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Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

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Dispatch

BLUE JACKETS
Playing in NHL worth wait to aging rookie Norrena

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Aaron Portzline
COLUMBUS DISPATCH

20061004-Pc-B1-0600.jpg
</IMG> M . SPENCER GREEN ASSOCIATED PRESS Fredrik Norrena, left, struggled early in camp, but the Blue Jackets like what they?ve seen lately from their 32-year-old rookie goalie.


In a back corner of the Blue Jackets? dressing room sits goaltender Fredrik Norrena, slumped into his locker and in no hurry to shed his heavy pads or sweatsoaked sweater.
Norrena has waited a long time for these days. What?s the rush?
"Playing in the NHL ? it?s all I ever wanted to do," Norrena said. "It?s new territory, a new world. And that?s exciting to me. I?ve waited a long time for this. Now I just want to cherish it."
Norrena will turn 33 next month, making him the NHL?s oldest rookie this season, which begins for the Blue Jackets on Friday when they play host to the Vancouver Canucks in Nationwide Arena.
Over the weekend, the Blue Jackets sent Ty Conklin to minor-league Syracuse, clearing the path for Norrena to be Pascal Leclaire?s backup.
"I?m still here," Norrena said after the Blue Jackets made their final roster cuts. "That?s a relief."
Norrena could have taken a shot at the NHL years ago, but the long-term contracts he signed in his native Finland (1992-2002) and Sweden (2002-06) were too lucrative to walk away from for a less than 50-50 chance to make the Tampa Bay Lightning out of training camp.
"It was the security," Norrena said. "I have a family to think about, and they have to come first."
Norrena?s situation changed when the Lightning, faced with losing his rights, signed Norrena to a one-year contract this past May.
A few weeks later, they traded him to the Blue Jackets as part of the deal that sent goaltender Marc Denis to the Lightning for left winger Fredrik Modin.
"If Tampa hadn?t signed him, we would have," Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean said. "Turns out we got him anyway."
Norrena didn?t dominate in training camp. His preseason debut was an 8-1 loss to Nashville when Norrena let in four goals on the first four shots.
It should be noted, however, that he has been very good since, and Blue Jackets coaches say they like what they see.
"I?d say Freddy is an unconventional butterfly goalie," goaltending coach Clint Malarchuk said. "Basically what that means is, he?ll stop the puck by whatever means necessary.
"There?s no textbook on him, really. He?s got really fast feet. To beat him low is pretty hard."
Norrena isn?t sure when he?ll make his regular-season debut. The Jackets are committed to Leclaire, and the schedule doesn?t get too compacted until the middle of November.
"Pascal has played great," Norrena said. "My job is to help him and push him, to help the team and be ready when I get a chance to play.
"I?ve been around a long time. I?ve been in a lot of different situations. I can handle the (infrequent playing time), for sure."
Norrena called home when he found out he had made the Blue Jackets. Plans are in the works, he said, to bring his wife and children to Columbus later this season.
"I like it here," Norrena said. "It?s very clean, very peaceful.
"I would like for my family to be here, to see it, to see me play in the NHL."
Norrena has no doubts how that will go. For now, he?s a No. 2 goaltender with No. 1 confidence.
"The last five years, I?ve watched (Calgary Flames goaltender) Miikka Kiprusoff come over and do very well," Norrena said. "I?ve seen Kari Lehtonen (in Atlanta) and Antero Niittymaki (in Philadelphia) play well over here.
"Now, I think it?s my turn."
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Dispatch

