Post-game #1: Blue Jackets vs. Wild
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Okay, first off, where the frak was my "Thanks, Jim Day"? Where was my "Thanks, Jim Day"!?
...
Now that I got that off my chest, since I waited for the expected Rusty Klesla interview during the post-game (it had to be either him or Steve Mason considering the stars of the night, and Klesla was the one with the GWG and a new contract in his pocket, let's do something of a break-down.
-Speaking of Klesla and contracts, he certainly showed everyone why he signed for just a little under $3 million a year for 4 years with that game winning goal, as well as sound defensive play. Oftentimes Klesla seems to be trotted out as a prime example of how being kept around at too young of an age can have a detrimental effect on a player's growth i n the NHL, and he certainly needed more time to mature as a result. But over time he has come around, and a prime example is his short but still strong play during last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
-I know John Michaels -- that is his name, right? -- is new to the whole Blue Jackets Live gig, but the interview with Klesla was awkward. If I listened right, he only seemed to ask one whole question. Now given, Klesla may have been in a rush to get back to the locker room, but I don't know. Dude seems a little green.
-Nikita Filatov: Not much time on the ice, huh? A whopping 9:18, actually. Only two other players had less time off of the bench, and they were Andrew Murray and Jared Boll. The result of that ill-placed penalty he received in the 3rd period that resulted in Minnesota's lone goal tonight? Possibly. TOI nosedived to 1:29 in said period. Nice opportunity early in the game on Niklas Backstrom, however ... the only problem is that he seemed to get just a little too fancy with the puck, and ended up losing it along the way.
-Ken Hitchcock refers to Raffi Torres's play as "weighty" as I type this with the post-game show on, and every person with a "Hitchionary" lets out an amused chuckle. But Torres was playing a pretty heavy game tonight.
-One offseason later, Steve Mason looks as steady as he did last season. To be honest, if I had to sum up his play tonight with just one word, I'd use "sound". He played the proper spots, seemed to have his head on a swivel at all times, and were it not for a nifty little move by Andrew Brunette during that Wild Power Play, it's feasible he could have kicked off this season with a shutout. But give credit to Brunette for making sure that did not happen.
-How about that power play, huh? The first 5-on-4 advantage in favor of the Blue Jackets was well enough and showed that the team has seemingly upgraded a smidgeon when it comes to moving the puck around and not shying away from tossing the puck in to traffic near the net, let alone shooting. On the other hand, the double minor opportunity that the Jackets had was just plain brutal. It's just one game in to the season, so let's hope that this doesn't become habit like last year.
-As for the penalty kill, nothing to complain about. Save for Brunette's goal in the 3rd period, it was steady, and also resulted in one shortie thanks to R.J. Umberger. That goal was definitely a thing of beauty.
And that's all I got for now. Cut me some slack, eh? This is my first post-game analysis in ... ::Checks.:: ... ...
... wait, still looking ... ::Flips through the archives.::
... ...
... okay, so it's been a long time! Stop looking at me like I'm some lazy sport blogger!
...
Now that I got that off my chest, since I waited for the expected Rusty Klesla interview during the post-game (it had to be either him or Steve Mason considering the stars of the night, and Klesla was the one with the GWG and a new contract in his pocket, let's do something of a break-down.
-Speaking of Klesla and contracts, he certainly showed everyone why he signed for just a little under $3 million a year for 4 years with that game winning goal, as well as sound defensive play. Oftentimes Klesla seems to be trotted out as a prime example of how being kept around at too young of an age can have a detrimental effect on a player's growth i n the NHL, and he certainly needed more time to mature as a result. But over time he has come around, and a prime example is his short but still strong play during last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
-I know John Michaels -- that is his name, right? -- is new to the whole Blue Jackets Live gig, but the interview with Klesla was awkward. If I listened right, he only seemed to ask one whole question. Now given, Klesla may have been in a rush to get back to the locker room, but I don't know. Dude seems a little green.
-Nikita Filatov: Not much time on the ice, huh? A whopping 9:18, actually. Only two other players had less time off of the bench, and they were Andrew Murray and Jared Boll. The result of that ill-placed penalty he received in the 3rd period that resulted in Minnesota's lone goal tonight? Possibly. TOI nosedived to 1:29 in said period. Nice opportunity early in the game on Niklas Backstrom, however ... the only problem is that he seemed to get just a little too fancy with the puck, and ended up losing it along the way.
-Ken Hitchcock refers to Raffi Torres's play as "weighty" as I type this with the post-game show on, and every person with a "Hitchionary" lets out an amused chuckle. But Torres was playing a pretty heavy game tonight.
