Carry Over

My buddy Bill has a saying that he uses before each season, which is 'these hockey seasons never turn out the way you think they are going to turn out'.  Nothing could illustrate that saying more completely than the 2012-13 Columbus Blue Jackets, picked by all to finish last, yet missing the playoffs by a single point.  Things just don't turn out the way you think they will.

To further complicate matters, the CBJ move to the East next year.  This is a new suite of opponents and arenas for the fans, and some of the players.  But quite a few of our core players have played significant time in the Eastern Conference, so this landscape will not be unfamiliar to them.  So that's a good thing.  But what else can we reasonably expect to carry over from the previous season, even allowing for Bill's proverb to come through?

I'd like to be able to say that the team's infectious joy that they showed down the stretch would return, but it won't.  That is something that is captured in that period of time, and only the playoffs could have prolonged the mojo that the team had developed.  Unfortunately, that spirit will not pick up where it left off, and the team will have to rebuild the camaraderie and carry it through and 82 game season next year.  I'm not trying to be overly negative, it's just that these things are not static.  The good news is that the team left a great foundation to build on for next year, and as Morgan observed, having once built the camaraderie, the players know it can happen, and its easier to build again.

So what are the foundations that can be used to re-build the mojo?

The Dark Blue Podcast - 2013 Season Wrapup (Part One)

Morgan, Mike and I took over the DKM Hockey Podcast studios for an evening to kick back and try to process the madness that was the 2013 Columbus Blue Jackets season.

Our opening segment covers the team's actual performance this season...on all fronts.  Enjoy!

Part VIII: The Dark Blue Jacket's Definitive History of the CBJ; Completus Occidentali

@Skrauts photo of the end of the season celebration

When we last left this history, the 2012-13 season was hanging in the balance due to a labor impasse, I still had my original arthritic knees,  and the Columbus Blue Jackets were firmly and definitely ‘THE LAST PLACE TEAM’ (emphasis not added) in the minds of the hockey intelligentsia.  By the time the dust settled after an abbreviated 2012-13 season, the CBJ players and coaches had treated the fans to one of the best story lines in all of hockey, coming a mere point short of making the playoffs after a furious charge through the western conference.  One wonders if in future segments of this history whether we will look back at the courage and tenacity of this year’s roster as a turning point in the franchise’s fortunes.

Labor Peace

At long last, after months of tooth grinding frustration by fans, the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to a collective bargaining agreement in early January.  The new agreement called for an abbreviated 2012-13 season of 48 games following a one week training camp.  This arrangement did not bode well for the CBJ, as the short training camp would not allow much time for the sweeping roster changes to jell.  But labor peace brought a more seismic change to the Blue Jackets.  The 2012-13 season was to be the last that the CBJ would play in the Western Conference.  In 2013-14 the CBJ would be playing in the Eastern Conference.  In their division would be Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington and Carolina.  Out of the proverbial frying pan of the Central Division of the Western Conference into the fire of the Leaders, er, uh, Legends, er, uh, Atlantic, oh, okay, Division D of the Eastern Conference (yet to be officially named).  This is a huge benefit to the CBJ fans, for who the number of away games that start at 7 PM will go up drastically as opposed to the 10 and 10:30 PM starts.  In that regard, we will have no more of those than the rest of the league, as the 2012-14 season calls for a home and away with every team in the league.  In addition, our fellow Atlantic Division (estimated name) teams are much more natural rivals then most of our current Western Conference brethren.  Of course if you want to be a rival, you have to be more than a door mat, which leads us to the 2012-13 season.

Early reactions to DBJ's 2013 CBJ MVP award

In case you missed it, I awarded Vinny Prospal my 2013 CBJ Most Valuable Player award over at FOX Sports Ohio's Dark Blue Jacket Plus blog.  Go on over and check it out.

I've received a couple reactions since posting, perhaps from as distant perspectives as you can get.  Thought I'd share.

Twitter's @Zekebud, perhaps the Blue Jackets fanbase's most adept user of advanced hockey statistics, tells me that he awarded his MVP to goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.  Here's a bit of his rationale (but I strongly suggest you read the post to best appreciate his point of view):

In this the first installment of the CBJ 2013 Review, we’re going right for the empty-netter, the obvious one. Although that metaphor doesn’t actually translate to the player we’re talking about. Instead, his contribution is a more literal ferocious effort between the pipes, a relentless, stalwart force, unrelenting and nigh-impossible to solve. Oh, and at times he made it look effortless and calm. He should be the Vezina winner, and he could be seen as a serious Hart candidate. He is Sergei Bobrovsky. 

Missing the Playoffs, again.

 

I haven't felt like writing much about the Blue Jackets the past couple of days.  I'm excited that NHL playoff hockey is here, and I watched three games last night.  But the Blue Jackets and their inability to make the playoffs again, much derived from my 'heart on the sleeve' midget years, has left me with a bit of  a void.   In most hockey  tournaments, the Championship games are played on Sundays.  Since the Jacket's were eliminated from the playoffs, I've been in a funk that feels very much like the ride home from a hockey tournament on Saturday night.  Being done playing hockey before the other teams have finished is never any fun.  I want to play hockey, not watch it.  The ride home on Saturday night always seems like it takes twice as long as the drive in took.  The ride home is always dark, always quiet.

Now What?

I used this Bobrovsky illustration by @PREDSmyth again cause I like it.

Here we are, unexpectedly, certainly against all hope, in the off season.  The finale of the season was an incredible high.  Not making the playoffs is a low, but not of the same magnitude for me.  I was reading through the season re-cap in the Columbus Dispatch this morning (I like to have that newspaper in the morning), and I was reminded how many times this season that choices or direction hinged on the results of one game.  The amazing thing about this team, is they nearly always won that game.

