Brodeur the Great I've been silent during the playoffs. As a Jackets fan, it's the time of year to happily watch playoff hockey while trying to choke down the disappointment in not being invited to the dance. It's also the annual questioning of Martin Brodeur by the armchair cowboys and media who have run out of Tortorella stories. I was elated to see Brodeur outduel Lundquist and send the Devils to the finals against the juggernaut eighth seed Kings. When you beat the 1, 2 and 3 seeds... Well, you're on an epic roll. Nonetheless I couldn't help but be captivated by Brodeur and his still off the charts compete level. He does, and always has, all the little things to win. A key poke check on a breakaway, a backing of the glove atop the desperate pad stack and never missing the chance to punish an opponent camped in his crease. He and his teammates do the tough, unglamorous, unpretentious things every minute if every period of every game, and that level of commitment to intensity and greatness is missing from the Blue Jackets game. The little things that add up to a Cup.

The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny

With a 48% chance to get the first pick in the draft, the Jackets lose the first pick to Edmonton and their 18% chance. For the third year in a row the Oilers have the top spot. It's unbelievable. Howson could fall into a barrel of nipples and come out sucking his thumb.

Say What You Will

The team is playing out the string.
The third string goalie is playing due to injuries.
Florida is in town.
Yet the Columbus faithful showed up in force.

A crowd of nearly 18,000 cheered on the Blue Jackets to a 4-1 victory. Allen York made 30 saves for the win. Say what you will, but the fans are desperate for hockey and want to support the team. It's up to management to make a team that can contend for ithe playoffs. Not a cup winner. Not even a conference winner. Just make the playoffs. Is that possible in one off-season? Very unlikely, but one can only hope.

Same result, different game
After a 4-3 loss in Vancouver a fine game summary by Rick Nash: “I think the big difference is our mistakes, Everytime we made a big mistake, they scored a goal.”

Tale of the tape
The Jackets haven't beaten the Canucks in regulation since 2009.
Columbus is a mere 43 points behind Vancouver in the standings.

Trades

A few days after dealing Vermette, Howson sends Jeff Carter to the Kings for a conditional first round pick (either 2012 or 2013) and defenseman Jack Johnson. Neither move is earth-shaking, but he gets an A for effort in contract dumping. Getting a sound defenseman is good on the surface, but having $10+ million in two defensemen (Johnson and Wisniewski) seems a like short-term plan. I add on the surface because I don't see how they can move Wisniewski (if that is their wish).

As the deadline looms

There are many questions swirling around the team as the February trade deadline approaches. Nine more days until we learn:

• What will the team do with Rick Nash? The only bone fide star in the team's history has been the center of many trade rumors. Trading away such a valuable asset may not be wise during a deadline crunch. The team may get better value near the draft. That's of course if they want to trade Nash. If they do, the return must be tremendous to avoid alienating the fan base.


• Is Scott Howson really the guy as GM? If he's not, why is he being allowed to make such important decisions? The answer seems to be that Howson will survive into next season. It would be inconceivable that he would be permitted to trade the team's only star and later be fired. The remaining question is does he deserve more time? Ownership seems to be willing to give him more time. Let's hope they're right because I'd move on.


• Has the Jeff Carter era ended before it really ever started? It's dangerous to rely on rumor mill material, but it has been strongly suggested that Carter is being dangled as deadline trade bait. While he hasn't made an impact this season, trading your top two scorers (Nash and Carter) on a team that doesn't score seems like suicide.


• Steve Mason has a relatively big contract. He has the rest of the season to prove he deserves the job. With Sanford out, he'll get as much ice time as he can handle. Will they give Mason a shot? Or will they seek goaltending in a potential Nash trade?

As if it matters

When Doughty scored the goal with :00.4 seconds remaining to beat the Jackets, video replay showed the puck crossing the goal line before time expired. Additional replays showed the game clock stopped with 1.8 seconds left and didn't restart for at least 1 second before starting again. Clearly the game had ended and no one told the officials. If I'm on a team battling with the Kings later this season, this game result would not sit well with me.

The Count:

"Not good, not acceptable -- if [the clock] had run straight through, the game would have been at a tie at that point, would have gone to overtime," Bettman said. "And maybe L.A. would have won anyway, maybe not. That's not the point. We are taking this very seriously. We're investigating as to how it happened. Obviously it's either human error or a technology glitch. We don't know which, but we've already begun investigating and we will get to the bottom of it.

"Now I know lots of people are going to say, 'How can you have a mistake?' Well, unfortunately or fortunately, our game is full of mistakes -- by players, by coaches and occasionally by officials -- and on some levels it's no different than if a guy makes a bad penalty call, puts a team on the power play and they score the winning goal. It happens. We don't like when it happens and our job is to minimize mistakes. We don't want any, but obviously when you have a human element in any aspect of the game you're going to have it.

"If we had any reason to believe that this was intentional we would deal with it in a whole different way, but we're going to investigate it, get to the bottom of it."

Better than Nothing

The all-star game in Columbus? Nice, but I'd rather be hosting a Cup final game any day. I know... when Hell freezes over. Jeff Carter watch is officially on. Who will take the contract? Sad to say that speculation on future games is all that matters at this point. I declare this season dead to me. RIP 2011-2012 and good riddance.

