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Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

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Dispatch

2/12/06

PREDATORS 5 | BLUE JACKETS 2

Jackets still can’t solve Predators’ power play

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a town known for producing music with the same old story lines — drinkin’, fishin’ and pickup trucks — the Blue Jackets stuck to their recurring theme last night.
The Jackets lost 5-2 to the Nashville Predators, limping into the Olympic break with a second straight loss.
It’s the way the Blue Jackets lost that put a tear in their beer. On the other hand, rocker Kid Rock — seated among the 17,113 in Gaylord Entertainment Center — had a heck of a time.
"We didn’t want to go off to the break with a loss," coach Gerard Gallant said. "But we did a couple of things we said we didn’t want to do, and we paid for it."
First, the Jackets dug themselves an early hole, allowing a goal in the first 2½ minutes for the fourth straight game.
Marek Zidlicky put the Predators up 1-0 at 2:19 of the first period, a powerplay goal on a shot that might have killed Jackets goaltender Marc Denis if it didn’t whiz on through to the back of the net.
"We talk about it before every game, especially on the road," left winger Jody Shelley said. "You can’t give up the early goal. It got these guys going. It got the crowd into it."
It didn’t exactly kill the Jackets’ chances, and it was an improvement from a night earlier in Nationwide Arena, when Colorado took a 1-0 lead after only eight seconds.
The Jackets came back to lead 2-1 a little more than two minutes later.
Rick Nash scored at 3:40 of the first to tie the score at 1, putting the puck in the only 2 inches of net that Predators goaltender Tomas Vokoun didn’t have covered, the 2 inches of the upper left corner.
Only 49 seconds later, Nash dropped a puck between his legs to Nikolai Zherdev, who did that little toe drag he does and beat Vokoun with a wrist shot.
"I liked the way the guys came right back," Gallant said. "We didn’t want to give up that first goal, but it didn’t really seem to faze us. . . . It’s not what lost us the game."
No, that would be the Predators’ power play, which has eaten the Blue Jackets alive. They scored two power-play goals, giving them 15 in seven games against Columbus.
The Predators scored two other goals less than 10 seconds after Blue Jackets penalties expired, in effect giving them four power-play goals.
At 12:22 of the first, Zidlicky sent a slap shot through traffic on a power play to make it 2-2.
Then, Nashville ended the scoring in a crazy first period at 17:35. Defenseman Paul Kariya zoomed past Adam Foote and Predators forward Scottie Upshall skated past Nash.
Kariya had the first shot, the rebound kicking hard off Denis’ left pad. Upshall had the easy part, popping in the rebound to make it 3-2.
The Predators’ goals in the second and third periods came moments after power plays ended.
Martin Erat, set up along the half boards, threw an oh-whatthe-heck wrist shot toward Denis that went in only five seconds after Foote was freed.
At 13:27 of the third, only nine seconds after Jody Shelley’s slashing penalty expired, Kimo Timonen worked his way through Sergei Fedorov, Foote and Radoslav Suchy to beat Denis with a roofer and make it 5-2.
The Jackets had two prime chances to make it interesting in the final period, but Zherdev was stuffed by Vokoun on a breakaway at 14:14, and Trevor Letowski misfired at an open net at 8:05.
The loss was the Jackets’ sixth in their past seven games in Nashville.
"We need a break," Gallant said.
[email protected]
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Dispatch

