Tag Archives: hockey

All-Star Break: Five Pleasant Surprises.

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Let us all catch our breath, re-charge and enjoy a fun weekend ahead in Ottawa at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. Then, a few days later, we get set for the unofficial second half of the NHL season. For the Blue Jackets, it has been an eventful first half of the season, but we’re starting to see glimpses of improved hockey and a lot of credit goes to interim head coach Todd Richards for, as he put it, “restoring some joy” to the locker room.

So far this season, we have seen the hard work and tireless preparation of a true professional be rewarded with a starting goaltender role in the NHL once again. We’ve seen a future franchise center grow into his skates and show he can be an impact player at this level, and the players recalled from Springfield (AHL) have shown us that the organizational pipeline contains kids who can make a difference. That’s what every team strives for.

Read more for my five pleasant surprises of the first half.

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Round Five.

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This rivalry is like a heavyweight bout: each team has taken its licks, gotten back up and returned for more. After the Blue Jackets stunned the Predators with a 4-3 OT win back in November at Bridgestone Arena, the showdown between the two clubs felt like it was “back on.”

Tonight is the fifth of six rounds this season, and the final meeting is next week in Nashville. On one hand, I’m disappointed that the season series ends early this year. On the other, I’m happy to be done with these guys :) But in all seriousness, tonight’s game will be entertaining and full of energy — and I look to the Blue Jackets first, who feel they have a lot to prove in this contest especially given the results of the previous two.

Like Predators coach Barry Trotz said after the morning skate: “I do know they’d like to have some payback, because we’ve stolen some games from them.” Trotz also said he thought the Predators were outplayed in each of the previous four games vs. Columbus this season, and felt Pekka Rinne was the difference in the opening-night win at Nationwide Arena.

Read more for notes and tonight’s lineups.

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Pre-game notes: Blue Jackets vs. Oilers

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There’s one thing the Edmonton Oilers do not lack, and that’s confidence. From spending limited time around them, it’s not a cockiness or blatant swagger that defines them, but rather a belief in their style of play and never thinking they’re out of a hockey game.

But through the course of an 82-game schedule, there are highs and lows that come to pass. After starting 8-2-2 this year, the Oilers have fallen down to 13th in the Western Conference and open a brief two-game roadie tonight at Nationwide Arena. Despite dropping below .500 and being crushed by injuries to their star players (Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ryan Whitney among others), there’s still hope of climbing back into the playoff picture.

UPDATE: 6:40 p.m. — Oilers LW Taylor Hall appeared to suffer an injury during warm-ups. He was holding his head and it could have been a stray puck or a skate cut, according to Sportsnet’s Gene Principe. Hope he’s ok.

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Colton Gillies: “They never gave me a chance.”

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I had a chance to catch up with Colton Gillies, also known as the newest Blue Jacket after today’s practice at Nationwide Arena. He’s a nice guy with a good personality, and I’ll be looking forward to covering him as his Blue Jackets career takes flight.

One funny video of Gillies from his Houston Aeros days (which I joked with him about) before we get started: he’s promoting the team’s Facebook page and it’s pretty funny. “I remember they gave me like, seven things to say, and I could only remember one.”

Read more for his full quotes. He spoke about needing a change, why things didn’t work out for him in Minnesota, his hockey idol and more.

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Post-game: Sharks 2, Blue Jackets 1

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said this morning that the Sharks are becoming one of the NHL’s most versatile teams: they can out-score you, out-goalie you and out-check you. Tonight, they played another “first-blink-wins” game with the Blue Jackets, and got the upperhand in a 2-1 win at Nationwide Arena.

For as much as the Blue Jackets put the Sharks on the power play in this game, you’d think the final score would be a bit more lopsided. But you could see the elements of Todd Richards’ penalty-killing philosophy at work tonight — wanting the Blue Jackets to be the initiators on the kill and make the opposition do things they don’t want to do. The Sharks were guilty of several giveaways on the power play, and Ryan Russell was right in the middle of just about everything while shorthanded.

Patrick Marleau’s 17th goal of the season was the product of misfortune for the Blue Jackets rather than a budding sequence for the Sharks. The Blue Jackets, after getting a gorgeous game-tying goal from Rick Nash, came with a tremendous push in the final 10 minutes and nearly squeaked another goal by Thomas Greiss. Derek Dorsett and Nash came within inches of finding the net, but Greiss made a pair of 10-bell stops.

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Post-game: Blackhawks 5, Blue Jackets 2

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And I thought Patrick Sharp was a thorn in the Blue Jackets’ side these days.

Apparently, that honor can now be bestowed upon Viktor Stalberg, the Toronto Maple Leafs castoff who has found a home in Chicago. The Swedish winger notched a hat trick tonight against Columbus and lead the Blackhawks to a 5-2 victory at United Center. It was the first win in four games (and first in 2012) for the Blackhawks, who have struggled to score goals of late.

