Shrapnel - 2/8 Edition
by Andrew Tolliver on Feb 8, 2010 12:31 PM EST
in Shrapnel
3 comments
In this edition of Shrapnel: Noel's impact, Howson, prospects, a "goal scorers goal" and more!
Lets do this.
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Shrapnel - 2/5 Edition
by Andrew Tolliver on Feb 5, 2010 1:06 PM EST
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1 comment
In this edition of Shrapnel: Hitch's comments, a new tradition in the locker room, Kovalchuk trade, Sid/Ovie round 2, and more!
Lets do this!
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Aftermath of the Hitchcock Firing
by Mike MacLean on Feb 4, 2010 12:30 PM EST
2 comments
Now that Ken Hitchcock has been fired as head coach of the Jackets, there are some interesting questions that spring to mind:
1) Does this mean that Nikita Filatov will be a Blue Jacket next year?
I'm inclined to think that Nik's biggest issue was with the coach- not the city, not his teammates, not anything else. He's a high-end offensive player, who is used to having the puck on his stick more often than not. He wasn't getting that from Hitch because the head coach simply didn't trust him. With a player with Nik's ability, you almost have to roll through the punches and let him figure things out on his own. The defensive side of his game will come, in time. He started off his KHL career on fire, but has since cooled, and he had a subpar World Junior tournament (but then again the entire Russian squad did as well) That said, I think Nik will make the trek back over and compete for a spot. He won't be handed anything, but I'm thinking a team like the Jackets could use his high-end skill.
2) Will Claude Noel remain as the team's head coach next season?
Of course the remainder of this season will tell the tale, but this is from Aaron Portzline at the Columbus Dispatch:
Priest said that former Blue Jackets player Kevin Dineen, now coaching in the Buffalo Sabres' organization, will be considered, too.
Of course Porty is referring to Mike Priest, the Jackets president. There's no way of knowing at this point if he would be available to the Jackets, but he would make a terrific coach. He was named head coach of the Portland Pirates in the summer of 2005. He won the Louis Pieri Award as top coach after his first season behind the bench. In the summer of 2008, the Pirates changed affiliations from Anaheim to Buffalo, and Dineen remained head coach.
He played a little over two seasons with the Jackets, and was a fan favourite. He retired after the first four games of the season in 2002. He is familiar with the city, and its fans. The assistant coach under Dineen in Portland is former NHL defenseman Eric Weinrich. It would be interesting to see if Dineen was hired if he would bring Weinrich along with him. That would likely mean the end of Gord Murphy as assistant coach, and it would allow Weinrich to be responsible for the defense, a job Murphy has had since his arrival.
If hired, he would follow in the footsteps of recent AHL to NHL hires such as Bruce Boudreau, John Anderson and Dan Bylsma.
I'd also like to mention Tyler Wright. He's currently the Jackets' Development coach, working with prospects and young players throughout the organization. I'm not thinking about him in terms of the head coaching job with Columbus, rather the head coaching job in Syracuse (or whichever team Columbus affiliates with). Having Dineen and Wright (former Jacket teammates and two of the most popular players in team history) as the head bench bosses in the organization would not only be a treat for the fans, but these men bring a fantastic pedigree and have the ability to turn the organization's fortunes around from top to bottom.
3) Will the younger players like Brassard, Voracek and Mason flourish with Hitch out of the picture?
It's of course too soon to know, but at this point speculation is fair game. I'm thinking that these three players will finish the season strong, mainly because they are able to clear their heads and focus on just playing. Hitch was demanding, there's no hiding that fact. The issue with this team however, is that younger players aren't always able to handle everything a demanding coach like Hitch throws their way. I'm thinking Noel knows and understands this, and will open things up and let the kids be creative. Not so much in Mason's case, but I'm sure Mase will be playing with a lot less fear now.
To be fair to Hitch, Jake hasn't moved from his second line right wing position all year, so he was being given opportunities. Brass has been shuffled around however, but has played very well recently and was rewarded with second line center duty. The biggest change for these guys though will be a lighter workload, fewer details to focus on during a game. They will of course still have responsibilities on both sides of the puck, but they won't be going through a mental checklist while on the ice.
