Plus-minus no longer a sad stat for Nash
Friday, March 17, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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When the announcement came last summer that Rick Nash had signed a five-year contract extension, Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean joked that Nash’s minus-39 rating was used as leverage in negotiations.
Nash shot right back: "Well, Adam Foote will help that just a little bit. That (rating) might go down real quick."
Seven months later, Foote weighed in on the matter and laughed.
"He (Nash) is a plus — and I’m not," Foote said yesterday. "Usually, I’d say that stat doesn’t matter. But since I’m so bad this year, I have to say it matters."
Whatever the case, it’s worth noting that Nash is plus-2 — the Jackets have scored two more goals than opponents while he’s on the ice — heading into their game tonight against the Vancouver Canucks in Nationwide Arena. Many factors are involved, including the added presence of Foote (even though Foote is minus-19) and Sergei Fedorov and a generally upgraded defense. Another factor is Nash himself. His numbers, particularly his plus-minus, indicate he is maturing. It’s not a breezy process, either.
The Blue Jackets took themselves out of the playoffs as Nash spent 10 weeks — the entire autumn — on injured reserve. He came back and scored goals as he worked his way into shape. Then, he had a miserable Olympic experience. And Fedorov publicly implored him (and line mate Nikolai Zherdev) to work harder and pass more.
To summarize, Nash — at 21 — has experienced the trying side of being a franchise player. It comes with the territory. From those with $27 million contracts, much is expected.
Of his Olympics, and the scrutiny he received in Canada, Nash said, "I don’t read the newspapers. I watch SportsCenter to watch the football, baseball and basketball, not the hockey. I didn’t score (a goal in six Olympic games). I didn’t do my job. What can I do now? It happens. If people want to talk bad, I can’t do anything about it."
Of Fedorov’s words, Nash said, "Maybe it’s good he spoke up and said the way he felt. He has been around, and if he has something to say, he’s going to say it."
Of Zherdev, Nash said, "I don’t know what has given him that extra boost. Maybe it was Sergei putting it out there, or something. But he has been playing well. He’s a star player. He scores big-time goals, at big times. I think every franchise needs a couple of guys like that."
There have been recent nights when Zherdev has been the best player on the ice, playing responsibly and extraordinarily well in all three zones.
This stokes Nash, whose only purpose seems to be making the playoffs. That’ll have to wait. Now is the time to build toward it.
"A lot of us felt Rick didn’t get the chance to do his job (in the Olympics)," Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "He didn’t play a whole lot. It was a disappointing tournament for him. I just told him, ‘You’re going to play a lot more than six or seven minutes here. Don’t worry about it. Go back to where you were and just have fun.’ "
Nash has gotten faster, and has hit harder, as spring has beckoned. In the past four games, he had three goals, six points and was plus-2.
His 20 goals and 36 points in 38 games prorates to 43 goals and 78 points in 82 games.
He already has matched his assist total (16) for 2003-04 and probably will exceed his career high of 22.
What’s more, he’ll likely be a plus player for the first time in his career — including junior leagues.
[email protected]
CANUCKS 3 | BLUE JACKETS 2
Gallant disappointed with effort, bad luck
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>MIKE MUNDEN | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Pascal Leclaire turns as the winning goal, which caromed off Manny Malhotra, goes into the net. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
For coach Gerard Gallant, watching the puck glance off center Manny Malhotra’s glove and into the Blue Jackets’ net was doubly hard to take.
Not just because it scored the winning goal for the Vancouver Canucks last night in a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jackets in front of 16,163 in Nationwide Arena. But because Malhotra was one of the few Blue Jackets — Gallant pegged the number at five — who played hard and well.
Malhotra, Gallant said, deserved a better fate.
"I was disappointed for him," Gallant said. "It’s a tough way to lose it. When you’re working hard, good things are supposed to happen to you. It’s not supposed to turn out that way."
The Jackets have lost three in a row and nine of their past 13. They didn’t deserve to win last night, but the winning goal was hard to swallow.
At 13:49 of the third period, Vancouver’s Brendan Morrison sent a pass toward Matt Cooke as Cooke and Malhotra converged in front of Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire.
The puck caromed off Malhotra’s stick, off Leclaire’s right pad and into the air. Leclaire and Malhotra reached for it, but the puck bounced off Malhotra’s glove and into the net.
"I was trying to grab it and push it away," Malhotra said. "It went off my fingertips."
The Jackets made a late push to tie the score. Rick Nash’s shot from the slot with 54 seconds left barely missed. With 18 seconds left, Trevor Letowski was denied from the slot on a kick save by Vancouver goaltender Alexander Auld.
