… since the French Alfalfa last allowed a biscuit into the net.

That’s 65 shots, if you’re keeping count.

Seven and a half periods.

Enough to bump Norrena from his spot as “road starter” this Saturday against Colorado, and enough to send Mason to London.

What is this unusual feeling? Is it… hope? Or just cautious optimism? Are Jackets fans allowed to get their hopes up in mid-October? How very splendid it is to start a season on a high note. Good work, fellas.

— Collaborative Effort Paying Off – Columbus Dispatch

Earlier this week, the Blue Jackets released the starting forward lines for the 2007 season (LW/C/RW):

First Line: Nash / Fedorov / Vyborny

Second Line: Chimera / Novotny / Zherdev

Third Line: Modin* / Peca* / Brule

Fourth Line: Fritsche / Malhotra / Boll

“Fifth” Line: Shelly / Beech** / Glencross

*Note: After these lines were announced, the Jackets put Peca, Modin, and Foote on IR.
**Note: Beech has been put on waivers.

As always, if you want previews and analysis, head on over to EOB for Drew & Truth Serum’s comprehensive evaluation.

All that can be said at this point is that the team looks talented, if a bit shallow and green in too many places. Between the pipes, Leclaire and Norrena are neck-and-neck for the starting position, with Leclaire getting the home starts and Norrena getting the away ones (for now). Fritsche looks low, but I wonder if that was a prescient choice; with the injuries and age ahead of him, no doubt he’ll be bumped up in no time. Same with Malhotra.

The elephant-not-in-the-room is Brassard, which initially seems like a shame. However, the office is taking the patient route with him, so it’s a wait-and-see at this point. More time in development is going to do nothing but make him better down the road.

Also note how Sergei moved back up to the first line during preseason. Good for him, but the cynic inside me says that this probably reveals some weaknesses.

Watch out for Jared Boll on that fourth line, who’s making a name for himself. Boll is the padawan to Shelly’s Yoda. He’ll be a fan favorite in no time.

That’s about it for the players. As for the arena, well, we have some new toys this year. Bring your earplugs to the games!

Blue Jackets training camp starts today, and Hitch and Howson have announced that they will start the year off with an experiment: Zherdev will be moved to center.

Howson travelled this summer to Ottawa, where Zherdev was living in the off-season, and met with him.

Howson told Zherdev what he expected of him and what kind of shape the player needed to be in. Then Howson dropped a bomb on Zherdev.

“We suggested it and he about fell off the back of his chair,” Hitchcock said with a grin.

Howson said it was evident that Zherdev didn’t think he could play centre, which involves feeding teammates, sacrificing your body for others to score and not making turnovers.

Zherdev will form a line with David Vyborny and Rick Nash. Rick first heard about the switch during a radio interview and said it was “interesting.”

In other CBJ news:

• Alexander Svitov has been officially suspended from the team for failing to report to camp. This should create some breathing room under the salary cap.
• In general, players reported to camp a little more fit than last year. Even Shelly lost some weight, and Nash has “bulked up” his upper body.
• Fox Sports has graciously allowed your Columbus Blue Jackets, brought to you by FSN, to rename their retail shops the “FSN Ohio Blue Line.” Thank you FSN.
• Sunday’s exhibition game against the Predators faces off at 5 p.m. On FSN.

[Ed. – Note we’ve updated the CBJ post icon to reflect the team’s new logo. MotSaG is on the ball… or the puck…. um… whatever. Choose your own mixed metaphor. The icon is updated, though.]

Sincerely, Doug, thanks for the decade of hard work you put into the organization.

Sincerely, Doug, thanks for taking the reins during the planning phase and giving this town a facility that makes other teams and fans jealous.

Sincerely, Doug, thanks for pouring your life and soul into the franchise.

But sincerely, Doug, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Michael @ AOTO has much link goodness.

Meh.

Thanks a lot, Jackets. Thanks for treating the fans that managed to drive hours through the snowstorm to the worst effort in franchise history.

It’s a good thing it was only the ‘yotes. Otherwise, the Jackets would have lost 912-0. That’s how bad they looked.

Not at first, though. For the first ten minutes, the tempo was high, the hits were hard, and the Blue Jackets were outshooting Gretzky’s squad 9-2. Then the bottom inexplicably fell out.

