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Published April 12, 2010 Over Too Soon
A year ago this week, the city of Columbus basked in the glory of its Blue Jackets hockey team earning its first trip to the Playoffs in franchise history. Sadly, the Blue Jackets were a few days from having their UnderArmor handed to them by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the Playoffs. It wasn’t a total blowout, necessarily. After all, the Jackets rallied to tie up Game 4 in the third period, before a questionable-at-best call put the Wings on a power play long enough to get the deciding goal. It was a sweep, but it was a turning point. The Blue Jackets would ride this momentum into the 2009-10 hockey season, work together, and continue their progress into a contender… Or… not. RECORD BY MONTH: October: 6-5-1; November: 7-4-3; December: 2-9-5; January: 7-8-0; February: 3-2-1; March: 7-4-3; April: 0-3-2 This, of course, is not to say the Jackets got off to a bad start. In fact, they got off to a pretty good start. After a slight hiccup to end October, and even a 9-1 trouncing at home at the hands of the then-reeling Red Wings, the Jackets won three straight and managed to work their way to a 12-6-2 record through the first 20 games. That start, plus the abominable start the Wings were off to at the time, had the Jackets sitting in second in the Central Division behind a hot Chicago Blackhawks team. Then, over a span of 24 games… the CBJ couldn’t piece two wins together. In fact, they couldn’t post more than two wins for the entire month of December, going 3-14-7 from November 21 through January 5. Never did a sports team so aptly summarize the proverbial “hell in a handbasket,” as the Blue Jackets did during the “December to Never, Ever EVER Remember.” From there, a three-game win streak was met with a three-game losing streak. Coach Ken Hitchcock tried the “win and you’re in” schtick with the goaltenders with mixed results, and wound up abandoning it and sticking with Mason as he seemed to get hot. However, the inconsistency presisted, and the Jackets simply never got their composure back. Sure, one could argue the injuries that were beginning to pile up, but Hitch never let that be an excuse. However, after the Colorado Avalanche completed the season sweep of the Jackets by shelling them 5-1, the team made a change at the top, and Hitch was shown the door. Was it acknowledgement that it was probably over in the front office’s eyes? Or just a last-ditch attempt to potentially save the season with an interim coach? I think in most people’s eyes, it was the former. I, for one, always like to think it’s not over as long as they’re mathmatically in it. And when the Jackets won three straight under Coach Claude Noel, I proclaimed at could still be done if the Jackets could just get three points in the last two games (both at home, no less) before the Olympic Break. Perhaps GM Scott Howson would roll the dice and stand pat at the Trade Deadline if the good guys could just get to .500 before Rick Nash and the other Olympians left for Vancouver. Ride out the rest of the season, UFAs be damned. But then, the Jackets only managed one point in those two games. And for what Howson got for Freddy Modin, Milan Jurcina and Raffi Torres, he might as well have ridden out the season with the UFAs. I don’t totally mean that. The second-rounder the Jackets got for Torres could pay good dividends. Quite frankly, you never know what round the next great role-player will get drafted in. The Red Wings are a perect example of a team with some good hockey players that started as middle-round picks. So I can’t completely diss picks and prospects. Good things really can happen there. It just feels empty at the time. But that’s what happens when you’re a seller at the Trade Deadline. Now, Raffi has a decent shot at going deep in the Playoffs, maybe a little less so for Freddy. Chimmer and Jurcina… eh, not so much. Despite the Jackets’ 10-8-6 record, and the 0-3-2 finish for the month of April, there is some reason for hope. Friday night’s “endurance match” shootout loss to Detroit saw Steve Mason playing the kind of game we saw so much last year and so rarely this year. We got to see some new faces, and discovered a few guys who may very well be ready for primetime. And the future is already in motion. Today the Jackets signed Notre Dame’s Theo Ruth, the prospect the Jackets gained after sending Sergei Fedorov to Washington. Meanwhile, the NHL Draft Lottery is tomorrow, and the Jackets currently sit in fourth, with a 10.7-percent chance to win the top pick. As disturbing as it seemed that some people almost seemed to be pulling for the Jackets to tank, I have to admit it would be kind of cool to see them get it. I won’t lose sleep over it, though. Come on… 10.7 percent is a slim chance. It’s a better shot than the Capitals have of winning the Stanley Cup this year, but it’s really slim. We’ll see what happens Tuesday, and I’ll have some quick playoff picks up before Wednesday’s playoff games. "Hopefully by the time we all reconvene in October, Detroit will not be the defending Stanley Cup Champions." For all the proverbial ups and downs, it was another good ride for this Jackets fan and blogger. Check back here through the offseason for draft stuff, free agent stuff and more. Of course, I’ll come up with other stuff to write about as well. Who knows… maybe baseball will provide some excitement this summer. In the meantime, I’ll foam at the mouth about hockey for a couple more months on my other blog while the Playoffs are going… or at least as long as there is a team I care about, and/or just to root for an early exit for the Wings. And hopefully by the time we all reconvene in October, Detroit will not be the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Thank you for reading. See you in October. Go Jackets!
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