Columbus Blue Jackets: A Team Effort, or Goaltender’s Army?
- Updated: February 14, 2014
As the Olympic break is upon us, it looks like all of us CBJ fans are sensing a withdrawal of Jackets hockey, despite our Team Russia Olympians. As fans, we’ll try our best to see Bobs, Tyuts, Niki, and Arty play in Sochi as much as possible. I know I am! And I’m sure the rest of the team is enjoying their month off, while also missing the fun on the ice of Nationwide Arena. Here’s my question for everyone; do you think that our recent success as a hockey club is credible to the amazing work from the entire team, or is it mainly from the huge drive Sergei Bobrovsky is giving our boys in Union Blue since his return from his December injury?
It was December 3, 2013. Bob suffered a major groin strain during the game against Tampa Bay. We didn’t know what we were gonna do! However, the Jackets held their own under Curtis McElhinney & Springfield call-up Mike McKenna, both with a combined 1.812 save percentage & 9-10-2 record. Once Sergei made his return, however, we became an entirely new team! Nathan Horton came into the picture, adding a gigantic boost to the lines, and we made team history with a new franchise winning streak of 8 since Bob came back!
As we also know, many Springfield call-ups have been fairly recent as well. Cody Bass, Cody Goloubef, and Tim Erixon have all been sent up at one point or another as Dalton Prout has been absent. We’re a young, injury-prone team, but we’re tough. (And another thing…PLAYOFF BOUND! *At least for the meantime*) If you need a little perspective on how tough the CBJ club is, Wiz has been playing with a broken toe ever since the Los Angeles game at the Staples Center before the break!! OR, take a look at Bob’s numbers since coming back from the December groin strain! HOLY COW, THAT RUSSIAN IS TOUGH AS NAILS!
Injury won’t stop the Blue Jackets from keeping up in the big Metro Division race, playoff race, or keeping their eyes on the Stanley Cup! Now, I believe we’ll get close, but we may not get the Cup sadly. However, Columbus has time to prove just how ready we are. There are still a couple months left in the NHL regular season, and there will be tests. The Jackets will be ready, with Sergei to lead them from the benches, but how will we do it? So, I leave the question to you guys, is Columbus a real “‘Union’ Blue” team, or is NHL hockey a goaltender’s game?
About Jake Garringer
