A Time For Demolition

Not THAT Demolition!

“Be patient.” “We can’t be this bad.” 3-5 games ago, I would have believed it, that this was just a rough start out of the gate. The Columbus Blue Jackets,  now sitting dead last in The Central Division, and in The NHL at 2-11-1, are just that bad. While if this team was a bunch of cheaply paid scrubs, I could at least semi understand it. But when you are paying $58,113,000 for a team that is 2-11-1, enough is enough, time for the hard hats, bring on the demolition.

The first thing we have to look at is the organization up top, above general manager and head coach,  because when you want to turn things around, you gotta start at the top. Team President Mike Priest should be considered as one of the first to go. I realize that he is very close to the  McConnell family as President of JMAC,Inc. But we really need to think about getting a hockey guy with a true hockey background in that position. Priest could still oversee finances, which he does a fine job at, but leave him out of the hockey operations.  As hard as it would be for JPM to cut him loose, he should realize,  Hitchcock hockey, is no longer Blue Jackets hockey.

Next to be put under the microscope, General Manager. Scott Howson helped build the team to the successful 2008-2009 campaign, this cannot be denied. However, since then, progress has been at a standstill. Draft picks are developing, many it is hard to tell if they were good or bad at this point (Johansen,Moore,Savard). The one big bust, Nikita Filatov, was at the time a good choice, but turned out to be a huge mistake, later traded for a 3rd round pick. With a few good moves through free agency and trade, Howson has also made his fair share of mistakes.  Trading Rostislav Klesla, a decent defender with a small price tag despite his injury issues, for essentially nothing (Upshall and Lepisto, who both left through free agency). Allowing Manny Malhotra and Jan Hejda to walk, as well as claiming Ethan Moreau and Craig Rivet, both who proved to be useless to the team.

Reacting To 0-5-1

Small note before reading: I wrote this for fun, don’t take it too seriously.

Well here we are, 6 games into this season, and The Columbus Blue Jackets are 0-5-1, officially the worst team in The NHL, the only team to have not won a game thus far. From what I’ve seen online through twitter, facebook, and multiple hockey forums and websites, there seem to be a common 5 reactions to this start among fans:

1. Shock/Confusion:

“Speechless” “What is going on with this team!?” Seem to be the top comments in this area. It is hard to fathom this start, even without James Wisniewski. Surely all of our players would be scoring, and our defense would be good at…well..defense! It is quite a shock to see such a slow start, but when you look at the past three season, it shouldn’t be, in October over the past three years we went 7-3-1, 4-6-0, and 6-5-1.

2. Lets Riot: Yes, ala Vancouver after The Stanley Cup Finals last year, blow stuff up, break things, just all out anarchy in the streets of Ohio. Well with the weakened economy rioting is a bad idea, not to mention you could get arrested (unless you don’t care about that, go for it.) And in the current times, I’d worry more about the loose bears,lions, wolves, and monkeys roaming around doing all the damage for you.

Columbus Blue Jackets: 5 Key Thoughts Heading Into The Season

Based on what I’ve seen in the preseason, here are some key thoughts for the team heading into the NHL regular season.

5. Keep That Puck Out! : Steve Mason has looked like the Mason of old this preseason, making many key saves, not looking uncomfortable or rattled at all. It should be interesting to see how he does with the retooled team in front of him, when it starts to count.  Curtis Sanford is in the backup role for a undetermined amount of time with Mark Dekanich’s preseason injury.  After 2 full seasons in the AHL, has it affected his NHL abilities at all? Im doubtful that it has, but the question has crossed my mind. He should prove a good backup until Dekanich can get back to game form, whenever that is.

CS View: The Rumored CBJ/PHI Trade

CS Hockey’s Blue Jackets writer Cujo, and Flyers writer Realdeal, discuss the rumored trade between their teams.

Jeff Carter and Jakub Voracek could switch teams this offseason if rumors prove true.

Ah yes, the offseason, talk of the draft, free agent season, and with that come the trade rumors. This rumor we look at today involves the Philadelphia Flyers sending center Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets for their first round pick in the 2011 draft (8th overall), and right winger Jakub Voracek .

This rumor has spread like wildfire the past few weeks, even with people such as Anthony San Filippo, a beat writer for the Flyers, saying  members of the Flyers organization have denied a Carter to Columbus trade. But, if it did happen, what would it mean to the Blue Jackets, and the Flyers? And would it make sense for both teams?

From Cujo’s Perspective:

In my opinion, for the Blue Jackets, this trade would get them something they have always needed, a prime scoring center to play alongside captain Rick Nash. As for the 1st round pick, it seems as if Columbus has been trying to get rid of it the second they found out they were picking 8th. Columbus GM Scott Howson knows this team cannot afford to wait any longer, they need improvement, and they need it now, and this trade, would do that. It makes perfect sense for Columbus. The only issues are Carter’s contract length, and the depth hit at right wing for Columbus, but im sure this hasn’t been thought of by GM Scott Howson already, and he has a plan for more moves to fix any issue this potential trade would cause.

From Realdeal’s Perspective:

To me, a Carter trade doesn’t make sense. You have a team that is close to the Stanley Cup (went to the Finals last year) and they’d trade one of their core parts? That doesn’t make sense, regardless of making cap space to fit a goalie (Bryzgalov)  in. Carter finished 7th in the league in goals last year(36), and goal scorers don’t grow on trees. Voracek would clear a couple million in salary, and fill the likely departed Ville Leino’s spot on a wing. Acquiring the #8 pick could help restock the bare farm system the Flyers have. But the team will be losing alot of goals from last year just to stay under the salary cap.

Rumors Run Wild:

As stated earlier, this is just a rumor, even being denied by some in the Flyers organization. This rumor seemed to pick up steam when picked up by Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. There has even been rumors of multiplayer deals between the two teams, with names being thrown around like Carle, Leighton, heck, even Mason. But that is the beauty of these things, you can start a rumor involving anyone, and it can spread like a wildfire, but the trade may never happen. As for this rumor, I suppose the truth will come out at the NHL Draft, when this supposed trade is scheduled to go down. The guessing and speculating can end with the team announcing the 8th overall pick.