2/12/06

Nash takes his game to world stage

Dream realized, now comes the fun part for Jackets forward

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Photographer Jamie Sabau shoots Olympians Radoslav Suchy (front left) of Slovakia, David Vyborny (front right) of the Czech Republic and Canada’s Adam Foote (back left) and Rick Nash. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>
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As the Blue Jackets plummeted to the bottom of the NHL in the fall, the franchise — that would be Rick Nash — suffered. He suffered with a high-ankle sprain, then with a knee injury. He shuffled between the trainer’s room and the gym, his world shrunken to an area the size of his living room. This went on from Sept. 13 to Dec. 17. For almost 100 days, he suffered inside.
"You talk about toughness," Jackets goaltender Marc Denis said. "He had one of his toughest years with all the injuries, and he came back. And he didn’t grinch.. . . I never heard him complain."
Nash’s primary goal was to come back strong to help his team, the one that will pay him $27 million over the next five seasons. His secondary goal, not discussed, was to make the Canadian Olympics team, the major source of national pride in his country.
And as Nash went through rehab in his shrunken world, Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes, Jason Spezza of the Ottawa Senators and wunderkind rookie Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins put up prodigious numbers in separate bids to earn a spot on Team Canada. The spot Nash once had in a stranglehold.
"I didn’t think I had much of a shot," Nash said. "Lucky enough for me, (Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky and assistant GM Steve Tambellini) based it on my past performances. When Steve Tambellini called me and gave me the news, I was over the moon. I never expected this day to come so soon."
So Nash, 21, will be arriving in the athletes village in Turin, Italy, later this week. He will accompany one of the best Olympic hockey teams ever assembled, in mid-roll. The Canadians snapped a 50-year gold-medal drought at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, then validated their dominance by winning the World Cup in 2004. Team Canada will take 18 NHL All-Stars to Turin, including Blue Jackets defenseman Adam Foote.
After a goal and an assist in a 5-2 loss at Nashville last night, Nash has buttressed his Olympic standing with 17 goals and 28 points in 26 games since returning to the Jackets’ lineup in mid-December. He has turned around the team’s fortunes.
"I think he made our whole team understand how to score goals," Denis said. "Maybe early in the season we got caught trying for those nice, pretty goals. Since he has been back, he has scored some pretty goals — but all of a sudden here’s a guy that’s talented, that has won the Rocket Richard Trophy, that’s coming back in our lineup — and he’s getting the ugly goals. Everyone is like, ‘I can get the ugly goals, too.’ It’s like he has almost taught our entire roster."
For all of that, Nash is regarded as a question mark in Turin. Some Canadian hockey pundits — and they’re a large contingent among the 10,000 news media at the Games — still wonder why Nash, who was on the shelf for the entirety of the early-season evaluation period, got the nod over Staal, Spezza and/or Crosby. Nash made his bones on the international stage, with Davos in Switzerland and with Team Canada at the World Championship, during the lockout. Memories of his 41-goal season in 2003-04 faded during the labor war.
So Nash has an opportunity to seize, and those who know him best have no doubt that he’ll be seizing.
"I’ve heard Mario Lemieux talk about it, saying when he was a young kid the best thing for his career was playing with guys like Wayne Gretzky," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "Rick is going to be around the best players in the world. He deserves to be there, and he’s going to learn a lot."
Nash is about to rub elbows with the likes of Jarome Iginla, who tied him for the Richard Trophy — most goals scored — two years ago, and Joe Sakic, the Canadian captain, humble killer and the clutchest of clutch players. It’s going to be an accelerated course in Big Game playing from the best teachers of his time.
What’s more, Foote said, it could turn out to be a comingout party of a global sort for Nash. The world will get to see him as Columbus does.
"Offensively, he’s as dangerous as anyone in the world," Foote said. "I look at (Washington’s Alexander) Ovechkin, (Minnesota’s Marian) Gaborik, one-on-one hockey, being dangerous, being a game-changer — he’s definitely on the top of the world for that. For sure. And you want that guy in the lineup because he’s unafraid."
Foote didn’t stop there.
"What is really scary — what’s really scary — is five years down the road when he has the complete game," Foote said. "That’s what I can’t wait to see. That’s what’s going to be fun to watch. You’re talking a playoff series, and he’s going to be blocking a shot, he’s going to be taking a guy out and he’s going to be scoring big goals."
Can Nash be a dominant player the likes of Peter Forsberg, Foote’s former teammate in Colorado, now in Philadelphia?
"Maybe better," Foote said. "Forsberg is a different player. Forsberg is a playmaker and Nash is a finishing touch. But I think Nasher can do it all. I think eventually you’ll see him do it all."
Given the size and import of the Games, the regal company and the pressure placed on Canadians back home, this is the next big step. Nash has a chance to put another indelible mark on his resume as a franchise player. He understands the situation.
"I remember watching Nagano (in 1998) and I remember watching Salt Lake City," Nash said. "Salt Lake City was obviously a big deal with Canada winning for the first time in 50 years. I’ve always been following it. It’s the biggest sports event in general. And to get a chance to play the No. 1 sport in your country at the Olympics, well, that’s pretty exciting."
[email protected]
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jimotis4heisman said:
heres the deal on the playoffs.
36 games left
22 games againts teams currently 1-8 in points (playoff teams if the playoffs were to start today)

in the next 12 games (before the olympic break) the jackets play 10 of these "playoff" teams. the playoffs are a long stretch. but well see how good this team is and what could have been in the next month.

on the bright side we have the blues 4 more times and the blackhawks 5 times.
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the jackets were 7-5 in this stretch, not bad at all.

tough loss last night, but its hard to play 3 in 4 nights and 2 in a row. the jackets wont play until march 2nd, because of the olympic break.
 
