Chick-fil-A Shows Their Support of the Browns
October 1, 2009Brandon Saine to Get Starting Nod
October 1, 2009
Well, I know this will mostly fall on deaf ears, but for those of you like me who love hockey—or maybe for those of you tired of inept franchises and are biding your time until the Cavs start playing for real—this weekend marks the anticipated start of yet another march to Lord Stanley’s Cup.
The Blue Jackets take to their home ice this Saturday night at 7:00 PM against Minnesota to kick off their own quest. I will be there, and frankly am stoked for it. In anticipation of the new season, I thought I’d take a moment or seven and break down the team as we transition from last season to this.
What to Watch For – New Faces
The Jackets are coming off of their first ever playoff appearance last season, and are looking to build off of that surprising run by taking another step forward this season. They solidified their goaltending by adding a viable backup to spell Steve Mason in Mathieu Garon and by signing full-time goaltender’s coach Dave Rook (also Mason’s former coach in juniors).
They added veteran checking-line center Sammy Pahlsson in an upgrade over the departed Manny Malhotra; Pahlsson should immediately pay dividends both on the third line and on the Penalty Kill.
They attempted to bolster their Power Play and defensive scoring by trading for Calgary d-man Anton Stralman.
And most importantly, they signed Derick Brassard, Antoine Vermette, and Captain Rick Nash to long-term extensions, the latter being the most important personnel move in team history. Seriously.
What to Watch For – Improvements
I thought it would be good to break it all down a bit. It can be a bit of a misnomer to post the stats from last year, as rosters change both for the better and the worse. But, since we have nothing to go on otherwise, we’ll go with those and attempt to extrapolate forward based on changes in the roster and philosophy for Columbus.
Scoring:
2008-2009 Team Ranking – 2.68 gpg (21st NHL)
The Jackets’ biggest problem last year was consistent scoring. They got to the playoffs by being physical and stingy on defense and riding their Calder Trophy (top rookie) winning goalie. Timely goals were a benefit in a handful of games that made the difference, but consistent offensive pressure was often lacking for Columbus. It’s easy to look at the Jackets’ lack of any big signings in free agency and ask, “How will this be any better?” To do so, however, would be short-sighted. There are two big reasons why:
1. They will be stronger in the center. Derick Brassard is back and healthy. Brassard was scoring roughly a point per game last season before injuring his shoulder in what was an ill-advised fight in Dallas. He had just been promoted to the top line, and was starting to show that he belonged there. In Brassard’s absence at the center spot on the top line, coach Ken Hitchcock was forced to put the proverbial square peg into that round hole: Manny Malhotra spent most of the year centering the top line. Malhotra, for his strengths in the faceoff circle and on defense, was not a solid fit there. His scoring abilities were nowhere near the guys he was playing with (Rick Nash and Kristian Huselius), and the entire line suffered because of it. The center’s job is to facilitate; Malhotra simply could not do that on a level with those other two players. Re-enter Brassard. “Brass and I have clicked, right from the start,” Nash said recently. “And Huselius and I know each other on the ice really well. It’s exciting to think about what we might be able to accomplish.” From what we’ve seen from Brassard in camp and the exhibition season, this will be the first time that a Columbus #1 scoring line can match up with almost any team in the league.
In addition to Brassard, Antoine Vermette—acquired at the trading deadline last year and instantly successful centering the second scoring line—is not only in the fold for the entire year this year, but recently signed an extension that will keep him in Columbus for many years to come. Vermette instantly bonded with line-mate RJ Umberger, and that pair has looked solid in camp with Jakub Voracek on the right wing with them. Rounding out the improvement at center is Sammy Pahlsson, who was signed as a free-agent to center the third line. Pahlsson is an improvement over Malhotra, who was really a third-line-center by trade himself. Pahlsson brings solid faceoff work, defensive intensity (a Hitchcock signature) and playoff and big-game experience. He instantly makes the third line a lot better.
2. They are incredibly deep on the wings this year. I will issue a hyperbole: Nikita Filatov is ready to explode onto the NHL scene. The 19-year old played in nine games last season, and scored in his debut in addition to notching a hat-trick (against the same Minnesota club they open with on Saturday, incidentally). There has never been any argument about his hands and on-puck ability. The two question marks were always his size (he is still pretty young and skinny) and his ability to play a complete game and thus earn the time on a big-time scoring line. If training camp is any indication, he looks to have done just that. “Nikita looks like a player who’s pushing for full-time work,” Hitchcock said after the Jackets’ final exhibition game. Translation: he’s doing the little things that a coach like Hitch demands of his players who are projected to spend a lot of time on the ice.
