Alive and Kicking

My apologies for the lack of any fresh material here at FMJ over the past several weeks. Life does indeed come at you fast. And sometimes it comes at you fast and furious as it has for me of late. I thoroughly enjoy maintaining this blog and writing about the Blue Jackets, but there are times when it just isn't possible for me to keep all of my plates spinning and there's lots of plates. It is the reason I am eager to bring a couple of contributors on board (hint, hint).

So what started as a little time off over the All-Star break became more of a hiatus, but only from the blog. I've managed to do a lot of hockey reading and watching. And I managed to attend both home games since the break, each of which was thoroughly enjoyable for different reasons.

First, I had the immense pleasure of attending the Blackhawks game on February 1st with Tom Fellrath, aka the Dark Blue Jacket. I met Tom last year and really got to know him through our joint efforts to promote Cannonfest this past summer. But this was our first trip to watch the Blue Jackets together. And as it turned out, we couldn't really have picked a worse night. Watching the Blue Jackets give up a 3-2 lead to lose 7-4 had something to do with it. Driving though an ice storm, sliding down the exit ramp from I-670 and narrowly escaping death, almost slipping on my ass five times just trying to walk to and from the arena once I parked the car and then enduring another white knuckle drive/skate home had more to do with it. But despite all that, we still had a blast. Tom wrote a very entertaining piece about the night on his blog.

Four nights later I had the good fortune of accompanying by my friend Joe to the Oilers game on Saturday night. It was the eve of Joe's birthday and he had managed to procure eight tickets from various business contacts and the Blue Jackets. (Kudos to the Blue Jackets sales department for rewarding Joe for his loyalty as a long-time season ticket holder). I'll be honest, the eight of us were going to have a good time no matter what happened at the game. As it turned out, we saw one of the more memorable and satisfying Blue Jackets wins at Nationwide in a long time.

The view from 106 on 2/5/11 vs. the Oilers. A packed house enjoys an epic CBJ victory in a "must win" game.

So just like the Blue Jackets, I'm still alive and kicking. I haven't been writing much, but my mind has been filled with thoughts and questions about this team. 

Thoughts:

• I really like the job Scott Arniel is doing. He has been tough, but fair. He tells it like it is. He doesn't make excuses for himself, his assistant coaches or his players. He rarely complains (at least publicly) about things he can't control, and when he does  - such as when he flamed NHL officials for swallowing their whistles when it comes to calling penalties committed against Rick Nash -- he does so directly and with a purpose. Here's a very good read on Arniel and the job he is doing this year.
• All that Clitters appears to be gold. With eight points and +5 in 10 games, Grant Clitsome has been an integral part of the Blue Jackets recent surge (5-2-2 in their last 9 games). Let's hope he can keep this up over the next thirty games. Opportunity knocks for thee, Mr. Clitsome.
• When the season started, the Blue Jackets were counting on a rookie to give them speed and a scoring touch. With the arrival of Matt Calvert, they are finally getting some. Calvert has brought much needed speed to the lineup, which he put on display with a lightning quick breakaway goal against the Blackhawks. He has also shown great vision, puck-handling and passing skills, all of which he displayed on a sick feed to set up a monster one-timer by Vermette against the Red Wings on Friday night. Nikita who?
• Rick Nash may be the captain, but R.J. Umberger is the heart and soul of this team. The Blue Jackets may end up being sellers at the trade deadline when it is all said and done, but it appears Umby has attained "untouchable status". That might not be news to Blue Jackets fans, but it might be to some NHL GM's.

Questions: 

• So aside from R.J. Umberger, who else is untouchable? If you clicked on the link above, you know that the Edmonton Journal is reporting that there are only two other players Howson won't move as the Blue Jackets head toward the deadline: Rick Nash and Ryan Johansen. I don't know if the Edmonton Journal is to be trusted here; no source for the information is provided. I would add that I personally can't see them parting with Antoine Vermette. And unless Howson is planning to start completely over on the blue line, I can't see him parting with Marc Methot or Fedor Tyutin. Other than that, it sounds about right to me. Will Howson shake this team up if it is limping into the trade deadline? Anyone who is still holding their breath at this point would give David Blaine a run for his money.
• The roller-coaster ride that is Steve Mason is maddening to say the least. To me, the question is not whether Steve Mason is an NHL goalie or whether he will have a long career in the league. He is and, given his age, he probably will. The question is whether he is the right goalie for this team given his seemingly fragile psyche and resulting streakiness. I'm sensing that the next 30 games are going to dictate largely whether Mason is playing in Columbus next year or not.
• Will Howson opt to keep John Moore in Columbus longer than a few games to speed up his development? Obviously, how he plays over the next several games will impact that decision. But Howson (hopefully) is positioning himself for a shakeup along the blue line in the off-season. Howson is bound to be gun shy when it comes to signing any big money D-man after the Commodore fiasco. And even if he does bite the bullet (and his pocketbook) and try to land an impact defenseman, youth must ultimately be served for the Blue Jackets to increase the overall talent level on the blue line. If Moore is not allowed to cut his big league teeth this year, then the inevitable is just being delayed. I know I'm not alone in saying that I'd rather see Moore log some meaningful NHL minutes over the rest of the season even if it means waiving Anton Stralman, regardless if whether the Jackets make a run at a playoff spot or not.

  

NOTE: I'll be the guest writer of the week during the Five in Five segment on Eric Smith's Fire the Cannon podcast on Thursday. I'll have five minutes to answer five questions submitted to Eric by his listeners. If you have a question you'd like me to answer, send it to me through the Contact tab above and I'll pass it along to Eric. Also on the show will be none other than Greg Wyshynski, Mr. Puck Daddy himself. That's the real reason you should tune in!