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Dispatch

2/13/06

BLUE JACKETS

Four for Turin; others go hither, yon

Monday, February 13, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Before the Blue Jackets vacated the visitor’s dressing room in the Gaylord Entertainment Center on Saturday night to start a 12-day Olympic break, they bid fond farewells and best wishes to the four players who are off to Turin, Italy.
Rick Nash and Adam Foote will play for Canada, David Vyborny for the Czech Republic and Radoslav Suchy for Slovakia beginning Wednesday.
"Hopefully, when we see them again, they’ll have medals," left winger Jody Shelley said.
The Blue Jackets also offered congratulations to left winger Jason Chimera, who leaves a single man to return a husband. He’s getting married Thursday back home in Edmonton.
When the handshakes were done, the Jackets — who will resume practice Feb. 23 — scattered like marbles on a concrete floor.
Shelley, right winger Trevor Letowski and center Jan Hrdina and their significant others are going to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico for six days.
Goaltender Marc Denis is off to Chicoutimi, Quebec.
"I’m going to play in the snow with my kids," Denis said. "And I can’t wait.
"My oldest son, Thomas (4), just had his first downhill skiing lesson."
Center Sergei Fedorov is going to Detroit to visit his family.
President and general manager Doug MacLean will scout minor-league Syracuse as well as junior-hockey prospects throughout Canada.
"We’ve got to make a decision on a couple of guys we drafted two years ago," MacLean said. "We have to sign them (by this summer) or they go back in the draft, so I want to take a real long look at a couple of them."
Coach Gerard Gallant and wife Pam are going to Phoenix.
"No golf, no nothing," Gallant said. "Just relaxing."
The downside to the break is that the Jackets (23-33-2) have played pretty good hockey since their abysmal 9-25-1 start.
Columbus is 14-8-1 since Dec. 26, despite losing three of its past four games.
Given their improved play of late, many of the Jackets said they’d like to keep playing.
"When you’re going good, you want to play every other day," Letowski said. "I played in Vancouver during the Olympic break in 2002. We were in a playoff hunt, so coming back was really exciting. That’s the one thing that’s disappointing is you’d like to have that to come back to.
"At the same time, we think we have a lot to play for. We’re trying to gain some respect in this league, and we’re starting to do that."
Gallant said the first two days of practice will be light, but Feb. 25-28 will have a training camp feel.
The Olympians will return shortly after their national teams have finished playing. The gold-medal game is Feb. 26.
"We talked after the 41 st game about playing really good in the second half of the season," Gallant said. "And we’ve done a pretty good job of that.
"Now we get another break, and I think it comes at a good time. We can get some guys healthy and we can go strong the rest of the way."
[email protected]
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Dispatch

2/15/06

OLYMPICS | HOCKEY

Foote has chance to again play for winner

Canadian defenseman is back in spotlight during quiet season with Jackets

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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TURIN, Italy — Blue Jackets defenseman Adam Foote can still see the pads flick, and the glove flash. Ten years after Foote’s Canadian team lost to the United States in the final of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Foote still has a vivid picture of the third period, of catlike goaltender Mike Richter in the net, stealing a win from Canada. It happened in Montreal, no less.
"The first World Cup team I made, I was lucky," Foote said. "A couple of guys were injured and it opened up a spot. It almost seems like every player gets in that way at the beginning. . . . We almost did it. We were close."
Foote shook his head and said, "Mike Richter."
The Stanley Cup may be the greatest prize in hockey, but it’s not the only one. The game’s elite players, in their effort to reach the highest strata in their sport, are compelled to compete in the all-star pressure cookers that are the World Cup and the Olympics. National pride is involved. Individual legacies factor in, as well.
Foote is among the most decorated players on Team Canada, which arrived here yesterday and will play its first game today against Italy. Foote won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche. He won a gold medal in the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. He helped Canada further cement its status as the world’s premier hockey power with a World Cup victory in 2004.
"What he has done speaks for itself. He’s a world-class player," said Blue Jackets teammate Rick Nash, who will play a wing on Canada’s top line.
For Foote, the Olympics are rolling around at just the right time.
Last summer, he signed a free-agent contract worth $13.8 million over three years. He went from an established Stanley Cup contender to a young Blue Jackets team looking to break through. When the season got under way, the Jackets were beaten up by injury — and by other teams. They were glued to the bottom of the Western Conference, and Foote was suddenly an afterthought, as far as the rest of the league was concerned.
There were some, including a few of Foote’s chop-busting buddies in Whitby, Ontario, who thought he’d made a colossal mistake. He was among the top two or three defensemen available last summer, and he chose Columbus?
His legacy is assured, but would it be partially compromised?
"My friends and acquaintances back home, who don’t realize they’re taking a shot at me, are saying, ‘Hey, you won a couple games!’ " Foote said. "I want to change their minds."
The Blue Jackets began winning while Foote was out with a groin injury. He returned the second week of January. The team is 14-8-1 in its past 23 games. Oh, there’s Footer.
"It’s fun to build," Foote said. "If I could grab them (teammates) and show them the next steps, and the future, and how it’s going to come . . . but you have to let them experience it."
If Foote ever had any private fears that he’d miscalculated in signing with the Blue Jackets, the fears have faded. He once talked about relishing the challenge, and that’s what he’s doing. He looks around the locker room — at Nash, David Vyborny, Nikolai Zherdev, Duvie Westcott, and at his fellow well-scarred campaigner, Sergei Fedorov — and he smiles.
Now, Foote has two weeks to take a shot at a second Olympic gold. Although his Canadian team is favored, he and Rob Blake will anchor a relatively inexperienced defense. Foote will be one of the horses in the back, playing a role he has grown into — and which fits him well at age 34. He’ll be a leader.
[email protected]
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its being rumored that fedorov is having surgery on his shoulder over the olympic break..who knows.

on the same note nash took 9 faceoffs in the last nashville game, when asked about playing center he said something along the lines of "oh yeah i used to play center and take draws all the time" when questioned he added "i was 8 or 9 and wasnt to bad at it, i dont know whats happened ill work on my technique" pretty funny stuff i think
 
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http://whl.ca/news/?id=3819

BRULE NAMED GREYHOUND WHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Created: Feb 20, 2006
http://cluster.leaguestat.com/downl...&w=220&file_path=img/pictures/Van - Brule.JPG
download.php


Calgary - The Greyhound WHL Player of the Week is forward Gilbert Brule of the Vancouver Giants. Brule earned player of the week honours by recording five goals and ten points in three games, including two power-play goals and two game-winning goals during the week of February 13th to February 19th. Brule also had a plus-minus rating of +4 and was named the game’s 1st Star in all three games while helping the Giants to a perfect 3-0 record for the week.

On Wednesday, February 15th, Brule scored two goals and added three assists in an 8-3 road win against the Spokane Chiefs. On Friday, February 17th, Brule recorded two goals and added an assist in a 5-0 shutout road win against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

On Saturday, February 18th, Brule scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in a 4-1 victory against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds.

Brule, a 19-year-old native of North Vancouver, British Columbia was drafted in the 1st round, 6th overall, by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

GREYHOUND COURIER EXPRESS is the OFFICIAL COURIER of the WHL.
Sept. 23 – Oct. 2: Dustin Boyd, Moose Jaw Warriors
Oct. 3 – Oct. 9: Mike Card, Kelowna Rockets
Oct. 10 – Oct. 16: Eric Hunter, Prince George Cougars
Oct. 17 – Oct. 23: Peter Mueller, Everett Silvertips
Oct. 24 – Oct. 30: John Lammers, Everett Silvertips
Oct. 31 – Nov. 6: Kevin Armstrong, Saskatoon Blades
Nov. 7 – Nov. 13: Devin Setoguchi, Saskatoon Blades
Nov 14 – Nov. 20: Taylor Dakers, Kootenay Ice
Nov 21 – Nov. 27: Brandon Dubinsky, Portland Winter Hawks
Nov 28 – Dec 4: Dustin Slade, Vancouver Giants
Dec 5 – Dec 11: Joe Barnes, Saskatoon Blades
Dec 12 – Dec 18: Justin Keller, Kelowna Rockets
Dec 27 – Jan 1: Mark Fistric, Vancouver Giants
Jan 2 – Jan 8: Darren Helm, Medicine Hat Tigers
Jan 9 – Jan 15: Shaun Heshka, Everett Silvertips
Jan 16 – Jan 22: Justin Pogge, Calgary Hitmen
Jan 23 – Jan 29: Mitch Bartley, Vancouver Giants
Jan 30 – Feb 5: Derek Yeomans, Kelowna Rockets
Feb 6 – Feb 12: Troy Brouwer, Moose Jaw Warriors
Feb 13 – Feb 19: Gilbert Brule, Vancouver Giants
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talk right now is that gilbert might be the best player in the entire chl...
 
