Derek Dorsett got the visitors on the scoreboard first, with a goal at the 4:09 mark in the first period. It was just Dorsett’s second of the season. The goal was assisted by Fredrik Modin and Mathieu Roy. St. Louis tied the game with just :02 remaining in the period, as David Backes picked up a power play goal, assisted by T.J. Oshie and David Perron. The goal for Backes was his 11th of the season.

The second period was marred by penalties, with 36 total, including a 10 minute misconduct by the Blues’ Brad Winchester. The lone goal in the period was scored by Blue Jackets Fedor Tyutin. It was his third of the season, and it came via the power play. Rick Nash and R.J. Umberger assisted on the goal.

Andy McDonald tied the game in the third period at the 18:25 mark, scoring his 17th goal, also a power play. Erik Johnson and Eric Brewer helped with an assist on the goal. In overtime, Kris Russell picked up his sixth goal of the season, with assists from Derick Brassard and Marc Methot.

All in all, there were 42 minutes of penalties in the game. Columbus was out shot 27-19. Goaltender Mathiew Garon picked up the win to improve to 8-8-3 overall. The Blue Jackets will now wait until Tuesday when they travel to Denver to take on the Avalanche. St. Louis’ next game will be Wednesday against their rival team, the Chicago Blackhawks.

To say the Blue Jackets played 54 minutes of good hockey would be an overstatement; the CBJ came out flat in the first period. Steve Mason almost single-handedly kept them in the game making a couple circus saves as the Flames outshot the Jackets 10-5 and had control of the puck for the majority of the first 20.

A different Jackets team came out in the second period and despite giving up the first goal, managed to keep things together and dictate the play of the game. Then the Jackets got to Calgary backup Curtis McElhinney. At the 13:20 mark Rick Nash wristed a slick power play goal to tie the game up and snap a four-game goalless drought. Just 63 second later Marc Methot scored his first of the season to give the Jackets the lead. Jared Boll scored with less than 30 seconds remaining in the second to give the Jackets a two-goal lead and all the momentum heading into the intermission.

The ensuing third period was really a tale of two teams, the Jackets continued to get shots on McElhinney, making his second start of the season, and almost extended the lead. Then with about 10 minutes remaining they reverted into defense-mode. Any coach will tell you, a two-goal lead is the most dangerous lead in hockey. The Blue Jackets found that out the hard way. They were manhandled on the boards in their own end and in the Calgary end. Columbus defenders looked like pee-wees chasing the puck around in the defensive zone. Breakout attempts were less than half-hearted and the Jackets committed numerous turnovers in at their blue line. The Flames cycled the puck behind the net, won on the boards, and Dustin Boyd and Nigel Dawes scored goals 79 seconds apart to tie the game up at 15:32 mark.

The Blue Jackets looked aloof in the final minutes of the third and overtime. Steve Mason looked lost in the shootout giving up three goals to four skaters. The Jackets losing streak was extended to five games.

The Blue Jackets are now 12-9-4 on the season, tied for third in the Central Division. Things do not get any easier for the Jackets tonight as they take on rival St. Louis in Nationwide. This will be the first meeting between CBJ and St. Louis on the season. Last year the Blues won five of six games against the Jackets and eventually overtook Columbus for the sixth playoff seed. The Blues haven’t hit their stride yet on the season and are in last place in the Central, but just three points out of third.

Tonight is a gut check for the Blue Jackets. Scott Howson and Ken Hitchcock believe this team has all of the pieces to contend but need to start putting in a full 60 minutes, a rarity this season. The players and fans shouldn’t need any more motivation than a quick YouTube search of Rick Nash and TJ Oshie to get revved up for this game. The Blues are a very similar team to the Blue Jackets, with a talented group of young forwards and defensemen. Not to mention both teams will likely be starting Masons in goal. This could very well be a defining game for Columbus in this young season. The Union Blue had better let their play define it.

Notes:

Kris Russell will return to the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch for five of the past six. Marc Methot will likely miss the Jackets next two games with an unspecified upper body injury.

