As it has been the case for most of the last 13 games, the Blue Jackets lose and it's happening all over the ice. What is the most disturbing is that this team was built with an identity in mind yet this club has none.
GM Scott Howson and Head Coach Ken Hitchcock built this team to be a hard fore checking, physical and defensively sound hockey team. At times you see it but a lot of the time it's not there.
The young players play as if their hair is on fire and want to get into a track meet and play more of a run and gun style. Again, you see some of that and depending on the opponent it can have some success but with the wrong opponent it can be disastrous.
What's most concerning is that their seems to be no system out there most of the time and it's 5 guys chasing the puck around the ice with no plan or purpose to it.
No other place does it prove the point more than on the power play. The Blue Jackets have been a top 5 power play unit all year. You can see that there is a plan and a purpose to what they are trying to do and that all the players have bought into it. Resulting in a great deal of success with the man advantage and the only thing keeping the Union Blue from getting embarrassed every night.
“We were slow with the puck and it’s been like that for a little while. We made a lot of puck errors in our own end. Today has been a microcosm of the season to be honest with you," Hitchcock stated after the game. The reason they are slow with the puck is because they are unsure of where people are going to be, if they will be there at all and thus they are thinking too much instead of reacting. The game is too fast to sit and think about what you are going to do with the puck. The system needs to be in place so that they know exactly what everyone is doing. Because it's not in place the Jackets continue to lose as they have lost 11 of their last 13 and there is no end in sight to this slump.
Don't start begging for trades as this goes much deeper than talent or the lack of it. This is a problem that Howson can't fix and I don't think Hitchcock can fix either. For this team to have any chance to turn this season around, the players have to collectively decide what system they are going to play and completely buy into it. That means if it's not Hitchcock's system, then Rick Nash has to have the guts to go to Hitch and tell him that this team won't play that way but also explain that the team would be bought in completely to another style of play.
Notice, I said IF it's not Hitch's system. It well could be but what ever the system, this group of players need to believe in a system and play it. There is more than one way to skin a cat, I just don't know if Hitch believes that.
Quotes and Notes
Blue Jackets Head Coach Ken Hitchcock
Commenting on tonight’s game…
“We were slow with the puck and it’s been like that for a little while. We made a lot of puck errors in our own end. Today has been a microcosm of the season to be honest with you. We create enough chances to score every night. It doesn’t matter unless you are good from the red-line back.”
Commenting on the five-on-three power play in the first…
“You can look at certain things, but the issue is the red-line and back.”
Commenting on the play of the team…
“We have to compete much harder that we are (right now). We make too many errors that end up in the back of the net.”
Columbus Blue Jackets Player Quotes
Blue Jackets Right Wing Rick Nash
Commenting on the recent stretch…
“I think it’s more than us just not getting breaks. We’re going through some tough times right now and it’s just a matter of sticking together and getting through this.”
Commenting on what it will take to rebound from the recent stretch…
“We have to be a desperate team now. We are hurting for points, and to have one again tomorrow night, the guys will be a little tired but we have to be a lot more desperate and start gaining some ground.”
Blue Jackets Left Wing R.J. Umberger
Commenting on the recent stretch…
“It’s hard when you go through things like this, but that’s what happens. Every loose puck, every turnover, every battle you don’t win ends up in your net. And for us it starts in our zone. We work on our zone outs and we can be in this game, but we have to compete better.”
Commenting on the 5-on-3 power play…
“We’re not simplifying. Just getting shots rejected. Too cute. Earlier in the year when it worked, it was one-timers from our d-men. Simple plays, it starts with that.”
Nashville Predators Quotes
Nashville Predators Head Coach Barry Trotz
Commenting on tonight’s game…
“We knew that they stated that they really wanted to come out and establish the forecheck, so we said let’s establish ours before they establish theirs. I thought the first period we played well the only thing that kept them in it was their power play, which we talked about this morning. In the second period we took all of those penalties and had some huge kills from our penalty killers. I thought we got some momentum off the five-on-three when they didn’t score. We got a couple of huge goals at the end. When we got that last goal, I thought we would be in pretty good shape.”
Nashville Predators Left Wing Steve Sullivan
Commenting on tonight’s game…
“We had a lot of chances early on in the first period. I thought we had lot of momentum and a lot of puck possession time in their end. We felt positive and just built off the momentum we had in the first period and just continued on throughout the game.”
Commenting on his hat trick…
“Games like that are lucky breaks and lucky bounces and shots go in when you expect them. Our line, as of lately, has been playing very well. We have been clicking.”
Blue Jackets Team Notes
* The Blue Jackets, who entered the night ranked fourth in the NHL on the power play, have now scored a power play goal in two of the past three games after being held scoreless with the man advantage the previous two games
o Columbus had two power play goals tonight, the eighth time this season they have scored multiple power play goals in the same game
+ Last season, the club had two-or-more goals just six times in 82 games
Blue Jackets Player Notes
* RW Jakub Voracek recorded his sixth multi-point outing of the season with a goal and an assist tonight
o He snapped a three-game pointless skid, as he last registered a point with 1-1-2 Dec. 5 vs. Colorado
o He has tallied 3-5-8 the past 14 games after being held to 1-3-4 the previous 10 games
* LW R.J. Umberger notched his fifth multi-point outing of the campaign with a goal and an assist tonight
o He has goals in back-to-back games after a five-game goalless skid
+ His last goals prior to that was Nov. 30 vs. St. Louis when he recorded a hat trick
o He has seven goals the past 13 games after being held goalless the previous seven games and also has 7-7-14 the past 13 contests
o With 11 goals in 33 games, he is on pace for 27 goals, which would be one better than his career high 26 that he had in 82 games last season
o With 14 assists in 33 games, he is on pace to record 35 this season, 15 better than the 20 he had in 82 games last season
* C Antoine Vermette has points in back-to-back games after scoring his ninth goal of the season tonight
o The points come after he was held scoreless the previous four games
o He was acquired by the Jackets at the trade deadline last March from Ottawa in exchange for goaltender Pascal Leclaire and a second round pick in the 2009 Entry Draft.
+ He collected 9-19-28 in 58 games (.482 points per game) for the Senators prior to the trade, but has registered 16-22-38 in the 50 games (.760) since being acquired by Columbus
* D Kris Russell also assisted on Vermette’s goal, his seventh of the campaign
o After being a healthy scratch in five of the previous six games, he returned to the lineup Nov. 30 vs. St. Louis and has points in four of the eight games since his return
o He has recorded 3-3-6 the past eight games after being held to 0-4-4 the first 17 games
* LW Jason Chimera notched his eighth assist of the season with a helper on Umberger’s goal
o He has collected 3-2-5 the past six games after being held scoreless the previous 12 games
Fire The Cannon!
Eric Smith
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