But, just adding Filatov does more than put another playmaker on the ice; it makes the wing stable that much deeper. The solidification of the center spots means RJ Umberger will no longer be asked to play out-of-position at center. The addition of Filatov creates a sort of “good problem to have” as it means there are too many top-six wingers on this team. As Porty points out in The Dispatch’s season preview:
Filatov would be out of place next to Pahlsson on the third line, with the likes of Jason Chimera and Raffi Torres on the opposite wing. And he makes no sense on the fourth line, where Jared Boll, Michael Blunden, Derek Dorsett and possibly Andrew Murray figure to do lots of grinding and agitating.
If anywhere, Filatov makes sense on the No. 2 line with Vermette and Voracek, but it’s unclear if Hitchcock would trust two youngsters — Voracek is only 20 — to play a regular shift so high in the lineup.
Meanwhile, Umberger is a good two-way player and would work well with Pahlsson. But how would a veteran player such as Umberger, coming off a 26-goal season, handle getting bumped by an 19-year-old? How might that be processed in the dressing room?
Hitchcock has never had to ponder such questions during his time with the Jackets. When he arrived one month into the 2006-07 season, they were three or four NHL-caliber forwards away from being able to compete. “We know we have enough pieces to put four really good lines out on the ice, no matter how it plays out,” Hitchcock said.
It’s a good problem to have, not knowing how your lines will shake out because you actually have enough talent to fill four lines. Here’s hoping that translates to an increase in scoring. If the pre-season was any indication, it will; the Jackets averaged 3.38 goals per game in eight pre-season games.
Defense:
2008-2009 Team Ranking – 2.72 gapg (t9th NHL)
This was by far the Jackets’ strong-suit last year, with the emergence of Steve Mason between the pipes. It stands to reason that with a full season of a (hopefully) healthy Mason (remember, he battled mononucleosis for much of January and February last season) with a capable backup in Mathieu Garon—which will by extension keep Mason fresher throughout the year as he should get regular rest—that the goaltending should be as good, if not better, this year.
Couple that with the fact that the Jackets are returning their top six defensemen from last year, and have recently added Anton Stralman from Calgary, who might help on the Power Play and bring an injection of offense on the third defense pair. “I watched (Stralman) run Sweden’s power play at the World Championships in 2008,” coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He was very effective at it. If I recall correctly, he’s got a very good shot and he’s very poised back there, which we can use.” He has been scouted as a guy who can move the puck and help out on offense, which is something the Jackets have been lacking on the back end since their inception.
One of the silver linings of the playoffs was that we got to see a couple of players raise their game. One of those guys was most definitely d-man Rostislav Klesla, the team’s first ever draft pick back in 2000. It’s no stretch to say that Jackets brass and fans alike had been waiting for basically a decade to see the Klesla we saw in the playoff series. If Rusty can stay healthy this year (he battled a litany of injuries last season) and maintain that level of play, he is poised to take a big step forward this year. And, let’s not forget: he’s still only 27, so some additional development is not out of the question.
It took Hitchcock a little while to really nail down his defensive pairs last year, as well. Once Mike Commodore and Jan Hejda gelled together—and later the same happened for Klesla and Fedor Tyutin—the unit played better. Once Mason stepped up and took the reins in goal, they got even better. It will be helpful for this team for those trends to continue in a positive direction this year.
Special Teams:
2008-2009 Team Rankings – PP: 12.7% (30th NHL); PK – 82.1% (13th NHL)
No one will argue that special teams was the Jackets’ biggest weakness last year. Their league-worst Power Play was an abomination. Their Penalty Kill was supposed to be a strength, but came unglued at times and turned out to be a huge liability down the stretch and into the playoffs against Detroit, whose PP unit abused them regularly. So, how to improve both?
Well, Hitchcock is trying two new things on his Power Play: different lineups, and zero tolerance. Let’s look at both of these aspects:
Personnel
The Jackets have long been in need of a right-handed shooting defenseman capable of running the point on the Power Play. They tried a couple different combinations last season, but there remained a dearth of guys who could get a shot off from the right point that commanded any kind of respect from the opposing team’s PK unit. In the pre-season, Hitchcock added a wrinkle to his top PP unit: Derick Brassard—centerman by trade—began playing the right point. “Derick is really patient with the puck and he can make plays with it,” Rick Nash said. “When he gets pressured at the blue line, he’s still able to make a play. That could make a big difference.” We’ve already mentioned the potential impact of recently-acquired defenseman Anton Stralman, who once he gets acclimated may see a lot of ice time running that right point on the #2 PP unit. The success (or failure) of those two changes could prove to be a big difference this year. Finally, rookie Nikita Filatov will see time on the #2 unit this year. Anytime you can get a player with his skill onto the ice in a situation where there is more open space, it is a good thing.