After a short experiment with Raffi Torres on the first line early in Saturday night’s loss, Kristian Huselius has rejoined Rick Nash. Huselius has been a man on fire since returning from injury November 13th. Juice has 5-6-11 in his last eight games. He had nine points in 13 games prior to the injury.

The 2006 first overall pick Erik Johnson leads the Blues with 17 points in 24 games. The talented defenseman has been a rock for St. Louis after missing all of last season due to injuries from a freak golf cart accident.

Comments Welcome

-Bart Logan

bartftc@gmail.com

Twitter: BartFTC

The Union Blue came out and peppered Labarbera with 13 shots in the first period but managed only a single goal. The Jackets had a four-minute power play to end the first after Scottie Upshall’s high stick on Marc Methot drew blood.  Brassard buried the rebound off Russell’s point shot through traffic. But less than 30 seconds, RJ Umberger took a swing at James Vandermeer after the whistle, then tried to cover it up by throwing off the gloves and starting a fight. When it was all done, the Jackets lost out on a power play to finish the rest of the period. It was a bad penalty from RJ and foreshadowed the sort of undisciplined play that would lead to Jackets’ fourth loss in their last five.

It all came crashing down in the second and third periods. Both teams traded chances but the ‘Yotes capitalized on scoring chances and out-worked the Jackets for the last 40 minutes. Phoenix got a power play goal from Martin Hanzel, his first of the year, at the 10:33 mark in the second. Rusty Klesla did his best to defend a Phoenix counterattack with the rest of PK dogging it down the ice. Mike Commodore was the last one back in the zone and knocked Hanzel into the net after Hanzel had knocked a rebound past Chris Mason. Another bad penalty after the whistle for Columbus

Vandermeer added another goal, his first of the year, a little over three minutes later off a shot from the point with Mason screened. Zybnek Michalek and Robert Lang added power play tallies in the third to quash any hopes of a Blue Jackets comeback.

In a game that was supposed to be a shot at redemption in front of the home fans after an awful road trip, the Blue Jackets still looked like their western swing selves. The game was probably best characterized on the Hanzel goal. The Blue Jackets PK was plain beat down the ice and the ‘Yotes did the little things to outwork and out-compete the Union Blue. The win mattered more to Phoenix.

In a post game interview Marc Methot said this result was “scary” because the team had already ironed out the issues with the penalty kill. This is obviously not the case. The aggression that forced turnovers on the forecheck and backcheck, that clogged up opponent passing lanes, that led to short handed opportunities (through 6 games the CBJ had 3 SHG and given up 1 PPG) was still nowhere to be found. The zone coverage was shaky at best.

The Coyotes were able to dictate the game despite being out shot by a margin of nine. Don’t let the 32 shots fool you, the CBJ had about a half dozen quality scoring chances. The Phoenix defense forced Columbus to take most of their shots from low scoring areas to the outside. Labarbera had more rubber in his stomach than the Michelin Man.

The Blue Jackets have a lot to work on and not a whole lot of time to remedy it. They will be seeing the scoring elite from the East this weekend with Pittsburgh coming to town Friday and Washington Sunday. If the Blue Jackets don’t return to the style of play that was winning them games early this season, it could be a very long weekend.

NOTES——-

Jan Hejda insists that he is ahead in his rehab and may be ready to return to the lineup as soon as Sunday.

Anton Stralman finished second among defensemen in ice time last night with 20:22. Only Fedor Tyutin saw more ice on the blue line. Stralman wasn’t just limited to power play special teams time; he also logged some PK minutes and at times looked like the most solid D in the lineup.

Mathieu Roy was returned to Syracuse. Had Roy played a couple more games, it would have nullified his emergency recall status and he would have had to return to the Crunch through the waiver wire. Someone would have snatched him up.

Rick Nash was held off the score sheet last night for just the third time this season. Nash tied for seventh in league in scoring with 15 points through 11 games.