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wayne gretzky has challenege team canada's younger players to play better and take the torch. to me an attempt to call out the young guns for their average performance and an attempt to motivate the older players for thier less than stellar performances. interesting the only player he praised was sakic, the captain. someone i thought was maybe one of the worst players on the ice for team canada so far (mccabe being the other)

after all this two players "young" players and the captains addressed the media
nash had this to say
We just have to pick up our game, finish on our opportunities. It seems like a lot of the young guys are getting chances but not finishing. That's our job to finish and score goals and once we do that it'll take pressure off the older guys.
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"I think the difference is that I'm not finishing. I was finishing in Austria, right now I'm not getting the bounces I was getting there and I'm not bearing down on my opportunities. I'd be a lot more worried though if we weren't getting opportunities.
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heatley had this to say
There's always pressure. When you put on the Canadian jersey you're expected to win. We all understand it, it makes us better.
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midseason prospect report by tsn.ca
<table bgcolor="#fbf4ea" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="627"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">
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</td> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="500"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="brick" align="left" valign="top">F Gilbert Brule (pictured) - Columbus' sixth overall pick in 2005 appeared in seven games with the Blue Jackets this season, tallying two goals and two assists. He missed 39 games due to injury, including the last 21 due to a broken leg. His injuries also kept him out of the 2006 World Juniors, but he'll get a lot more playing time and seasoning after being sent back to Vancouver of the WHL.

</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="brick" align="left" valign="top">D Aaron Johnson - Full-time duty with the big club may not be far off for the native of Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. He's appeared in 32 games with Columbus tallying three goals and seven assists. In 152 career AHL games, all with Syracuse, he has registered 15 goals, 48 assists and 277 penalty minutes.

</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="brick" align="left" valign="top">G Dan LaCosta - A third round selection in 2004, LaCosta has turned some heads in the OHL this season with 22 wins, a 2.49 goals-against average and three shutouts in his first 37 starts with Barrie.</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
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info from the tsn.ca trade centre
Columbus Blue Jackets - The Blue Jackets have been a very good team of late, and everything on deadline day depends on their spot in the standings. If the Jackets are active, reports say unrestricted free agents Luke Richardson, Cale Hulse and Jan Hrdina - who combine for more than $4 million US in salary could be shipped off for a top-six forward. Forget the Marc Denis trade rumours, as GM Doug MacLean has already said the netminder won't be traded.
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Update on Brule.

Since returning to Vancouver he has had 14 Goals, 24 points in 16 games. His offensive upside is obvious. Most important is that he's healthy. He was making NHL plays while he was up here, but his body wasn't able to hold up in two of only seven games. Good move to send him back down. This guy's was a great pick at #6
 
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Mingo said:
Update on Brule.

Since returning to Vancouver he has had 14 Goals, 24 points in 16 games. His offensive upside is obvious. Most important is that he's healthy. He was making NHL plays while he was up here, but his body wasn't able to hold up in two of only seven games. Good move to send him back down. This guy's was a great pick at #6
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talk has been of late brule is probably to this point the 3-4th best player in the 2005 draft. some have him at 2 a few at 5, but everyone has him currently ranked above his 6ft pick.

oh yeah gilbert had a hatty last night, so you might want to edit your stats 17 goals 27 pts in 17 games :wink2:

here is the new iss rankings for february.
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=8362&mode=threaded&order=0

looks like my choice for the blue jackets jordan staal has begun to climb the charts.
 
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