Lost in the woods. Please send help.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
I dislike the Minnesota Wild for the very reason that I like the New Jersey Devils: they're defense-oriented, they are highly analytical, and they neutral zone trap you to death. Don't worry, I'm not one of those people that cries foul over 'The Trap' being used ... I just understand how damnably vexing it is when it's being used -- efficiently, I might add -- against you.With that said, the game was pretty brutal to watch from start to finish. Although the Wild didn't take the lead until around 6:35 of the 3rd period on a goalpost clanger from Brent Burns, they controlled the flow of the game nearly all night long, with the exception of around the latter half of the 2nd period, when Adam Foote stunned just about every one watching by scoring a shortie on the Wild, and temporarily putting the Jackets up 2-1.
One thing that I noticed right off the bat was that the Jackets seemed to revert to their old ways of being unable to -- or not making the honest effort to -- break out of their own zone, instead spending too much time passing the puck back and forth. Of course, part of that could be a result of the way the Wild play, which isn't the easiest to break out against. But if this team truly is as good as their home opener seemed to show, they need to be able to push back against that sort of challenge.
Foote deserves credit for playing modestly well, including the aforementioned shorthanded goal. I wasn't pleased with Kris Russell's play tonight, as he seemed to be trying too hard, and at times pinching in much too deep. One play in particular, though it didn't lead to a goal, was the result of Russell staying out way too long on the ice -- apparently of his own volition during a line change -- and proceeding to cough up the puck as he tried to keep it in the Wild's zone.
Rick Nash, David Vyborny, and Sergei Fedorov? All kept off of the score sheet tonight. Nikolai Zherdev, although he notched two assists by helping with both Jackets' goals, unfortunately was also on the ice for all three Wild goals.
Fredrik Norrena was hung out to dry, despite a solid effort on his part. Saving 28 of 31 shots, he had to face way too many odd-man rushes, breakaways, and a variety of other shots and Wild scoring chances because of total breakdowns by the defense. Blue Jackets' players seemed to be falling all over themselves in the defensive zone, which only further cluttered and caused chaos in front of Freddy.
Still, give the Wild credit for playing their game. I'm going to have nightmares of Brian Rolston skating lightning-fast circles around me, taunting me as he zips around like a pest. A pest that can score, at that.
Now the Jackets have until Wednesday to return to Columbus, practice, rest, practice some more, have Ken Hitchcock mentally browbeat them until they remember how to break out of their own zone again, then take on the Wayne Gretzky-led Phoenix Coyotes.
As for me, I'll be taking Sunday off.
Labels: Adam Foote, David Vyborny, Kris Russell, Minnesota Wild, Nikolai Zherdev, post-game, Rick Nash, Sergei Fedorov
Pre-season game #1: Blue Jackets vs. Predators
Sunday, September 16, 2007
You know what's been awesome about this weekend? The weather. The past two days have been perfect pre-season hockey weather. Waking up to low- to mid-40 degree mornings, and the temperature for the day only peaking around the mid- to upper-60s. Frankly, I thrive off of cold weather. Muggy, humid weather ... and anything over 80 degrees makes me disgustingly uncomfortable in my skin. The wait for the first pre-season game has been far too long, and five months between last regular season game of the 2006-07 campaign and now has been torture.
The late afternoon match-up against the gutted Nashville Predators should certainly be interesting, if only because I would expect the Predators to be coming out with a whole assortment of prospects they would like to get a good look at, what with the dismantling they went through during this off-season. The Preds have honestly been through Hell thanks to the ownership issues plaguing the team right up to this very moment, and while I'm certainly not about to show any sympathy towards the team itself after the heaping amount of embarrassment they piled on top of the Blue Jackets last season (0-7-1), I can certainly show sympathy towards their fans.
And no, I'm not going to make any cracks such as "All five of their fans" or something lame. Moving along.
Their new team captain, it was revealed in the past few days, is former Devils' E-A-S-y line guy Jason Arnott (IPB might be the only bloggers I know who'd even recall that line). The memories I have of Arnott are only from my time back in New Jersey, when he, Patrik Elias, and Petr Sykora led a then-dominant Devils team to the Stanley Cup in 2000, as well as a seven game Stanley Cup Finals in 2001.