The Blue Jackets are expecting upwards of 19,000 for Friday night’s clash with the defending champs. The Blue Jackets set a regular season attendance record last season when Pittsburgh came to town.

The new FTC Power Rankings will be out next Monday.

——-

bartftc@gmail.com

Twitter: BartFTC

In losses to Calgary and Edmonton this week, the Blue Jackets surrendered as many goals (12) as they had in their prior 6 games combined.  While goaltending has not been up to its normal lofty standards, to blame these two defeats on the netminders would be shortsighted.  Instead, the Jackets have simply lost sight of some of the fundamentals that served them so well in their first half dozen games:

• Turnovers – both the Los Angeles and Edmonton games were filled with sloppy turnovers in the Jackets’ own zone.  This created mismatches and quick scoring opportunities that the opponents quickly cashed in.  In the first six games, Columbus was the epitome of consistency in trapping the puck and making quick, decisive exit passes.  The last two games have featured more indecision and ragged clearing efforts.
• Penalties – the end of the second period in Edmonton was a perfect illustration of how unnecessary penalties can kill momentum and breathe life back into a team that is on the ropes.  Holding a 4 -2 lead, and frankly dominating play, the Jackets took three penalties in under 5 minutes, including a particularly bewildering mugging administered by defenseman Marc Methot, which directly led to a Hemsky tally on the ensuing power play, and a one goal game.  Nobody can maintain a 96% penalty kill average for extended periods, and the bubble burst last night.  The club reverted to their old, non-aggressive style of penalty killing, and they paid for it.
• Spectating – on numerous occasions in the past two games, opposing forwards have been able to gain significant time and space, unchallenged by Jackets defensemen or forwards.  In Calgary, Dion Phaneuf’s coast to coast effort featured a lackluster skating effort by forward Derek Dorsett, and inexplicable inaction by the rest of the defense as Phaneuf entered the zone, and fired a laser past Mason.  Numerous variations on this theme arose in both losses, with particularly disappointing efforts by Klesla and Methot.  While the absence of Commodore and Hejda is significant, the Jackets were able to craft a solid victory over L.A. without them.  But the attention to detail and the pressure in all three zones that was evident then has been lacking in the past two contests.
• Awareness – It is sometimes tempting to treat then skaters and the goalies as separate, unconnected entities, but they are very much related.  When a team is backstopped by a solid goaltender, they play more confidently, are able to be more aggressive, and generate more opportunities.  Similarly, when a goalie has a well-functioning defense in front of him, he is better able to anticipate the flow of the play, which in turn makes him more effective.  There has been a disconnect the last two games, and the consequences have been garish.  Both Mason and Garon have been caught anticipating clears, and appeared to be caught napping when the normally reliable defense has failed.  Similarly, the defense has seemed unprepared to deal with unanticipated rebounds in their own zone, giving the opposition multiple opportunities.

Despite these two setbacks, all is not gloom and doom.  Commodore is expected to return against Anaheim, and the play of Kris Russell, Anton Stralman and Mathieu Roy has been encouraging, providing coach and GM with more long term flexibility.  The offense has started to blossom, with Kristian Huselius shaking off an awful effort against Calgary to net two goals at Edmonton.  Derick Brassard is showing signs of life, with Raffi Torres and Jason Chimera making huge contributions.  The power play, which resided in the league basement all year last season, has been more than credible, currently sitting ninth in the NHL at 25%.  Despite surrendering three goals against Edmonton, the penalty kill still sits third in the league at 88.9%.

The recent travails are the unfortunate side-effect of having a startlingly young roster.  There is nothing wrong with the Jackets that can’t be cured by some pointed examples from Hitchcock and a lively practice session or two.  Thanks to their fast start, these two setbacks are disappointing, but hardly lethal.  Look for a return to form as the Jackets play their first back-to-back games in Anaheim and Los Angeles over the weekend.  Hitchcock will make sure that the club devotes its full attention to delivering 60 minutes of hard-nosed hockey.

