I've wanted to make a post this season about the dramatic increase in the number of concussions and resulting suspensions. This is such a complex topic, that I simply don't have the time to research it in a way that would do it justice. Today, the Falcons beat reporter, Garry Brown, published a story that looks not just at the impact of concussions, but more specifically the effect that it's had on the Falcons.

One of my favorite hockey analysis websites is back with their 2011 NHL Review - a massive 90 page document that details the performance of teams and players during the 2010-2011 NHL season. The writing is clear and thorough, and the author (Alan Ryder) provides a great introduction to his Player Contribution (PC) tool. The spreadsheet with PC data is also included for reference and reader exploration.

It's a very educational and eye-opening look at the relative value of individual players. The 90-page length makes this a slightly daunting, but very rewarding way for stat-geeks like me to spend some time reading about performance in the NHL.

Thanks to the great work done on this blog, it's possible to see if the Blue Jackets are getting scoring chances at the same rate as they are shots. The answer? the Jackets have generated 11 scoring chances for compared to every 10 against, and 10.9 shots for compared to every 10 against. In other words, the shot data and scoring chance data, at the team level, is nearly identical.

As is typical, teams come out of the gate too fast or in the case of the Jackets too slow. I've linked an article that can be summarized in one sentence if you don't have the time/aren't into hockey advanced stats:

"The Blue Jackets have stunk, but most of that is due to random chance as opposed to them being the worst club in the NHL. "

The Jackets are on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Rangers, my club, but infact are looking better at 5v5 in general when it comes to the numbers.

The Jackets will snap out of their bad luck (only a matter of how soon), and if you know any Rangers fans make sure you tell them that you "had a hunch" when the Blueshirts go on a "random" (the NYR fan will say this) slide eventually.

From today's FWIW department, the Springfield Falcons announced today that they have signed ex-Detroit Red Wing defenseman Brett Lebda to a Pro Tryout Agreement.

Lebda last played 41 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2010-2011 season. The Leafs traded him to the Nashville Predators last summer.

Bruce Landon's latest blog clears up the signing of Manny Legace to a PTO today. Bruce, take it away:

"This resulted in the recall of Dan Taylor, who played very well on Sunday in a win over Manchester. However, Taylor had to go back to Canada to get his immigration situation cleared up, which triggered a number of calls between me and the lady who handles immigration for the Blue Jackets. We put Taylor on a flight home and are hopeful that his status will be straightened out so he can return in time to play this weekend."

So, unless Taylor resolves immigration, the Falcons duo for the upcoming weekend looks to be Paul Dainton and Manny Legace.

Since the Blue Jackets get to pick and choose the nine games Johansen plays before burning a contract year, we could be well into November before they make that determination. That's the team's right, but if he's only getting fourth-line minutes every other game or so, Johansen's not exactly getting much of a chance to develop in game situations.

An expansion team that started playing NHL hockey in Ohio at the turn of the millennium, the Blue Jackets have only qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs one time, during the 2008-09 season, and were swept in four games by the Detroit Red Wings...

Since finishing the regular season 7th in the Western Conference in2008-09, the Blue Jackets haven’t had much success at all, finishing 14th and 13th in the West the past two seasons respectively. Will Blue Jackets fans see much of the same in 2011-12 though?

The Blue Jackets were relatively busy this offseason and made several changes to their lineup from last season, but whether or not these changes will make the Blue Jackets a playoff team remains to be seen.