It was too little, too late. In Gallant’s mind, it was too little, all night.
"We threw in the towel a bit tonight," Gallant said. "We only have 16 games left, and I want us playing harder than that.
"I thought we had three guys play pretty well up front and maybe two defensemen who were pretty good. Other than that, we didn’t get a good enough effort, and that’s really disappointing, especially in your own building."
The three guys were the Jackets’ third forward line: Jason Chimera, Malhotra and Letowski.
Those three drew the toughest assignment — keeping the Canucks’ No. 1 line of Markus Naslund, Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi mired in a slump.
They did so with hard skating and hard hitting. On their second shift, Malhotra put Bertuzzi, who is 6 feet 3 and 245 pounds, flat on his back with a clean hit near the Canucks’ blue line.
"Those are tough guys to handle," Gallant said. "I was happy with that part of our game. Other than that, it was tough to watch."
The Jackets played catch-up all night.
Mattias Ohlund put Vancouver up 1-0 at 17:22 of the first period when he snuck in through the back door for a power-play goal.
The Jackets tied the score when defenseman Ron Hainsey momentarily turned into Paul Coffey, carrying the puck 195 feet through two Vancouver defenders before scoring.
Leclaire, who settled the puck for Hainsey behind the net, was credited with an assist, his first NHL point.
The Canucks, who had lost five in a row, went up 2-1 at 7:56 of the second period on an Anson Carter power-play goal, but the Jackets answered only 40 seconds later.
After cycling the puck for 20 seconds, Chimera found Malhotra in front of the net for a bangbang goal through traffic.
For the Jackets, that was the last hurrah. Sergei Fedorov, who sat out because of back spasms, was missed last night.
"For whatever reason, our better guys weren’t good," Gallant said. "I don’t mind if they don’t score, but they better work hard and compete. At least give us a chance by putting in a solid effort, and I didn’t think we saw that tonight."
[email protected]
Fedorov’s status remains uncertain
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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Blue Jackets center Sergei Fedorov spent another day getting treatment on his back, which locked up in spasms during a game Wednesday night.
Fedorov is listed as questionable for this evening, when the Jackets play host to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in Nationwide Arena.
"He’s feeling better every day," Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean said. "We’ll see how he is (this morning)."
Coach Gerard Gallant said, "This is one of those things where there’s no need to rush him back. If there’s any question at all, Sergei won’t play."
Fedorov’s numbers — seven goals, 33 points, minus-4 — are well below his normal output. However, he leads Blue Jackets forwards in ice time and has become integral on special teams. What’s more, his linemates, Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev, have flourished.
"You look at his points and you don’t realize how much he means to us," Gallant said. "Friday night (in a 3-2 loss to Vancouver), it was huge how much we missed him."
If Fedorov can’t go, there’s a chance the team will recall forward Alexandre Picard from Syracuse. Picard has 15 goals and 29 points in 44 games with the Crunch. Picard, selected by the Blue Jackets in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2004 draft, had a two-game cup of coffee in Columbus earlier this season.
The Jackets had 11 forwards at practice yesterday. Another forward, center Ben Simon, was reassigned to Syracuse.
Tough losses
The Blue Jackets have lost their last three games by the same score: 3-2.
They lost for the first time in overtime, in St. Louis last Monday. They were stoned by Nikolai Khabibulin on Wednesday in Chicago. And they lost to Vancouver on an own goal, for lack of a better phrase, when Manny Malhotra accidentally gloved the puck into the net Friday.
"I’m not a baseball player, that’s for sure," Malhotra said. "It’s upsetting."
The Blue Jackets have lost nine of their past 13 games. The irony is, there are no signs that they are tanking. They’ve outplayed many of their opponents.
"It’s tough, losing like that, one-goal games — it just makes it worse," winger Trevor Letowski said. "We’re just not finding ways to win. It’s a fine line. Sometimes you need that extra push and we’re just not there right now." [email protected]
never seen a double header at the nhl level. to bad they dropped them both...
the crunch stands in second place of the north division. ill be honest i dont know much about a lot of the crunch regulars who arent nhl calber guys. i know most of them and their stregths/weaknesses but know very little on how they are playing this year.
im sure its not 100% accurate but close enough to get a glimpse around the league
you arent the only one. february whl player of the year is tearing up the west coast. keep in mind this is westernd canadas response to sid the kid, no hes probably not as good, but he can play and score.
