CBJ 2013 Worst Defensemen: Jack Johnson and Dalton Prout

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Blue Jackets, CBJ, Columbus, Dalton Prout, Hockey, Jack Johnson, NHL, Stats, WOWY

After positive recaps and one more clouded one, we now start dipping into the purely negative observations. Let’s be honest: it wasn’t all roses for the Blue Jackets in 2013. In fact, while it’s mentally easy to separate the late-season run and the early-season struggles the two are a part of a single whole. And perhaps even more frightening? The post-trade-deadline team Fenwick Close was still sub-par, a meager .4696 only 19th in the league. Yes, things were better than the ghastly outset, but the improved record was primarily due to the guy in net.

So who or what is to blame for all the shots against? The answer lies in both ineffective forwards and porous blueline. I’ll get to the former in a future post. Today I’m going to look at the two most detrimental defensemen on the Blue Jackets team: the ever-popular and constantly awful Jack Johnson, and the praised-but-not-quite-deserving rookie Dalton Prout.

I’m sure neither of these picks will be well received, but humor me while I try to justify my choices.

CBJ 2013 Most Confusion for the Future: Todd Richards

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Blue Jackets, CBJ, Coach, Columbus, Hockey, NHL, Stats, Todd Richards

To date I’ve covered some positive aspects of the CBJ 2013 season (my picks for MVP and best forwards, my reflections on how getting Gaborik is a good sign for the future). Today’s consideration is a more ambiguous one, something that trends to the negative but is complicated by the makeup of the entire team. Today we look at what to make of the short-season work of Todd Richards.

For some in the media, Richards seems like a surefire Jack Adams candidate. There’s this grand narration of how Richards brought a team from the very bottom of the NHL to merely one point shy of the second playoff berth in franchise history. And to be fair, it is a compelling tale on the surface. Lowly Columbus, lifted from the chaos, made to be culturally positive and focused on the task at hand. Surely he has to be granted some credit, right?

Unfortunately I don’t think the results line up with that kind of inspirational theory. Yes, Columbus was lifted out of the basement. But the move was done on the back of the presumptive Vezina winner. In fact, if we’re going to observe the facts of the case, Columbus finished worse this year in one of the most predictive statistics in hockey. But this leads to some even more intriguing questions that cut deeper than what Todd Richards might be capable of. Let’s start with the team’s performance.

CBJ 2013 Best Sign for the Future: Getting Gaborik

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Blue Jackets, CBJ, Columbus, Gaborik, Hockey, Jarmo, NHL, Rick Nash, Stats

This is a slightly less straightforward CBJ 2013 Review article, so I hope you’ll allow me to develop this a bit. In the previous two posts, I reflected on who I thought was the team’s most valuable player, and which forwards were best for the Jackets. Today I’d like to consider something less definitive, but something that inspires me to follow the team ever closer in the next few years.

In a way, it all starts with the trade of Rick Nash. That move was a complex issue for me and something I tackled at the time. In short, Nash is (present tense) my favorite player and it was a shame to see that kind of scoring skill leave the team, but the return was good (and you’ll note Dubinsky in particular lived up to expectations for me). On the surface, things weren’t perfect but they were respectable.

However, the philosophical change troubled me more and more as the season progressed. The new mantra was (seemingly) that no one player would stand above the others, that the scoring would no longer flow through a single source. While many took this as the club turning a new leaf, the dispersion of goal responsibility was very worrisome to me. The team had suddenly become a squad of third liners with the occasional second liner and a few down-the-road performers (Johansen, Atkinson, Jenner).

CBJ 2013 Best Forwards: Dubinsky and Atkinson

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Atkinson, Blue Jackets, CBJ, Columbus, Dubinsky, Hockey, NHL, Stats

The second part of the CBJ 2013 Review picks two players that were hindered by injuries throughout the shortened season but still manged to impress. In fact, their work is remarkable within the context of both the Columbus team and the NHL as a whole. The two best forwards on Blue Jackets squad were Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson, with Matt Calvert a close third. We’ll cover the why for these three, and get to a few other honorable mentions shortly.

CBJ 2013 MVP: Sergei Bobrovsky

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Blue Jackets, Bobrovsky, CBJ, Columbus, Hockey, NHL, Vezina

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.

But you know all these things if you watched any hockey this year. Bob was a beast, plain and simple. His dominance relative to his team and relative to other goalies was simply astounding. Arguably the best comparison point from goalie to goalie is save percentage. Even strength save percentage is more informative yet, and Bob excels in both. Even further, to fully understand the pressure he was under we can compare the Jackets’ team Fenwick to other teams’.

CBJ 2013 Review

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2013, Blue Jackets, CBJ, Columbus, NHL

Saturday’s spectacular season finale against Nashville was just a few days ago, but with the draft lottery over and playoffs starting tonight (!) we’re already right in the off-season for the Blue Jackets. It’s a really shocking and a depressing prospect, especially following the insane oh-so-close-to-miracle run that Columbus had to close out the year. But there is much left to consider, storylines to debunk, stray observations to make, crazy ideas to share.

So starting today we’re going to have a CBJ 2013 Review, a look back at what was with some thoughts about what will come next. As of now we’ve got posts planned on team MVP, most impressive forwards, best d-men, best promise for the future, and comments on coaching. But it’s not all roses (the Jackets would be in the playoffs otherwise), and I can’t help but notice some low points, areas that need to be changed.

I hope you find something interesting in this little project and be sure to let me know what you think about my comments and picks! This all starts later today with the team MVP.