-One offseason later, Steve Mason looks as steady as he did last season. To be honest, if I had to sum up his play tonight with just one word, I'd use "sound". He played the proper spots, seemed to have his head on a swivel at all times, and were it not for a nifty little move by Andrew Brunette during that Wild Power Play, it's feasible he could have kicked off this season with a shutout. But give credit to Brunette for making sure that did not happen.
-How about that power play, huh? The first 5-on-4 advantage in favor of the Blue Jackets was well enough and showed that the team has seemingly upgraded a smidgeon when it comes to moving the puck around and not shying away from tossing the puck in to traffic near the net, let alone shooting. On the other hand, the double minor opportunity that the Jackets had was just plain brutal. It's just one game in to the season, so let's hope that this doesn't become habit like last year.
-As for the penalty kill, nothing to complain about. Save for Brunette's goal in the 3rd period, it was steady, and also resulted in one shortie thanks to R.J. Umberger. That goal was definitely a thing of beauty.
And that's all I got for now. Cut me some slack, eh? This is my first post-game analysis in ... ::Checks.:: ... ...
... wait, still looking ... ::Flips through the archives.::
... ...
... okay, so it's been a long time! Stop looking at me like I'm some lazy sport blogger!
And we're live in 3 ... 2 ...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Okay, well, when I said "layout", I really meant finally take care of the "Ipsum lorum" that had been in my sidebars for ages now, since I never had the inspiration or motivation to put everything back in that was lost during the original revamp near the turn of the year.
It's true, a lot of people read blogs via feeds or readers nowadays, so it's almost a pointless thing to fret over, especially when the majority of viewers don't see the blog's actual page. But nonetheless, it's a gripe of mine to not have something completely, totally, and absolutely finished before rolling it out.
Of course, I still need to find some other blogs for other teams. As you can see, I sort of tried to stick with just three blogs per team to begin with, but that was only because I wanted to get it out of the way. Thanks to Kukla's Korner for the oh-so-convenient blog roll he has that covers damn near every team, by the way! Though I admit, it does need a bit of updating to get rid of dead/defunct blogs.It's true, a lot of people read blogs via feeds or readers nowadays, so it's almost a pointless thing to fret over, especially when the majority of viewers don't see the blog's actual page. But nonetheless, it's a gripe of mine to not have something completely, totally, and absolutely finished before rolling it out.
... self excluded. ::Coughs. Coughs.:: Speaking of which, any help from any readers to better refine the blog roll would be much appreciated, since I'm sort of reacclimating myself to the hockey blog community and all.
So! What happened while I was away during the offseason?
•Manny Malhotra looked for just a little bit too much of a pay raise, and in the end did not come back to the Blue Jackets. But that didn't stop him from representing the team at the NHL Player's Association when they fired Paul Kelly at 3 am in the morning (he did vote against the firing, though, so good on him and best of luck in San Jose!).
•In lieu of bringing back one of the league's faceoff percentage leaders last season, the Jackets instead went with Sami Pahlsson for three years to round out the checking line.
•Rick Nash played hardball for about the extent of 24-48 hours before he came to an 8-year, $62.4 million agreement with the team, essentially making him the solid bedrock for this team until 2017. Or beyond!
•Although he was just recently sent back to his junior team, John Moore made sure that both Scott Howson and Ken Hitchcock gave the kid a good, hard look before doing so. I'm in the camp that believes that it wouldn't have hurt to keep Moore around for perhaps a few games in to the regular season to just get his feet wet on the big stage, but considering he was only drafted in this year's draft, there's plenty of time for him to get even better, and all but ensure he stays around next year.
•Pointless as it is, the Jackets went 4-3-1 over the pre-season. In the process Dan LaCosta showed why, as good of a story he was to come up and hold the fort down last season when Steve Mason went down with mono, he is not the backup goaltender to the Calder Trophy winner after the shellacking he received at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first exhibition game of the pre-season. We can only hope that Mathieu Garon is a capable backup.
•Nikita Filatov is hoping to make a splash during his rookie season, and if last year's hat trick is any indication (yes, it was just one game, but come on), he should do just fine. Meanwhile, Derrick Brassard will hopefully not get in to any more shenanigans that involve the dislocation of appendages, because as much depth as the team might have overall, the center position is still something of a fickle creature.
•Off the ice, Danny Gare and Jim Day were both rather unceremoniously ejected from their roles with the Blue Jackets organization, the former apparently just not liked by some, and the latter having too big of a mouth (see: too honest and not enough homer-est). What this says about Business Ops. is anyone's guess, but Gare had grown on me in his short time here, and I always liked Jim Day's unabashed perspective on how games went (and even if it is old hat, how can you feasibly chastize someone for bringing up the late Mr. McConnell when the Jackets clinched their first ever playoff berth? I mean, really? Really? Come on, now).
