Cleveland Cavaliers: New Year, New Culture, New Expectations
December 29, 2010While We’re Waiting… Sugar Bowl Dilemma and Pro Bowl Snubs?
December 30, 2010Every Tuesday Wednesday during the rigors of Holiday Traveling, WFNY’s The 5-Hole brings you up to date with the goings-on of the CBJ…
The Week That Was
This Week: 2-2-0, 4 points
Overall: 18-15-3, 39 points (5th division; 12th conference)
This team is starting to take shape. They can hang with the bad teams, but the moment any adversity hits against any teams that are decent, shop is folded up. Their slide from 14-6-0 and knocking on the door for the top seed hasn’t yet reached last year’s levels (the 16 games after their hot 20-game start this season vs. last season: 4-9-3, 11pts vs. 2-9-5, 9pts), but as you can see it’s gotten pretty close. They didn’t win their 18th a season ago until their 47th game, so at least there’s that. Still, things are looking eerily similar as December comes to a close. The crazy thing, though: they haven’t yet played their way out of the playoff hunt at this point, whereas by year’s end last season it was pretty much over and done with.
Tuesday, 12/21 in Columbus – Blue Jackets 3, Flames 1 – recap
Thursday, 12/23 in Columbus – Canucks 7, Blue Jackets 3 – (box) – Highlights
Sunday, 12/26 in Chicago – Blackhawks 4, Blue Jackets 1 – (box) – Highlights
Monday, 12/27 in Columbus – Blue Jackets 4, Wild 3 – SO – (box) – Highlights
What to say? Even Mathieu Garon wasn’t immune to the blowout loss when the team in front of him packs it in. He was pulled vs. Vancouver when the entire squad elected to give up at the first sign of adversity. The Jackets fell behind 6-0 in the second period. On Sunday, things looked better as they went into the third period down just 1-0 to Chicago. And then, as it seems to, one quick PP goal by the Hawks unraveled the string and quickly it was 4-0. Only on Monday against a mediocre-at-best Wild team were they able to right the ship, and that still had moments of soft goaltending by Steve Mason and hiccups by the skaters.
Credit to the boys for not letting it get away, and for finally winning on Monday in the new third sweaters.
Up Next
The Jackets begin a stretch of nine-of-13 on the road on Thursday. Considering they haven’t won on the road in, like, forever, that doesn’t bode well. They’re in Toronto (13-18-4, 30pts) on Thursday, and then head home for their traditional New Year’s Eve home game with Ottawa (16-17-4, 36pts) on Friday. Then, it’s time to get the frequent flyer cards polished up, as a long road trip begins. It begins on Sunday in Nashville (17-13-6, 40pts), which has been a house of horrors for this club for, well, ever.
By The Numbers
Let’s take a quick look at the Jackets by the numbers, through 29 games:
Scoring:
2.50 gpg (t23rd NHL)
Defense:
2.89 gapg (20th NHL)
Power Play:
12.2% (29th NHL)
Penalty Kill:
80.5% (20th NHL)
Goals Leader:
Rick Nash – 17
Assists Leader:
RJ Umberger, Derick Brassard, Jakub Voracek – 14
Points Leader:
Rick Nash – 28
Wins (Goalie):
Steve Mason – 10
Goals-Against Average:
Mathieu Garon – 2.32
Save Percentage:
Mathieu Garon – 91.3%
Injury Update
The club, minus Derek MacKenzie who has been on IR with a groin issue, is fairly healthy, all things considered. The last few games have featured only healthy scratches. And, as of today, Tom Sestito was sent back to Springfield to make room for MacKenzie, who will be coming off IR this week.
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not
Hot: Ugh. Have to give Rick Nash a nod for grabbing two assists this week to move into sole possession of first place on the franchise’s all-time assists list with 206 now. Just one more thing The Captain holds the all-time edge in. Also will give some honorable mention to Derick Brassard for scoring goals in back-to-back games. His offense had all but disappeared for quite some time.
Not: Effort and Psyche. If it’s possible to give “awards” to ideas, then I’m doing it. This team can’t seem to shake the effects of adversity when it happens. And, as we all know, in professional sports it’s always going to happen. When things are tough, it’s hard to know how this club is going to respond. Often-times, though, it’s not good. Something has to click for these guys to fix this issue, but it’s the same thing as last season, and we’re still hearing quotes from guys like Rick Nash to the effect of: “We believe the solution is in this room.” Well, start proving it, guys!
Quote of the Week
A double-dose from the coach on the subject of player scratches:
What’s our record? I don’t think anybody is untouchable when it comes to us putting a lineup on the ice that we think gives us the best chance to win . . . Desperate times. This stretch of the season is very important to us.
…
"When times are tough you have to find a different way to motivate. No matter who those three guys are, you have to be accountable for your actions. That’s all I’ve ever asked of anybody from the beginning.
–Coach Scott Arniel, on the practice of scratching players who aren’t “normally” scratches.
Arniel has always said “the best players will play,” so it’s nice to see someone whose money is where his mouth is. The players in question were scratched from Monday’s win against Minnesota, and were regulars: Rostislav Klesla, Jakub Voracek, and Derek Dorsett.
Whether this is a trend that continues (he did the same thing with the D-corps not too long ago) remains to be seen. But, with a fully healthy club that’s struggling, there’s no reason not to send a message or two now and again. But, this isn’t the kind of tactic that will work all season, one wouldn’t think.
