Gobble, Gobble
- By Jeff Little
- Updated: December 7, 2008
Well, the CBJ gave us a turkey a week late. I suppose they were due for a bad game, but this one had no redeeming social value. My takeaways from the game:
What Jump?? First 10 minutes of the game were played in slow motion. We just came off a big effort against the best team in hockey, and could have/should have blown the fenders off these guys early. Nope. A little too much of the LA mellowness got to the boys apparently. Hitchcock gave them an optional skate yesterday. I’m beginning to think that “optional” should be removed from the CBJ vocabulary for awhile.
Waiting for . . . what exactly?? Much of our problem tonight was that we waited too long before making a play, whether that was taking a shot, passing, whatever. We had a classic 3 on 1, and Umberger tries to make the almost impossible pass across to Huselius, rather than taking the shot himself and letting Nash and Huselius clean up the rebound, or dropping a pass to Nash coming into the high slot. With the gambling defense that LA plays up high, indecisiveness is punished severely.
Indifferent Defense Nothing so glaring that you could point your finger and say AHA! THAT cost us the game. Just overall blah, no edge to the defense, no opportunities created from the back end.
Give credit to LA for playing stifling defense, and LaBarbera for making some good saves, but we are a better team than this. Mason deserved a better fate, screened on one goal, deflected on the other.
On the bright side, this is the first time the Jackets have been shut out this year, which is an improvement over past years. Man, I can dig down deep to find a silver lining, eh?
Finally, what was up with the ice tonight? I haven’t seen that many people fall down since my wedding reception. And that was many moons ago . . .
No time to stew over this one. Bring both barrels loaded for Duck hunting tomorrow! Quack!
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About Jeff Little
A native of the SF Bay Area, my first exposure to hockey was the SF/Oakland/California Golden Seals, including Charlie Finley and the white skates. Fast forward to the late 1980's when Gretzky and the Kings came up to the Bay Area for an exhibition game at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, for which we had glass seats. I was at the first San Jose Sharks game in the Cow Palace, and followed them for their first few pathetic years, before moving to Columbus in 1994. I attended the first pro-NHL rally downtown, and have been a season ticket holder since Day 1, wife & I are active in the Jacket Backers, and son is an avid fan as well. I cover the Jackets for Inside Hockey, and contribute regularly to a variety of hockey sites. I maintain contact with the Jackets organization, and like to dig into stories, bringing a fresh, and sometimes irreverent perspective to hockey.