Dallas. Well, what a segue!

Up Next

The Jackets are back home after a couple of days off. They take the ice Tuesday night against perennial nemesis Nashville (29-19-3, 61pts), though they’ve had somewhat better success against the Preds at home. They follow that up with the LA Kings (29-19-3, 61pts) at home on Thursday night. They finish their week with a trip to St. Louis (23-21-8, 54pts) on Saturday.

Full Schedule

Team Rankings

Since I haven’t been able to do a ton of game previews so far this year, this new section highlights the different units on the team and compares them to last week, last season, and the league-at-large.

Offense:
Current: 2.59 gpg (20th)
Last Post: 2.59 gpg (19th)
2008-2009: 2.68 gpg (21st)

Defense:
Current: 3.19 gapg (27th)
Last Post: 3.16 gapg (26th)
2008-2009: 2.72 (t9th)

Power Play:
Current: 41-for-199, 20.6% (7th)
Last Post: 38-for-190, 20.0% (7th)
2008-2009: 41-for-322, 12.7% (30th)

Penalty Kill:
Current: 178-for-217, 82.0% (14th)
Last Post: 167-for-205, 81.5% (15th)
2008-2009: 282-for-346, 82.1% (13th)

Ugh. Some improvement on special teams, which is always welcomed, but not much anywhere else. The offense is spinning its wheels, and the defense just can’t keep pucks out of its own net. Not a recipe for success…

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Hot: RJ Umberger. Umberger has been quietly consistent all year, posting 36 points thus far on 18 goals and 18 assists. He’s only 14 points off of his career high of 50 in 2007-2008 (he had 46 for Columbus last season to go along with a career-high 26 goals). Umberger was a one-man wrecking crew on Tuesday night in Philadelphia—his former stomping grounds—and was given a warm reception for his two goals. It appeared at first that the team’s third goal was also scored by Umberger, and the Philly fans littered the ice with hats. A well-deserved tribute for RJ. He also scored on Thursday night in Boston.

Not: Steve Mason. He’s struggling, and above that he’s gotten a bit chippy with the press. After Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, his quote of note was: “I don’t think of this as a step back. I made one mistake. You guys (in the media) can jump all over that if you want. I played well the rest of the way, so…” Not good, Steve. In his last 5 starts, Mason is 1-4 and has allowed  goals. Mason is a guy who is no doubt looking forward to the end of this abysmal season and the off-season to regroup.

Injury Update

The biggest injury issue of the week was the hit forward Jakub Voracek took to the head against Boston. He missed Saturday’s game against Minnesota, but could possibly be back Tuesday night against Nashville. Forward Chris Clark is a bit nicked up, and defenseman Marc Methot has been battling the flu.

Defenseman Rostislav Klesla is skating with coaches now for the first time since his injury, which is positive sign. There’s still no definitive time-table for a return.

Quotes of the Week

I don’t have any specific quotes to post here. Instead, I thought I’d turn it over to the Jackets’ fan base. The Dispatch has made an effort to get in touch with the fans to gauge their support for the upcoming stretch of 12-of-17 at home, as well as into next year. Considering the team’s financial struggles, it’s important to see where your fans really are. So, this week’s quotes come from the fans. Click here and here to read them.