Streak Snapped at 5

The team's longest winning streak of the year was snapped in a road shootout loss to Phoenix 5-4. A tough loss after a spirited game, Mike Comrie of Phoenix scored the lone goal of the shootout for the slim margin of victory.

Jacket goals scored by Carter, Nash, Federov and Vyborny. Adam Foote is still out, but Nikolai Zherdev played 15 minutes with 2 SOG. While Columbus was 0-5 on the power play, the Coyotes were 2-9. For Phoenix, Jeremy Roenick was a healthy scratch.

Wow

To say this afternoon's victory was impressive would be a grand understatement. You can watch hockey for a long time without seeing what happened in Quebec as the Jackets scored five straight power play goals: Nash, Nash again, Fritsche, Hainsey and Fritsche again. The power of the offense was beautiful to see, and all this with Zherdev still out.

The only downside to the game were injuries: goalie Pascal Leclaire had to leave the game with a 5-0 lead and Adam Foote left the game in the first period with a leg injury. Hopefully they will be back soon.

Columbus 5 St. Louis 1

A solid road win for the Jackets powered by Sergei Federov, who netted two goals and assisted on another one. Gilbert Brule continued his solid play. The young center scored a goal and assisted on Adam Foote's first goal of the season. Fredrik Modin added a power play goal to start the game's scoring. Norrena was again solid in goal, stopping 24 of 25 shots. In his last three games he has given up one goal. Impressive indeed.

Let's be frank, the Jackets need some road wins to get confidence up and if they are to get on track, St. Louis has to be seen as a win. They built on the shutout wins in Colorado and Edmonton to at least get the fans excited about the season's second half, and that is quite important when assessing a coaching change. Don't just get rid of a coach for the sake of change - make a change that will fundamentally change the season. This win makes it three in a row. No letups so far.

Progress

"I'm taking baby steps, Dr. Marvin."

In a rare road win, the Jackets shutout the Oilers 4-0. Columbus goalie Fredrik Norrena earned his first NHL shutout by stopping 21 shots. Four different goal scorers for the Blue Jackets: Svitov, Brule, Carter and Fritsche (who also had two assists).

The short analysis of the team since the coaching change is that the team has played harder and focused on the defensive end. The last three games they have given up a total of 3 goals. Nice start for Coach Hitchcock, but it is a long season.

Hitchcock's First Weekend

Coach Hitchcock ends his first weekend 1-1 after losing 3-2 in his return to Philadelphia then winning 5-3 against a game Minnesota team.

The win against the Wild begins what the team braintrust needs to focus on: playing tough against good teams and winning at home. Energizing the fan base is critical given the lackluster play at home this season. Federov played his best game as a Blue Jacket: scoring two goals and assisting on another two. Generating production from teh team's big guns, Nash, Federov, Vyborny and Zherdev, is a key to success.

Rebounds: Interestingly Shelley played almost ten minutes. We'll see if the coaching change alters Jody's fortunes. Federov had 10 shots on goal. columbus outshot Minnesota 33-22and went +7 on faceoffs.

Hitchcock Hired

Yesterday afternoon Ken Hitchcock was hired to coach the Blue Jackets and the team celebrated by losing yet another home game - a shootout loss 4-3 to the St. Louis Blues. This loss extends the Jackets skid to seven games.

We'll see how the team responds to the tough-minded authoritarian Hitchcock, who earlier this season was run out of Philadelphia along with GM Bobby Clarke. The coach has had success in th e past and perhaps he can get the attention of the young guys and revive what was supposed to be an exciting offense. Good luck, Pat. You'll need it.

Hitchcock's first game? Against the Flyers in Phily.

Nashville 4, Columbus 2

The season continues to spiral downward as the Jackets lose again. This time four second period goals iced the game. Special teams dropped the ball as three goals came on the power play. Foyr goals only on 25 shots.

Federov and Fritsche score two meaningless goals in the third period. The Jackets are 2-8 in their last ten games.

Gallant Exits

The inevitable happened today as Gerard Gallant was fired by GM MacLean. Given the team's record and the (possibly illogical preseason) expectations, Gallant was expendable now that the team has slipped into the cellar.

The real question is not who will coach next, but does MacLean leave town next? The players on the team are his guys picked over the last five years. I think his leash is short, perhaps until the season ends though we'll see if he makes it through the next few days. A press conference has been called for tomorrow to discuss the coaching vacancy.

Tough Loss

The Devils make a second period goal hold up as they edge the Blue Jackets 1-0 in New Jersey. Lecalire plays his second consecutive solid game, but this time he is outdone by future hall of famer Martin Brodeur.

Rebounds: The Devils won the faceoff battle by an unbelievable 35-10. Jody Shelley has 4:46 of ice time and 17 penalty minutes. The teams went a combined 90-9 on the power play.

Shut Out

Pascal Leclaire earns his first shutout of the season as the Jackets beat the Kings in Columbus 2-0. Goals by Zherdev and Modin power the team to a much needed victory in a game dominated by Los Angeles and won by superior goalie play. The team gave their confidence in the off-season by promoting Leclaire to starter through the trade of Marc Denis.


Rebounds: Despite winning 2-0 the Jackets were badly outshot, 38-14. Suffice to say that they will not win many other games when they are out shot by a whopping 24. Both teams combine for 0-13 on the power play.

San Jose 3 Columbus 0

The Jackets lose again on home ice and now four straight overall. The offense looked invisible as there were many players with significant ice time that could not manage a shot on goal. Add to that yielding two power play goals and you have a sad looking loss at home to a better team.

Wild 5 Jackets 0

There's no way (or reason) to sugar coat this one: the Blue Jackets were crushed by Minnesota on the road. Continuing their torrid start, Minnesota moves to 5-0-0 on the season. Best to put this one behind them and move on to the next game. It's a long season and it was a long game tonight.

Rebounds: Shelly had 8:02 ice time and 7 penalty minutes. The formerly hot power play unit went 0-3; Minnesota converted 2-7 power play chances. In the second period rookie Fredrik Norrena made his NHL debut when he replaced a shelled Leclaire after Pascal gave up four goals.

Columbus 5 Phoenix 1

Nikolai Zherdev made his season debut and netted two goals, and Duvie Westcott, David Vyborny and Rick Nash had three points each. Leclaire has his first strong game of the season, stopping 23 of 24 shots.

Rebounds: The Jackets were 3-12 on the power play and shut out the Coyotes 0-9.

Road Win in Chicago

Rick Nash scored two goals and teh power play unit continued its strong play, scoring three times on four power play opportunities. Defense was limited for both sides, but it was fun to see the offenses go at each other. Duvie Westcott's second period goal was the game winner as the Jackets had to weather the comeback by Chicago in the third period.

Rebounds: Game with 9 goals had only 46 shots combined. While Jody Shelley has played less than 9 minutes in the last two games, last night Adam Foote was on the ice for 30+ minutes.

Jackets Drop Season Opener

In the home and season opener for Columbus, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2 on an overtime goal by Daniel Sedin. After a good preseason, the Jackets were outshot 44-20 by the Canucks.

The Jackets jumped out to a two goal lead after power play tallies by Mark Hartigan and David Vyborny. Good to see the power play unit start strong by going 2-5.

Nikolai Zherdev and Rusty Klesla did not play for Columbus. Rusty is erving a two game suspension for a hit in the preseason. Bryan Berard and Sergei Federov start the season on injured reserve.

Zherdev in the Fold

Free agent Nikolai Zherdev finally signed and ended months of negotiations that looked to land him back home in Russia. Zherdev signed a 3-year deal estimated to be worth more than $7 million. It si encouraging to see the Jackets nail down a potential star. Now if he can raise his game as high as his salary, then we'll have something.

Preseason: Columbus 4 Carolina 2

The Jackets earn a solid win at home against the champs with a four goal frenzy in the third period. Rick Nash scores two in the final period to go along with goals by Fritsche and Platt. Each team had 29 shots on goal. Carolina was 2-7 oon teh power play while Columbus was a wretched 0-7.

Nikolai Zherdev: the club has offered him $6.9 million for three years, and there were no talks last week. Hard to imagine passing up that much money. We'll miss his scoring even if it did come in streaks. It is looking grim for signing him as the season opener is only two weeks away.

Preseason: Nashville 8 Columbus 1

Ugly road game loss. The lone Jackets goal in the midst of an avalanche of Nashville offense belonged to Alexandre Picard, who scored on the power play in the second period assisted by Anders Eriksson and Fredrik Modin. That was the highlight. Really. After starting the season with two wins, we should look past this one and move on.Ugh.

Changes Left and Right

So ends the lazy summer as the past few weeks have brought several changes altering the face of the team, including the trading of starting goalie Marc Denis.

On Friday, the Jackets dealt Denis to Tampa Bay for left wing Fredrik Modin and goaltender Fredrik Norrena. A former all-star, Modin adds size (6'4") and needed scoring punch. Denis played solidly for the Blue Jackets despite having less than adequate defensive help throughout most of his career in Columbus. Good luck to Marc.

Shortly thereafter Columbus resigned Pascal Leclaire to a two year deal. leclaire, a former number one pick from 2001, began to supplant Denis last season. The team finished striong and Leclaire was a big part of the turn-around. He finished the season with a respectable 3.23 GAA.

The Blue Jackets followed up the Leclaire signing by resigning defenseman Ron Hainsey. The 25-year-old blueliner set a team record with a +13 rating for last season and was another part of the spirited play that capped the season.

Preceding these important deals were signings that should help with adding needed depth to the roster: defenseman Anders Eriksson, center Alexander Svitov, goaltender Ty Conklin and defenseman Tomas Kloucek. Eriksson comes back to the Jackets after being away for a couple of years, as does Svitov who played the last few seasons in the Russian Elite League. Conklin has been a solid backup for Edmonton (despite committing a notorious gaffe that cost them a game in the finals last season). The imposing Kloucek stands at 6'3" and weighs in at 235 pounds.

Columbus agreed on a contract with 2005 third-round draft pick Kris Russell.

Draft 2006 - Brassard in Round One

With the sixth pick in the draft's first round Columbus selected center Derick Brassard. Last season Brassard had 116 points (with 44 goals) in Major Junior Hockey League. Brassard will be 19 in September and stands at 6'0" and weighs 172 pounds.

The French Canadian draftee will have a chance to display his strengths: quickness and playmaker ability. The Jackets need strong center play to complement the other young goal scorers like Nash and Zherdev. It will be interesting to see with who Brassard gets paired with next season.