Thinking about the time leading up to the trade deadline, and I felt 'gosh, they win a game or two here, and they might be buyers at the deadline'.  Well, they won those games.  Then there was the incredible road trip to end the season in which they went 5-1.  I don't know how many times before that road trip that I said 'stick a fork in them, they're done'.  But the teams resiliency and belief came through time and again, to build up to the fantastic crescendo at the finale.

So now what?

Never forget: Sergei Bobrovsky

The DBJ team, like much of the Columbus Blue Jackets fanbase, is still recovering from the roller-coaster season and climactic ending to the 2013 campaign.  I'm sure we'll come up with some appropriately insightful  post-mortems, but I wanted to make sure that I shared this video of surefire Vezina contender Sergei Bobrovsky from Saturday's Nashville game.


Seven shots in rapid fire succession.  None passed by him.  I've never seen anything like it.  Such an incredible display. I hope to see something like this again but can't take what we saw for granted.

@Morgan_Ward_140's Six-Pack for Game 48: The Nashville Predators

Columbus Blue Jackets 3 - The Nashville Predators 1
9th in the Western Conference

Full many a flower are born to blush unseen and waste its sweetness upon the desert air
                      - Thomas Grey from Elegy in a Courtyard Church

It's the best reference I could come up with to describe how I feel right now.  The Jackets played 19-5-5 since March 1st and miss the playoffs by virtue of a tie breaker. The hockey the Jackets have played the last 8 weeks is nothing shy of phenomenal.  The NHL's second season is about to begin, and the blossoming Jackets will have to be heartbroken bridesmaids one more.  It's easy to be one of the 19,002 at Nationwide Arena tonight and bemoan the 'what would have been' if there wasn't a disallowed goal here, or a hosing by the officials there.'  Truth be told, February cost the Jackets the a chance at post season glory and nothing else.  Still I, like so many others, can't help but feel nostalgic about the this past season as it is merely minutes from being over.  But the focus of this post is tonight's game, and not a weepy eyed "back in 82" retelling of this season.

It's Time to Bring the Thunder

Sergei Bobrovsky by @PREDSmyth, stick tap to @RedditCBJ for
passing this along

Saturday the most recent crop of BlueJackets fans will get a unique opportunity in Nationwide Arena.  In all likelihood you have heard some of the older, core group of fans speak longingly of Game 4 of the 2008-09 playoffs, of the thunderous noise in Nationwide Arena, and the unbelievable experience that the game was.  Blah, blah, blah, yawn, 'Yeah but I wasn't there so it doesn't mean that much to me'.  This is your chance to experience that atmosphere folks.  However, there are some important differences between Saturday's game and Game 4.

First and foremost, it is important to remember that Game 4 was a lost cause.  Yeah, maybe we would win a game, but the Redwings were going to win that series.  There wasn't any doubt there.  Tomorrow's game could not hold a greater contrast.  The game on Saturday is all about winning.  It is a win or go home game, and there is no chance of making the playoffs if we don't win.  We may be disappointed in the end, but we must win tomorrow.  It is time to sell out folks, it's now or never.

I went to that Game 4 of the 2008-09 playoffs with a firm resolve not to be cheated.  No matter how the game turned out, I was going to let it all out for the CBJ.  Saturday's game is not about fearing that you may be cheated.  Saturday's game is about a huge, monstrous celebration of what the 2012-13 team has accomplished.  But, there is business at hand as well, and a hockey game to be won.  So a few things to consider before you go to the game.

1. There is nothing that you might want to use your voice for on Sunday that is more important than this game.  The last home game was nice and loud.  About average for a pre-Arniel crowd.  We are looking for another order of magnitude.  You don't need that voice on Sunday.  Send a text message.

2. One of the striking things about the Game 4 experience was that the team quickly fell behind by two goals, but the crowd just got louder.  We MUST have this on Saturday!!  If the Preds should score a goal, we need to take the noise to another level. Trust me, the team will respond to it.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  We need to be a loud, raucous, tough crowd tomorrow.

3. Enjoy this with every fiber of your being.  Saturday's game is a gift from the players and coaches, wrought with hard work and faith.  A playoff showdown that will go down to the wire.  As a fan, you can't really ask for more. Get loud!  Get rowdy!  But carry a sense of joy with you as you do so (thanks Claude).  This is the good stuff, a time to be enjoyed.

This is playoff hockey.  It is time for the thunder to return to Nationwide Arena.  It's up to the fans to bring it.

GO JACKETS!!!

DBJ's six-pack for Game 47: Dallas

Columbus 3 - Dallas 1
23-17-7, 53 points, 9th in the Western Conference

The Columbus Blue Jackets wrapped up the Six Game Roadie From Hell with a 3-1 regulation win against the host Dallas Stars at American Airlines Arena.

The Blue Jackets went 5-1-0 on the road trip, which in itself is impressive.  Even more impressive, however, is how the Blue Jackets are single-handedly keeping themselves in the Western Conference playoff chase while pretty much every single other game that needs to go Columbus' way isn't.  Detroit capitalized on their game in hand and leapfrogged the Blue Jackets into 8th place (They since have jumped over Minnesota into 7th.).  Absent help, the Blue Jackets have just kept winning.

Winning won't be enough, however, to make the step into the playoffs.  They still need to win on Saturday against Nashville, but they'll also need:

•  Detroit to lose in regulation on Saturday against Dallas, or 
• Minnesota to lose their final two games - with at least one loss in regulation.  

No small order.  

But enough of the looking forward.  Let's crack open a six-pack and reflect on what we just saw.