4) Will GM Scott Howson change his philosophy in terms of how this team is built?
Howson has mentioned in the past that he relied on Hitch heavily to determine which kind of players he should go after via trade or free agency. Their combined goal was to gather similar players and establish an identity. Last season, it appeared that they succeeded, as the Jackets were known as a gritty club with timely scoring, led by a superstar in Rick Nash. This season however, there was no identity whatsoever.
With Hitch gone, I wonder if Howson will rely on his incoming coach as much when building the team. I'm inclined to think that Howson will change his tune and will build a squad, and let the coach adapt. That said, much of the core of this team is already in place. The forwards are actually a strong group, the Jackets are near the league lead in terms of teams with the most 15 goal-scorers. They have good checking forwards (including arguably the best pure checking pivot in the NHL in Samuel Pahlsson) and there is hope on the horizon with Nikita Filatov, Matt Calvert and Maksim Mayorov.
The issue is on the blueline. It's a plodding group, and outside of Anton Stralman and Kris Russell, offense is rare, at best. Fedor Tyutin is having an off-year, but I'm thinking he could be a guy who could benefit from a coaching change. Mike Commodore's contract prevents the team from moving him, but you'd have to think that changes are on the way for the Jackets blueline. Hejda, Methot, Klesla, Roy, Jurcina and even Tyutin could see a change of address before next season.
There are a few free agent options out there, personally I'd like to see players such as Marek Zidlicky and Dan Hamhuis brought in. Maybe even Pavel Kubina. There's always the trade route, with Tomas Kaberle at the head of that class.
At the end of the day, it's sad to see Hitch go. He did wonderful things for this franchise, but at the same time it could be a blessing in disguise. The young players could flourish, a new coach can breathe new life into the team, and GM Scott Howson can reevaluate his approach now that he has more control.
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Game 59 Open Thread: Jackets vs. Stars
by Mike MacLean on Feb 4, 2010 12:27 PM EST
in Game Threads
15 comments
Will the team respond well to the firing of coach Ken Hitchcock? The Stars have been struggling on the road of late so this could very well be a good time for victory. Mase is in net tonight.
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Game 59 Preview: Un-Hitched Jackets face on the Stars
by Mike MacLean on Feb 4, 2010 12:23 PM EST
in Game Previews
4 comments
Hitch is out, Claude Noel is in. This will be the first game with Noel at the helm of the Jackets. The opponent tonight is the Dallas Stars, who are struggling on the road. Combine that fact with the way teams usually respond to a coaching change, and this game looks good for the Jackets.
Steve Mason gets the start tonight, likely against Marty Turco. I doubt Noel will shuffle the lines very much, but personally I'd like to see Jurcina get back in the lineup in place of Methot. I'm eager to see how the young guys respond tonight, I'm thinking they will have very good games down the stretch.
As usual against Dallas, this game will likely be chippy. You know Dors will be nice and pissed tonight.
Fearless Prediction: As is the case with most coach firings, the Jackets will come out inspired and will win tonight.
Game Time: 7:00pm ET
Opponent's Blog: Defending Big D
Game Page: Stars vs Blue Jackets coverage
TSN Preview: Stars vs Blue Jackets preview
TV: FSN
Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)
More after the jump...
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Shrapnel - 2/4 Edition
by Andrew Tolliver on Feb 4, 2010 11:23 AM EST
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In this edition of Shrapnel: I'll be posting links regarding the firing of coach Ken Hitchcock, the fallout, news, notes and quotes as well. I'm sure it may not seem appealing to all of you but there's a lot of coverage of the situation and I want to make sure its covered.
Side note: I heard on the radio this morning that Noel will be the 6th head coach in team history. 9 seasons, 6 coaches. Thats awful.
There will be a little bit of content for tonight's game as well.
Lets do this!
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Jackets Fire Ken Hitchcock
by Mike MacLean on Feb 3, 2010 5:21 PM EST
25 comments
After much speculation, head coach Ken Hitchcock has been relieved of his head coaching duties. Claude Noel will take over as interim head coach. The writing has been on the wall for the last month or more, with the team taking a massive step backwards this season.