…A Little Help From My Friends
The Dark Blue Jacket talks of Scott Howson and of influence:
I received my digital copy of The Hockey News’ January 17, 2011 edition – the "100 People of Power and Influence" issue – and was surprised to see that Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson was nowhere to be found on the list.
…
While I’m thinking about it – Besides the "head shot rule," which gave us THN’s #27 (Pens goon Matt Cooke), were ANY other rule changes passed over the past year? And that being the case, would the man who moved that rule change not be worthy of consideration if the other rule change was worthy?
Nope. Instead, we get a talented but thus far marginally effective forward for a team that’s already fired their coach, John Tavares, at #58. We get a captain of one of the worst teams in the NHL who’s only been healthy enough to play 19 games this year, Dion Phaneuf, at #72. We get the architect of the worst defense in the NHL (120 goals against as of tonight), Guy Boucher, at #73. And we get a Twitter hero who cracks jokes about how he can never get ice time, Paul Bissonnette, at #100. But no Howson.
And people wonder why Columbus Blue Jackets fans feel that their team is disrespected by the hockey world. Forget the crappy calls (and non-calls) that cost us games. Forget the fact that we declare a public holiday when the Toronto War Room actually goes our way. Forget that the refs mock and flip off our fans. Our guy changed your damn game, and you didn’t recognize it.
Jeff at Ten Minute Misconduct shares some conclusions after Sunday’s loss in Chicago. This is a longer one, but it needs to be read (definitely read the whole thing):
After carefully watching last night’s 4 -1 loss in Chicago, I reached some conclusions of my own about this club. … First and foremost, any notion that these people do not care about winning or losing, the community or the fans is simply wrong. Again, based upon my dealings with the team, from the President on down, they care very deeply about these things. The players want desperately to win, and truly understand the fan frustration. Anybody who has ever done anything in a competitive environment understands that losing is simply not enjoyable.
From a roster management perspective, you can’t blow the whole thing up and start over every time that a rough patch is reached. Keep in mind that the four highest point totals achieved by the team have come since Howson assumed the reins, and despite the recent travails, the team is 2 games over .500. Not where we want to be, but let’s not forget where we were when we start to consider blowing things up. We make the playoffs in 2008-09, then have a bad 2009-10 campaign. Some players who were terrific in the playoff year were not so terrific last year. So, which is the “true” player? Particularly when you are building from a young core, you can’t pull the ripcord too quickly. 2010 – 1011 had a strong start, so the inclination is to think, that 2009-10 was an aberration. Then the wheels come off a bit, and you begin to see common threads in the way individual players are responding. You need to address those situation, while not blowing up the whole structure.
I think we need to a) stabilize the lines and stick with them, as I think some of our offensive problems stem from the blue line, and chemistry is vital; b) Either bring Filatov back with directions to shoot and pass, or trade him for some value; c) Bring in a pure shooter. We have plenty of assets to trade, and a guy with shooting ability to provide the sharpshooter skills that Jason Williams and Raffi Torres fulfilled in the past. If a guy like Mayorov or Kubalik fits the bill — terrific, but Sestito, MacKenzie, Wilson and Murray are not getting it done.
Simply stated, we need to change the blue line in a major way. While everybody focuses on speed, which is an issue for some players, the critical problems, in my view, are puck handling ability and recognition. On the puck handling side, Hejda, Klesla and Methot are unmitigated disasters in our own zone. Methot gets better once he turns up ice and enters the neutral zone, but he shares the “paralysis with the puck” syndrome of the other two in his own zone. Tyutin has good and bad moments, as does Stralman. Russell is good, but is often hampered by covering for his pairing mate. Commodore is frankly better with handling the puck and pressing the offense than I expected him to be, but is a defensive liability.
The net effect of these defensive shortcomings is twofold. First, because our guys perceive that they have a lack of speed, they substitute collapsing for recognition. They are so afraid of stepping up to challenge a guy, and allowing the forward to exert the “1+1″ pressure that Arniel craves, that they collapse back to almost the crease, providing time and space to the offense. Last night, Methot and Klesla collapsed almost into Garon, surrendering an easy goal. Secondly, the inability to handle the puck and the tendency of the blue liners to trap themselves against the boards on their backhand forces the forwards to congregate near the boards to provide passing lanes, or become entangled in scrums for the puck. This, in turn, prevents the organized breakout, takes away the center of the ice, and promotes a tendency for the offense to lose their spacing.
Now, I know the blue line suggestions are easier said than done, but the time has come. At minimum, it’s time to look at the young guns while appropriate trades can be worked out. These guys all have speed, skill and youthful exuberance. Pair them with guys with a few years under their belts, and see what happens.
While I realize that nothing I said here is necessarily revolutionary or shocking, I’m hoping that folks realize that what’s needed are adjustments, not destruction. Maybe we surrender a young player or two to get an established player or two, providing more balance, in both skill and emotion. Up to now, decisions on some players were not truly possible. Now they are, and some adjustments need to be made. In terms of our real youngsters, like Filatov, Mason, Voracek — they need to be given time to allow their maturity to catch up to their talent. If we have to part with one of these to get something we need, maybe now is the time to do that.
I think this entire piece is brilliant. I’ve long been a silent partner in the law firm of “Let’s Not Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater,” and Jeff’s piece speaks entirely to my sensibilities. This team isn’t that far away. To blow the entire thing up and start over would be short-sighted. But, with Scott Howson and his Patience, we must, as always, wait and see.