Entering the contest, a virtual slugfest was anticipated, given the bad blood generated between the two squads last year after Phaneuf’s cheap shot hit on R. J. Umberger.  Add the fact that Calgary blew a five goal first period lead last night against Chicago, and the makings of felonious assault were all there.  Coach Ken Hitchcock was sufficiently convinced that brutality was going to be the order of the day that he scratched young Nikita Filatov and new defenseman Mathieu Roy.  However, while the affair was a tight checking, edgy game, it never escalated to the donnybrook many (including me) predicted.  I gave my wife an over/under number of four fighting majors for each team, and thought the over would have been a good bet.  Not so.

The only officially recognized pugilism occurred just two minutes in, when Jared Boll dropped the gloves with Brandon Prust.  While the timing was understandable from one perspective, as Calgary had taken 6 of the first 7 shots, it was unfortunate in another, as it negated a sizzling laser from the point off the stick of Marc Methot from the left point, negated by the fact that Boll and Prust had already dropped the gloves before the shot was taken.  Other than this, only two concurrent roughing penalties provided any indications that these teams just do not like each other.

The Jackets showed uncharacteristic discipline, given the youth of the squad and the early stage of the season, by allowing Calgary only one power play, which was duly killed.  Calgary entered the game as the league leader on the power play, cashing in about 45% of the opportunities.  It was a non-factor tonight, as the Jackets made use of a great performance by Mason and terrific three-zone defense.  The forecheck was very strong, and the club was able to repeatedly set up their picket fence in the neutral zone, obviously frustrating the highly talented Flames, who could never get any prolonged continuity in the offensive zone.

Calgary took the initial lead late in the first, when former Jacket Curtis Glencross banked home a bouncing shot from Borque.  Mason had no chance on the play, and the Jackets protested that Glencross had hit the puck with a high stick.  A review from Toronto confirmed the goal, providing a massive sense of déjà vu to the assembled fans, and providing a bad omen for things to come.  When Brassard missed an open net on one opportunity and clanged the pipe on another, it appeared that a 1 – 0 result might be the outcome.

However, as the second period rolled along, the Jackets found their offensive momentum, and began carrying the play for extended periods in the offensive zone.  A fatigued Mark Giordano took a hooking penalty with just over six minutes left in the period.  The power play unit maintained possession and pressure, forcing the Flames’ Cory Sarich into another hooking infraction, and giving the Jackets a 5-on-3 opportunity for 40 seconds.  Hitchcock took a timeout to enable him to use the same personnel, and only nine seconds were required to convert, when former Flame Anton Stralman fired a blast past Kiprusoff from the left point to knot the score.  Still on the power play, the Jackets had opportunities, but could not convert until just after a return to even strength, when another former Flame, Kristian Huselius, banged home a rebound to provide what would prove to be the winning margin.  Nash assisted on both goals, with Brassard and Umberger notching the other helpers.

In the best Ken Hitchcock tradition, the Jackets shut down the potent Flames offense in the third period.  They also overcame a bizarre turn of events when an apparent goal from the crease was waved off, due to an inexplicable whistle from referee Stephen Walcom.  Replays clearly showed the puck visible after a save by Kiprusoff, and Walcom apparently staring right at it, yet you can hear the whistle blow, for no apparent reason.  To say that the fans expressed their displeasure would be the epitome of understatement.  Nonetheless, Columbus shut down Calgary for the remainder of the period, and though Nash’s bid for an empty-netter from the red line clanged off the right post, another two points was secured.

The officials had a generally lousy night.  Besides the phantom whistle, a massive hook of Voracek on a breakaway should have earned a penalty shot, but didn’t even bring a penalty call.  The officials missed a Calgary “too many men” penalty when the puck in play hit a Calgary player leaving the ice, and what appeared to be Calgary’s  unprovoked dislodging of their own net while Columbus was on the attack drew no attention from the officials.  Nonetheless, the young Jackets maintained discipline throughout.

