Series Thread: Blue Jackets vs Pens - or "the battle to end stupid seeding rules"

[DragonfromTO]

Tough kid.

I remember taking a stick to the mouth and sitting down on the ice and bawling my ass off over the split lip.

Spoiler

Of course I was like 8.

I took a stick right under the eye when I was 9 and the new rule became "facemask at all times when there are two people on the backyard rink".

It took me catching an edge and thumping my bare head on the ice to get me to wear a helmet while shooting pucks alone though. I love 'em, but what the fuck were my parents thinking?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

 

[jstewismybastardson]

100 and eighty days until his next game !!

HOW MEAN ARE YOU!!!????

 

[dash]

HOW MEAN ARE YOU!!!????

Playoff hockey brings out the worst in me.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

remember when athletes guaranteed a win and backed it up

No...no I don't...

 

[obxyankeefan]

That sucks. But his season was going to be over tomorrow anyways.

All kidding aside, I want my team to win but I would rather they win against a whole team. Werenski looks to be a star in Columbus for years to come. Hopefully he has a full recovery and continues to improve his game next year.

 

[BGDave]

Not surprised about the fracture. Seemed almost inevitable, and I question the "doctors" who let him go back out there.

 

[Comeds]

A fantasy hockey GM told me he expects the Blue Jackets to play their best game in years tomorrow.

 

[dash]

Not surprised about the fracture. Seemed almost inevitable, and I question the "doctors" who let him go back out there.

Dr. Recchi admires the kid's testicular fortitude.

 

[Darkstone42]

Not surprised about the fracture. Seemed almost inevitable, and I question the "doctors" who let him go back out there.

Columbus shouldn't have hired this guy as their team doctor, I guess.

 

[Darkstone42]

Also, I'm pretty sure Sheary and Guentzel were bred in a lab to be the perfect wingers for Sidney Crosby.

 

[forty_three]

That sucks. But his season was going to be over tomorrow anyways.

All kidding aside, I want my team to win but I would rather they win against a whole team. Werenski looks to be a star in Columbus for years to come. Hopefully he has a full recovery and continues to improve his game next year.

All season here, I have been saying that Ryan Murray is a cornerstone piece. I meet with resistance from kool aid drinking locals every time I say it. Most want him exposed in the expansion draft so we can keep Jack Johnson.

Weresnki is going to win a Norris someday. I have little doubt about that. But Ryan Murray is what holds this D corps together. From the time that puck hit the back of his hand, the Jackets only gained 4 points. In 4 weeks. Went from the President's trophy race to nearly into the Wild Card...

And this has always been an organizational issue. They've always seemed to say "hey, that guy makes us go" and they sit back and watch "that guy".

Really good, really deep teams don't do that. We're seeing that with Pittsburgh. Lose guys and the coach puts guys out there that fit the situation, and guys that will step up. Yeah, the crazy talent of guys like Crosby, Geno and Kessel make everyone better, but the coach built a structure that works and sold everyone on it's merit.

The Jackets are deep and more talented than it appears. But they can't adjust. They play the opponents game, and chase. Good teams like Pittsburgh eat that shit alive.

Not surprised about the fracture. Seemed almost inevitable, and I question the "doctors" who let him go back out there.

Torts probably called him lazy and fat.

A fantasy hockey GM told me he expects the Blue Jackets to play their best game in years tomorrow.

They will hop on the back of GOD DAMNED HERO Brandon Dubinsky!

Columbus shouldn't have hired this guy as their team doctor, I guess.

That guy has been their doctor for years.

 

[obxyankeefan]

All season here, I have been saying that Ryan Murray is a cornerstone piece. I meet with resistance from kool aid drinking locals every time I say it. Most want him exposed in the expansion draft so we can keep Jack Johnson.

Weresnki is going to win a Norris someday. I have little doubt about that. But Ryan Murray is what holds this D corps together. From the time that puck hit the back of his hand, the Jackets only gained 4 points. In 4 weeks. Went from the President's trophy race to nearly into the Wild Card...

And this has always been an organizational issue. They've always seemed to say "hey, that guy makes us go" and they sit back and watch "that guy".

Really good, really deep teams don't do that. We're seeing that with Pittsburgh. Lose guys and the coach puts guys out there that fit the situation, and guys that will step up. Yeah, the crazy talent of guys like Crosby, Geno and Kessel make everyone better, but the coach built a structure that works and sold everyone on it's merit.

The Jackets are deep and more talented than it appears. But they can't adjust. They play the opponents game, and chase. Good teams like Pittsburgh eat that shit alive.

Jack Johnson seems to have dropped off the past few years. As far as Columbus being more talented then they appear, this years team is a lot better then the team Pittsburgh faced three years ago. It is that Pittsburgh is a noticeably different and better team over the last two years. Bob has looked completely different then he did the first five monthes of the season, I don't know if he got tired or the D is not as good in front of him. (I was a center so I watch Goalies looking for the hole not as a former goalie that knows the ins and outs of the position.)

