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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
PREDATORS 8 BLUE JACKETS 1
Ugly loss in Memphis gives Jackets the preseason blues
Friday, September 22, 2006
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> MARK WEBER THE ( MEMPHIS ) COMMERCIAL APPEAL Columbus? Alexander Svitov, right, and Nashville?s Martin Erat scramble for a loose puck in the second period.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ? The FedEx Forum sits on the south side of Beale Street, right in the heart of this city?s legendary blues clubs, where Elvis, B.B., Muddy and all the greats come to life every night.
Last night, the Blue Jackets could have taken the stage. First song on the set list? We Ain?t Got No Luck But Bad.
A pall has been cast over this training camp in the wake of the shoulder injury that will keep center Sergei Fedorov out of the lineup for at least a month.
The bad news continued last night with an 8-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, who were playing in Memphis as a means to spread their fledgling fan base into the western reaches of the state, where 6,326 turned out to witness a flogging.
"We were the second or third guy to the puck every time," defenseman Anders Eriksson said. "You have to learn something from this."
The Blue Jackets might have created more questions than they answered last night.
Goaltenders Fredrik Norrena and Tomas Popperle, both of whom are battling for the right to back up Pascal Leclaire, each gave up four goals in about 30 minutes of work.
Norrena allowed four goals on four shots, as the Blue Jackets trailed 4-0 only 7:14 into the game.
"Of course this is a big deal," said Norrena, who stopped eight of 12 shots. "When you get a chance to play, you have to show up. That?s my responsibility and the team?s responsibility.
"What can I say? We were not ready to battle, that?s for sure, and things happen fast out there. The first goal, it was a little soft. Before I know it, they scored three more."
Popperle took over midway though the second period. He finished with 15 saves on 19 shots, and at least one bad break.
The Predators? eighth goal made it past Popperle off the skates of Blue Jackets defenseman Jamie Pushor, an "own" goal.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets struggled to mount any consistent offense, even with left winger Fredrik Modin, center Gilbert Brule and right winger Anson Carter ? the presumed No. 2 line ? drawing major minutes.
Alexandre Picard scored the Jackets? only goal, at 14:46 of the second period, making it 5-1. It was Picard?s second goal of the preseason. The only saving grace for the Blue Jackets is this: They play again tonight, against the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 p.m. in Nationwide Arena.
Fedorov might miss the first month of the season. Nikolai Zherdev, one of the NHL?s rising stars, remains in Russia without a contract. The team?s No. 1 pick this summer, center Derick Brassard, is awaiting shoulder surgery at the end of the month.
And then came last night.
"I know it?s the preseason, but you can?t say a game like this doesn?t mean anything," left winger Jody Shelley said. "Tomorrow, we might be able to say that, but right now it burns."
Brassard signs
The Blue Jackets signed Brassard to a three-year, entry-level contract. Brassard will make an annual base salary of $850,000, with a chance to make an additional $425,000 per season if certain incentives are reached.
The contract almost certainly won?t kick in until the 2007-08 season, at the earliest.
Brassard, who turns 19 today, will have shoulder surgery later this month in Cleveland Clinic and is expected to miss up to six months of the season.
[email protected]
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jimotis4heisman
Banned
http://hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=9068
id expect brule to be in the next group of guys.
no comment on last nights game. tonight the hawks visit the nat.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
BLACKHAWKS 5 BLUE JACKETS 2
Penalties prevalent again in Jackets? loss
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
MIKE MUNDEN DISPATCH Blue Jackets goalie Ty Conklin faces a double threat in Adam Burish, left, and Matt Keith of the Blackhawks.
The NHL is issuing another primer on its zero-tolerance interference policy. The referees are the schoolmasters. They are prodding their pupils with whistle after whistle.
The Blue Jackets were shrilled down again last night. They allowed three power-play goals and lost 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks in Nationwide Arena. A crowd of 13,198 was announced, but 7,000 of them didn?t find the building.
Patrick Sharp and Jim Vandermeer had two goals apiece for the Blackhawks, undefeated through three exhibitions. Geoff Platt and Duvie Westcott scored for the Blue Jackets, who, after winning their first two practice games, have dropped two in 24 hours by an aggregate score of 13-3.
The two teams meet again tonight in Chicago.
Goaltender Ty Conklin, competing for the backup job, played the entire game. He was good for stretches but allowed two fluffy goals, one on a slap shot from just inside the blue line, the other a slapper from the top of the right circle. He wasn?t helped by his team?s 39 penalty minutes.