Some of the offenders (oh, yeah, I’m naming names):

Berard/Malhotra. Boy, was I looking forward to welcoming Berard home to the ‘Wide. But he played exactly like someone who hasn’t played in a year. He wasn’t ready, and it showed. Both players had sloppy turnovers that directly resulted in two Phoenix goals, taking whatever wind was left out of the Jackets’ sails.

Fedorov. I never thought I’d be calling out Sergei, but I (and the hundred or so fans closest to me) caught something that made us quite angry. Near the end of one of his shifts in the third period, he began heading back to the bench from inside the Coyotes zone. An errant pass from the ‘yotes sent the puck directly beside his skate, where he could have picked it up and had it to himself, one on one, with the goalie. Fedorov looked at the puck, and casually skated by it. He didn’t reach for it, he didn’t even react at all. It was like he was daydreaming or something. The folks sitting in my section just looked at each other, saying things like, “…oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” and “…no way did he just ignore that,” and “…THAT BLACK THING’S THE PUCK, SERGEI!!”

Just one example, but very representative of the team’s overall effort.

Nash/Carter/Brule/Modin. It ain’t got to be pretty, boys. Chuck it in there and get the rebound. Stop insisting that all NHL goals have to be fancy finesse shots or mach 1 slapshots. Most goals nowadays come from, what, 6-10 feet in front of the net, the majority of them redirects? Get it in there, and let someone else mop it up.

Whoever’s on man-advantage. Just. Take. The. Shot. We really don’t need to take 1:45 seconds to set up a shot during a PP, do we?

Overall, it was just sloppy, undisciplined play. No battle for the loose pucks. Repeatedly going offside – not accidentally, but cluelessly. Six to seven men playing on the ice in the same zone, and nobody realizing it until the refs give the penalty. Not finishing checks. Bad passing. Daydreaming.

Okay, some positive things. Fritsche and Vyborny did play hard and give good effort. Klesla also played hard.

And I think I like this Konopka kid, too. He’s… “tenacious.” A little undisciplined — I think he gets angry a bit too easily — but I definitely enjoyed watching him. He finishes his checks, and isn’t afraid of anyone. He was at the center of a huge melee in the first period between the benches, which seemed to go on forever. Owen Nolan took a cheap shot, and Konopka responded; then Nick Boynton responded to Konopka; then Shelly jumped in and it became a yard sale… two fights, three roughing minors, blood on the ice, etc.

When the play-by-play looks like this, you know you missed a dandy fight…

If only they would play hockey with the same effort as they use to defend one another…

More CBJ bloggers also blowing off steam:
Army of the Ohio
End of the Bench
The Jacket Times

That’s the type of hockey that I enjoy watching immensely. Effort-wise, that is. Friday night’s win over the Sabres was especially unbelievable.

Like I wrote before, if the playoffs are slipping away, the Jackets might as well make life miserable for everyone else in the meantime, and boy howdy they didn’t disappoint. Norrena, who had a stellar game, said that it was the fastest tempo he’d ever seen as a professional.

Who says enforcing isn’t necessary in the new NHL? Andrew Peters took a few too many liberties, and was kept in check by Foote and (especially!) Shelly, then cleaned up his act for the final half of the game. Ole’ Tolle gave the hit of the year so far, checking Kotalik into the Sabres’ bench. Actually, I’m not sure calling it a “check” does justice. Kotalik went airborne, flipped upside down, and ended up on his head behind the Sabres’ bench, with both blades sticking up in the air. Before his woozy head popped back up again, another forward had jumped back onto the ice to replace him. One for the highlight reel at the end of this season.

Half the shot-glass obsessed, child-insulting, foul mouthed town of Buffalo chartered buses to watch their NHL-leading Sabres play, and by the time they started throwing beer in section 216 their players were being outroughed by the “lowly” Jackets.

If crushing Buffalo was the main dinner course, then the dessert came on Saturday when the Jackets beat the Wild. We’ve been waiting for revenge since late December… (in case you don’t remember, that was the game referee Tom Kowal gave to the Wild.) The Jackets played with great effort again, Kowal didn’t ref the game, and C-bus pulled out the victory.

So, Hitch has put together a great week or two. Multiple wins against the top three teams in the NHL. December was a great month, and if we give the Jackets some slack for the losses during the week or so the Crunch Bunch was in town, January’s been impressive, too. The chemistry between the team is continuing to become more refined.

