Figuring out what the hell is going wrong with the Blue Jackets...
Something happened on the way home from Anaheim. The Los Angeles Kings.
A 6-2 defeat at the hands of L.A. Sunday night in the Staples Center capped a road trip that was reminiscent of road trips in the old days… pulling only two points out of four nights. Two nights in the scenic province of Alberta, followed by two more in California.
The results? Well, that whole “perfect penalty kill on the road” thing we experienced through the first three games is a distant memory. The Jackets, after a 5-1-0 start, lost three out of four games on that last road trip.
Then they came home and stunk it up against Phoenix at Nationwide Arena.
"What is happening lately is not a sign of the Apocalypse, but man, it is a good thing this game against the Pens is at Nationwide."
The Jackets are now 6-5-0, and they have a hell of a weekend coming up, playing arguably the two best teams with the most star power in the Eastern Conference. The defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins (who don’t look like they’ve slowed down much) visit Nationwide tonight, before the Mr. Nash and Company go to Washington to play Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals on Sunday.
I’m not panicking. And neither should you.
For one thing, not counting Wednesday's game, a the Jackets have managed to find some offense, even on the road. The problem is the defense letting the other teams back in the game. The loss of Jan Hejda does hurt. Coach Hitchcock can call that just an excuse (and it’s true), but you can’t deny the impact of losing one of your top guys on the blueline. Good teams persevere. And I think the Jackets will. What is happening lately is not a sign of the Apocalypse, but man, it is a good thing this game against the Pens is at Nationwide.
"It’s important to get the defense back on track [...] Detroit, St. Louis, and Nashville are now officially awake"
Now in the Central Division, the Jackets are in second, just three points behind Chicago, and still ahead of Detroit, who is shockingly at just 4-4-3 through nine games. However, make no mistake. The Central Division is tight. The Jackets have 12 points in the standings. The Red Wings, the St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators all have 11 now. It’s important to get the defense back on track – depleted or not – because Detroit, St. Louis, and Nashville are now officially awake. Once the Central Division teams start playing one another, that's where those teams start to take their lumps, and that's where the Blue Jackets can either become the proverbial contender or pretender. The Jackets’ first Central Division gaem is against Detroit, too, on Nov. 11. Just like in this week’s games against Pittsburgh and Washington, we will learn a lot about the Blue Jackets and how good they really are from that matchup in Detroit.
But first, the Blue Jackets have to take advantage of the fact that Sid Crosby's right-hand man, Evgeni Malkin, is out tonight. Again, Coach Hitchcock might tell you the injuries are no excuse for losing hockey games, but if the other team has a chance to exploit those injuries, you could be in for a lot of hurt. The Blue Jackets have to do that Pittsburgh tonight.
"There was a nothing legitimate about [Rob Scuderi's] hip check. [...] That hit was garbage, and it was worth at least a few games."
Quick Hit on Scuderi I’m going to try and be brief, because all the other bloggers around have already talked about it, and my fellow CS.com hockey writer Kayleigh Curtis has already done a piece on cheap shots in the NHL this month (and if you haven’t read it, you should here)…. However, that was a godawful cheap shot, and the fact that Jason Chimera was not hurt worse is part luck, and part damn good reflexes on his part. From watching Rob Scuderi’s so-called “hip check” on the replays and YouTube, Scuderi looked terribly low – crouched so his midsection was hitting Chimmer just below the waist, maybe thigh area. So I had little doubt there was a nothing legitimate about that hip check. Then I saw this other angle this other angle. I’m sorry… I understand Chimmer had no serious injury, that’s worth more than a stupid fine, especially when you see how his head hit the ice.
Remember Steve Heinze from the early days of Blue Jackets hockey? Remember the 20-something-game suspension Brad May got for his golf swing that connected with Heinze’s face? I won’t say Scuderi should get 20, but that hit was garbage, and it was worth at least a few games.
Random Notes Around the NHL
Ewww, germs! Well, it's a sign of the times. A handful of hockey players around the NHL are starting to come down with H1N1, or swine flu. So far, it has not hit Columbus... but ladies, the next time your favorite Blue Jacket scores a goal and you start thinking, “I could just kiss that guy….” well, you may want to consider just blowing air kisses from your seat.
"There has been a renewed outcry among female hockey fans over the lack of jerseys that are cut for women."
Slacking On The Merch? I read an interesting article from a link on Twitter today about sexism and NHL merchandise. I'm providing the link here, but here's a quick synopsis: There has been a renewed outcry among female hockey fans over the lack of jerseys that are cut for women. You may remember before the lockout that the NHL was starting to get female cut jerseys with a sleeker, more satin-ish material. The jerseys, for the most part, copy the designs of the sweaters actually worn on the ice -- they were simply cut better for women and looked more... well, feminine. I actually bought one for my favorite hockey buddy for Christmas back then (she loved the classic Disneyfied Anaheim ducks logo, so that’s what I got her).
So the recent outcry is that, since jersey production switched over to Reebok now instead of CCM, Koho, etc., those old designs now don't exist. Most of the jerseys (there are exceptions) that are now available for women are more or less jerseys that are cut for men (read: shapeless, and fit like a tent) but all the logos, patches and piping are pink. Anyway, a female hockey blogger in Canada raised some hell over it, and the fact that the stuff that is aimed at women crosses to line from feminine to stereotypically girly. She also talks about the cost-preventive nature of $300-plus bejeweled purses, and how these practices alienate the female fan base. Read the story. It's quite good.
Slacking On The Merch? Part Deux Speaking of stuff that's not available, I was among what I'm sure hundreds of thousands of hockey fans to go to the online store NHL.com to find some cool new Hockey Fights Cancer schwag for October. They had the stylish lavender hats, scarves and ties that we saw a couple weeks ago on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at Nationwide, and they also had nice shirts for men and women. So I looked up to see what kind of cool stuff was available for Columbus Blue Jackets fans. The answer: a Dream Capsule Kit. Now, I am not an opponent of dream capsules, and I do see the significance of them, but not only are the dream capsules not branded with any sort of Hockey Fights Cancer logo, there is not even a mention of Hockey Fights Cancer in the product description.
Lack of CBJ Hockey Fights Cancer Schwag = Marketing Fail
I voiced my concern about the lack of CBJ stuff on Twitter, and someone even responded to me that they had recently visited the NHL store in New York and there was not a whole lot of CBJ stuff there, period. I did a little digging, and discovered that only half the teams in the NHL had the cool-looking men's shirts for Hockey Fights Cancer. In the grand scheme of things, one might think that talking about this as a little petty, in the grand scheme of things. It just seems like a marketing fail to me.
However, many of you reading we're probably hockey fans before the Blue Jackets came along, so you probably have other teams you like to root for. So, I do fully encourage you to hit the online store and find something for another team, and support the cause because it is still a very important cause. When it comes down to it, we all hate cancer. And that's what matters the most.
So, I bought a Boston Bruins HFC shirt. Apparently I’ll be waiting for it because it's on back order, but it's totally worth it.