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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

Week: 2-1-0, 4 points

Overall: 22-19-4, 48 points (3rd division; 10th conference)

With just five games to go before the All-Star Break at the beginning of the week, the Jackets were not only in the midst of the playoff hunt, but are also in the midst of trying to get healthy. More importantly than that, however, they continue to play with fire and energy, and are continuing to be rewarded. With two of their three games this week against Western Conference foes hovering in the same neighborhood of the standings, each game takes on a little more importance if the Jackets hope to continue their playoff push. After their win Sunday night, they were briefly mathematically in eighth place, only to have Edmonton win later that night to bump them to ninth. After that, Monday saw Minnesota win to bump BOTH teams down a notch. Fittingly enough, the Jackets head to Edmonton on Tuesday night, and while out of the playoffs by a point, thye are also technically only three points out of fifth (that’s “one-two-three-four-feeeeeeiffff”) place as well.

Tuesday, 1/13 in Columbus – Blue Jackets 4, Avalanche 3 (Box Score) – Highlights

Friday, 1/16 in Columbus – Devils 2, Blue Jackets 1 (Box Score) – Highlights

Sunday, 1/18 in Vancouver – Blue Jackets 6, Canucks 5 – SO (Box Score) – Highlights

The atmosphere was electric on Tuesday for the Jackets/Avs tilt, which was one of the most anticipated games of the season due to former captain Adam Foote’s return after forcing his way into a trade last season. Sadly for the fans, Foote is rehabbing from an “injury” and did not travel with the team. But, the game was important for many other reasons, not the least of which was that 8th place in the conference standings was at stake. This game was one that the “old Jackets” (as writers and fans are taking to calling Jackets teams past) would have lost. The Jackets took a 2-1 lead in the third period, only to have Steve Mason allow a very soft goal to tie the game shortly thereafter. Mason had probably one of his worst games since his call-up, but the team rallied and found a way, scoring two more goals 30 seconds apart to secure the win. As Mason himself put it, “It’s a great feeling. I had the feeling that I’d let them down, big time. But they bounced right back. It was awesome to see.”

Friday night against the Devils was a classic defensive battle. Neither team could really get consistent good looks at the goal, and both goalies played well. Your trusty 5-Hole reporter was in attendance, and the atmosphere matched the teams’ intensity. The city of Columbus is beginning to buy in to this team. There was no Rick Nash, but newcomer Jason Williams joined returning forward Raffi Torres (those two have an interesting history, themselves, actually) in bolstering the lineup. Williams’ abilities on the Power Play were evident, as a couple of times with him out there the Jackets were able to really set up and cycle the puck with efficiency, though the goals did not come. Manny Malhotra gave the Jackets the lead, and with the way they were playing defense and the way Mason was playing, it looked to be enough to stand up. But, amidst controversy, the Devils scored two timely goals (well, one timely goal and one gift from the officials) to escape Columbus with the win.

On Sunday night, the matchup of the league’s top two goalies in terms of shutouts would indicate a close, defensive struggle. However, while both teams looked lethargic at times, they also looked explosive at others. Rick Nash returned and looked as though he had never left, with a goal and two assists, topped off with the game-clincher in the shoot-out. This game was a game of streaks, though. The Canucks surged to a 3-1 lead, and the Jackets looked listless, content to skate off with the loss. They then started taking it to the Canucks late in the second period, notching four consecutive goals into the third to take a 5-3 lead. Vancouver came back, however, and forced the action, tying the game with two quick goals of their own. Some of the highlights were Nash’s performance, as well as the continued solid play of Manny Malhotra as center on the #1 scoring line with Derick Brassard out. In addition, Jackets fans got to see the possibilities of the improved Power Play when newcomer Jason Williams notched his first goal as a Blue Jacket, fittingly enough on the Power Play. Williams also tallied a goal in the shoot-out, which sealed a wacky win for Columbus. Not lost in the win, either, was the brief fight between forward R.J. Umberger and former Ohio State teammate Ryan Kesler from Edmonton. Not good times for those two!

In roster news, the lingering ankle injury to (now backup) goaltender Pascal LeClaire has prompted the team to make a move. LeClaire is likely to be shut down for the rest of the season, and so the team picked up Wade Dubielewicz off of waivers from the Islanders. But, it’s never that simple in leagues with collective bargaining agreements:

The Blue Jackets claimed backup goaltender Wade Dubielewicz yesterday from the New York Islanders, who also are in desperate need at the position. The Islanders, without their top two goalies, signed Dubielewicz after he returned from playing a half-season in Russia. But the league’s collective bargaining agreement states that any player who starts a season in Europe must clear waivers before rejoining an NHL team. … “It’s an accepted part of the business,” [GM Scott] Howson said. “There was certainly no malice intended.”

