Arniel To Take The Reigns In Columbus

Discussion in 'WEST: Central Division' started by Shutout, Sep 12, 2010.

  1. Shutout

    Shutout Member

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    In 2008, the Columbus Blue Jackets reached the NHL playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The 2009 season was a completely different story. Columbus finished in 14th place in the West last year and they lost their head coach along the way.

    They enter the 2010 season with a new coach, Scott Arniel. Arniel has spent his career coaching in the minors, and Jacket fans are hoping he is ready for the big leagues. The management must obviously have thought that former coach Hitchcock was the problem because the team saw very few changes this off-season. They brought in defensive forward Ethan Moreau who can hopefully bring some veteran leadership to the young team. Other than that, the only other key addition would be Nikita Filatov’s return from the KHL. Filatov will have to earn back his teammates trust and respect after bailing on them early last season and heading to Russia.

    Offensively, the team will have to step it up a bit. Nash’s goal and point total went down as the team saw itself sit 20th in the league in goals scored. The league’s top power forward is striving to hit that 40 goal mark again and line-mate Antoine Vermette, who had a career year last season, will be a good set up man to help Nash reach that plateau again. With guys like Huselius, Umberger, Voracek, Brassard, Torres, and Chimera the Jackets show they have the talent and potential to score… they just need a little more production to make up for the lack of scoring that their blueline is contributing.

    The Blue Jackets don’t really have that offensive d-man that most successful teams carry. The defenses leading scorer was Anton Stralman, with 34 points, yet only 12 of those points came from even strength goals. Stralman proves that he is a threat on the powerplay point, but he’ll need to bring that threat to the 5 on 5 play. With the exception of Milan Jurcina’s departure, the Jackets defensive core will pretty much remain the same.

    They will seeing more of Rostislav Klesla this season – unless more injuries take him out of play. Last season, Klesla was only able to participate in 26 games before a collision with Barret Jackman occurred, causing Klesla to tear muscles in both his groin and stomach. In the 2008-2009 season, Klesla only saw action in 34 games; injuries were culprit that year as well. Klesla, who is an assistant captain, as well as a top paring Jacket blueliner, has to stay healthy this season if this team wants to see some improvement over their dismal results last year.

    In net, you have Steve Mason. Mason had an outstanding rookie season, yet his play was significantly poorer last season as he was haunted by a goalie’s worst nightmare… the sophomore slump. Mason only won 20 games last year and had a poor save percentage of .901 with a GAA just over 3. The fate of this team perhaps rests on Mason’s shoulders. He had a 2.29 goals against average in his rookie year, the year they went to playoffs; and if he can mimic his rookie performance, I bet the Blue Jackets will find themselves with an extended schedule. If Mason does falter again this year then Mathieu Garon, who is capable of being a starter, will find himself playing more and more.

    With a relatively unchanged team, coach Arniel’s job will be less stressful than usual. If the team struggles again like last year, than the management is to blame for not making the necessary changes to put out a competitive club. If Columbus has a successful season, which is very possible if Mason steps it up, then Arniel could be the newest hero in Ohio.

    Written by CJ from the Blueline Crew. To read more reviews by various writers, check out the Crew at http://bluelinecrew.com
     
  2. RookieS2

    RookieS2 Member

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    That is quite a good article.A good read.
     
  3. DP

    DP He shoots, he scores!

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    Going to be interesting to see where these guys fit in the strong Central division.
     

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