10 games are in the books on the Columbus Blue Jackets 2009-10 season. Their record, a better than expected 6-4-0, would lead one to think that the future is bright. The nature of those victories, though, and the rampant defensive lapses bring new questions to the surface. Now the Jackets must re-identify with the gritty nature of Blue Jackets hockey, they must push their young core and elevate their game as a team.
Before the season began (or two posts ago) I asked three questions that I thought would define the first 10 games of the campaign.
Will Filitov hit the NHL running? Will Derick Brassard pick up where he left off before being injured last season? Will Steve Mason avoid the dreaded sophomore slump?
If the Jackets answer all these questions with immediate and emphatic yeses, then 10 points in 10 games could be an undersestimate.
As it turns out, the answers to all three of these questions appear to be no.
Filitov has been the subject of much back and forth grumbling among the CBJ faithful. Predictably, Hitchcock is giving the youngster a slow start in this young NHL season. His time on the ice has been limited, and he has been a healthy scratch on a number of occasions already. Many are saying that the old coach is holding back last years "best prospect not on NHL ice." I say hogwash. Hitch knows what he's doing. He's breaking in the young Russian forward with care. Filitov's skill set is not, and never will be, in question. His level of comfort in a Hitchcock system, however, is an ongoing development. I'm not worried. He appears to have made some large strides already. His effort on the ice has been noticeable of late -- and his ice time has started to increase. He'll still spend a good deal of time on the bench and in the press box, but he'll also continue to improve. Right now Hitch is picking situations for Filitov to fit into. Soon he'll begin to pick Filitov for situations where he wants the kid's energy (and wicked wrist shot).
Brassard seems just a hair behind the game right now. He's holding his own; indeed he's picked up a few points in the early going. He is not, however, producing at the rate he did a year ago. In the last few games he's been bounced around the lines in an effort to spark some chemistry for him and others. He's put in time on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th forward lines. He's expected to start game 11 on the 4th line. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised to see him a bit slow out of the gate. This is the first high level hockey they kid's played since December, after all. And there have been flashes of the vision he showed us last year, glimpses of the wrister than can thread needles.
Mason is, perhaps, the biggest mystery. He is stellar at home -- 3-0 with a 1.0 GAA and an incredible save percentage to match. His record on the road, however, is raising questions about consistency. He's been giving up soft goals early, but the defense in front of him has been suspect as well. One can only hope that the presence of goalie coach Dave Rook (Mason's goalie coach through much of his Junior career) will help him to stay focused and sharp as the long season unfolds. Every goalie has bad games and bad runs. Mason's true nature may not yet be fully known. I think he'll come out just fine -- indeed, I think he's on his way to becoming one of the premier goalies in the league. We have to remember how very young he is, though. He has a lot of growing to do.
Even with those three hopeful stars sputtering, the Jackets find themselves with 12 points -- good enough for 2nd place in the Central Division and 8th overall in the Western Conference. How?
The first 10 games of the Columbus Blue Jackets 2009-10 campaign played out like a long inning of baseball. The had their turn to put points on the scoreboard in the top half of the inning. In the bottom of the first, they gave up well over 20 runs.
The heroes have been plenty. As stated above, Mason has been brilliant at home. Newcomer Mathieu Garon has been a capable back-up. In fact, he pitched a shutout in Phoenix, against a then red-hot Coyotes team, that had many wondering if he should start the next game -- Mason had given up 5 goals on just 20 shots before being pulled in favor of Garon the game before in San Jose.
Raffi Tores has started the season strong. His specialty thus far has been power play goals; he has four of them. Rich Nash has been on a tear -- a playmaking tear. Nine of his 15 points are assists.
Through the first six games, the Jackets defense had been garnering praises, only surrendering an average of two goals per game. If the offense was taking some time to get going, at least we could hold small leads and grind out tough wins.