COYOTES 5 | BLUE JACKETS 2
Jackets add ugly twist to their losing trend
Two-goal lead crumbles into blowout
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Alexandre Picard of the Blue Jackets tries to control a rolling puck in front of Coyotes goaltender Curtis Joseph. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>
</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Nikolai Zherdev of the Blue Jackets falls to the ice as Keith Ballard, left, and Derek Morris of the Coyotes pursue. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The Blue Jackets mixed things up and lost by more than one goal last night in Nationwide Arena. An announced crowd of 15,581, the third-smallest home crowd of the season, drew in just enough breath to boo the power play before shuffling out early.
The Phoenix Coyotes put away the poke-check in the second period, took the body and then blew by the Blue Jackets 5-2. It was the Jackets’ fifth consecutive loss, the first in the string by more than one goal — but the script was the same.
Blue Jackets look good and take a lead. Blue Jackets go soft and blow the lead. Blue Jackets lose.
"It’s mental," captain Adam Foote said.
"It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just a team thing," goaltender Pascal Leclaire said.
"We’d have a good shift, then have a line do something ridiculous," left winger Jody Shelley said.
Foote, Leclaire and Shelley expounded further. They had to. Their teammates fled the locker room.
Foote scored his sixth goal of the season and Sergei Fedorov his eighth to give the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead 11 minutes into the first period. The Coyotes got a goal with 6.9 seconds remaining in the first from Mike Johnson, and it changed the game far more than Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant could have imagined.
"Oh, I’m disappointed," Gallant said, when asked if he was taking this loss any better than he had the previous four.
"I thought it’d be a 6-5 game, not a 5-2. Not that we played well. I thought the offense was there, but the defense wasn’t good. . . . The goals (allowed) weren’t soft by the goalie, they were soft because we didn’t play hard defensively."
Coyotes goaltender Curtis Joseph (31 saves) was good when he had to be. Phoenix captain Shane Doan (goal, assist) dominated the second period, physically and otherwise. Coyotes center Steven Reinprecht (goal, assist) was good. Johnson had two points, Fred Sjostrom a goal and Mike Comrie an empty-netter.
The Blue Jackets looked like the Detroit Red Wings for most of the first period. Foote pinched in and scored a power-play goal from the hash marks, off a feed from Rick Nash. Fedorov scored a lunch-bucket goal with a quick rebound-jam. At 16:22 of the first period, the Jackets went on a power play — and immediately squandered the advantage when Jaroslav Balastik took a holding penalty. Then, just before intermission, Johnson scored on a rush with a wrist shot from the left dot. He beat Leclaire under the glove arm.
"I’d like to make the stop," Leclaire said, "but I don’t think that’s why we lost the game."
No, the Blue Jackets lost their grasp of this game — just as they lost hold of the Anaheim game Sunday night, when their opponents put the wood to them physically in the second period.
Doan set up Reinprecht, an uncovered trailer, on a rush. Doan scored five-on-three with a laserbeam slap shot. Midway through the second period, the Coyotes led 3-2. Then Doan and company pinned the Jackets’ top line into their own zone for more than two minutes. Think ball of yarn and cat.
"I didn’t like that a whole lot," Gallant said.
The Coyotes had a 13-7 edge in shots in the second period as they pushed around the Jackets. Late in the period, Foote rang a post with a slap shot and Nash was robbed on the doorstep by Joseph. The Jackets could have had a couple of goals there, but the lasting image is of Joseph’s flashing glove.
At 4:02 of the third period, Sjostrom slid a shotbetween Leclaire’s legs, and all that was left for the fans to do was boo the Blue Jackets’ power play, which could neither get set nor get off a shot on its last opportunity.
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Special teams not working for Jackets
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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In the third period of a 5-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday, Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant sent young, skilled wingers Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev out to kill a penalty.
Two nights earlier, with the Jackets on their way to a 4-3 loss to Anaheim, Gallant used third-line grinders Jason Chimera, Manny Malhotra and Trevor Letowski for power-play duty.
Say what?
"When something’s not working, you have to try different things," Gallant said. "You can’t just stand pat."
The Blue Jackets’ latest funk — they have lost five in a row heading into their game Friday with Calgary — has troubled Gallant and his assistants, especially because the club seemed to have developed some sense of a rutter from mid-December to early February.
A huge problem has been the Jackets’ special teams, which are among the worst in the NHL.
The power play is not the weapon it was six weeks ago. The penalty kill is not a crutch the team can lean on, as it was earlier in the season.
"I like our personnel, I really do," Gallant said. "With the guys we have, we should be pretty good on both the power play and the (penalty) kill. We should be better, there’s no doubt."
First, the power play.
During the recent 3-9-1 slide, the Jackets are just 7 of 76 (9.2 percent) with a man-advantage. Their season percentage of 14.3 is 29 th in the league, better only than Washington (12.1).
The Jackets miss point man Bryan Berard, who is out for the season because of a back injury. He will have surgery next week for a herniated disk.
"One guy can make a world of difference," said associate coach Dean Blais, who handles special teams.
"Bryan always manages to get his shot through traffic and get it on net. That’s a skill. We have other guys who are trying to do that, but it’s not easy."
With Berard in the lineup, the Jackets’ power play is 39 of 240 (16.3 percent). When he’s out, it’s 17 of 151 (11.3 percent).
What frustrates Gallant the most is the Blue Jackets’ inconsistency.
On Tuesday, the Jackets scored a power-play goal at 7:29 of the first period. All five players touched the puck, with point man Adam Foote creeping down low and scoring on a slap shot. It was a beauty.
"We can look so good on two or three power plays a night," Gallant said. "And then on the rest of them we looked like we’d never been on a power play in our lives."
By the end of the game, the crowd in Nationwide Arena booed as the Jackets struggled to get the puck into the attack zone, let alone set up.
"Not good," Foote said. "We didn’t put ourselves in very good position to score."
Now, to the penalty kill.
In the past 13 games, the Jackets have allowed 16 power-play goals, with a kill rate of just 77.1 percent. For the season, they have killed 80.8 percent, good for 23 rd in the NHL and 14 th of 15 teams in the West.
"To me, the biggest thing is we get a chance to clear the puck and we don’t clear the puck and we end up out on the ice for a long stretch of time," Gallant said. "And the puck ends up in the net. Little things turn into big things."
Gallant said Nash and Zherdev will see more time on the penalty kill the rest of the season.
"I want them making more of a commitment to defense," Gallant said. "I want to challenge them a little bit.
"I want to give them some responsibility and see how they handle it. I’m not throwing in the towel on the penalty kill. I want to see how some different guys handle it."
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BLUE JACKETS SCENE
Dancing fan becoming big attraction
Friday, March 24, 2006
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>MIKE MUNDEN DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Kevin Schroeder dances at the Blue Jackets’ St. Patrick’s Day game against Vancouver. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Fans in Nationwide Arena have found something big to cheer about this season.
Not a winning hockey team.
Not always $6 million center Sergei Fedorov, or wunderkind wingers Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev.
What often gets them most excited is Kevin Schroeder, a 320-pound fan who rises from his seat during a timeout, peels off his Blue Jackets jersey — revealing a message on his billboard belly — and dances.
The crowd, most watching the scoreboard above center ice, goes wild, starting with moans and groans and ending with an ovation.
"When a fat guy dances, it’s funny," Schroeder said.
"But I had no idea people would get into it as much as they have. It’s pretty unbelievable to have 18,000 people watching you and cheering for you. It’s amazing how loud it gets."
Schroeder, 35, will attend tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames, his seventh home game of the season.
His "performance" will probably occur late in the second period.
"I get more nervous every time, especially now that people are expecting it," Schroeder said.
"I don’t drink beer until I’m done; well, maybe one as a warm-up, but that’s it. And then after I’m done dancing, I can sit back, relax and enjoy the game. I have to get my oxygen back and rehydrate."
It all started during the 2003-04 season, when Schroeder wanted to impress his girlfriend, Melissa Getz.
"My girlfriend wanted to get on the (scoreboard) really badly," he said. "They were doing ‘dance cam,’ so I got up and started dancing and, sure enough, I got on.
"The place went crazy, and they kept replaying it throughout the season."
Schroeder kept in touch with the Blue Jackets’ staff during the NHL lockout that prompted the cancellation of the 2004-05 season. Last fall, the Jackets contacted him and invited him to opening night. He danced, the crowd went crazy . . .
"And here we are," Schroeder said.
He grew up in Brookville, northwest of Dayton, moved to Columbus after high school and spent 13 years in central Ohio. He worked as an usher at Blue Jackets games during the first half of the team’s inaugural season in 2000-01.
When America West pulled its hub out of Port Columbus three years ago, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colo. Schroeder is a fleet-services operator for the airline.
"I’m the guy who misplaces your bags," he said.
Because he works for an airline, the flights back to Columbus are free, Schroeder said, and the Jackets provide him two lower-bowl tickets whenever he’s in town.
They also gave him a Blue Jackets jersey, XXXXL, with the No. 1 and BIGGEST FAN on the back.