 

[forty_three]

Jack Johnson seems to have dropped off the past few years. As far as Columbus being more talented then they appear, this years team is a lot better then the team Pittsburgh faced three years ago. It is that Pittsburgh is a noticeably different and better team over the last two years. Bob has looked completely different then he did the first five monthes of the season, I don't know if he got tired or the D is not as good in front of him. (I was a center so I watch Goalies looking for the hole not as a former goalie that knows the ins and outs of the position.)

Jack Johnson is what he is. The more minutes he gets, the more obvious it is. The reason he hasn't looked as bad as in years past is the fact that Savard has learned the defensive game and his (Johnson's) minutes are down about 8 per game

As for Bob, he is not real different. What is different is that in this series the Jackets are trying to force plays in the O zone and the neutral which is leading to more odd man chances against. Bob has always been less solid laterally. And the Pens are stretching him out. The bank in goals last night show the Pens seem to have noticed it.

And again, Ryan Murray not back there making the smart breakout pass is hurting. Basically the breakout is a dump out, and the Pens are beating the Jackets to the puck and turning it back.


I was a goalie and am now a coach. This has been REALLY painful to watch.

My wife won't even sit in the same room with me. I yell a lot.

 

[thedddd]

That sucks for him. Pretty tough coming back out there after that.

 

[thedddd]

Also, I'm pretty sure Sheary and Guentzel were bred in a lab to be the perfect wingers for Sidney Crosby.

In the long line of cloning wingers under 6 ft/190 lbs for Crosby finally worked.

 

[Darkstone42]

Jack Johnson is what he is. The more minutes he gets, the more obvious it is. The reason he hasn't looked as bad as in years past is the fact that Savard has learned the defensive game and his (Johnson's) minutes are down about 8 per game

As for Bob, he is not real different. What is different is that in this series the Jackets are trying to force plays in the O zone and the neutral which is leading to more odd man chances against. Bob has always been less solid laterally. And the Pens are stretching him out. The bank in goals last night show the Pens seem to have noticed it.

And again, Ryan Murray not back there making the smart breakout pass is hurting. Basically the breakout is a dump out, and the Pens are beating the Jackets to the puck and turning it back.


I was a goalie and am now a coach. This has been REALLY painful to watch.

My wife won't even sit in the same room with me. I yell a lot.

Even fully healthy, I'm not sure Pittsburgh is a great matchup for Columbus, stylistically. They're good and like to do the thing that bothers Bob the most, and they're a sort of fast team that, if you try to take them out of it by hitting them, will just skate away from you. Under Sullivan, they're sufficiently disciplined to avoid falling into the trap of trying to out-hit physical opponents, too, so trying to suck them into it doesn't work, either.

It's just being compounded by Murray's absence, because you cannot do anything against a fast team if you can't control the puck out of your own zone, and Columbus can't without Murray (and certainly not without Werenski moving forward, either).

 

[forty_three]

Even fully healthy, I'm not sure Pittsburgh is a great matchup for Columbus, stylistically. They're good and like to do the thing that bothers Bob the most, and they're a sort of fast team that, if you try to take them out of it by hitting them, will just skate away from you. Under Sullivan, they're sufficiently disciplined to avoid falling into the trap of trying to out-hit physical opponents, too, so trying to suck them into it doesn't work, either.

It's just being compounded by Murray's absence, because you cannot do anything against a fast team if you can't control the puck out of your own zone, and Columbus can't without Murray (and certainly not without Werenski moving forward, either).

Exactly. And not just that, but all the way into the O zone.

The Jackets best chance, unfortunately, would be to play a trap style. A lock system, because where the Pens kill you is poking the puck to open ice and using speed to create outnumbered chances. The only way to combat that is to clog up that quiet ice.

Jackets haven't even tried to do it. Tortorella has never figured it out in his career, and it's why team USA got smoked in the WCoH. It's why the Nucks got skunked when he was there. He tries too hard to push things down people's throats.

And Sullivan of all people knows it best. He knows exactly what to do to combat it, and has done it perfectly.

 

[puckhead]

All season here, I have been saying that Ryan Murray is a cornerstone piece. I meet with resistance from kool aid drinking locals every time I say it. Most want him exposed in the expansion draft so we can keep Jack Johnson.

with how loudly I've been yelling "Jack Johnson sucks" from the rooftops over the past decade
I would have hoped that the word has spread pretty wide by now

 

[forty_three]

Seems Tortorella has turned his guns on Bob, and as a result, some of the kool aid drinkers are on the "trade Bob" bandwagon. Forgetting that we're a lottery team without him.


Who is to blame so far: Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, Bob.

Who has done nothing wrong: Torts (Didn't notice Pens changing neutral zone structure), Calvert (Suspended for a hella cheap shot), Dubinsky (took penalty that gave Pens go ahead goal and stood there while the guy scored the OT winner was wide open right next to him).




Stop the ride, I want to get off.


Roster moves:
IN: Sedlak (off IR), Nutivaara (No idea why he wasn't in - top 4 guy all year) and Quincey (You know, a guy who's been to the top of the mountain), Calvert (*sigh*)

OUT: Werenski (obviously), Harrington (THANK YOU JESUS), Hartnell, Milano (who was competent in place of Calvert)