The power play was actually roaring along at a pleasant pace. The last-minute pick-up of offensive defenseman Anton Stralman has so far made Scott Howsen look like a genius. Only Tyutin has more points on the blue line, and Stralman's integration into Hitchcock's defensive system has been virtually seemless. Hitch has said (if not in so many words) that Stralman simply doesn't make mistakes with the puck. What he's commenting on is Anton's ability to get the puck out of the defensive zone as much as it is his knack for putting pucks on net. He has been one of the clubs most responsible defensemen in all situations. The presence of his right shot on the left point in the power play keeps opposing goalies on the move and penalty kill units on their toes.
The emergence of Mathieu Roy has been more than refreshing -- it has been necessary. Mike Commodore started the year on the shelf with a groin injury. After game five Jan Hejda (then leading the NHL with a plus-8 rating) joined Commie on the IR with a badly sprained knee. Roy stepped up, at times looking brilliant. Commodore now is back. He has played two games, and while he hasn't looked bad, he is leaving a few piles of rust in his wake. Youngster Kris Russell is picking up some momentum with increased minutes as well, though he's not consistently delivering in his own zone.
Last year's Blue Jackets penalty kill was relatively respectable. At the end of the year it was really quite good. It began this year in truly rare form. Through six games it was the best in the league at well over 90%. Today it sits at 81% -- good enough for 12th in the NHL.
What happened? One tough roadie. My season preview post mentioned that,
Calgary, Edmonton, Anaheim, and Los Angeles will likely constitute one of the toughest six day stretches of the season.
And was it ever. For the symmetry of the scores, Columbus Dispatch reporter Aaron Portzline dubbed it the tennis trip. Those suspect scores indeed read like four sets in a relatively one-sided tennis match: 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 2-6. The Jackets came out on the losing end of all but one of those sets, and didn't look all that good in the exception.
Perhaps it was the absense of Jan "Bacon" Hejda (and/or Mike Commadore for the first half of the trip). Perhaps it was Steve Mason coming back to earth. Perhaps expectations need to be adjusted for how soon Derrick Brassard can slow the game back down and hit his stride. Perhaps it was just the cumulative effect of a second long western road trip inside of the first 10 games of the season. Hopefully so. Hopefully a couple days of video and practice will give these young Jackets a jolt of defensive commitment, and shot of offensive energy.
Tonight begins chapter two of the Blue Jackets season. We'll include the next nine games for this discussion. In these next nine games they will play seven at home in Nationwide Arena, including a four-game home stand to finish the nine-game run. They'll see their first Eastern Conference oponents of the year, the Pittsburgh Penguins, at home on Friday night. They'll also travel to Washington and Atlanta before hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. These nine games will see the Jackets' sencond meetings with the Yotes, Sharks, Ducks, and Oilers. Also the local boys will meet their first Central Division opponent of the new season, the Detroit Red Wings. These nine games will take 20 days to complete and will only include one back-to-back situation.
This is the time the Jackets need to find themselves. They need to commit to playing in Hitchcock's system for 60 minutes every night. In their first 10 games they picked up a surprising 12 points. With a friendly schedule and some solid play, they could pick up another 12 easily in this stretch -- that would be 6-3 or 5-1-2. With the defensive performance they put up on the last road trip, though, they'll come nowhere near that.
I tend to be a believer at this time of year. I think Jake Voracek will continue what has been a very strong start -- one of the few good things on the last roadie was that Jake started putting up some points. I think Captain Rick Nash will continue to lead by example and a more active Mike Commodore will be a boost in the room and on the ice. I believe Steve Mason will thrive in front of the home crowd. I believe Derrick Brassard and Nikita Filitov will continue to make strong improvements in their game, earning more time on the ice. I believe Raffi Tores will continue to pot timely goals in gritty situations. I believe R.J. Umberger is about to catch on fire.
I believe the Jackets are about to shift gears and start playing their own brand of hockey. Look out, NHL.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 11:37 AM 