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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: 0-3-1, 1 point
Overall: 14-16-7, 35 points (5th division; 14th conference)

The wheels are now officially all off for this team. They are a heap of smoldering wreckage. They are one point out of being last in the conference, though the team behind them has a game in hand. So, you could argue that they are officially the worst team in the conference. If it weren’t for my brother’s lowly Carolina Hurricanes, they could be the worst team in the entire league.

Tuesday, 12/15 in Minnesota – Wild 2, Jackets 1 (Box Score)
Thursday, 12/17 in Columbus – Coyotes 2, Jackets 1 – SO (Box Score) – Highlights
Saturday, 12/19 in Colorado – Avalanche 5, Jackets 2 (Box Score) – Highlights
Monday, 12/21 in Phoenix – Coyotes 5, Jackets 2 (Box Score) – Highlights

Just an awful week. The Jackets lost to the Wild by giving up a goal in the last 40 seconds of regulation. They blew a shoot-out against the Coyotes in which Fedor Tyutin (can we officially end the Tyutin-as-shoot-out-guy experiment, please?) had the puck poke-checked away from him by the Coyotes’ back-up goalie without getting a shot. They gave up four goals to Colorado in the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the game. And, they fell behind 3-0 to Phoenix early in the second and are now just not scoring enough to dig themselves out of a hole like that.

It was around this time last year that the Jackets turned the corner and made their playoff run. It’s looking less and less likely that such a run is coming this year, as instead of modest improvements week-to-week, the Jackets are getting worse and worse. Steve Mason is no longer the undisputed #1 goaltender, and to celebrate that Mathieu Garon gave up 5 goals to the Coyotes.

The Jackets are bleeding out right now. They are not scoring as they were in the early parts of the season, and their defense is not improving at all. As bad as Mason looked in the box score against Colorado, the defense in front of him could be blamed for most of the three goals that he allowed in his first five shots before getting the hook. Here is the DP 5-Hole diagnosis for what is ailing the Jackets:

• The team is playing afraid in the first periods of games. They are mentally so worried about making mistakes that they play with no confidence, and consequently other teams pounce on them early and bury them. Any semblance of confidence thereafter is gone.
• The team is not practicing enough. Coach Ken Hitchcock is known for his love of bigger players, and with the condensed schedule these big guys are not getting enough on-ice work between games. Other teams, however, are. And, any team with any sliver of speed up front is literally torching the Jackets at the start of games.
• The Jackets’ forwards are not doing the dirty work that they did last year that became their calling card. They’re not scoring the ugly goals; they’re not helping back on defense. They’re trying so hard to score the pretty goals that they’re not executing the fundamentals. They get caught too deep on offense far too often and give up so many odd-man rushes the other way that it further handcuffs the Jackets’ rickety defense.
• The defense is afraid to make a confident pass out of their own zone. They look so afraid to make a mistake that they hesitate and over-think, and that split-second delay is killing them as other teams’ forechecks are pouncing on the weak passes and turning them into golden scoring chances.
• Finally, the Jackets’ goaltenders are ordinary. They’re not making the spectacular saves that Steve Mason made look routine last year en route to posting solid numbers and winning the Calder Trophy.

In short, it’s not just one thing or one unit that’s hurting the Jackets. It’s a combination of several things in all phases of the game that are killing the Jackets. And, no one on the team or in the front office appears to have any answers right now. And, with the holiday roster freeze, it will be at least January before GM Scott Howson can make any moves.

About the only positive right now is that the players had a players-only meeting after the Colorado loss, and finally some voices were heard that had been heretofore silent. And, at least one thing was improved in the Phoenix loss on Monday: the players were standing up for each other. Last season, there was a moment in a game against St. Louis where the Jackets were getting whipped and a Blues player took a run and a huge hit at Rick Nash. Diminutive Kris Russell went after that player, and the Jackets took that message and ran with it, working to tie the game. Last night, at least the players went after the Coyotes when the ‘Yotes laid some wood on Jackets players. As Aaron Portzline put it, “What does this say? Maybe nothing more than the Blue Jackets are willing to stand up for each other, which some have questioned for weeks now. Months now. Heck, seasons now. It should count for something. If nothing else, maybe it’s the first step out of hell.” Where are Terry Robiskie and his shovel and ice-bucket when you need him?