BLUE JACKETS NOTEBOOK
?Average? camp drops Brule to fourth line

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH




Blue Jackets rookie Gilbert Brule, expected at the start of training camp to center the No. 2 forward line, has instead been dropped to the fourth line for Friday?s season opener against the Vancouver Canucks.
Brule, 19, acknowledged that he didn?t have a great training camp.
"Average," he said. "I could have done better.
"I haven?t been able to find the net. They gave me a chance to play with some of the big guys, and for whatever reason it didn?t click. So they moved me down to get my confidence back."
Brule, the Jackets? No. 1 draft pick in 2005, played in five exhibition games, mostly between wingers Fredrik Modin and Anson Carter, but had no goals, no assists, 10 shots on goal and 10 penalty minutes.
Coach Gerard Gallant said he spoke with Brule over the weekend.
"I just said to him, ?Gilbert, it doesn?t mean we?re not happy with you, it just means that some of the other guys have played better,? " Gallant said. "I told him at the start of camp that we wanted him to focus on his defensive zone coverage, and he?s done a real good job of that, he really has. It?s just that the rest of his game hasn?t quite been there."
Gallant didn?t stop there.
"Gilbert is a playmaker and a scorer," he said. "And I told him that it?s going to happen for him. I know it is. It?s just a matter of time. If he sticks with it and keeps playing hard, it?s going to happen."
Brule has been mentioned as a candidate for the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL?s top rookie.
In last year?s training camp, he was the Blue Jackets? best player, earning an opening night spot on the roster.
"It?s been the opposite this year," Brule said. "But I?ll work through this. I?m going to contribute everything I can to this team."
Taking Brule?s spot between Modin and Carter will be 21-year-old Geoff Platt, an undrafted free agent who last fall played well enough during rookie camp and training camp to earn a contract with the Blue Jackets.
In four exhibition games this year, Platt led the Blue Jackets with four goals, three assists and a plus-5 rating.
Carter still hurting

Right winger Carter plans to play in the opener, but he won?t be pain-free.
The foot inflammation ? plantar fasciitis ? that flared last week is only slightly better, he said.
"It?s still sore," Carter said. "I?ll just try to grind it out and deal with it."
Carter has tried all sorts of remedies, including tinkering with the insoles of his skates to relieve pressure on his foot. Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the tissue that connects the heel to the base of the toes.
"The only option is to skate on my hands," Carter said.
Carter had 33 goals with the Canucks last season, but Vancouver showed no interest in resigning him this past summer. He sat on the market until the Blue Jackets signed him on the eve of training camp.
No hard feelings, Carter insisted, although the Vancouver media will no doubt fan the flames.
"It?ll be more hype than anything," Carter said. "If you?re in the league long enough, you get used to playing against former teams and former teammates.
"I?ll be really excited because it?s my first game with the Blue Jackets, my first game in Nationwide Arena."
The Blue Jackets are Carter?s seventh NHL club in 10 seasons.
Slap shots

Defenseman Bryan Berard will see a back specialist today at the Cleveland Clinic. He?ll miss this weekend?s games ? and maybe quite a bit more ? until the source of his recurring pain is determined. It could be scar tissue, in which case Berard might be facing more surgery. ? The Blue Jackets appear to be targeting Friday as Nikolai Zherdev?s arrival date from Russia, but a safer bet might be Saturday. He?s questionable for the opener.
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Dispatch

Blue Jackets assistant has a tough assignment
Agnew?s task is to devise a successful power play

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

20061005-Pc-C1-1100.jpg
</IMG>


Gary Agnew, after 10 years in the Ontario Hockey League and six in the AHL, has made it to the big leagues, and his assimilation will be swift. The Blue Jackets? new assistant coach is in charge of the power play, which will directly impact the team?s prospects ? especially early in the season.
"In the first month, you?re going to see more (penalties) being called, just like last year," Blue Jackets captain Adam Foote said. "I think there will be a quicker adjustment, and then there will be a falloff, for sure. But the importance of special teams will still be there, right on through the playoffs. No question."
There is room for improvement on power plays. The Blue Jackets converted on 14.2 percent of their man-advantages and ranked 28 th last season. Only Gary Agnew three other teams had fewer than the Jackets? 64 power-play goals.
The Blue Jackets open their 2006-07 season with a game against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night in Nationwide Arena. They?ll be without two of their key men on the power play, top-line center Sergei Fedorov (shoulder) and quarterback Bryan Berard (back). And they?ll have a new guy, Agnew, drawing X?s and O?s.
"I?m just glad to be here," Agnew said. "I just want to help any way I can, support the players, support the staff, do what I can."
Agnew, 46, played Canadian college hockey and in the AHL and the old IHL. In the real world, he was happy as a sales rep for a paper company (think: office products). Then, in the mid-1980s, he figured he?d take one good shot at something else, something he always wanted to do. He climbed the ladder in the Canadian juniors and assembled a solid record as a coach and general manager in the OHL.
"I enjoyed sales, but I enjoyed coaching, too," Agnew said. "I figured I?d go with my first passion and see how it worked out. I wanted to be a university coach, needed a master?s, went out and got it ? and by the time I did, I was establishing myself in London."
When the Blue Jackets were formed, he was seen as a rising star, and he was tapped for the job in Syracuse. He went on to become the winningest and longest-serving coach in Crunch history. Now, he has an NHL power play to deal with ? in consultation with Gerard Gallant and assistant Gord Murphy ? and he?s taking a pragmatic approach to the challenge.
Asked whether he had a favored strategy, or a philosophy, Agnew said, "I?m not sure there?s that much to it. We?ve got five guys, they?ve got four. See your strengths and use them to the best of your ability. A lot of times, it?s reading and reacting to what the other team is doing. Take what they give you, because they?re going to give you something."
Gallant?s mind works the same way.
"There are so many different penalty kills out there, you?re going to have to adjust to it," Gallant said. "In the second half of the season, when we did well on the power play, it was because we had the talent and the guys were reading off one another."
The Blue Jackets had the worst power play in the league at the end of the first half. Their PP ranked 19 th in the second half. Agnew, who has the reputation for a sharp mind, has something to build upon as he begins the next phase of his career.
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Dispatch

BLUE JACKETS NOTEBOOK
Fedorov is proving to be a fast healer
Svitov close to getting OK for full contact

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH




There is encouraging news on the injury front for the Blue Jackets, who will open their season Friday night against the Vancouver Canucks in Nationwide Arena.
Top-line center Sergei Fedorov, who suffered a sprained left shoulder during the team?s second exhibition game in September, is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation. It was thought that Fedorov might miss as much as the first three weeks of the season, but he has been skating for five days and is eyeing a quicker turnaround.
"I knew always I?d be a little earlier," Fedorov said before a solo skate yesterday morning. "But the proper question is about my being healthy. The shoulder feels good (but needs strengthening). We?ll have a better idea in five days."
Center Alexander Svitov was not wearing a yellow (no-hit) jersey at practice yesterday. Svitov, who suffered a shoulder injury during an exhibition game last week, is making good progress and will soon be cleared for full contact.
Defenseman Bryan Berard visited Cleveland Clinic yesterday for a second opinion on his back. Berard had arthroscopic surgery last summer and seemed fit at the start of training camp but happened upon a bout of stiffness. He and the team want to tread carefully.
"He didn?t feel good at all over the weekend," coach Gerard Gallant said, "but the last couple of days he said he felt a lot better. Hopefully, this was just a setback, and now he?s on his way back. But he?s still not skating yet."
The Blue Jackets made their last roster cut of camp when they reassigned winger Alexandre Picard to Syracuse.
Fedorov, Svitov and Berard will begin the season on injured reserve. Winger Nikolai Zherdev, still working through visa issues in Russia, is a roster exemption until he gets to Columbus, which could be as soon as today and as late as next week.
The Blue Jackets yesterday practiced with two goaltenders, 12 forwards (not counting Svitov) and seven defensemen, one of whom, Rostislav Klesla, must serve a two-game suspension at the start of the season.
Depth at center

Mark Hartigan, 28, and Geoff Platt, 21, will be the top two centers when the Jackets face off against the Canucks.
Hartigan had nine goals and spent time among the Jackets? top scorers last season. He will step in for Fedorov.
"Playing with Rick Nash and David Vyborny, I just can?t get too cute," Hartigan said. "They?re so good, I?ll let them handle that stuff. I?ve just got to get them the puck when they?re open, shoot it when they get it to me and play well in my own end."
Platt had 30 goals for Syracuse last season. He earned a major role by outshining Gilbert Brule during training camp.
"I?m looking forward to making that phone call home, to say I?m on the roster for opening night," Platt said. "This is a once-in-alifetime opportunity ? the first NHL opening night in your career."
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jimotis4heisman;626277; said:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=gallo/061005

anyone see an obvious glare in hockeys for dummies? look at your (or my fav team) should have been hockey by dummies
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Wow. What an......I can't.....Jeebus. That's frickin' awful.

On another note, I was more than a bit surprised to see Pic headed back to Syracuse. I thought he had a very good pre-season.
 
