Jackets Got Me Feelin' Blue

The Blue Jackets are 0-7-1 in the first 8 games of the season

 Before the season began, I had the Columbus Blue Jackets pegged as a dark horse playoff team after the offseason additions of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski.  It only made sense; Columbus sat 16 points out of the playoff picture last season, but had 23 losses by only one goal (including 8 shooutout losses,) so it would be expected that the acquisitions of those two players would eliminate many of those one-goal losses, right?  Carter is a gifted goal scorer, not to mention he is the first legitimate first-line center the franchise has ever gotten to play alongside Rick Nash.  Right there, that adds an offensive partnership any hockey fan should be drooling over.  Although the Jackets may have overpaid for Wiz Khalumbus, he adds strength and some physical presence to a mediocre blue-line, and he (along with Carter) provides punch to Columbus' ailing power play that finished 29th in the NHL last season. It seemed if as long as Steve Mason didn't play terrible in goal, all of the chips were in place for the Blue Jackets to snag the 7th or 8th seed in the Western Conference.
 It did not take long for all of that to fall apart.
 Eight games into the season, Columbus is 0-7-1, the worst record in the NHL, and the only winless team left.  The problem is not the new additions failing to produce, as some might quickly jump to conclude.  The line of Rick Nash, Jeff Carter, and Vaclav Prospal (an often overlooked offseason pick-up by Columbus management) were the ONLY consistent producers of any offense and efficiency shift-in and shift-out until Carter was injured in the 5th game of the season.

 The rest of the team, on the other hand, just looks pathetic.  There is a terrible lack of consistent execution.  Some players just look like they lose interest halfway though shifts.  Fedor Tyutin, a typically valuable defenseman, has been burned multiple times and has been the culprit of various uncharacteristic mental mistakes.  R.J. Umberger, usually a very gritty and undaunted skater every shift, has been next to unnoticeable in many shifts, and has no goals, one assist, and is -3 through the first eight games of the season.

 Yesterday night was a painful microcosm of the entire season so far for the Blue Jackets.  It seemed as if Columbus was going to grind their way toward finally achieving their first win of the year in Ottawa, when Jason Spezza scored with 36.7 seconds remaining in the 3rd to tie the game for the Senators.  "Darn!  Oh well, we'll get 'em in overtime now, right?"  Unfortunately for the Jackets, that couldn't be more wrong.  Before time could run out in the final period, the Sens' Milan Michalek tipped-in a slapshot by Sergei Gonchar with only 4.7 seconds left.  This sealed the victory for Ottawa, and secured unimaginable defeat for Columbus.  The Jackets were a mere 36 seconds away from their first win of the year, only to leave the game without even a point.

 Despite several close games, the opening to the Columbus Blue Jackets' 2011-12 season has been among one of the most pathetic in recent memory when you judge the performance of the collective team, but is all hope lost for CBJ?
 On Tuesday, the Jackets' 9th game of the season, James Wisniewski will make his debut in a Columbus uniform, as his suspension from an incident in the preseason will expire.  He can now actually contribute to his struggling team, as opposed to just hanging out in the locker room and luxury boxes.  Jeff Carter still remains day-to-day with a foot injury, but until we can see him and Wiz Khalumbus healthy together in the Jackets' line-up for an extended period of time, it is slightly unfair to judge this team at this point.  We've seen terrible starts in the NHL get turned around before.  Just look at Buffalo last season, or the Devils (even though their push was a little too late.)  It is certainly plausible for them to still have a great year.
 The jury may be out on the beginning to Columbus' season, but there are still 74 games left to be played.  When Carter and Wisniewski can both get into the game with the rest of the Jackets' weapons, then we can start to truly judge where this team belongs among the rest of the NHL.  But if they want to put themselves in a position to turn their year around and make a push for the playoffs, the majority of the Blue Jackets roster will have to get their act together.  If your name isn't Rick Nash, Vinny Prospal, or Jeff Carter, what you've got going right now just will not cut it (that means you too, Head Coach Scott Arniel.)

Photo by Jana Chytilova / Getty Images