Patience
I had the fortune of attending a season ticket holders’ event last Wednesday in which they allowed us regular folk to ask questions of both GM Scott Howson and coach Ken Hitchcock. The Special Teams came up early and often. To dovetail with the personnel aspect above, one of the things Hitch said at this Q&A session that stuck with me was the notion that he gave his players a lot of latitude last year on the Power Play, and he won’t be nearly as forgiving this year. He said that if a player struggles on the PP, he will not hesitate to yank that guy off of the PP unit.
With respect to the Penalty Kill unit, it wasn’t horrible last year, but did suffer breakdowns at times. Hitchcock is hoping the addition of checking center Sammy Pahlsson (who will replace Malhotra on the top PK unit at center) along with simple continuity and experience will build this unit into more of a strength: “It was good last year, but it can be better,” Hitch said. “We have most of our personnel back, and maybe there’s an understanding more now of what we’re looking for right from the start of the season. So much of it is about continuity and working together as a unit. We have the players to be really good at it, really aggressive and disruptive.”
What to Watch For – Outlook
I don’t like to do record predictions in sports where the season involves so many games (in other words, most of them). The Jackets are in arguably the toughest division in the league: they finished fourth last year and still made the playoffs, and the only team from the division not to finish in the top 8 in the conference was Nashville, who was the last team eliminated the last weekend of the season.
All of the above having been said, the Jackets have a tough road: they are no longer the “surprise” team that other teams look past (the Jackets have historically faced a lot of backup goalies, as they were the kind of team that other teams would “rest up” against). No longer. Steve Mason winning the Calder Trophy all but assures that he will get opposing offenses’ top efforts.
The division is loaded. For the first time, the Jackets were able to hang with the Red Wings at times, though in their last meeting of the regular season Detroit threw a beat-down on the Jackets’ home ice that would not only foreshadow the playoff sweep, but also reminded Columbus that the Wings are in another class. To improve their standing, the Jackets have to be good within the division, which is tough when you have 24 games against such tough competition.
The Jackets, next to possibly the Red Wings, have the toughest road schedule of any team in the league almost every year. By being the most geographically “eastern” team in the Western Conference, the Jackets do more crazy travelling than any other team except for Detroit, perhaps. Couple that in with the fact that the NHL always sees fit to award Columbus with by far the most home-and-away back-to-back games every year, and it’s a recipe for a tough row to hoe.
At the end, if the Jackets can stay relatively healthy and not have steps back from key youngsters like Mason, Brassard, and Voracek, there’s no reason not to expect improvement both in point total and in standing. They finished with 41 wins and 92 points last season; I think the Jackets should be good for 45 wins and 96 to 98 points, which should give them a shot at the #5 or even #4 spot in the Conference standings. That’s my most optimistic guess, and assumes all goes according to plan.
Regardless, the puck drops for real on Saturday, and I could not be more excited to be heading down to Nationwide to take it all in.
7 Comments
Good write up DP. Love the Jackets and can’t wait for Saturday!
My interest in hockey is recent, and after my move out of Ohio. So I’m one of those fair weather Capitals fans. But I’ll still read this stuff! Nothing wrong with an Ohio team doing well.
Keep up the Blue Jackets updates. I know nothing about hockey an no one in Cleveland likes the Blue Jackets so some good insight is always welcome.
I think the Jackets playing in such a tough division can actually be a good thing. If you are playing some of the best teams in the NHL on a regular basis, you can only get better, right? I think the improvement on PP is really going to make a big difference. I could see us in third place this year.
Looking forward to the season starting…I think I’m going to be spending my Browns money on Blue Jackets tickets this year…
Great read! Good to see some Jackets coverage out of NE Ohio
Great Preview, I can’t think of one thing I disagree with. Love that the season is back, and looking forward to Mason’s work in the pipes for the BJ’s and my fantasy team.
I think with all the young talent and potential CBJ is set up not just for this year but many after. Here’s too hoping Mason, Filatov, and Brassard, light it up and stay healthy all year.
[…] at the beginning of October, some goof-ball wrote the following: At the end, if the Jackets can stay relatively healthy and not have steps back from key youngsters […]