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yes me to, he had a nice camp and preseason. two obvious things though, one hes on a two way deal it saves money. the second is he should get a lot more ice time, the kid is starting to come into his own. personally ive said it a lot but hes the kind of player you need playoff time, does all the little things. im happy he had a great camp, hopefully it lights his fire, hell get a call up before christmas im sure.

to me jody is an interesting thing, hes got a two year deal. how much time he spends upstairs scratched will be interesting. youll see him against nashville and now the blackhawks. speaking of that sats game against them should be interesting to say the least, expect jody and some others to drop the mitts and go at it. im also excited to see okt get some ice time with the big club.
 
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Dispatch

Leclaire ready to make impact
Blue Jackets? new No. 1 goaltender wants to prove doubters wrong

Friday, October 06, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

20061006-Pc-F1-0500.jpg
</IMG> NEAL C . LAURON DISPATCH Pascal Leclaire was a solid 3-0 with a .957 save percentage and a 1.20 goals-against average during the preseason.


Goaltender Pascal Leclaire takes the questions and concerns about the Blue Jackets? playoff hopes personally, and who could blame him?
When the hockey world looks at the Blue Jackets, it sees a club that, after a productive offseason, now seems strong enough offensively to make a playoff push for the first time in franchise history.
Rattle off the names ? Rick Nash, Nikolai Zherdev, Sergei Fedorov, David Vyborny, Anson Carter, Fredrik Modin ? and prepare the goal horn.
But when the focus shifts to Leclaire?s end of the ice, questions are raised. This is where Leclaire?s professional pride gets bruised a little, when people point to him as the Blue Jackets? weakness, wondering whether he is ready to handle the pressures of being a No. 1 goaltender.
Leclaire is only 23. He has only 35 games of NHL experience. He has a history of getting injured, having never played more than 46 games in a season since he started in junior hockey.
Yet the Blue Jackets are counting on him to play roughly 65 games at the most important position on the ice in a season that will be judged a failure if it doesn?t end with a Stanley Cup playoffs appearance.
The ride begins tonight when the Blue Jackets play host to Vancouver in Nationwide Arena.
Leclaire is strapped in and ready.
"I?m used to the questions, the doubts," Leclaire said. "When I was young, playing junior hockey in Montreal, they used to rip me all the time, saying I shouldn?t be on the team, I shouldn?t be playing for Canada in the world junior championships, all kinds of stuff like that.
"It?s just part of the territory, part of being a goalie. I can handle it."
Leclaire kicks aside the heat as if it were an unscreened wrist shot from the blue line.
"Honestly, I don?t spend a lot of time reading hockey stuff or watching the hockey channels up in Canada," Leclaire said. "I?m more of an MTV guy, anyway.
"But if people want to say that, want to put a target on me, that?s fine. I know what I can do. I know what this team can do. We will prove them wrong."
Refining his talent

Leclaire?s talent rarely is questioned, only his ability to stay healthy and handle a heavy workload.
He proved last season, with a .911 save percentage in 33 games, that his game is NHL ready.
"I?ve seen just about every goaltender in the league, so I knew a little bit about Pascal before I got here," said Clint Malarchuk, hired this summer as the Blue Jackets? goaltending coach. "But once I got the job, I did a lot of research, watched a lot of film, and you could see right away that Pascal had a lot of tools."
Malarchuk, who previously worked with Florida Panthers wunderkind Roberto Luongo, now with the Canucks, had his eyes opened further at training camp.
"I can honestly say the film didn?t do him justice," Malarchuk said. "To see his abilities up close really blew me away. As far as quickness ? with the pads, with the glove ? I?ve never seen anybody with quicker reflexes. And I really mean that ? anybody."
Leclaire is known throughout the NHL for his ability to recover, meaning he can lunge for a save in one direction and be back in position to make another save with remarkable speed. That athleticism prompted the Blue Jackets to draft him No. 8 overall in 2001.
What has changed in the five years since is LeClaire?s understanding of the game, his polishing of the finer points.
"In junior hockey, I just relied on my speed and skills too much," Leclaire said. "I cheated way too much, and I got away with it most of the time.
"Technically, I?m a totally different goaltender now, just in the last couple of seasons. I?ve learned a lot about positioning and patience, but playing in the NHL forces you to do that. If you?re not technically sound, the guys in this league will make you look stupid."
Although Malarchuk and Leclaire talked almost daily during the first two weeks of training camp, the two hadn?t worked extensively one-on-one until the past few days.
"I wanted to watch him work, see what he?s all about," Malarchuk said. "He?s playing really well right now. Everything is in order. We?re just working on smaller issues."
The issues include rebound control and Leclaire?s positioning in the goal crease.
"I compare him a lot to Luongo, I really do," Malarchuk said. "When I started with Roberto, he was 23, 24 years old and already regarded as one of the better young goalies in the league. And that?s exactly where Pascal is."
Proving his worth

