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Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

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Dispatch

3/29/06

BLUE JACKETS 4 | SHARKS 1

Jackets play spoiler

Strong third period keeps Columbus on recent roll

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>JAMES D . DeCAMP | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>David Vyborny takes control of the puck for the Blue Jackets while being chased by Patrick Marleau of the Sharks. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


The Blue Jackets, evicted from the playoff fraternity, are roaring around in a Deathmobile. It’s their final, futile attempt to sublimate the mediocrity that has marked their fifth season. They want to ruin some parades, perhaps knock a team or two off the grandstand. The operative phrase is, "ramming speed."
Last night, the San Jose Sharks came to Nationwide Arena in a desperate search for the two points that would put them in a tie for the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference. But Rick Nash scored two goals, David Vyborny had two assists and four defensemen each had an assist and the Blue Jackets drew away to a 4-1 victory. Mark Hartigan and Manny Malhotra added goals, but the star of the game was goaltender Marc Denis, who put the Jackets in a position to win — which they did with three third-period goals, to the delight of an announced crowd of 16,094.
For 40 minutes, the Sharks were in control. In the third period, they were broadsided.
"We’re playing desperate teams every night now," Denis said. "No doubt, this is a measuring stick."
On Friday night, the Calgary Flames were in Nationwide, trying to keep their tenuous hold on first place in the Northwest Division. The Blue Jackets won 3-2. On Saturday night in Detroit, the Red Wings were polishing the President’s Trophy for most points before the Jackets scored four goals in the third period and won 5-4 in a shootout.
"As bad as we were playing a week and a half ago, we’re playing that good now," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said.
If the Blue Jackets were the scourge of the NHL, they would be gearing up for some games in late April. This is their psychic burden, and they’re bearing it by fixing a few things and maintaining a certain level of effort.
"I think we need to remind ourselves every day, constantly, that we have to play defense," center Sergei Fedorov said. "It’s just like the coaches tell us and tell us — it all starts there, with defense."
They got a reminder in the first period, when a garish turnover led to an unassisted goal by Sharks winger Steve Bernier. The goal came on San Jose’s fifth shot of the game. Denis faced 24 more shots, including 13 in the second period, without letting another puck pass him.
Denis made three consecutive mask saves, and then a clavicle save, during one stretch of the second period. The Sharks, led by the vaunted Nils Ekman-Joe Thornton-Jonathan Cheechoo line, went 0 of 4 on the power play in the period. Nash scored off a rebound of an Aaron Johnson shot just 62 seconds before the second intermission.
"We’re playing with more energy, but I think we’re still not playing 60 minutes," Fedorov said. "Our highs are much higher than the downs, I think, and that a little bit compensates. And we’ve been scoring, and not just one or two guys. We’re getting goals from a lot of different players."
The Blue Jackets said they were confident heading into the third period because they like their offense and they were due some power-play time. They scored with a two-man advantage (Nash, on a strangely deflected pass/shot in front) and added another goal (Hartigan, redirection of a shot by Duvie Westcott) moments later, just after their second power play expired. Malhotra supplied the final margin with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
The Sharks (36-25-10) remain two points behind the Vancouver Canucks. The Blue Jackets (29-40-3) are one win away from setting a franchise record for victories.
"It’s nice," Gallant said, "but we should have 40 or 45 wins. We are a better team than 29 wins. We are going to battle for a playoff spot soon."
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Dispatch

3/30/06

Surgery alleviates worries for Rupp

Jackets center expects ‘rewired’ heart to be fine

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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Hockey players are cut-me-Mick tough, but when a cardiologist told Mike Rupp that he was a candidate to drop dead without warning, Rupp didn’t come back with, "Aww, put me back in, Coach. I’m fine."
Rupp, a center for the Blue Jackets, suffers from Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, an abnormality of the heart’s electrical system. In layman’s terms, Rupp has an extra wire that can cause his heart to race. After a recent episode, Rupp was also diagnosed with an atrial fibrillation, giving him an issue on either side of his heart.
Rupp needed some rewiring, and he received it two weeks ago at the Cleveland Clinic. He underwent a 7½-hour corrective procedure, took a day to recover and walked out of the hospital.
"From a family standpoint, I’m just happy I’m not going to drop dead," Rupp said yesterday. "That’s probably the best way to sum it up. And in the bigger picture, I’m not going to be told I can’t play hockey. If (the procedures) are successful, I don’t have to think about it again. One good shot, and it’s done."
Rupp says the doctors took their best shot.
Recounting the operation, Rupp describes laying on a slab, drifting in and out of sleep, for hours on end. Catheters were inserted in his groin. Another was put through his nose and down his throat.
"No rib spreaders, so this was much better," Rupp said. "I was awake for the first hour and a half. The pain wasn’t overbearing, but the discomfort was consistent. It can drive you crazy because you’re strapped down on what’s essentially a tile floor, and it seems like forever. It felt like my heels and my butt were flattening out.
"They would up the meds, and I’d fall asleep. I’d wake up and my heart was beating out of my chest — they said they had to make it race to test it. . . . You know, it could have been a lot worse."
Rupp had a similar procedure in 2001, when doctors used catheters and lasers to burn away the extra electrical pathway in his heart. The procedure was stopped prematurely, Rupp said, because some of the tissue he needed was being destroyed.
This time, doctors went in and froze, rather than fried, what they wanted to kill.
Millions of people live with either Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome or atrial fibrillation, but when both are present there can be major problems with palpitations. Rupp’s freeze-dried tuneup ought to eliminate any further personal dramas.
He has to take blood thinners for a few months and, obviously, avoid lacerations. His workouts will be closely monitored for another two weeks or so. Then he’ll increase his workload. He hopes to have a clean bill of health by the end of June.
"It has been a long year with injuries and being patient," Rupp said. "I got an opportunity (with his trade to the Jackets) and I thought I was going somewhere with it, and then I broke my foot. Now this. I just want to get the ball rolling again."
Rupp, 26, was acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes in October. He had four goals and six points in 39 games with the Blue Jackets. He will become a restricted free agent this summer.
Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean said his free-agent decisions won’t be known until July.
Rupp, a Cleveland native, would like to re-up in Columbus, if possible.
"I love the city, and the team," he said. "I think we’re going somewhere, and I’d obviously love to be a part of it."
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Dispatch

3/31/06

BLUE JACKETS

Westcott feels good about staying away from injuries

Friday, March 31, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>JAY LAPRETE | ASSOCIATED PRESS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Defenseman Duvie Westcott, delivering a check, leads the Blue Jackets in ice time this season. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>
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Duvie Westcott’s legs are a little heavy. His arms are a tad bit sore. His mind is weary. The Blue Jackets defenseman could not be happier.
Injuries sidetracked his first two NHL seasons, limiting him to 73 games during 2002-03 and 2003-04.
But, with fingers crossed, Westcott is happy to say the jinx has passed.
He is expected to play in his 71 st game of the season — he has missed only two — tonight when the Blue Jackets face the St. Louis Blues in the Savvis Center.
"Even though I knew they were fluky injuries, you don’t want to get labeled as that guy (who’s always injured)," Westcott said. "It’s been great to be able to play as many games as I have.
"I used to joke around with the guys two years ago that I should be walking around here with a thief’s mask on my head, like I was stealing money."
Only two Blue Jackets players, Trevor Letowski and Nikolai Zherdev, have played in more games this season than Westcott. They have each missed one game.
Westcott, however, has been on the ice more than any other Blue Jacket this season: 1,597 minutes, 21 seconds.
Left winger David Vyborny is next, more than 132 minutes behind Westcott.
"It’s a grind," Westcott said, with a smile.
"Last year (during the lockout), I played 46 games in Finland, and the two seasons before that I played only 30 or so games because of the injuries. My body’s not exactly used to all these games.
"But I feel great. I mean, this is how you’re supposed to feel this time of season. I’m not going to complain at all."
Westcott missed five weeks of the 2002-03 season because of a concussion, limiting him to 39 games in the NHL and 22 with minor-league Syracuse.
The next season he missed 48 games — 32 because of a severely bruised ankle and 16 more because of a broken hand. In both cases, Westcott was struck by a puck off a slap shot.
"It was a tough year-and-a-half," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "A lot of things went badly for him, but he kept battling. He toughed it out and he got through it."
The Blue Jackets spent those two seasons praising Westcott’s potential and wondering what type of numbers he could put up, if only he could stay in the lineup.
Now they know.
Westcott has five goals and 20 assists, both career highs. He’s eighth on the club in scoring, and second among defensemen, trailing only Bryan Berard.
Unlike Berard, Westcott is not a liability defensively during five-on-five play.
Westcott was minus-15 in only 34 games during the 2003-04 season, but he’s minus-1 this season.
Lately, he has played with rookie Aaron Johnson and drawn time on the second power-play unit, running the point.
"I know what Duvie is going to bring every night, and that’s what I like about him," Gallant said. "He plays with an edge when he has to. He can lug the puck. He plays the power play when he’s called upon, and he’s a great penalty kill.
"Those injuries seem like they happened a long time ago. It’s all in the past, and Duvie’s had a real good season for us."
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Dispatch

4/1/06

BLUE JACKETS 4 | BLUES 2

Nash just misses hat trick in Jackets’ fourth win in row

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>TOM GANNAM | ASSOCIATED PRESS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>The Blue Jackets’ Jody Shelley holds onto the Blues’ Jesse Boulerice while delivering a punch. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


ST. LOUIS — Two teams with little motivational force met on a bad sheet of ice and committed hockey butchery last night in the Savvis Center. Yet talent came to the fore.
Rick Nash was set up for two lovely goals and made his latest bid for a hat trick, and the Blue Jackets pulled away to a 4-2 victory. Nash had a third goal on his stick, with an empty net in front of him, when he let go a shot from the top of the left circle. Blues defenseman Christian Backman somehow managed to deflect the shot wide just before the final horn.
"That’s pretty much the closest I’ve come to a hat trick," Nash said. "You don’t like to get the third one into an empty net, but I definitely would have taken it. I said the other night, it’ll come."
The other night, Nash had two goals in a win over San Jose. He has four goals in the past three games and eight in the past 11. He led the league with 41 goals in 2003-04. As a rookie, he had 17 goals. Startlingly, he still doesn’t have a hattie.
The important thing to Jackets coach Gerard Gallant was that Nash’s two goals provided enough cushion for his team to push its win streak to four games.
"We played well enough to win, but that was about it," Gallant said. "I thought for the most part, the game was pretty even. We didn’t play great, and it could have gone either way. But we won."
Jaroslav Balastik and Jason Chimera also scored for the Blue Jackets. Goaltender Pascal Leclaire had 28 saves with a lot of traffic in front of him. For the Blues, Keith Tkachuk and Jamal Mayers had goals.
The last time these teams met, March 3 in St. Louis, the Blues handed the Jackets their first overtime loss of the season. At that point, the Blues were riding streaks of 10-3-6 and 3-0-2. Since, the Blues have gone winless in nine games (0-7-2) and dramatically improved their chances of winning the draft lottery.
"We mentioned before the game about what happened the last time we were here," Chimera said. "We wanted to get that one back."
The Jackets took control in the second period. The third-line grinders struck early in the period, on a rush, with Manny Malhotra throwing in a hard-angle shot and Chimera jamming in the rebound. Later in the period, Nash scored an eye-popper. David Vyborny picked the pocket of Blues defenseman Kevin Dallman and slid a pass across the slot to Nash, who was wide open. How often is Nash left open these days? This wasn’t a one-on-one facial or a hellacious jamback, this was a pure wrist shot and Nash buried it in the far, top corner, over Patrick Lalime’s glove. That made it 3-1.
Nash started the game reunited with center Sergei Fedorov and Nikolai Zherdev. But Nash was all over the place. He killed penalties in the second period and scored while playing with Vyborny.
Early in the third period, Nash and Zherdev combined on a goal that was nigh breathtaking. It was a power-play goal, but the rest of the Jackets were changing up and the young hotshots were roaring in on a two-on-three attack. Zherdev carried over the blue line and hit Nash, in full stride, as he curled toward the goal from the right wing. Nash never slowed. He had space, but given his speed, very little time. He snapped off a low shot that tore past Lalime and found the inside of the left post.
"You don’t get set up like that — twice — very much on any team," Nash said. "My eyes kind of lit up. You want to do something with passes like that."
Nash’s second goal made it 4-1, and the lead was big enough as the pond hockey got under way. The last 10 minutes was an up-and-down scramble with the refs stashing their whistles.
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Dispatch

4/2/06

BLUE JACKETS 5 | BLACKHAWKS 2

Jackets wake up in time to win fifth straight

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>MIKE MUNDEN | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Sergei Fedorov of the Blue Jackets stumbles after skating over the stick of Jim Vandermeer while trying to control the puck. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Rick Nash gave voice to the thought bouncing about the skulls of Blue Jackets faithful. "This is bittersweet," Nash said last night, after the Blue Jackets scored five goals in the final 21 minutes to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2. "We’re kind of happy we’re playing well, but we’re disappointed there are only eight or nine games left," Nash said. "Personally, I wish there were another 30 or 40 left, and we had a chance at a playoff spot."
In the local case of too little, too late, the Blue Jackets are making the most out of the little. Last night, they struck late and often, roused a Nationwide Arena crowd of 17,394 from a slumber and posted their fifth consecutive victory. Mark Hartigan had two goals and an assist. Nikolai Zherdev, Jaroslav Balastik and David Vyborny each had a goal. Nash had missed on three breakaways but had an assist for his seventh point in four games.
Nutshell version: The comeback kids slumbered for two periods, Zherdev scored and the floodgates opened.
What a slumber it was. When the public-address announcer bellowed, "One minute left to play in the period" near the end of the second, some wags in the upper deck applauded. To that point, the Blue Jackets were as exciting as eggshell-white exterior latex flat paint.
They had some early chances, including a couple of breakaways by Nash, and a couple of doorstep ram jobs by Nash and Jason Chimera. But there was nothing in the way of a sustained attack. And their power play was awful.
By the 39-minute mark, the Blackhawks were control. The Hawks were physical and active. They were adroit in getting their sticks into passing and shooting lanes. They were out-hustling the home team.
The Hawks outshot the Blue Jackets 11-5 in the first period and finally got a shot past Marc Denis early in the second. Milan Bartovic swooped around the back of the net and wrapped a centering pass through the top of the crease. On the other side, Brandon Bochenski was unhindered and facing an open net. Bochenski easily buried the shot.
The PA announcer said there was 1 minute left in the period, the wags in the upper deck cheered and, with one brilliant move, momentum shifted.
Zherdev carried the puck over two lines, put a patented toedrag move on Duncan Keith — one of the Hawks’ fine, young defensemen — and suddenly ripped a wrist shot through Keith’s legs, and through goaltender Craig Anderson’s legs. It was pure Zherdev, and it was his 27 th goal of the season.
"Boring. We were boring," Jackets winger Jody Shelley said. "Everyone was waiting to wake up. The fans were waiting, waiting, waiting . . . we could feel it. And then, boom, Zherdev does that. It was what everyone was waiting for."
The mock applause turned to real applause. And when the Hawks took a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 4:16 of the third, the Blue Jackets came right back, just 33 seconds later. Hartigan waited out a sprawling defenseman and put a rather nasty wrist shot under the crossbar. Balastik and Shelley assisted.
Then, at 7:50, Balastik used his lightning-quick release on a one-timer to put the Blue Jackets ahead 3-2. Chimera and Hartigan assisted.
Then, at 15:32, the Jackets finally did something on the power play. Sergei Fedorov fed Nash in the slot and Nash got off a shot that was deflected wide — and directly to Hartigan, who had an open net and did not miss.
"That was nice," Hartigan said of his first two-goal game in the NHL.
In the last couple of minutes of regulation, Chicago pulled its goaltender with two Blue Jackets in the penalty box, for a six-onthree. Denis and mates held. Vyborny scored an empty-net goal with 44.4 seconds left.
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Dispatch