The most glaring exception is Zherdev, and I’m not sure where I stand on him. The trade rumors are circulating, but I’ll bet they give him one more season to adjust to Hitchcock’s scheme. I think Hitch knows that Nik’s going to be a great player someday. We’d all hate to see Zherdev turn into a stud with another team.

I wonder if Zherdev figured into a little long-term strategy with last week’s Konopka/Glencross acquisition. It’s sad to see Hartigan go, but I wonder if the Hitch and MacLean are looking to develop some forward line options that Nikolai might fit into.

In the short-term, though, I’m a little nervous about losing yet another goalie. Can we get a break, here?!? (I think that should be the Blue Jackets mantra.)

Did you ever think the time would come this year when you’d hear, “Starting in goal tonight will be Ty Conklin” ? Sheesh. Hopefully he’ll step up and Popperle will play the way he did in preseason against the Preds.

Rick Nash scored two goals, two assists, and had a game high six shots on goal for the West all-stars as his team beat the East 12-9.

(Yes, 12-9. Welcome to the new NHL.)

Meanwhile, all fourteen people watching on Versus saw the mighty tandem of Ovechkin and Crosby score only one point between them. Not that we Nash fans enjoyed that or anything.

Hopefully, this will be a preview of things to come during the second half of the season. Making it to the playoffs is a dream that will (sigh!) have to wait for next season, but if Nash continues to develop at the rate he has been, holy cow will he be fun to watch.

The All-Star game also unveiled the new NHL uniforms, which are supposed to make the players faster, cooler, and safer. It certainly made them look slimmer.

Nash scores on Brodeur. Yes, his butt cheeks are hanging out, but at least his jersey and pants lines are in perfect alignment. Click to embiggenate.

I don’t suppose that I care that much one way or the other about the new unis. Sure looked to me like the players still used a lot of tape around their calves, but I wonder how much of that comes from old habits that will just die hard.

The interesting thing about the switch to me as a Jackets fan will be the league’s move to home whites, combined with the CBJ’s retiring of the original logo, and replacing it with the logo from the third jersey:

I never cared for the third-team jersey logo. I never cared much for the “C-J-B” logo either, but the new one isn’t that much better. Personally, I’d like to see the Blue Jacket theme brought more to the forefront, but I can understand why some would be nervous of offending Native Americans (although the Blackhawks haven’t avoided doing it.)

Am I the only one that thinks using the Ohio flag as the team’s icon is a bit tacky? I know some feel that “anything-red-white-and-blue-is-awesome-you-commie-scum!”, but to me, it just shows a lack of imagination, I guess. The Jackets were built from scratch, so it’d be nice to have iconography that reflects that and is completely unique, like some other teams have.

All-Star Game images credit & copyright: Getty Images

I blame Drew and TruthSerum.

Too many times, I’ve gotten burned. Stayed up past midnight to watch the Jackets lose.

Last night, I was a bad fan. “Oh, I’ll keep an eye on the score, but I am not committing 2-1/2 hours to another west coast game, especially when it starts after 10pm and is against the NHL-leading Ducks.”

So, I lazed in bed, flipping back and forth between the Jackets/Ducks game and Young Frankenstein, keeping an eye on the score but refusing to get “into” the game.

“He would have an enormous svwahnshtuger. Woof.”
Period 2: Ducks 1, Jackets 0

“It was Abi… someone. Yes… Abi… normal. I’m almost sure that was the name.”
Period 2: Ducks 2, Jackets 0

“Come back!! Aw… I was gonna make espresso.”
Period 3: Ducks 3, Jackets 0

Sheesh. So not only are the Jackets gonna lose, but looks like another shutout. I felt bad for those folks that were going to stay up until 12:30 to see another embarrassing collapse. I’ve learned my lesson.

So, I turned the TV off, just moments before the most exciting comeback in recent CBJ memory. Apparently, within ten minutes, the Jackets scored four goals to win the game, the last with only 1:20 left on the clock. The period even included Norrena turning away a dramatic penalty shot with 21 seconds remaining to keep the victory assured.

Curse my remote-control-pressing thumb.

I feel bad for missing the victory, of course, but I feel a little ashamed of my desire to not stay up late watching the Blue Jackets get burned again. I guess it bordered on bandwagon-ish behavior. Are you a fan, or not? I ask myself. Ah, well. I suppose I now realize that one of the “pros” of the possible realignment is that we won’t have to deal with this on a regular basis anymore. Almost all our games would be against teams in the UT-5 zone.