Leclaire?s path to the Blue Jackets? No. 1 spot was cleared this summer when Marc Denis was traded to Tampa Bay for Modin and Finnish goaltender Fredrik Norrena, who will serve as Leclaire?s backup to start the season.
It wasn?t easy for the Blue Jackets to part with Denis, the franchise record-holder in games (266), wins (84) and shutouts (12), and a voice of reason in a dressing room that could have been poisoned by chronic losing.
But Leclaire?s emergence down the stretch last season ?and the Jackets? need for a bigtime forward ? made the trade easier to accept.
"I started to feel really good about Pascal last season when we went back and forth between him and Marc," coach Gerard Gallant said. "I felt like he was a dominating goaltender during that stretch."
Leclaire had 40 or more saves six times last season, including a 48-save game against Florida (a 5-4 shootout win) and a 46-save game against Colorado (a 3-2 shootout loss). He was 9-5-2 with a .923 save percentage after Jan. 1.
"It?s always good to have guys like Marc Denis around," Nash said. "He was the backbone of this team for a few seasons. But this club has invested a lot in Pascal, and with good reasons. He?s proven to all of us that he?s a No. 1 guy. It?s his turn now."
Leclaire came to training camp ready to prove that he is capable of the lead role.
"I wanted to have a great camp," Leclaire said. "Not to make reporters happy, but because I wanted to come here, get to know the new guys, have some fun and get ready for the season. I wanted to play well, of course. And I think I did."
Actually, Leclaire dominated, going 3-0 with a .957 save percentage and a 1.20 goals-against average in exhibition games.
The expectations have never been higher.
"You don?t want to put too much pressure on a young guy, but Pazzy has shown us that he can handle the situation," Gallant said. "I look at young guys like (Carolina?s) Cam Ward and (Buffalo?s) Ryan Miller and how they played last season (in the Eastern Conference finals) and it makes me have even more confidence that a young guy can have a season like that."
Malarchuk can?t harness his optimism.
"This year is going to be great for Pascal," he said. "I can see it in his mental makeup. I can see it in his attitude, his confidence, the way other guys are interacting with him.
"I just have a really good feeling about this."
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Dispatch