For now, that about wraps up some of the more key happenings since the last time I moseyed around here. With less things going on in my life right now -- thankfully -- and graduation looming for me at the end of the year, I sincerely hope to be more active this season. At the very least, I'll have some thoughts on the majority of games, hopefully insightful, but more than likely usually not!
It tastes like hockey!
(Blogroll and sidebars under construction. Come hell or high water, I will finish this blog layout before puck drops on Saturday night for the Blue Jackets.)
We're almost back!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Do I owe you any royalties, Skraut?
Trust me, what few people are still left and checking this lowly Blue Jackets' blog. Mike Turner will be back in the saddle this coming season. But first, to finally finish putting this damned blog together after getting that layout I kept looking for several months ago.
Podcast of the Ohio - Podcast #4.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
It's really been over a year and a half since I did one of these, huh?
But this is a very special day. And to be honest, I couldn't think of any better way, as a sport fan, hockey fan, or Blue Jackets fan, to express myself.
Like I said in the cast, I originally just planned to write, then read. But it didn't seem right. False, even. I just wanted to express things in the here and now, with an hour to go before the Jackets' first ever playoff game.
But this is a very special day. And to be honest, I couldn't think of any better way, as a sport fan, hockey fan, or Blue Jackets fan, to express myself.
Like I said in the cast, I originally just planned to write, then read. But it didn't seem right. False, even. I just wanted to express things in the here and now, with an hour to go before the Jackets' first ever playoff game.
A little rambly, a little emotional, but still some thoughts on my heart and on my mind as the clock winds down.
Go Blue Jackets.
Labels: Blue Jackets, playoffs, podcasting
This is my rage face.
Monday, April 13, 2009
We interrupt this lack of posting to bring you the following rage-inducing video:
My reaction, by the way, after watching this:
Not a hockey player, but I do know a thing or two about teeth.
Monday, March 23, 2009
So, unfortunately, a little speed bump along the path towards regular posting occurred last week.
It's called wisdom teeth extraction.
Yep. That's all I got, folks. In the meantime, thanks to the couple o' people who posted references to blogs. I'll be working on the blogroll tonight.
(On a side note, know the worst part about the extraction? It's not my gums, or my mouth. It's my poor lips ... the oral surgeon literally ripped open where my upper and lower lips meet, and as a result, I've hardly been able to eat anything much lately, due to the lack of ability to open my mouth wide. Talk about your miserable few days, right?)
It's called wisdom teeth extraction.
Yep. That's all I got, folks. In the meantime, thanks to the couple o' people who posted references to blogs. I'll be working on the blogroll tonight.
(On a side note, know the worst part about the extraction? It's not my gums, or my mouth. It's my poor lips ... the oral surgeon literally ripped open where my upper and lower lips meet, and as a result, I've hardly been able to eat anything much lately, due to the lack of ability to open my mouth wide. Talk about your miserable few days, right?)
Labels: randomness
What's a blog without a blogroll, right?
Monday, March 16, 2009
One of the harder things to deal with when getting back in to blogging after such a long period of time is re-creating a blogroll. And honestly, with the way that bloggers shift about even more than some hockey players do from site to site, or affiliate themselves with megablogs (which I'd never do ... no offense, or anything), it becomes very apparent that unless you have a pulse for what is going on and never take your fingers off said pulse, you lose track of things very quickly.
So whoever is out there that is actually peeking this way, with the occasional post or two coming once every few days now, I humbly request some assistance in finding blogs that I should put on here for linking purposes. I already have a good few in mind, but I'd like a day or two to hear from whoever sees this post, to see if there is anyone I should keep an eye on.
Oh, and apparently someone kidnapped the 2008-09 Blue Jackets and trotted out some cloned versions of the 06-07 version of the team yesterday afternoon during a 4-0 trouncing by the Red Wings. But, hey, it happens.
So whoever is out there that is actually peeking this way, with the occasional post or two coming once every few days now, I humbly request some assistance in finding blogs that I should put on here for linking purposes. I already have a good few in mind, but I'd like a day or two to hear from whoever sees this post, to see if there is anyone I should keep an eye on.
Oh, and apparently someone kidnapped the 2008-09 Blue Jackets and trotted out some cloned versions of the 06-07 version of the team yesterday afternoon during a 4-0 trouncing by the Red Wings. But, hey, it happens.
Labels: blogosphere
