Last Sunday I had an unfortunate mishap on the roller hockey rink. With about three minutes left in the third period of a tie game, the chassis on my left skate broke out from the boot of the skate and was quite literally hanging on by a rivot. The problem was, not only was the game hanging in the balance, but the Marmosets(my team) were playing an ironman, meaning we only had enough skaters for one line and all four of us played the entire game. I proceeded to roll around for the rest of the game, including overtime, pushing off with my right foot and "gliding" on my left, as I found picking up my disheveled skate to be counterproductive. We ended up losing the game and I ended up with the sad realization that I need to get a new pair of skates. After getting by for two games on Wednesday using borrowed skates, I took my day off on Thursday to decide on a new pair and get them on their way to Connecticut. While I try to play hockey all year long, my new purchase fell in line with one of my favorite times of the year: the start of a new NHL season.
While I now live on the other side of the country from my favorite sports franchise, I do my best to keep up with the Columbus Blue Jackets and hope to watch a decent amount of games, whether on TV or online. It's strangely fitting that the first time I won't be in Ohio for the start of the season since the Blue Jackets began play is also the first time the team isn't there either. The Blue Jackets face-off with the San Jose Sharks in Stockholm, Sweden in a matter of minutes to start their 10th NHL season. A year ago at this time there was a buzz around a team coming off its first playoff appearance. Unfortunately Columbus had one of the worst 20-game stretches in history and played itself out of the postseason conversation relatively early. This eventually led to the firing of Ken Hitchcock, paving the way for a completely new coaching staff to take the CBJ reigns for the 2010-11 season. While I haven't been able to see much of the Blue Jackets during the preseason, I am never at a loss of thoughts and opinions on this team...unfortunately, it could be a rough year.
The Good
Scott Arniel has taken over as the new Blue Jackets coach and brought with him an up-tempo, aggressive style of play. By hiring Arniel, Scott Howson basically went from one extreme to the other. After the last few years under Hitchcock's defensive-minded coaching style, the Blue Jackets young forwards will essentially be turned loose, which will be a good thing. Derick Brassard, Jakub Voracek and Nikita Filatov need this freedom to use their offensive abilities and get creative...after all, those skills are why they were top-10 draft picks. The transition from Hitchcock to Arniel actually works out perfectly, especially for these young forwards; they spent a couple years listening to Hitchcock preach about defensive responsibility(even Filatov has been praised for improved play in his own end), and now they can combine that defensive responsibility with their natural scoring abilities in Arniel's wide-open system. If these young forwards can, in some combination, create a threatening second line, teams won't be able to focus on simply shutting down Rick Nash, allowing the captain to flex his muscle and become more productive himself.
The Bad
Aside from the new coaching staff, Howson didn't make much noise during the off-season. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Columbus's main problem remains its defensive corps. Two years ago the Jackets proved they could win with the group they have, but a big part of Arniel's new system is the team's defensemen getting involved in the play and being very mobile all over the ice. Aside from Kris Russell, the Jackets don't have anyone who fits this mold that well. Anton Stralman could develop into a good fit if he improves his play in his own zone, while Fedor Tyutin and Rusty Klesla(when healthy) have shown the ability to play in both zones, but mobility is generally not a strength of the CBJ defense. It will take a lot of work for this group of defensemen to make Arniel's system work. Don't be surprised if John Moore gets called up at some point this season, even if just for a few games, to get some NHL experience. He's a major piece to the CBJ puzzle under Arniel's leadership.
The Unknown
Which Steve Mason will we get this year? He was brilliant as a rookie but rather awful last season. Granted he didn't have a whole lot of help from his defensemen, but Mason has to be better for the Jackets to win. While the team should score more goals this season, there will be plenty of times when Mason has to win a game for Columbus, something he didn't do last year. His play did gradually improve as the season went on, so hopefully he can build on that momentum and have a strong third season. The Blue Jackets need him to.
The Verdict
Do I think this Blue Jackets team could make the playoffs? Yes. Will they? Probably not. The talent is there, especially up front. The last two Stanley Cup Champions have shown how far young talent can take a team, and the Blue Jackets definitely have that. The return of Filatov could be huge. After last year's debacle, people seem to have forgotten how high they were on this guy entering last season. The problem was he didn't get much of an opportunity to display his talent last year, which will not be an issue this year. Arniel is going to give him a chance, which is exactly what he needs. While goals will be up, goals against likely will as well, at least early on. There will be plenty of growing pains defensively under Arniel's system. I did get to catch part of one preseason game, since I randomly get the NHL Network, and while the Jackets seem to be creating more offense, they're also giving up more chances. This run-and-gun style promotes end-to-end action, which can sometimes leave a goalie hung out to dry...and this will definitely happen early on. The keys to this season will be how quickly the CBJ defensemen can pick up Arniel's system and how well Mason plays. If he can return to his rookie season form, the Blue Jackets could be in the playoff hunt. While I'm cautiously optimistic about this team and its new coaching staff, I doubt this will be their year. Things should start to click by the end of the season, but I'd still expect the Jackets to finish around 11th in the Western Conference.
That being said, I couldn't be more excited. Hockey is back, and all is right with the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment