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Roster Gallant: Best Columbus team yet By John McGourty | NHL.com
Sept. 19, 2006
Columbus Blue Jackets coach Gerard "Turk" Gallant is excited about his team and that's exciting news for the NHL.
Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean has consistently refused the quick-fix approach and built his team through the draft and intensive player development. An array of first-round draft picks is reaching maturity and the Blue Jackets are poised to make some noise in the Central Division.
"I see us adding players to our team and getting the depth that we've never had before," Gallant said. "We're four days into training camp and it's going to be really tough to pick a team beyond the first three lines and five defensemen. I see nine guys fighting for three or four spots. This is the first time I've ever had that kind of choice. The depth has really increased over the last couple of years."
Gerard Gallant will have an opportunity to coach a Blue Jackets team with a lot of depth this season. "We've been getting better, but now we add Fredrik Modin to an offense with Rick Nash, Sergei Fedorov, David Vyborny and Gilbert Brule. That's very exciting for our club. We added Anson Carter and Joakim Lidstrom came over last year and played well at Syracuse. He's a good kid with a lot of skill and talent we took in the second round in 2002."
Gallant is looking at lines of Nash-Fedorov-Vyborny and Modin-Brule-Carter. Jason Chimera and Manny Malhotra will likely play with right wingers Danny Fritsche or Eric Boguniecki.
"We've got six games in eight nights, including games Thursday through Sunday," Gallant said. "We should have the team picked by next Monday or Tuesday. With that kind of schedule, I've got to play different lineups each night. It's too tiring so soon. So we'll mix and match lineups, but try to keep the top lines together.
"We've got Fritsche, Boguniecki, Alexander Svitov (3rd overall in 2001), Mark Hartigan, Steve Goertzen, Jody Shelley and Jaroslav Balastik fighting for jobs. I've got guys who can play in the NHL fighting for jobs and I've never had that before. I've got a kid, Alexandre Picard, who loves to hit, a pain-in-the-butt like Claude Lemieux who was a good junior scorer but took time to get it together in the AHL. He was Syracuse's best player late in the season. He finishes his checks and goes to the net and fights off defensemen and goalies."
Columbus took Brule with the sixth-overall pick in 2005 and gave him a chance to play right away. It didn't work out. He suffered a collarbone sprain in the first week of the season and broke his leg in December. He returned late in the season to his junior club, the Vancouver Giants, and spurred them into the Memorial Cup.
"He was great in juniors and made this team last year before he got hurt," Gallant said. "We're going to give him every chance. I thought Fritsche was great in the last 20 games last year. He knows he can play in this league. He has been outstanding in camp and the line with Danny, Manny and Jason was our best in our first preseason game. Dan had five shots. Chimera came to camp in outstanding shape and Manny plays with great intelligence."
The defense is mostly young but led by savvy veteran Adam Foote. Gallant expects several players to make major steps in their development, as Duvie Westcott has in recent seasons.
"The defense is getting stronger," said Gallant, a 10-year NHL veteran in his third year as Blue Jackets head coach. "Everybody knows what Foote brings. He's a great veteran. Westcott is very underrated. He steps up into the play, moves the puck well, was second last year in minutes and had a positive plus-minus ratio. He's a team leader and good both offensively and defensively. Rusty Klesla is a great young player who took major steps last season. I'm looking for a breakout season from him.
"We've been getting better, but now we add Fredrik Modin to an offense with Rick Nash, Sergei Fedorov, David Vyborny and Gilbert Brule. That's very exciting for our club."
-- Gerard Gallant "We got Ron Hainsey on waivers in November, paired him with Foote and he was phenomenal. Ole-Kristian Tollefson was up for a few games after a good season at Syracuse. He's very physical and hits hard. Aaron Johnson was plus-7 over the last 40 games. He used to make too many mistakes, but he played very well last year. We signed veteran Anders Eriksson this summer because the game has changed and he's a skill guy who can help our power play. Bryan Berard had back surgery and he's looking great, really lean. He just started back skating. He's a guy with a lot of skills and when he was hurt, our power play just wasn't the same."
MacLean used his first pick in 2001 on goalie Pascal Leclaire and has given him time to develop. Leclaire has stumbled along the way but had an excellent .911 save percentage that was masked by a losing record last season. The Blue Jackets traded away long-time starter Marc Denis to get Modin and Finnish veteran goalie Fredrik Norrena and signed free agent Ty Conklin. Czech goalie Tomas Popperle, a fifth-round pick in 2005 who played in Germany last year, has been impressive in training camp.
"Pascal is ready," Gallant said. "He gained a lot of experience last year and played very well in a lot of games. I'm not worried about him. I've never seen Norrena, but our scouts guaranteed me that he's a terrific goalie. Ty Conklin is a solid guy who has been a No. 1 goalie in the NHL. We had Popperle here last year and no one knew him. He stopped Nash on six or seven really good shots here in an early scrimmage.
"I really like our situation with the goalies because we have four goalies playing well and we like them all," Gallant said. "Clint Malarchuk, our goaltending coach, is very pleased with them. He thinks Pascal is ready to take over. Leclaire is not a big guy, but he has great reflexes and his skill level is very high. His feet are so quick, going across the crease."
There was positive talk out of Columbus's training camp a year ago, but hopes were dashed early when Brule got hurt and then Nash lost 30 games to ankle and knee problems. The Blue Jackets are better equipped to handle the loss of an important player, Gallant said.
"We're like any team in the NHL: Lose your best player and you'll have trouble winning," he said. "But, with this team, I think we could hold on. But I don't want to think about it. A player like Rick Nash is good for a goal almost every game."
Just about anytime a player went down an arm went up. I don't have a problem if they are going to be consistent, but just like every year, the regular season will start and half the refs will call everything and the other half will call very little. 