Dog Days

As we enter the playing-out-the-string period of the season for bad hockey teams and as if on cue, Jeff Carter earns a trip to the IR with a separated shoulder. Welcome to the hell that is all things Blue Jackets, Mr. Carter. Add that the normally very durable R.J. Umberger is concussed, and the table is set for the long, slow stumble to the draft. Arniel is gone and Todd Richards is in. Good luck, Todd... you'll need it.

Oh yeah, they beat the NHL-owned Coyotes 4-3. Whee!

Too Late

A day after yet another shellacking, this time at the hands of the Kings, the coach lost his job. I suppose there's no point in firing the general manager in the middle of the season, but I would make an exception here. Howson needs to go, and he needs to go now. There's no analysis of the team's situation that doesn't start with a Howson blunder. The irony of St. Louis sitting at the fourth slot in the conference with Hitch at the helm apparently is lost on the Columbus brain trust.

This post seems appropriate to unearth.

Solid

Good game at home against Calgary that ends regulation tied at 1-1. Mason plays a good game, as does Kiprusoff at the other end. Mason makes a clutch glove save with 2 seconds left in overtime to send it to a shoot out. Only one goal in the shoot out - Iginla nets the winner as Wisniewski's shot rings off the post behind Kipper to end the game. Good crowd gets a solid effort, but no win.

The Holiday Spirit

22 points on December 26 - good enough for worst in the league. Losers of four in a row. Unless someone catches fire, no one will score 30 goals or earn 75 points. There is on regular with a favorable plus/minus rating. The winner: Derek MacKenzie. Our top two players, Nash and Wisniewski, are a combined -37. Steve Mason can only be found on a milk carton these days. The holiday spirit these days is bourbon, by the barrel.

Mason Returns

Steve Mason was back in goal after nearly a month in the doghouse, and the Jackets walk away with a 2-1 shootout win against the here-to-fore hot Canucks. It had to gratifying for Mason in stopping 30 shots and beating at-times similarly beleaguered Luongo. Carter had the only goal in regulation for Columbus, netting his sixth and, shockingly, on the power play. 37 shifts and 26+ minutes of ice time for Tyutin. A good win in front of the home crowd.

Everything but the win

Tough loss at home to the hated Nashvillans on Friday night. Trying to follow up on the Tuesday win against Montreal, the Jackets carried the play for 57+ minutes. Unfortunately the Rinnes were ale to score on a 6-on-4 power play with Rinne pulled with 1:30 left. Destiny completed the letdown in overtime as Wlison beat Sanford for the loss. Carter, Vermette and Dorsett scored for the Jackets.

Why We Are What We Are - Columbus is:

27th in power play

28th in penalty killing.

28th in goals per game

27th in goals against

Why does Howson still have his job?

Western Swing

The mini trip out west ended up being a microcosm of the season. The team dropped two of three and finished up the trip by allowing edmonton to net 5 goals in the third. Huselius was activated for the first time this year in that last game. Clearly he will need many games to get himself in game-shape, as his -2 attests. Hate to see a gritty come-from-behind win at Calgary get followed up by the collapse in Edmonton. The team gets a break until Tuesday when they travel to Montreal.

Interesting that after 26 games, Derek MacKenzie leads the team at +6. In stark contrast, the player with the worst ratio on the team? Rick Nash at -14. Hard to believe. High priced free agent Wisniewski is just behind him at -13.

Entertaining

The team has earned points in the last five games including a 5-1 win against the Sabres. Admittedly it was against the Sabres without Ryan Miller, but we will take it. Seeing Nash, Carter and Lupul heat up is a good sign. It won't last forever, but at least they're entertaining.

Oh by the way, I guess the Sanford for mayor campaign kicks off soon. Don't break a leg jumping off the Mason bandwagon, folks. Remember it's a long season.

A good night

The first goals of the season from Carter and (the game-winner from) Wisniewski lead to the first win in Nashville in five years. Sanford is again in net. Two days after a tough 2-1 loss in Boston, finally something to cheer.

Almost

Good to see young Johansen step it up and score both goals in a 2-1 win. Mason stops 35 of 36 shots. Jeff Carter is activated and plays 20+ minutes. Niktin, received in a Friday trade for Kris Russell, gets an assist. 0 for 4... on... the... power play! Sorry, held off for years but had to do that at least once (c:

Not fast enough

I wasn't fast enough as I got home from jumpstarting a friend's car to find the Jackets down by 5. By mid-second period, it was 8-0. Obviously the team wasn't fast enough either. Steve Mason again did his best Swiss cheese imitation and had to be pulled before the end of period one.

The only major question left is why do the coach and GM still have their jobs? If ownership wants us to believe that they don't care, well take my word for it - we're convinced. The Hitchcock countdown is officially running. For those of us who never understood why he was fired in the first place, his rehiring can't happen soon enough.

Sinking deeper

On home ice the team dropped another game in a disheartening fashion. The first period ended with the Leafs up 2-0... on four shots. What do you say when you have to pull your star goalie? Well Coach Arniel had a few choice words, ""Their goaltender was better than our goaltender. Plain and simple. Their guy made a lot of big saves. One end was good and one end wasn't. That's the end of that story." Indeed.