And, of course, in the irony of ironies, when Dubielewicz was bought out of his Russian contract, he was replaced by none of than former Jacket Fredrik Norrena. It’s a small world, after all. 

Up Next

Starting this week, in an effort to gauge the importance of each game coming up, we’ll list each opponent with their point total and conference rank in parentheses. Technically, each game is important as the Jackets fight to stay in playoff position, but some are more important than others.

The Jackets finish up their “pre-All-Star-Break” schedule with two more games in the Western Canadian Corridor this week: in Edmonton (49 pts, 8th) Tuesday night and then in Calgary (58 pts, 3rd) Wednesday night.

Full Schedule

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Hot: The Captain. I know it’s hard to give this award to someone who’s basically played one game in the past two weeks, but he was hot before his injury, and on Sunday he played like he was playing before he had gotten hurt, becoming the Jackets’ all-time leading scorer along the way. His All-Star participation remains up in the air, but if Nash can stay healthy and continue to play like he has been, with the improvement around him Columbus can be a dangerous team for the rest of the year and (hopefully) into the post-season.

Not: Steve Mason. Yes, the team is still winning (I believe this is eight out of 11, which has been four straight 5-Holes with a 2-1-0 weekly record), but he has struggled more recently. In two of the three games this week, he was not sharp, though ironically the Jackets won those two games and lost the game where he appeared to be more locked in. One has to wonder that, with the injury to LeClaire and the tenuous situation at backup goalie, if the club isn’t planning on going as far as Mason will take them. Not a bad idea, except that Mason is still just 20 years old, and one would expect that he will probably deal with slumps as well as hitting the proverbial “rookie wall” at some point, as well. Let’s also not forget that he did have fairly major knee surgery less than a year ago. EDIT – The team reported on Tuesday that, in an effort to keep him fresh, Mason will NOT play in the Young Stars Game during All Star Weekend (see LeClaire link below for more).

Injury Update

All in all, it was a good week for the Jackets infirmary unit, as they got Raffi Torres, Rick Nash, and Andrew Murray back from injury over the past two games. But, the injury to LeClaire as detailed above will definitely weaken the goaltending fold, as well. Forward Jason Chimera is back practicing with the team, but possibly won’t see any game action until at least after this weekend’s All Star Break. Rostislav Klesla is still on the IR list with a foot injury. Rookie Nikita Filatov is also nursing a minor foot ininjury, which may keep him out of Tuesday’s game in Edmonton. EDIT – It was reported Tuesday afternoon that, after visiting the Cleveland Clinic (noooo!!!) for a second opinion on his ankle, Pascal LeClaire is out for the season. He will have surgery on the ankle, which has bone spurs and torn ligments.

As they get these guys back from long-term injury, Ken Hitchcock has publicly stated that he expects it to take each player about a month to really get back into game shape and game speed. So, the sooner these guys can come back, the better. Yet another reason that Nash’s injury was short-term was such a good thing, as evidenced by his play Sunday night.

Quotes of the Week

It’s the bar – red, black or green, whatever color it is, it’s the damn bar. It’s good to be above it. It’s bad to be below it. When you’re above it, there’s a different step to the players, a different energy. When you’re below, you’re constantly hunting. It’s fun (hunting), but it’s getting above the bar that’s most important. I honestly believe if we get healthy, there are some teams that are well above the bar we can still scare a little bit.

–Coach Ken Hitchcock, talking after Tuesday night’s game about getting into the 8th spot in the Western Conference standings.

I think we showed a lot of character. A couple of years ago we would have folded our cards when we were down two goals in the second period, but we came back and hung in there.

–Captain Rick Nash, after Sunday’s win in Vancouver.

If we just keep playing this way and battling like we are showing right now we are going to win our share of hockey games and hopefully be there right at the end

–Hitchcock, after Sunday’s win against Vancouver.

Link of the Week

I’m not sure that I get about 75% of the colloquialisms in this article, but you gotta love Stevie Franchise (ha!) getting some love down-under. Wait, that sounded horrible…

From Australia’s “The Age” we bring you: Meet ‘Stonewall’ Columbus’ miracle on ice

There’s a bloke playing ice hockey in America who’s having the greatest debut season since Bradman. He’s a certainty for the rookie-of-the-year award, and week by staggering week is firming for the National Hockey League’s MVP. That’s like winning the Rising Star and the Brownlow in your first year, despite missing the first five rounds because you weren’t getting picked.

What?? That’s a compliment, right?