Tag Archives: Vinny Prospal

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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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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Post-game: Sharks 2, Blue Jackets 1

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If you ask me, there was a lot to like about the Blue Jackets’ game tonight at HP Pavilion. They got out to a good start and scored the first goal, they were the better team at even strength but somehow couldn’t earn a power play opportunity against the Sharks. Joe Thornton’s eighth goal of the year early in the second period ended up being the difference in a 2-1 loss.

Curtis Sanford made 37 saves in goal for Columbus and Vinny Prospal got the early marker at 2:13 to snap an 11-game goalless skid. It was set up by a nice feed from Mark Letestu, who had his night ended prematurely. More on that later in the blog.

With Sanford on the bench and under a minute to play, the Blue Jackets put on their most feverish rally of the game. Nikita Nikitin made a great play at the blue line to keep the puck in the zone, then fed a pass to Rick Nash at the right dot. Nash ripped another pass to Jeff Carter but his one-timer was blocked by a sprawling Dan Boyle – easily the play of the game.

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Practice quotes: Arniel, Brassard

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Here are quotes from Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel and center Derick Brassard following today’s practice at the Ohio Health Ice Haus…

Arniel on his team’s physical response to the Blues: “The area that bothers me is, ‘why didn’t we do the same thing against LA and Tampa?’ I know they’re not the same makeup and it’s not the same rivalry, but why aren’t we the same and intense in our building? I think that’s a lesson we’re trying to teach our team: instead of waiting to see how things turn out, that we go out and initiate. As much as we knew they were going to be physical, we got after them right off the bat and put them back on their heels. That’s what we need to do all the time, especially in our building, too.”

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Clock in, go to work

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In a 90-minute practice session in the Ice Haus this morning, the Blue Jackets said they accomplished a lot. The coaching staff had items that they wanted addressed, and coming off a disappointing loss on Sunday that included a four-goal third period for the Blues, it took a little while to check them off.

Only one rostered goaltender took part in practice, and that was Steve Mason. Curtis Sanford’s still on the shelf and if he shows no further ailment tonight, Scott Arniel said he should be back in practice tomorrow. Sanford was originally scheduled to make the start in St. Louis with the team on a back-to-back.

Today’s practice was a lot of skating. Up and down they went, working in the corners and getting to the net for rebounds. There were intense, “high-compete” or “battle” drills as coaches like to call them, where the players work so hard they downright despise each other once the drill is over. If there were no bumps or bruises on the person today, you didn’t work hard enough.

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