Not only were the Blue Jackets in the box too long, they were 1 of 13 on power plays.
"You?ve got to get used to all the special teams again," center Mark Hartigan said. "But it can be tough on the guys. If you don?t kill penalties, you?re sitting for a long time. And if you?re not on the power play, you?re sitting there a long time. There?s no flow."
Is it too early to worry about penalties? The Blue Jackets had the fifth-most penalties, 523, in the league in 2005-06. Their penalty kill was mid-pack. But they allowed 95 power-play goals, ninth most in the league.
Of the nine worst teams in power-play goals, only one, the Philadelphia Flyers, made the playoffs last season.
"Good stat," Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "We?re trying to give the players reminders. I don?t mind guys taking penalties when they?re playing hard in their own end. I just can?t stand those calls in the offensive zone, when guys start reach-ing and stuff. The refs are being strict with it. You?ve got to know it?s going to get called."
Through four exhibitions, the Blue Jackets have racked up 58 penalties and 159 penalty minutes. Half the goals they?ve allowed (7 of 14) have come when they were short-handed.
"Definitely, they (the referees) are cracking down again," Wescott said. "They?re definitely trying to show us the guidelines. They?re not backing off this year and we?ve got to watch it."
So this is a league-wide phenomenon.
"It?s a bit of a roller-coaster ride," Platt said.
Gallant liked the way his team played the first two periods. After a bit of a sluggish start, the Blue Jackets looked dangerous when they were five-on-five. In the first period, Rick Nash had a couple of opportunities from close range that he usually buries. Early in the second period, Platt scored at even strength, off a nice pass from Eric Boguniecki, to make the score 1-1. Midway through the second period, Wescott scored a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right dot. He was teed up by Nash and gave the Jackets a 2-1 lead.
Then, in a span of 15 minutes, the Blackhawks scored two power-play goals and added one while four-on-four.
"With these rules, special teams is the name of the game," Boguniecki said. "There are two sides to it. You?ve got to stay out of the box, and you?ve got to capitalize on the power play."
[email protected]
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jimotis4heisman
Banned
reports out of russia say zherdevs days there are numbered. he is waiting on a new offer. (one that was being kicked around late this week my management) apparently according to russian sources (not any of mine) this thing could be over very soon. [god i hope so]
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
Production label part of Carter?s busy life
Winger wants to be big-time player in entertainment
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> MIKE MUNDEN DISPATCH Anson Carter, right, launched Big Up Entertainment on the eve of the NHL lockout. The label produces hip-hop artists and films.
Blue Jackets winger Anson Carter has always been a ball of energy on the ice. One reason is, as a former 10 th-round pick, he has always felt the need to prove himself. He keeps the accelerator depressed.
Another reason he?s so energetic: That?s just the way he is. He has fuel to burn, and the need to burn it, on and off the ice.
That is why he doesn?t dabble much in golf or other such time killers, the way other players do. Carter needs something more substantial to fill his time and engage his brainpower.
"On most days, the workday for an NHL player ends at noon," Carter said. "You get up around 7, you go to practice, work out. It?s noon. What are you going to do? Head to a caf?? Maybe have a couple of drinks? Me, I need other avenues to keep me mentally alert and creatively sharp."
On the eve of the lockout, Carter created an L.A.-based production company, Big Up Entertainment. His first find was a rap duo, Main N Merc, whose single Charlie Brown is climbing the college charts.
"I heard about them from a friend who was touring in Virginia," Carter said. "I heard them rap and the rest, as they say, is history. They?re still going to school and it?s not easy to carve out a career. But they?re passionate and dedicated, and those are the kind of artists we look for."
Carter is trying to build his business the same way ? the right way, as he puts it ? as an independent that follows its vision without compromise. He cites Def Jam Recordings and Lion?s Gate Films when he talks about what he wants to do with Big Up ? that is, start small, work honestly and grow into a major player.
"It took me 20 years to make it as a hockey player," Carter said. "Things don?t happen overnight. What we look for are people with talent and passion who are willing to lay a foundation, one step at a time. With that, you can build a career. One-hit wonders are few and far between. There?s no good way to get rich quick. You?ve got to be dedicated and you?ve got to work."
Carter has produced one film, Bald The Movie, about a college kid with a receding hairline who gets kicked out of school and opens an Internet business in his basement to fund a hair transplant. Carter is looking for a distributor or a pay-per-view outlet. Another of his productions, the hockey movie Blades, has been put on the shelf.