The perks don’t stop there.
Schroeder can’t go far without being recognized at Nationwide. He poses with fans for photos. He gets group hugs from the Pepsi Girls. He gets high-fives from strangers.
"I ran into a guy at a Subway in Manitou Springs, Colo.," he said. "He had a Blue Jackets hat on, so I started talking to him.
"He looked at me and said: ‘Wait a minute. You’re the dude that dances."’
Blue Jackets players, coaches and management have noticed him, too.
"It’s hard not to notice him," winger Trevor Letowski said. "Even from the bench, it’s hard to take your eyes off him."
"I like the way he moves," said Doug MacLean, president and general manager.
Columbus radio station WBWR (105.7 FM) has hired Schroeder to do TV commercials, which have aired during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
"I have no idea where this is going, but it’s great," he said. "I love the Blue Jackets. I can’t wait for them to start winning ...
"If I can get the crowd up and into the game, that’s a great feeling."
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BLUE JACKETS 3 | FLAMES 2
Jackets display good bit of fire to defeat Flames
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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The Blue Jackets are roughly 2,000 days old and they’ve yet to experience one playoff day, when the sun is shining and the birds are singing and the puck drops and everything is new and exciting. As yet, they are uninitiated to the wonder of the postseason, and will be for at least another 380 days or so. In the interim, all they have, when they can find it, is what they had for a couple of hours last night.
They showed something. With the Calgary Flames, the defending Western Conference champions in town, the Blue Jackets elected not to get run over like dogs. They shed a week’s worth of meekness and gutted out a 3-2 victory before 17,041 fans in Nationwide Arena.
"The guys hung in for 60 minutes, battled hard, dug deep," captain Adam Foote said. "It was a big win. I think it showed us a lot. And I think it showed the fans a lot."
Foote had three assists, including the 250 th of his career. Manny Malhotra scored a highlight-reel goal and Nikolai Zherdev a blue-collar goal. Jason Chimera, the former Edmonton Oiler and a grizzled veteran of Alberta battles, scored the winning goal on a tuck-in with 2:37 remaining in regulation.
"It was one of those great games to play in, and to win," Chimera said. "It was awesome. There were big hits both ways. It shows you don’t have to be killers to be in a game like this. You stick up for your teammates, just get in there in those scrums. It pumps up the bench, those battles.
"We’ve been saving it up. It was nice to see it come out."
Chuck Kobasew and Daymond Langkow scored goals for the Flames, who are nearing the end of their longest road trip of the season (six games, 12 days) and are trying to keep a hold on first place in the rough-andtumble Northwest Division. The Flames set the pace with a blend of skill, speed, toughness and physical intimidation. They back down from no one.
"We talked about it before the game," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "Our owner (John H. McConnell) came in and Mr. Mac said he wanted us to play better, work harder and have fun here. The guys rallied around him. . . . It was a character game. I hope we respond well (tonight in Detroit), because this was a big win over a great hockey team."
The Blue Jackets snapped a five-game losing streak and responded with intensity to Gallant’s recent criticisms about their softness. They were down early; Kobasew scored a powerplay goal at 1:41 of the first period.
Malhotra answered early in the second when he picked the pocket of Robyn Regehr in the high slot, stepped around the large Flames defenseman and dived to chip the puck under the crossbar behind Miikka Kiprusoff. A wild period was under way.
Rick Nash raced back to poke-check Jarome Iginla on an Iginla breakaway. Regehr was stoned by Marc Denis on another breakaway. Langkow scored on a redirection to put the Flames ahead 2-1. Zherdev scored on a redirection to even it. Foote boarded Iginla. Rostislav Klesla checked Marcus Nilson into the Flames bench. Nash punched Dion Phaneuf. Everywhere there were scrums with rabbit punches, jabs, face washes and hard words.
"We’ve been intense in spurts," Malhotra said, "but at this level, at this time of year, you can’t do it in spurts. To play 60 like that . . . it has been a while for us. I can’t even pinpoint the last time, but I don’t know what I had for lunch yesterday."
The third period was restive at the beginning and in the middle. Thrust, parry. At the end, it was Trevor Letowski throwing a backhand at Kiprusoff and Chimera finding the rebound, lying fat at the top of the crease. He poked it in for the game-winner. Then, Cale Hulse put a high stick in Malhotra’s brow, Kiprusoff was pulled with a minute to go, two Jackets attempts at an empty net were thwarted and the horn sounded. The atmosphere was rare. [email protected]
That's all I have to say