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Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

Dispatch

Blue Jackets: Shootout skills get special attention
New players bring chance to improve in important facet
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 3:08 AM
By Aaron Portzline


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


COLLEGE CORNER, Ohio -- In the feel-good atmosphere of one of Ohio's great college towns these next two days, the Blue Jackets will end their practices at Miami University's Goggin Ice Arena with the levity of a simulated shootout.
But just below the surface of the trick moves and fist-pumping goal celebrations, it will be serious business.
The Blue Jackets won just three of their 11 shootouts last season, tied with Minnesota for worst in the NHL.
"We didn't have much success, that's for sure," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It's how our team was built, to a certain extent.

Continued............
 
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Dispatch

Notebook: Jackets on retreat for 'team-building'

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 3:01 AM
By Aaron Portzline


The Columbus Dispatch

COLLEGE CORNER, Ohio -- With training camp finished after Sunday's 5-4 shootout win in Toronto, the Blue Jackets traveled deep into the woods of southwestern Ohio yesterday to begin two days of skating and what coach Ken Hitchcock calls "team-building" exercises.
First, in the late morning yesterday, came a spirited game of paintball in Hueston Woods State Park.
"Then we planned a search-and-rescue operation for later in the day," Hitchcock said. "We were going to set it up so the players had to find the coaching staff, but then we got to thinking if Hitchcock were lost in the bush, maybe the players wouldn't want to perform the rescue."

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macdonald
mackenzie
rome
all hit the waiver wire today.

thus methot made the club as the number 8 dman.

roster of 25 (mason and torres on ir)
roster max is 23.
fialtov, dorsett expected to be sent down, unless an injury (manny) cant play friday, then one of them will be sent down but not the other.
 
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Winger Brule among Oilers' latest cuts
brule waived sent to the minors.


other "stuff"
nikita-he is a great passer, great vision, NA game is more stop and go than the euro game, he plays with good tempo in his skating ability. he appears small, smaller than i personally thought. short yes, but lean small, boyish small. keeping in mind he is a boy, hes 18. skill wise hes there. (the SO goal in the ACC was sick, elite shot, no goalie can stop that type of move if put on net) maturity/body is untested, he played in in russian league yes but he played mostly in the second division
expectations-dont expect brassard on the ice in key moments, at least not early on.
torres-dissapointed still a young guy, trying to make an impression, trying to impact the team, tried to make s point, tried to prove his leadership sticking up for jake, he knew jared wasnt allowed to fight (in the preaseason due to his hand injury), knew somethign had to be done, he tried to make/leave an impression. he probably did but it cost him six weeks...
boll-needs to focus his play between the whistles, work on his game, hit bang (and land the hits) grind it out, he can be a 10maybe 20 goal type player, and the team needs that out of him. 10-20g 200pim type players. manny, chimmer and boll results in 2 good grinders on a line.
nash-hes a gifted player, somethign we are spoiled with in columbus. some "better players" or ones traditionally thought of as better looked to rick for guidance during the worlds. hes so coachable, hitch feels maybe his most coachable player ever, period.
KH-highly underrated he can do things that no cbj player has ever been able to do do, Z was more taleneted, yeah, Juice can do it with guys in the games, with his teammates, uses his teammates and the ice at an elite level.
clitsome-nice player, one to look our for in the shorter term future (1-3 years) suprised and turned some heads with his camp, he needs to continue that and work on his game/play
max m-like nikita needs to work on his NA game, the stop/go of the NA game. needs to improve strength, kid can get to the net and has a nice burst.
klesla/tyutin-solid two ways, these guys wont get beat one on one much and if they do the other one should be in good position. best pairing weve had as a franchise.
methot-appears to have made the opening night roster. methot is a guy who has been knockign on the door for awhile, its time to knock it down, makie the coach/management play you. kick the door open, flashes of good, no one jumped out or stood out in the fight for the last few d spots.
freddy no-needs more regular play, the 3-4 weeks off then jump in stuff doesnt work with norenna he needs more regular play. will we see him every 10 or so days? thats what they say, what if pazzy gets blazing hot again?
jake/brass-not stong enough yet against the big guys youll see manny/peca takign draws. modin will get better as he plays more, thats just his style/game.
 
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Dispatch

Notebook: Have no fear; Peca good to go full bore

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 3:04 AM
By Tom Reed


The Columbus Dispatch

OXFORD, Ohio -- Careful is not a word a hockey player likes to see attached to his name.
Museum curators are careful. School crossing guards are careful. Hockey players are often the antithesis of careful.
But a season ago, Blue Jackets center Michael Peca was less than a year removed from a broken right leg. He was a two-time Selke Trophy winner dealing with an assortment of nagging ailments.
"He was a careful player because of a safety issue," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I don't care if you are 19 or 39, guys are a little careful when they are coming back from a major injury."