4/3/06

Jackets show ability to rally during streak

Monday, April 03, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Blue Jackets goaltender Marc Denis is a living, breathing version of the NHL record book, a self-described freak for everything from today’s standings and statistics to yesterday’s recordsetters.
So it was a mild surprise that this little tidbit had escaped Denis’ cranial computer:
During the Blue Jackets’ current five-game winning streak, they’ve given up the first goal in each game.
Thus, it’s really a five-game come-from-behind winning streak.
"I wasn’t aware of that," Denis said Saturday after a 5-2 win over Chicago. "But that just goes to show how little it means to us right now.
"I’m not saying it doesn’t bother us to be down 1-0. Obviously, that’s not how you win games in the NHL. But right now, with the confidence and character we have, it’s not really that big of a deal."
The Blue Jackets go for a franchiserecord sixth straight win tonight against the Nashville Predators in the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
"It’d be nice to win a game 7-0 for a change," left winger Jody Shelley said. "We’ve been making it tough on ourselves lately."
A 1-0 deficit might not look like much on paper. But in the NHL it’s huge.
Very few clubs — Detroit, Dallas and Calgary are the only three in the Western Conference — have winning records after giving up the first goal of the game.
Ottawa, the top club in the Eastern Conference, is 12-14-1 when it gets scored on first.
Before this season, the Jackets were 36-120-13-8 when they gave up the first goal, never winning more than 12 such games in a season.
Before the five-game winning streak, Columbus was 10-28-2 after going down 1-0.
One might say they’ve tempted fate lately.
"It’s something we’ve talked about," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "We always come out in the first period saying we want to score first and set the tone.
"But the game doesn’t always go like you want it to go, or like you map it out. And the key is how you handle it. Lately, I’ve liked what I’ve seen. Guys are battling. They aren’t panicking, they’re just getting back to work and playing hard."
More impressive, three of the comeback wins have come against Calgary, Detroit and San Jose, three teams known for getting an early lead and keeping it.
Against the Red Wings nine days ago, the Jackets trailed 3-0 before winning 5-4 in a shootout.
On Saturday against Chicago, Columbus trailed 1-0 early in the second period and 2-1 early in the third before scoring four consecutive goals.
"It feels different now when we’re behind," defenseman Duvie Westcott said. "Obviously, that’s not part of the game plan, and it’s not a spot you want to be in very often. "But it’s not as big of an issue with us as it used to be. I don’t know if it’s the new rules or what, but we don’t panic — we don’t even get worried — we just sort of know that if we keep going, we can work our way out of it."
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Dispatch