Celebrating 24 Years of Doolittle

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Birthday, Doolittle, indie, Music, Pixies, Rock

Yes, I’ve somewhat disappeared here. You would too when your down time involves dealing with this or maybe with this. Hopefully more posts soon. But today, the birthday of one of the best albums ever.

Image via Wikipedia

Every year I make and write about “Best of” year end lists, both for songs and albums. It’s a silly activity partially driven by blatant pandering, but mostly done because I think it’s fun to reflect on another year of artistic exploration by musicians I’ve encountered. The lists also serve as a kind of personal reflection point. Music (that mystical, ethereal thing considered as a whole) is a powerful memory trigger for me. Within a single year, I can place where I was when I first heard the sounds. Listening to The National’s High Violet takes me to Ithaca, New York where I spent the summer in 2010. That record’s disillusioned lyrics were both disheartening and encouraging to me.

But it goes beyond a single twelve month span. When I hear Linkin Park (I know, shut up) I can close my eyes and see a grey couch, a GameCube controller, my sister and split-screen Sonic Adventure on the television. R.E.M.’s Out of Time takes me on car rides in Upstate NY, sitting in the back of a silver Chevy Tahoe, on the way to some state park and camping with my family. And every year, I like to reflect on where on of my favorite recorded works has been with me: Doolittle.

Blue Jackets at the Trade Deadline

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Blue Jackets, CBJ, Columbus, Gaborik, Hockey, NHL, Trade Deadline

Again, I’m late to the party thanks to a bizarre/busy week. But here are a few thoughts on the Gaborik move. Be sure to check out the links in the article to see some of the great and timely work looking at the trade.

Image via ESPN.com by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images

As you’re all aware by now, Columbus was the headline act on NHL Trade Deadline Day (although Pittsburgh and Ray Shero were arguably the biggest movers when considering pre-deadline action). Instead of merely sitting still, Jarmo Kekalainen and John Davidson moved to acquire Marian Gaborik. Others have already covered the trade with more timeliness and detail than I could. Greg Wyshynski covered the Gaborik move at Puck Daddy, Mike MacLean broke it down at The Cannon, and Morgan considered the angles at The Dark Blue Jacket. Instead of breaking down the overall logistics involved, here are a few remaining thoughts I had following the move.

1. The Blue Jackets are No Longer The Nashville Predators and That’s a Good Thing. Adding Marian Gaborik represents a move away from the “everyone is equal” thoughts that held reign over the Blue Jackets in the wake of the Nash trade. This is probably the least popular view on the trade, but I think it’s the most important. No longer is this a team full of secondary scoring; they have a primary threat again.

Of course, this brings them back to the Nash years in a way (and it’s worth noting that Gaborik’s Usage Chart and Nash’s are quite similar). They’ve got one offensive star and everybody else, right? It’s true, but support may be on the way. Ryan Johansen is growing into a top six role, Atkinson and Calvert are Corsi monsters this year, Anisimov and Dubinsky are very strong as secondary threats.

The Ultimate Playlist #7: No Cars Go

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Arcade Fire, indie, Music, Playlist, Rock

I trust we all know who the band is by now, but the particular nuance of selecting an Arcade Fire song on the Ultimate Playlist is a challenge. This song skips over the best album and, in fact, their best songs. And I’m sure at least one of those will make an appearance here someday. It’s the balance of wonder and terror and percussive propulsion make this a very easy pick.

“No Cars Go” did first appear on the Arcade Fire EP, the very first official release from Arcade Fire. The initial version of the song almost sounds as a demo, a slowed-down, bare-bones version of the thing off Neon Bible. It is, of course, that version which is added to the Playlist. Increased tempo hints at urgency and desperation, orchestration and production (especially the bass and drums) are warm and familiar. The repeated lyric that “We know a place” only lends to the comfortable confines, all the while pushing out into the unknown (that place where cars don’t go, after all). It’s a fascinating blend of exploration and certainty, almost soul-searching set to a soundtrack.

Live: CD 102.5 Day First Dose feat. Alt-J 3/30/13

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Alt J, Columbus, Family of the Year, indie, Little Green Cars, Live, Music, Rock, Virginmarys

This is about a week late, but such is life. Here are some quick hits on a pretty great show from last Saturday.

Alt-J from the LC, photo by Matt

CD 102.5 (formerly known as CD101) is as strong a resource as an indie/alternative music fan can imagine on radio. While the omnipresence of Spotify, Pandora, and Sirius/XM have made FM stations antiquated on most platforms, the use of car radio can still be romanticized and appreciated if (a) the listener is driving and staying within the same area, and (b) if the programming is consistently excellent. For those residing primarily in Columbus the first condition is met and CD 102.5 heartily satisfies the second. It’s independent radio, it’s generally fearless from a musical perspective, and it routinely has the support of both the Wexner Center for the Arts and PromoWest Productions to bring great live music to Columbus.

It is with the latter group that CD 102.5 has put on their CD 102.5 Day concert series. The concerts are annual low-cost affairs with multiple bands offering a very high bang for your buck. This year’s show was split into two separate events labeled First Dose and Second Dose; First Dose was, coincidentally, the first CD 102.5 Day event I’ve been able to attend. It was a long experience at the LC Pavilion (doors opened at 5:00, the final encore finished near 11:00) but all five (!) bands were engaging and the headliner was exceptional.

The first group was local band The Weight of Whales. Theirs was an energetic brand of indie rock; their enthusiasm for being a part of the set was evident as they walked onstage. Ringing guitars and clear vocals defined most of their songs, and the closing cut “Consuela” called to mind a harder-edged version The Decemberists. They’re a band worth seeing if they come near you.