On the flip side, Todd Richards dropped his debut behind the Blue Jackets bench and he’s not the first Columbus coach to do so. The last to win in his Jackets coaching debut was Claude Noel in February of 2009, a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars at Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets got goals tonight from Antoine Vermette and R.J. Umberger and both men played a sturdy game. Captain Rick Nash was active, as well, firing a season-high eight shots on goal and accounting for nearly 25 percent of Columbus’ shot output.

From here, it’s back home to Columbus tonight and a four-game homestand that awaits. Richards and staff will have some time to review the tweaks he wants to make and get settled back on the homefront. The Phoenix Coyotes are the next opponent on the schedule – a Friday night contest followed up another home tilt Saturday vs. the San Jose Sharks.

Here are some notes, stats and more from tonight’s game:

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New era begins in the Windy City

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It’s a new day for the Blue Jackets as they conclude their four-game road trip in Chicago tonight. Columbus’ fourth meeting with the Blackhawks this season also marks the beginning of the Todd Richards era, as the interim head coach makes his debut at United Center.

As the head coach of the Minnesota Wild from 2009-2011, Richards compiled a record of 77-71-16 and averaged 38 wins in each of his two seasons in the Twin Cities. Richards talked today about the need to make small changes and let players earn their opportunities on a conference call today, and you can find those quotes in my previous blog entry.

With regard to tonight’s game, the Blue Jackets are facing a Blackhawks squad that has dropped four consecutive games (0-3-1) and has not registered a win in 2012. Before the turn of the new year, Chicago had won three straight games and closed out 2011 with a big home win against Detroit. Coach Joel Quenneville’s club has been plagued by inconsistency of late and today they lost Patrick Sharp for 3-4 weeks with a wrist injury.

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Richards, Howson comment on coaching change

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Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson and interim coach Todd Richards joined a conference call with the media this afternoon. Earlier today, the club announced it is relieved Scott Arniel of his head coaching duties and Richards will be the interim coach for the remainder of the 2011-12 season.

Here are highlights from the conference call.

RICHARDS: “Accountability is a big word. Coaches throw it around and you hear it all the time. It’s players getting the ice time they deserve. To me, it’s a team that’s driven from within, and players fighting for power play minutes and not just giving those away. That’s going to be the challenge, getting the team to drive itself from the inside. There will probably be a push here initially; with the reaction of the players, that’s usually what happens. But once you get over that hump, it’s starting to develop the good habits of winning hockey.”

“I had a good teacher, I’ve watched good coaches and I developed my own style of coaching. I think every coach has their own philosophies and ideas. It will be a bit different and it’s not going to be the same, but my (practice) philosophy is going 45-50 minutes with really good pace up and down the ice. I’ve talked with players on our team right now that have played for other successful coaches who have that same philosophy, so there’s subtle differences there, but you’re trying to teach and develop those good habits.”

“I don’t owe anybody anything at this stage. There’s a new coach coming in – if you feel like you haven’t gotten your opportunities, now’s your opportunity. The door will be open and you want players to burst through that door.”

HOWSON: “Coaches are there to get the most out of people and the most out of teams. I’ve seen Todd do it; I know he’s a good coach and he has a terrific way of getting to the players, and I hope he can do that here.”

“We wanted to put Todd in and give him a chance to run it the rest of the year. We’ll sit down at the end of the year, and really, that’s when the wide selection of coaches will be available. We felt very comfortable with Todd, I know he’s had success in other places and we just felt it was right for our group at this time.”

A different royalty

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I vividly remember the Los Angeles Kings’ last visit to Nationwide Arena. And it’s a good thing I do, because it was less than a month ago, and I’d be troubled if I forgot about it.

They were reeling, struggling to put pucks in the net and looking over their shoulders after GM Dean Lombardi fired former head coach Terry Murray. What followed next took me back to the Barry Melrose/Tampa Bay Lightning saga from a couple years ago: it seemed like everyone in the league knew that Darryl Sutter would be the next Kings coach, and it ended up being a week or so before it was officially announced.

There Lombardi stood in the bowels of Nationwide Arena, talking to reporters and answering the same old questions about his coaching “search.” He said he was moving closer to a decision, but “that’s all I got for ya. I told ya I didn’t have an update!” he said with his thick Massachusetts accent. But now that he has made the decision and it’s had time to simmer, Lombardi is the one looking like a genius.

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Quotables: Scott Arniel, Curtis Sanford

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Below are post-game quotes from Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel and goaltender Curtis Sanford following a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.

Arniel on the game overall: “One of things I said this morning was we knew these guys were coming in from Anaheim,  and we didn’t want to let them get on the power play early in the game. We played a real solid first 10 minutes and certainly got the lead, but six minutes of power plays gives them life and jump-started them from the second period.”

On the double-minor assessed in the first period: “(Boyle) was bleeding, so anytime there’s blood there’s nothing you can do. He hit Johansen’s stick into his face…but that was the fist one. The second one, he swung at the high puck and tried to make contact with the puck. Tough breaks, but it gave them momentum and they got some life off of it.”

On Sanford’s play: “He was good. Obviously, we didn’t want him to see that many shots. They have a dangerous power play and they had a lot of opportunities. In the second period, we got a little bit loose and Curtis was there to make some big stops for us.”

Quotes from Sanford following the jump.

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