4/4/06

JACKETS 3 | PREDATORS 1

Six wins in a row a team record

Jackets rely on grit to defeat Predators

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Blue Jackets were all sweat and smiles last night, basking in the glory of a franchise-record sixth straight victory.
It wasn’t easy. Nor was it without cost.
The Blue Jackets beat the Nashville Predators 3-1 before an announced crowd of 12,073 in the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
"Six in a row means a lot," said left winger Jason Chimera, who scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period. "We can compete with the best teams in the league, and I think we’ve proved that the last six games."
The Jackets played without their top two scorers for most of the game.
Right winger David Vyborny (55 points) went down at 9:55 of the first period after a kneeon-knee hit by Nashville defenseman Brendan Witt.
Vyborny, who suffered a charley horse, played one shift after the hit but left the game when the leg stiffened. He didn’t return.
"It’s probably a day-to-day thing, but it’s not good, I know that," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "He can put some pressure on it, but not a lot."
Asked whether he was surprised a penalty wasn’t called on Witt — kneeing, perhaps — Gallant went a step further.
"Shocked," he said. "I think it’s going to be a suspension, I really do. From watching it on video, it’s clearly knee-on-knee. There was no attempt to hit him with a shoulder or chest. I think (the NHL) is going to look at it."
In addition to losing Vyborny, the Jackets played without right winger Nikolai Zherdev, who suffered a sprained knee Saturday in the win over Chicago and did not make the trip.
So, in the absence of skill, the Jackets turned to grit and energy, not all of it well-placed.
The Blue Jackets gave Nashville 10 power plays and lived to tell about it.
The Jackets fell behind 1-0 for the sixth straight game but managed to come back.
"In one sense, we’re not playing for anything," left winger Jody Shelley said. "But in another sense, we are playing for something.
"Six in a row might not seem like much when the season’s over in two weeks, but six in a row is great. We’re proud of it."
Nashville scored only 1:09 into the game, only 17 seconds after left winger Rick Nash went off for a hooking penalty.
The Jackets responded, only 12 seconds after Witt laid out Vyborny at center ice.
Manny Malhotra chopped away at a rebound off a Trevor Letowski shot, making it 1-1 at 10:07 of the first period.
The biggest goal of the night, though, belonged to Chimera. It came with 4:57 left in a second period that Nashville had dominated.
The Predators had five power plays in the period, including two five-on-threes — one for 39 seconds and another for 37 seconds.
But they didn’t cash in and — in a flash — the Jackets scored a goal that changed the course of the game.
Defenseman Aaron Johnson sent in a shot from the point as Chimera glided into the slot.
Backward, Chimera ramped the puck off his blade and over Nashville goaltender Chris Mason. It was 2-1.
"We were short-handed for the first 10 minutes of that period," Chimera said. "That’s a huge goal to get the momentum back our way. I think it sort of deflated them a little bit after we got that goal."
Jackets center Mark Hartigan made it 3-1 off a terrible turnover by Nashville’s Danny Markov, whose clearing attempt hit Hartigan as he came through the slot.
"It hit the shaft of my stick, bounced up and off my forehead and then landed in front of me," Hartigan said.
"It’s a good bounce, but we’ll take it. It’s huge for us to come in here and get a win like this."
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z is out about 10 days (maybe have him for the last 2-3 games)
vyborny injury was mentioned as "serious"


http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/colum...john&id=2395457
an article on future hall of famers
9. Rick Nash
Nash should be the face of Columbus for the next 20 years. He's on pace to score 420 NHL goals in his first 1,000 NHL games. But that number should be higher considering he'll gain more experience and his team should improve over the next decade. His lengthy frame should give him long-term production. If he plays to age 35, we should be talking about 550-600 goals. He turns 22 in June. I'm more intrigued about Nash off the ice. Right now, he has that reality-show look of his generation, so it's hard to judge what goes through his head. If he plays his cards right, he could own Columbus during his playing career and beyond. Live year-round in Columbus, work in the community, align yourself with a couple major corporations, build a rink near your house, dress for success, golf with bigwigs to raise money for kids who want to play hockey but who can't afford it. What John Elway is to Denver, Rick Nash could be to Columbus.
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either way 71 pts is the franchis record with all things being equal hitting atleast 72points is very reasonable seeing as we sit at 67.

brendan witt has been suspended one game forfeiting his pay for kneeing vyborny last night.

fritsche has been sent down to cuse (i expect a recall for fridays game, big game tonite for the crunch)

gilbert brule was named whl playoff player of the week. the U word is being thrown around about him.
 
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