But those are some damn old memories. Either way, the best of luck to Arnott in Nashville as the team's captain; he's going to need it to rally that team, after losing quite a few key parts.
Meanwhile, over in Blue Jackets' camp, expect to see some fresh faces and prospects out on the ice tonight, as reported by The Dispatch. In all, just about half of the forwards have little to no NHL experience, while on the defensive end you have maybe two out of six players with limited experience.
Between the pipes, you're going to have Pascal Leclaire looking to get a quick start out of the gate to prove that he isn't just an injury-prone yet talented netminder, with Tomas Popperle trying to show that his poor showing at the Traverse City Prospects Tourny was merely a fluke. So a lot of players with a lot to prove.
Be sure to keep an eye out for the Rick Nash, Nikolai Zherdev, David Vyborny line tonight. It'll be exciting to see how they do when they're up against players not on the same team as they are, even if it's just a pre-season game.
What I'll be looking for when I go down to Nationwide and watch the game tonight? Besides the NZV Line, and my own personal hopes that Pazzy comes out stronger than ever, I want to see just how well Geoff Platt does. Lost in the logjam that is the center position now that Zherdev may be making a transition there, the stature-challenged but super-gigawatt charged Platt needs to do something -- and something amazing -- this pre-season if he wants to stay up here instead of going back to the 'Cuse again. Here's hoping for the best.
And with that, I am off to start my exercise regime at the fitness center! I found out the hard way last week that a personal trainer over four months would cost something like $4,000+, so after managing to pick up my jaw from off of the floor, I decided I'll just figure things out on my own at the fitness club. Wish me luck!
The late afternoon match-up against the gutted Nashville Predators should certainly be interesting, if only because I would expect the Predators to be coming out with a whole assortment of prospects they would like to get a good look at, what with the dismantling they went through during this off-season. The Preds have honestly been through Hell thanks to the ownership issues plaguing the team right up to this very moment, and while I'm certainly not about to show any sympathy towards the team itself after the heaping amount of embarrassment they piled on top of the Blue Jackets last season (0-7-1), I can certainly show sympathy towards their fans.
And no, I'm not going to make any cracks such as "All five of their fans" or something lame. Moving along.
Their new team captain, it was revealed in the past few days, is former Devils' E-A-S-y line guy Jason Arnott (IPB might be the only bloggers I know who'd even recall that line). The memories I have of Arnott are only from my time back in New Jersey, when he, Patrik Elias, and Petr Sykora led a then-dominant Devils team to the Stanley Cup in 2000, as well as a seven game Stanley Cup Finals in 2001.
But those are some damn old memories. Either way, the best of luck to Arnott in Nashville as the team's captain; he's going to need it to rally that team, after losing quite a few key parts.
Meanwhile, over in Blue Jackets' camp, expect to see some fresh faces and prospects out on the ice tonight, as reported by The Dispatch. In all, just about half of the forwards have little to no NHL experience, while on the defensive end you have maybe two out of six players with limited experience.
Between the pipes, you're going to have Pascal Leclaire looking to get a quick start out of the gate to prove that he isn't just an injury-prone yet talented netminder, with Tomas Popperle trying to show that his poor showing at the Traverse City Prospects Tourny was merely a fluke. So a lot of players with a lot to prove.
Be sure to keep an eye out for the Rick Nash, Nikolai Zherdev, David Vyborny line tonight. It'll be exciting to see how they do when they're up against players not on the same team as they are, even if it's just a pre-season game.
What I'll be looking for when I go down to Nationwide and watch the game tonight? Besides the NZV Line, and my own personal hopes that Pazzy comes out stronger than ever, I want to see just how well Geoff Platt does. Lost in the logjam that is the center position now that Zherdev may be making a transition there, the stature-challenged but super-gigawatt charged Platt needs to do something -- and something amazing -- this pre-season if he wants to stay up here instead of going back to the 'Cuse again. Here's hoping for the best.
And with that, I am off to start my exercise regime at the fitness center! I found out the hard way last week that a personal trainer over four months would cost something like $4,000+, so after managing to pick up my jaw from off of the floor, I decided I'll just figure things out on my own at the fitness club. Wish me luck!
Labels: Adam Foote, CBJ Players, Nashville Predators, pre-game, Sergei Fedorov