COMMENTARY
Calm down: Blue Jackets haven?t won anything yet

Friday, October 06, 2006


BOB HUNTER

20061006-Pc-F1-0800.jpg
</IMG>


The Blue Jackets probably will win the Stanley Cup this season. That?s right. They?ll probably go all the way.
And if they don?t, they?ll probably make it to the Cup finals. There?s a chance they could lose in the conference finals, or sooner, because, well, stuff happens. Maybe a flu epidemic will land half the team in Grant Medical Center, or Rick Nash and Sergei Fedorov will decide to retire midseason and go into business selling used hockey equipment. Or maybe Nationwide Arena will be flooded and the Jackets will have to play their playoff games in Hobart Arena in Troy the way the Chill used to. Something like that could screw up a great team in a hurry.
Not make the playoffs? Why on earth would anybody believe such a preposterous notion? The Blue Jackets have the best team they have ever had ? that seems absolutely certain ? and on the eve of the first game of the season, their locker room was brimming with confidence.
This is it, folks. All those devastating injuries, those heartbreaking lastminute breakdowns, those broken promises ? gone. These Blue Jackets have talent. They?ve got experience. They know they?re going to win.
"Everyone starts the year like that," winger Jody Shelley said.
Huh?
Oh, yeah. Thanks for the reality pill, Jody. It might not taste good, but it can definitely be good for you. Lately, it seems as though too many people around here have been eating way too much sugar.
"We have quite a lot of confidence in here," Shelley said. "And of course the playoff talk is going to come and all that, but let?s talk about it in January and February because every team is talking about it right now. We still have a lot to prove in this league and we know that. Teams are talking about us finishing in the playoffs and we take a lot of pride in that, but we have a job to do starting with the first game."
The first game? Well, yeah. It?s not glamorous, but given the Blue Jackets? penchant for speeding off in the opposite direction the first month of the season, it?s an idea whose time has come.
The best thing about opening night is that every team thinks it?s headed for a terrific season. The worst thing about it is that a lot of those teams are just kidding themselves.
And why shouldn?t they? In the absence of any evidence ? last season never counts unless you finished strong ? why should a team of bad players admit that they aren?t as good as the other guys before they have even played a game?
Besides, these Blue Jackets look pretty good. They added strong players in Fredrik Modin and Anson Carter, and some of their young talent has matured.
"I really believe this is our best team ever this year," winger David Vyborny said. "That?s what I feel."
Vyborny should know. He?s the only player who has been with the team the whole time. Unfortunately, saying this is the best Blue Jackets? team ever could be a lot like saying this is the best plate of sand you?ll ever eat. True or not, it could still make you want to wretch.
For the past five seasons, the Blue Jackets have the worst record in the NHL.
"I think other years there were more question marks than there are this year," coach Gerard Gallant said. "This year, we know what we?ve got with most of our players. Obviously, there are still a few questions marks, guys we think are going to be good players, but when you bring in a guy like Modin, when you bring a guy like Carter, you know what they are. You know what you?re getting."
But nobody really knows what they?re getting with this team. It could be very good, for just the reasons Gallant gave. It could be great, because, well, when you see the talent, you know it?s possible. And then again, it could make a giant 15-point leap and still miss the playoffs.
If that seems a little depressing, here?s a thought a little more in keeping with all that opening-night optimism:
Last year in Carolina, there was no need for reality pills.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch
.
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Dispatch

BLUE JACKETS NOTEBOOK
Old hand Foote nervous, even for 15 th season

Friday, October 06, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH




As the Blue Jackets prepare to open their sixth season tonight against the Vancouver Canucks in Nationwide Arena, captain Adam Foote begins his 15 th.
He still has butterflies on the eve of the opener.
"There?s a sense of nervousness," he said. "It?s natural to put pressure on yourself to be ready and get focused. I started thinking about the game (Wednesday) night. I think everything is put in place, and now you want to get going."
Is there an analogy for the common man?
"It?s like going back to school after the summer holiday," Foote said. "You just want to get it started, get going."
Berard on the mend ?

Defenseman Bryan Berard, a key component of the Blue Jackets? power play, got a second opinion on his stiff back on Wednesday in the Cleveland Clinic. Berard, who had surgery to shave a disc and remove debris this past summer, said there was no new diagnosis out of Cleveland.
"I was told I would have ups and downs, and that I?d be all right once I got over the last hump," Berard said. "The last couple of days, I?ve been feeling a little better. I could be on the ice (practicing) in a week."
Carter is ready

Right winger Anson Carter had 33 goals playing with the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, in Vancouver last season before signing with the Blue Jackets on the eve of training camp.
Throughout the summer, one of the questions bandied about in Vancouver was: Did Carter make the Sedins, or did the Sedins inflate Carter?s numbers?
"I?ve scored goals before," said Carter, who has topped 20 goals four times. "I?d like to think I had a hand in helping them develop. But the main thing is they?re excellent hockey players. ... People should get off their back."
Disa and data

Winger Nikolai Zherdev was still going through the process of acquiring his visa in Moscow. He might arrive in Columbus this weekend or sometime next week (probably). Before Zherdev is tossed into the fray, coach Gerard Gallant said, "I?m going to want to get a look at him. ... That?s a long trip, getting over from there." ... With centers Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Svitov nursing shoulder injuries, the Blue Jackets will open with Mark Hartigan, Geoff Platt, Manny Malhotra and Gilbert Brule up the middle. "You can say we?re inexperienced up the middle," Gallant said. "But I know Mark Hartigan is a good hockey player, and he has done well playing with (Nash and David Vyborny) in the past. Geoff Platt is going to be a hell of a hockey player for a long, long time. ... Yeah, we?re young up the middle right now, but I feel very good about what we?ve got."
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