Hitchcock has always said that it is the defense that has the toughest time at the beginning of the season.  If that is so, I can hardly wait for them to get through their tough time . . .  other than the San Jose aberration, the team has allowed just five goals in the other four4 games played, including three goals by Vancouver.  Mason was solid as a rock tonight, and the entire team started to show more signs of coming together as a unit.

Naturally, there are rough spots to work out.  The power play looks much better, but still needs work.  However, Stralman is improving by the shift, and provides precisely what we need at the point.  Our defensemen still wait for the puck to come to them too much in the defensive zone, rather than skating to meet the puck.  This makes the team vulnerable to hard charging forecheckers,  who cause havoc and turnovers in our own zone.

Still, with Brassard just coming around and Filatov being nursed at a very slow pace by Hitchcock, the 4 – 1 record the team has posted is very impressive. Nash is racking up assists, and everyone is chipping in.  The Vermette – Umberger – Voracek line was absolutely terrific tonight.  As the remaining pieces come together, this could prove to be a very good hockey club.

Los Angeles Saturday night, then back on the road out West, with stops in Calgary, Edmonton, Anaheim and Los Angeles.  While the CBJ will not sneak up on anybody this year, the talent they have is such that they just might not need sneakiness to win.  A very good Calgary club came into town tonight, and walked away with no points.  That has to be encouraging to everyone.  You know that doing it with defense has Hitchcock smiling that slightly devious smile he sports from time to time.  Right now, there is a lot to smile about.

As you can see a lot has happened so who better to talk about what has happened and maybe even what could happen than one of the men in the center of it all. Assistant General Manager Chris MacFarland will join the Fire The Cannon podcast and lend his insight of all the inner workings of the front office of the Blue Jackets. MacFarland has been on the show before and is a great interview and very engaging.

Also, Bart Logan, fellow FireTheCannon.com writer, will co-host with myself on the hour long show. This should be a good one that you won’t want to miss. Also, feel free to fire off questions to my email or, even better, call into the show on Wednesday night at 7pm ET.

Fire The Cannon!

Eric Smith
JacketsBuzz@yahoo.com
On Twitter at http://twitter.com/BlueJacketsBuzz

The deal will pay Methot $975,000 in ’09-’10 and $1.05M in ’10-’11, Fire The Cannon has learned. Howson acknowledged the deal as an accomplishment to get a player they really like under contract.

This morning, all reports were that this was headed to arbitration. “There’s a huge gap,” GM Scott Howson said after reviwing the brief given by Methot’s agent, Larry Kelly. “I expect this to go to arbitration based on the positions put forward by the two of us.”

Both parties had already flown to Toronto to prepare for the hearing when the deal was struck.

This marks the third time a Blue Jackets player has filed for arbitration, the team has been able avoid the hearing all three times.

In other news, the Blue Jackets also re-signed restricted free agent Mike Blunden to a one-year, two-way contract. He will be invited to training camp with a shot at earning the center spot on the Jacket’s forth line.

Jackets defenseman, and restricted free agent Marc Methot, is scheduled to have his case heard Thursday morning in Toronto unless the two sides can agree on a contract, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

Methot’s agent, Larry Kelly, and Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson have both stated that their side would like to avoid the hearing if possible.

With the player demanding more money and the team telling him why he does not deserve it, arbitration hearings have never been considered a good way to build a strong relationship between team and player.

“I’m hoping we can settle up before the hearing,” Methot said. “The Blue Jackets are a team that I really want to be a part of, obviously.

“This is the way the business is set up, though. If we do go to a hearing, hopefully we’ll come out of it happy and forget about (what was said) and go on with this coming season. That’s what I plan to do if it comes to that.”

Methot was a solid contributor for the Jackets last season, totaling 4 + 13 =17 with a plus 7 rating and an average ice time of over 17 minutes. These numbers mean he will likely receive a raise from the estimated $500,000 he made last year.

Negotiations between the two sides will continue up until the hearing in effort to avoid it. If a deal is not forthcoming by Wednesday afternoon, both groups will fly to Toronto.

If that is the case, and a hearing is needed, the Jackets will have 48 hours to accept the decision or decline, thus making Methot an unrestricted free agent.

Only two other Blue Jackets, defenseman Jamie Pushor and winger Jason Chimera, have ever filed for arbitration.

The team came to terms quickly with Chimera, nearly two weeks before the hearing, but did not get a deal done with Pushor until they were standing outside the doors of the meeting room the morning of the hearing.

It is clear that both sides want to get this done. Expect the two parties to settle on a deal, if not before the hearing, than after.

]]> http://firethecannon.com/jackets-methot-close-to-arbitration-36424.html/feed/ 1 http://firethecannon.com/cbj-sunday-stirrup-2-36320.html http://firethecannon.com/cbj-sunday-stirrup-2-36320.html#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:32:41 +0000 Devon Kunkel http://firethecannon.com/?p=320 This week has be quite a week for the Blue Jackets, a lot is happening around the team and this should catch you up. I’ve decided to make Sunday Stirrup a weekly column. Every week I will recap the week that was for the Blue Jackets, go over any rumors, free agent updates and potential draft choices.

For starts our phenom between the pipes Steve Mason claimed the Rookie of the Year award. He led the league with ten shutouts, was second in goals against at 2.29, and compiled a team record 33 wins while playing in 61 games. Impressive numbers for the kid, unfortunately however he finished second for the Vezina Trophy.

Rick Nash was honored as the 2008-2009 recipient of the National Hockey League Foundation Player Award, presented annually to a player “in recognition of his commitment and service to charities in his community,” as per bluejackets.com. In his honor, the NHL will give $25,000 to the charity of Nash’s choice.

Moving on to rumors, it was a wild week to say the least. For starters Mike Brophy at Sportsnet reported that a team looking to land Nash next summer should look to hiring former Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean. Brophy’s reasoning behind this was that MacLean could help that team land Nash. My input, Doug MacLean also works at Sportsnet’s hockey panel and is probability looking to get back into the NHL. Not a bad sell, hire me and I can increase your chances at Nash next year. Rick is in the last year of his five-year, $27 million dollar contract.  In order to sign Nash I believe GM Howson will have to be offering between 6.5 and 8 million long term over 5-8 years.  No need to worry, Howson will get it done.

Aaron Portzline at the Columbus Dispatch reports that the Blue Jackets will not tender Novotny a new contract thus making him a free agent July 1st. He expects the teams other 4 restricted free agents in left winger Alexandre Picard, defensemen Marc Methot and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, and goaltender Dan LaCosta to be offered a contract soon.

Light the Lamp has a great article on the draft here.

Nik Antropov who is believed to have some interested to the Blue Jackets is believed to be seeking 4-5 million on the opening market according to Andy Strickland. He just priced himself out of Columbus.

Some lesser known players we should look at include Cory Murphy, Chad Larose, Dennis Seidenberg, Jordan Leopold and Greg Zanon.

Present and past Blue Jackets out some dough.

The New York Post reported in Friday’s edition that 19 former and current NHL players filed suit against Ken Jowdy, alleging they invested the money with the Las Vegas-based golf-course mogul to develop two luxury resorts in Mexico — a project they say is seven years behind schedule.

Former New York Rangers and Islanders defensman Bryan Berard and one-time Islanders captain Michael Peca were hit the hardest, each losing $700,000 in the deal, according to the filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“It’s particularly uncomfortable for all,” Berard told the Post. “He’s taken our money without telling us, and it’s supposedly all gone.”

Also we heard from a source that Columbus will choose at slot 16 but are hoping to get an additional pick to move back in the first and are hoping that the Islanders will turn over the number 26 in the first round and 37th overall in the second round for a ten slot bump up for the Isles. They may want to give 26th and 56th overall, the last of their three seconds.

And hey whatever happen to defensemen Frantisek Kucera?

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL THE DAYS OUT THERE!

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