"Unfortunately, we had some creative differences with the director," Carter said with a laugh. "We?ve also got a couple of TV shows in development."
Over the years, Carter received some grief for his extracurricular activities. At stops in New York and L.A., there were whispers that he wasn?t focused enough on hockey.
Carter bristles at the suggestion. In one sense, he can compartmentalize and separate his job from his business. (He did have 33 goals last season). In another sense, he sees professional sports as another form of entertainment and sees his pursuits ? hockey, hip-hop, films ? in a continuum. "We?ve all got to be creative in how we market our game, and other sports," he said. Carter, 32, is exploring other avenues. But he reserves his own performances, and the greatest part of his physical energy, for the ice. "I don?t try to act, and I don?t try to sing or rap," he said. "I?m strictly in the background, on the business side of things." [email protected]
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jimotis4heisman
Banned
fwiw all of niks pics on his russian teams site have been removed...
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jimotis4heisman
Banned
brassard has been sent back to his jr club
the list of guys being sent down to syracuse
Philippe Dupuis
Andrew Murray
Darcy Verot
Adam Pineault
Marc Methot
Kyle Wharton
Andy Canzanello
Tomas Popperle
the list of guys being sent down to syracuse
Philippe Dupuis
Andrew Murray
Darcy Verot
Adam Pineault
Marc Methot
Kyle Wharton
Andy Canzanello
Tomas Popperle
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jimotis4heisman
Banned
rusty klesla has been suspended for two regular season games for his clip last week. horseshit if you ask me.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=178885&hubname=nhl
do you guys remember maltby running klesla into an open gate not to long ago? but i guess thats what you get when youre columbus
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=178885&hubname=nhl
do you guys remember maltby running klesla into an open gate not to long ago? but i guess thats what you get when youre columbus
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
BLUE JACKETS
Center suddenly a problem with Svitov out
Separated shoulder expected to sideline him two to three weeks
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> PAUL VERNON ASSOCIATED PRESS Gilbert Brule, right, might be the Jackets? No. 1 center for the next few weeks, with Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Svitov idled by injuries.
The Blue Jackets trimmed their training-camp roster from 45 to 36 yesterday. More cuts will be made today as the team assumes the form it will take into the regular season. Earnest work will begin on plugging holes made by injuries.
"You?d like everyone to have a few exhibition games under their belt and be healthy, and have (the forward lines and defensive pairs) all set," coach Gerard Gallant said. "But that?s not where we are. The good news is, we?ve had a lot of guys have strong camps. We have some depth."
Now they have to figure out how to deploy it.
The Blue Jackets have one more exhibition, at Carolina on Friday. They open the regular season Oct. 6 against the Vancouver Canucks. They have two weeks to sort things out and settle things down.
It?s anyone?s guess how the forward lines will evolve before the puck drops. Top-line center Sergei Fedorov (sprained shoulder) might not be game ready until Nov. 1. Center Alexander Svitov (separated shoulder), who was injured during a 4-2 exhibition victory over Carolina at Nationwide Arena on Sunday night, will be out two to three weeks, the team announced yesterday. Svitov was expected to play a more important role in Fedorov?s absence. Now, the center position is entirely unsettled.
Rookie Gilbert Brule might now be the top center. Manny Malhotra will get more minutes. Mark Hartigan might emerge as an effective stopgap. David Vyborny, who normally plays the right wing, will have to pull time in the middle until the injured players heal.
"I?ve met with the coaches about it and they?re going to try to do a little patchwork," Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean said. "It?s a little more challenging now. We?ll do some line juggling through three or four games (of the regular season) until we get through this rough spell."
The Blue Jackets? two highest-paid defensemen have yet to play an exhibition. Adam Foote (knee) has been practicing and is close to game shape. He is expected to play Friday night. Bryan Berard, however, might need some more time. Berard had arthroscopic surgery on his back during the summer and recently has experienced stiffness. The team isn?t sure yet whether this marks the tail end of a long rehabilitation or a greater concern. Tests are being done, MacLean said, and more will be known within the next 24 hours.
MacLean added that, at this point, he?s not looking to make any acquisitions.
"We have one (exhibition) game and two weeks," he said. "We have a little time to see how things work out."
The depleted corps of forwards will no doubt be augmented by Alexandre Picard and Geoff Platt, each of whom has performed well in camp and displayed a scoring touch in exhibition games. In back, young defensemen Aaron Johnson and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen have been forced into bigger roles
"(Defenseman Kris) Russell and Tollefsen are still challenging," MacLean said. "Aaron Johnson has had a good camp and (veteran Anders) Eriksson has played better lately, although I didn?t like his first couple of games. Up front, Platt and Picard have played better than we would have anticipated, so that helps."
First-round draft pick Derick Brassard, who will be rehabilitating a surgically repaired shoulder for the next sixth months, was assigned to his junior team in Drummondville, Quebec, yesterday. The Blue Jackets also sent forwards Phillippe Dupuis, Andrew Murray, Adam Pineault and Darcy Verot to Syracuse along with defenseman Marc Methot, Kyle Wharton and Andy Canzanello, and goaltender Tomas Popperle.
The team will make another substantial cut today, then begin tinkering.
[email protected]
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
2006-07 BLUE JACKETS
Growth spurt
Once-small Blue Jackets catching up to the bigger boys in the NHL
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG>
</IMG> Geoff Sanderson, 2000
</IMG> Rick Nash, 2005
</IMG>
Five years ago, the Blue Jackets played a stretch of their season with forwards Ray Whitney, Espen Knutsen and David Vyborny as the No. 1 scoring line. It was dubbed the Lollipop Line, a nod to the vertically challenged Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz. (Whitney?s nickname, "The Wizard," made it all the more fitting.) These days, the grown-up Blue Jackets couldn?t put together a Lollipop Line if they wanted to, even though Vyborny is still with the club, the last of the original Jackets.
"It?s totally different now than when I first got here," Vyborny said. "You look around the dressing room now, we have big guys on every line. Back then, everybody was little ? like me."
To be sure, these are not your older brother?s Blue Jackets.
During the franchise?s inaugural season of 2000-01, its top 12 forwards averaged 5 feet, 11 1 /3 inches and 185 ? pounds.
The Jackets? presumed top 12 forwards for this season average 6-1 7 /8 inches, 208 ? pounds, roughly 2 ? inches taller and more than 23 pounds heavier. Those 12 include centers Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Svitov, both of whom will miss time early in the season with shoulder injuries.
"We?ve changed the look of our hockey club," coach Gerard Gallant said. "We were always a small team before, and we had to find ways most nights to overcome that against the really good teams in this league. It was a big challenge for us.
"Now, we?re huge up front. We?ve got plenty of size, and it?s a good feeling. I don?t think we have to worry about getting pushed around by anybody anymore."
The Blue Jackets acquired left winger Fredrik Modin (6-4, 220) during the off-season and two weeks ago signed right winger Anson Carter (6-2, 210). Last season, they acquired Fedorov (6-2, 205) and left winger Jason Chimera (6-2, 206).
But they?ve grown up inhouse, too.
"Big, skilled players are not easy to (acquire)," Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean said. "We?ve managed to add some, but our younger kids have grown up and filled out their frames, too.
"Rick Nash (6-4, 215) has added 30 pounds since we drafted him. Dan Fritsche (6-1, 202) has gotten bigger, too. We?re maturing."
The two "biggest" clubs in the NHL last season were Washington and Ottawa, both averaging 6-2, 211 pounds, including their top six defensemen. The Blue Jackets probably will be near the top when NHL rosters are settled and such numbers can be tabulated.
"That?s great," said left winger Jody Shelley, the biggest Blue Jackets forward at 6-4, 230. "It?s a big man?s game."
One has to wonder, though, whether the Blue Jackets? supersizing flies in the face of the "new" NHL, which emphasizes speed and skill.
"Big guys are great, as long as they can skate," Carter said. "The main thing is, can you get up and down the ice? "
Gallant doesn?t think it will be an issue.
"We don?t have any guys like (New Jersey forward Brian Gionta), one of the fastest guys in the league," he said. "But our big guys can move. They?re better hockey players than we had before, not just bigger. I like to have a mix, and I think we have the right kind of smaller players, like Vyborny and (rookie center) Gilbert Brule, to make it all work.
"I still think you have to be strong enough to compete down low. That hasn?t changed in the NHL."
Nash is considered one of the premier power forwards in the game. At times in the Jackets? late-season resurgence in 2005-06 and in this preseason, he, Fedorov and Vyborny were able to impose their will on undersized opponents.
Is it a taste of things to come? Can the Blue Jackets muscle their way into their first playoff berth?
"The first couple of seasons I was here, we got by on finesse and speed," Nash said. "Now we?ve got some big guys we can put out there in front of the net to help finish. Now we feel like we can go toe to toe with anybody. And we can win games in a lot of different ways."
[email protected]
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