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Dispatch

Michael Arace commentary: Time to get out Hitchionary for hockey season

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 3:13 AM
By Michael Arace


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Somewhere, they are playing baseball for keeps. Football season is rolling. The Major League Soccer playoffs are looming. And the days are still long enough and warm enough to squeeze in 27 holes, depending on your choice of beverage.
It is a wonderful time of year for a sports fan, especially this week. The puck has already dropped in Europe. On Thursday, the Detroit Red Wings headline a slate of curtain-lifters with a game in Toronto. On Friday, the Blue Jackets face off against the Stars in Dallas. Hockey season is upon us, thank Howe.
For those who aren't quite ready to stash the cargo shorts, stow the golf clubs and cover the Weber, I offer Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock to light your hot stove. He is among his sport's ultimate salesmen, and he has a hockey-centric vocabulary that is all his own. He will talk us back to the rink.
Here, then, is the Hitchionary, an abridged collection of Hitchspeak. Let us clear our heads as we reach for our sweaters.

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Dispatch

Blue Jackets set roster for season opener

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 2:54 PM
By Aaron Portzline


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Blue Jackets defenseman Aaron Rome and forwards Derek MacKenzie and Craig MacDonald have cleared waivers and will be sent to minor-league Syracuse, The Dispatch has learned.
Also, forwards Nikita Filatov and Derek Dorsett have been sent to Syracuse.
The Blue Jackets, who open the season in Dallas on Friday night, needed to trim their roster to 23 before 3 p.m. today.

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Dispatch

Blue Jackets aren't jealous of Buckeyes

Thursday, October 9, 2008 3:21 AM
By Tom Reed


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

NHL players competing in U.S. cities are accustomed to being overshadowed by other professional sports.
The Blue Jackets find themselves in an unusual situation. In Columbus, who's quarterbacking the power play often gets less attention than who's quarterbacking the college football team's second-string offense.
Ohio State football dominates the sports scene. Its all-consuming presence could be a source of frustration and jealousy for the Blue Jackets.
But don't count Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock among those cheering against OSU on Saturdays.

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Dispatch

Blue jackets notebook
Rookies to form line with Chimera

Thursday, October 9, 2008 3:22 AM
By Tom Reed and Aaron Portzline


The Columbus Dispatch

OXFORD, Ohio -- After spending much of training camp preaching the importance of chemistry, Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock is trying something new for the season opener.
Hitchcock will have rookie forwards Derick Brassard and Jake Voracek playing on a line with veteran grinder Jason Chimera on Friday night at the Dallas Stars.
During the exhibition season, Brassard, a center, and Voracek, a right winger, had been playing separately, but on one of the top two scoring lines with skilled forwards such as Rick Nash, Kristian Huselius and Fredrik Modin. Voracek tied Nash for the lead with eight points in seven games.

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Dispatch

Michael Arace commentary: Overlooked Jackets will make playoffs

Thursday, October 9, 2008 3:34 AM
By Michael Arace






Two years ago, the Blue Jackets were a chic pick to make the playoffs. This surprised some observers in Columbus, who perceived weaknesses at center, on defense and in goal. (Other than that, the Jackets were stacked.)
Two years later, the pendulum has swung both ways, physics be damned. Although there remains a crying need for a top center, the forward corps has been upgraded, as has the defense, and there is in place a potential franchise goaltender. Yet, nobody likes this team to make the playoffs. Nobody.
Whatever one might think of preseason forecasts, they are fodder for conversation. I have spent weeks poring over typewritten words, and the consensus is the Jackets are the 12th- or 13th-best team in the Western Conference. Status quo, in other words. The Jackets are better, but they are the same.

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Dispatch

The Anonymityville Horror
Starring: Steve, er, Rick Nash of the Columbia, er, Columbus Blue Jackets, an ECHL, er, NHL franchise struggling to get noticed
Thursday, October 9, 2008 3:34 AM
By Tom Reed


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
jackets_200.jpg


1009_leclairejump_sp_10-09-08_C5_JVBI954.jpg
Dispatch file photos


1009_nashjump_sp_10-09-08_C5_JVBI947.jpg

Rick Nash, left, and Pascal Leclaire might be the only Blue Jackets players identifiable to fans outside central Ohio.



Former Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean was standing in a Toronto airport during one of the franchise's first seasons when a hockey fan approached him.
The man recognized MacLean from his time coaching the Florida Panthers and asked him where he was working. MacLean told the stranger about his managerial duties with the Blue Jackets.
As the fan said goodbye, he left MacLean with a parting shot that would become banquet-circuit gold:
"Good talking with you, bud," the man told MacLean. "You'll get back to the NHL soon."
Some of the most humbling moments in Jackets history have occurred in locations far removed from a hockey rink. Conveyed by ordinary people in innocent settings, the sting of franchise anonymity has struck with the force of a slap shot to the ankle.

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Dispatch

Jackets: Defense

Thursday, October 9, 2008 3:42 AM




By the end of last season, the book on the Blue Jackets' defensemen was out across the NHL.

Opponents knew that pressuring the defensemen came with little risk of getting burned, and it was likely to lead to turnovers and, thus, scoring chances.
"We got hemmed in our own zone a lot," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "That's not going to happen this season."
The Blue Jackets have three new faces among the top six defensemen: Fedor Tyutin, Mike Commodore and Christian Backman.
Commodore will pair with Jan Hejda in what Hitchcock calls his "shut-down" pair. Hejda and Commodore are only OK at making sharp, quick passes -- but OK would be an improvement over last season's group.

Continued...............
 
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