As for me, I’m off to watch the highlights now.

Recap: Jackets 4, Ducks 3, Mel Brooks 0

Normally, I try not to complain about officiating when a team I’m pulling for loses. Tonight I’ll make an exception, as I’m still nauseous over the horrible display of officiating that cost the Blue Jackets a point.

It is not fanaticism to notice that the officials were clearly in Minnesota’s pocket tonight. The Wild were allowed to commit penalties at will, while Columbus was forced into eleven (!) penalty kills. Hooks, tackles, interference, etc. all happened within inches of referee Tom Kowal, who kept his hands in his pockets, rolled his eyes, and whistled dixie.

And this isn’t just my opinion; I have never seen Rims or Gare (FSN Ohio broadcasters) litterally speechless.

You know, if the Jackets are going to the sin bin anyway, and if they’re going to lose no matter what, they might as well put enforcers like Shelly to work. Boorgaard especially needs a dose of humble pie. Chickening out of a scrap with Shelly, then skating far away from the C-bus bench and turning and taunting them is just pathetic.

“As long as Kowal’s the ref, I can do what I please.”

The icing on the cake was the OT goal given to the Wild. In case you’re just catching up: Minnesota center Wes Walz charged the net, a puck came flying in, got caught in his pants (we think!), and he skated across the goal line. The red light went off, but the goal was quickly, and correctly, waved off. (It’s against the rules to advance the puck across the goal line in your pants. This is what I call the “David-Copperfield-doesn’t-play-NHL-hockey” rule.) Furthermore, video replays simply showed the puck disappear. I mean, it simply disappeared. There was no way to know where the puck was, if it crossed the line, etc.

Now remember, you can’t wave a goal off and then have it count later. Especially when there is no conclusive evidence to the contrary. Especially especially if a player carries it across the goal line in his equipment.

Think that mattered to Toronto? Nope. After a ten minute conversation with the war room, when Kowal no doubt chatted about his desire to give the Wild two points, or his “stupid” contact lens prescription, or his hatred of the Jackets, Toronto agreed to let him give the Wild the goal anyway.

Again, the Jackets are battling for that eighth seed. Every point counts. I suppose this is righteous indignation for a team that just can’t catch a break.

Silver-lining wise (I guess I always have something positive to say), Zherdev showed more improvement tonight than we’ve seen from him in the past month. Nash again continues to make PKs a dangerous time for the opposition. If the Jackets aren’t going to the playoffs, lets hope they make the west central miserable for everyone in the meantime.

The NHL Board of Governors will vote in February on realigning the teams into new divisions and conferences. Apparently, they want to maximize television ratings and ease up on travel for teams by confining divisions into time zones.

Most teams will “remain” where they are, conference-wise. They may have new divisions, but will remain playing the same conference rivals as before. Only Atlanta and Columbus will switch conferences.

If it’s approved, the Blue Jackets would move from the West Central to the Northeast Division. The Jackets would leave behind division opponents St. Louis, Nashville, Chicago, and Detroit; and start playing against Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, Boston, and Pittsburgh.

First thought: Intriguing that the BOG is interested in television ratings, when they really need to be worrying about attendance.

Second thought: Aw, shoot. Just when the rivalry between the Red Wings and Blue Jackets started turning into something serious (has anyone gotten IwoCPO a friggin’ bucket yet?!?). The opportunity to have another major rival from the Detroit area was perfect.

Third thought: Pittsburgh? I know Balsillie sent a “will you go with me [check box]?” letter to Mario yesterday, but that controversy is far from over.

Speaking of Northeast Conference teams…

CBJ 3, Vyborny 2, Bruins 4

Was ready to puke by late in the second period. Boston seemingly couldn’t be stopped. Then Hitch said something during the second intermission, probably something about honor, hard work, the weather in Syracuse this time of year, who knows. All I know is that the Jackets came out and played like they were trying to win the Cup.

Vyborny rightfully gets the props for the victory, but Fedorov and Nash were the leaders on the ice last night. Nash didn’t manage any points, but was without question the single most dangerous player on the ice. (Nash got an assist on Feddy’s shorthanded goal. Thanks to Drew for the correction). What a great move Hitch made in getting him involved in penalty kills. And Sergei hasn’t played this well since he was my regular choice of the forwards in Sega’s NHL 94.

Any night the opposing goalie breaks his stick smashes the pipes in frustration after the final horn sounds is a great night of hockey for me.