Up Next

The Jackets head back to Dallas, which is the site of their last really solid road performance. It was also the last game they won before the 17-game slide began. They play the Stars (15-10-11, 41pts) Wednesday night. They finish this brutal road trip on Saturday in Detroit (18-13-5, 41pts), and then head back to Columbus to face the Red Wings again on Monday.

Full Schedule

Team Rankings

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

Offense:
Current: 2.78 gpg (16th)
Last Post: 2.94 gpg (6th)
2008-2009: 2.68 gpg (21st)

Defense:
Current: 3.35 gapg (28th)
Last Post: 3.36 gapg (28th)
2008-2009: 2.72 (t9th)

Power Play:
Current: 33-for-142, 23.2% (2nd)
Last Post: 30-for-130, 23.1% (t3rd)
2008-2009: 41-for-322, 12.7% (30th)

Penalty Kill:
Current: 123-for-154, 79.9% (17th)
Last Post: 111-for-139, 79.9% (18th)
2008-2009: 282-for-346, 82.1% (13th)

Finally, the numbers are starting to show the root of the problem. The defense just can’t get well, and now the scoring has dropped dramatically. The Special Teams remained solid, as the Jackets’ Penalty Killing unit has improved a bit over the last month and the Power Play remains the loan bright spot. But, with no solid 5-on-5 defense to speak of, the drop-off in scoring has come at the worst possible time and has all but put the Jackets’ playoff hopes in the slammer for this season.

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Hot: Jackets’ Opponents. All of them have been teeing off on the Jackets.

Not: The Jackets. This may seem like a cop-out, and in a way it is. But seriously… if you’ve been following this team at all there’s literally no one on the roster that is playing well, from the goalies to the forwards. The Jackets have won two times in their last 17 games. That’s NOT HOT.

Injury Update

There were really no major injuries to report this week, thankfully. The team is still without Derek Dorsett and Rostislav Klesla, and will be for at least a few more weeks on both (and probably longer on Klesla).

Where-Do-We-Go-From-Here Quotes of the Week

Win and you’re in. That’s where we’re at now. If a guy wins, he keeps on playing.
–Coach Ken Hitchcock, on the new starting goaltender arrangement. If only one of them could win…

This was different. More and more guys are getting more and more fed up. It’s sliding too far on us. We have to change it.
–Captain Rick Nash, on the players-only meeting after the loss to Colorado.

It’s really difficult for everybody right now. We’re back where we were a couple of seasons ago, it feels like. Everybody’s frustrated right now. We can’t get a break and we’re making too many mistakes.
–Defenseman Jan Hejda

This is one meeting where I think guys took it to heart. We’ve had meetings and meetings and meeting. It’s time to start doing something about it.
–Goalie Steve Mason

I feel like the answer to what we’re going through is in the dressing room, yes. We have very good players. We have a very good coaching staff. We’re trying to add a defenseman now with Klesla being out, but we have a very good team. Look, lots of teams go through this sort of period. That doesn’t make it acceptable, but it makes us like a lot of other clubs. We’re not going to make rash decisions based on a 15-game stretch. We’re not going to judge our players on a four- or five-week period. Nobody’s happy with where we’re at. It’s a frustrated bunch right now. But I believe we’ll get through this.
–GM Scott Howson, when asked by the Dispatch if he believes the Jackets are a playoff team right now.

The players’ attitude is tired. “We have to change it.” “It’s time to start doing something about it.” Like I said last week, talk is cheap. What strikes me is the GM’s quote. Now, I know the GM is never going to publicly say he doesn’t believe his team can make a playoff run, but at the same time I guess I do like his mentality that he’s not going to make a move just to make a move. One player move isn’t going to fix this problem. Like it or not, the Jackets are going to have to fix this from within, and I believe that given how young they are it wouldn’t be wise to panic and start dealing players. This team has built a foundation, and now they just need to build the house on top of it. Perhaps the expectations were too high at the beginning of the season (from myself included, to be fair). Just the same, it’s hard to see a playoff team make what appear to be all the right moves in the off-season only to see every single aspect of the team fall apart not six months later.