With the old adage being "you can't fire 23 players", you knew something had to give. Hitch's message wasn't being delivered, and the result was the team was in shambles on the ice. There was no semblance of structure, no commitment to a plan. It was painfully obvious. The question now becomes whether or not the players tuned him out, or if it was just a matter of the organization coming to the realization that his style wasn't conducive to the young, skilled players the team possesses. I think it's the latter.
The Jackets are the youngest team in the NHL. You need to have strong character players to filter the coach's message, otherwise the players (especially the younger ones) can get down on themselves and play scared. I hate to say it, but the loss of Mike Peca was huge for the locker room. He was the brash veteran who could change the tune of the coach's rants and turn it into a message the younger players can work with. Rick Nash, the Captain, isn't the sort of character that can do that. In time, he'll make a phenomenal captain. That said, he is still young himself. The trade to bring in Chris Clark was too little, too late, you can't just bring in a guy half way through the season and expect him to step to the forefront and lead a team.
It all boils down to the fact that the team is too young and immature to practice what a demanding coach like Hitch preaches. The leadership was lacking in the locker room, and because of that the players were not playing the style he laid out for them.
On a personal level I have a ton of respect and admiration for Hitch. He has done things for me personally, which I won't get into in this space- and I will always remember him for taking the rag tag Columbus organization, giving it some credibility, and taking it to the playoffs for the first time.
Good luck to you Hitch, and thanks for everything.
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Game 58 Recap - Mile High Massacre
by Andrew Tolliver on Feb 3, 2010 4:46 PM EST
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I don't get it. I just don't get it. If its not one thing, its another. Early goals, slow starts, no scoring, no defense, whatever the case. This season has been going down the drain steadily since November. However, recently, the Jackets have shown some kind of pulse. In recent games, they stopped giving up the early goal, even scoring first.
Last night was no different. It was the best start I've seen out of the Jackets since their hot start to the season. They jumped out to a huge lead on the shot board, they were passing so well, and skating really well. Nothing could go wrong. For the moments they played keep away it was not only entertaining, but refreshing. Its good to know they can still control to puck at all, now its a matter to sustaining that throughout an entire game.
Antoine Vermette scored the first of three shorthanded goals on the night. Too bad two went in favor of Colorado. His goal was the only one of the night, and his 18th of the year. He's tied with Umby for second on the team in goals, and tied with Juice for second in points (43). He's quietly becoming one of the better Jackets this year.
The Avs went on to tie the game on Kyle Quincey's 5th of the season. After the game, Derick Brassard was quoted as saying the following: "After they scored the first goal our confidence went down"
I have one question. Why? For what possible reason could you lose confidence? The Jackets had control the entire first period and all of a sudden they just laid down and let Colorado walk all over them. Makes me sick.
The second period was rather dull. Brandon Yip extended the Avs lead with a quick shot from the slot. Again, no one around to push people away from the goal. Both Juice and Tyutin had good chances but neither ammounted into anything. Nasher had the only other chance but rang his shot off the right post.
There was still hope as the third period started. But, like most nights, the Jackets came out flat and played sloppy in the final 20.
A turnover by Voracek allowed Yip to score again and put the nail in the coffin.
Giving up shorthanded goals is bad. Giving up two is even worse, yes? But giving up two on the SAME powerplay is, unforgivable. That double minor was the perfect opportunity to get back into the game but it was pissed away because of turnovers (again). O'Reilly lit the lamp in a 3 minute 15 second span. Shorthanded. Did I mention we had a 4 minute power play?
Its easy to point the finger at the goalie and say he shouldn't have allowed those goals, but it starts with the guys in front. All 5 of them. Someone has to make a statement. Someone has to step up and be a damn leader because I don't see one.
Mancrush: Antoine Vermette. He continues to perform well even when his teammates don't.
Doghouse: The Voracek - Brass - Torres line. Combined -12? Turnovers on the parts of Brass and Voracek lead to two goals, while Torres was bumped from the line for his play on the first two Colorado goals.
Post-game Video:
Up next: Thursday night v. Dallas
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