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Hearing the annoying “Chili Chant” in the first period of a hockey
game at Nationwide Arena is not at all unlike listening to Jingle
Bells on Memorial Day. It sounds much too foreign at so early a
time. In fact, it’s downright disorienting. Having only scored three
or more goals a mere 18 times at home last year, a diet guru could
have made a mint by putting patients on an all-chili diet and
handing them a set of Blue Jackets season tickets. (“Not only did I
lose all of my body fat on the CBJ-Chili diet, but my emaciated body
cannibalized 30% of its own muscle tissue! It really works!”)
But for the second straight home game in the 2002 preseason, the
local citizenry was abuzz over the prospect of free grub thanks to
another game-opening onslaught from the suddenly lethal Jackets
power play. First period power play goals by Mike Sillinger and
Grant Marshall, along with a monster game from Rick Nash, paved the
way for the Jackets’ 4-1 cakewalk past the New York Rangers.
It didn’t take long to get the crowd fired up. Three and a half
minutes into the game, Nash made the first of many plays that would
earn him “first star” honors. The #1 overall pick streaked into the
offensive zone on a breakaway, faked goalie Dan Blackburn out of his
skates, but then was slashed by Rangers defenseman Tomas Kloucek
before he could deposit the puck into the open left side of the net.
Nineteen seconds later, the Jackets were on the board. Mike
Sillinger whipped a puck toward goal from the right side. Blackburn
got a piece of it, but it trickled back toward his net. All-Star Espen Knutsen crashed the crease to tap the puck in for a goal that
was affirmed after a call up to the video replay judge.
The Jackets used a bit of solid play and a bit of luck to double
their advantage with just over five-and-a-half minutes to play in the
opening period. Once again on the power play thanks to the high stickwork of Ranger Sandy McCarthy, the Jackets went to work behind
the New York goal. Nash, hanging out in front, played the puck off
to Grant Marshall on his right. Marshall played the puck behind the
net to Andrej Nedorost on the left side of the attack, who looked up
and saw Nash camped out as an inviting target at the right post.
From behind the net, Nedorost whipped a pass in Nash’s direction,
but it never got there. Instead, it banked in off of Blackburn,
sending the crowd into Chili Chant mode.
Nash would play a direct hand in the Jackets other two goals as
well. In the waning moments of the second period, he raced right
into a major collision along the neutral zone boards in order to
chip the puck ahead to Mike Sillinger, who chased it into the zone
and fed Grant Marshall for the only even-strength goal of the game.
In the third, Nash was taken down on yet another breakaway, this
time doing the power play honors himself with an absolute rocket
from between the circles.
“Nash had a real good game,” said Jackets coach Dave King. “He’s
really exciting. The top players have the ability to leave the zone
early and get the puck right on the tape every time. He’s got that
presence. He’s shown he can take a hit to make a play.”
The line of Nash, Marshall and Sillinger was a nuisance all night.
The trio combined for two goals and five assists on the evening.
“Our line was really clicking,” said Nash. “We had lots of
chemistry. We were finding each other in every possible way.”
While Nash & Co. took care of the offense, the defense held firm.
Despite facing 35 shots, Marc Denis had a very uneventful game in
goal. “Out of 35 shots, I don’t think I had to make one second
save,” said Denis. “That says a lot about the pride we took in our
defensive game. Any NHL goalie that can see the puck all the way
from the stick blade to the glove is going to make a save.”
“There was some good housekeeping in front of Marc Denis’ net,” King
concurred.
The lone smudge on Denis’ record was a shorthanded goal by Rico Fata
in the third period. CBJ defender Rostislav Klesla ran into trouble
just outside the Columbus zone. Fata picked up the puck and raced in
on a breakaway, forcing Denis to commit before depositing the puck
in the net.
The Fata goal was also the only blemish on the Jackets special teams
play. The power play converted three of five chances, whereas the
penalty kill extinguished seven Ranger power plays. “I think
overall, our special teams were pretty good,” said King. “The power
play was effective and the penalty kill got the job done. We gave up
a few chances on the penalty kill, but overall it was pretty good.”
Despite the offensive output, defensive steadiness and solid special
teams play, King found some things to nitpick, as coaches are paid
to do.
“We still make too many extra plays,” he said. “We need to be more
direct in our attack. We’re still too cute. We need to take the puck
to the net more often. The extra plays lead to some nice goals, but
we need to create more traffic in front so we can also get those
ugly goals that count just the same.”
King also finds the fact that the Jackets’ 22 preseason goals have
been scored by 15 different players to be both a blessing and a
curse. In the last two years, the Jackets have relied on a few
players (Sanderson, Heinze and Whitney leap to mind) to carry most
of the offensive burden. Now the goals seem to be coming from all
directions. Heck, even Denis joined the parade with an assist
tonight!
“I’d like to see a few of our guys who are goalscorers score more,
but scoring by committee has been nice in the preseason,” said the
coach. “I think when we get the lines more formulated, we’ll get
some of our main offensive people putting the puck in the net more
often. But it’s nice to see a lot of guys putting the puck in the
net early and getting some confidence. It’s a good sign.”
An even better sign is that King’s team appears to be on the way to
giving the fans in Nationwide Arena something to get excited about.
Besides chili. Besides fights. (Of which tonight’s game featured a
pair of doozies. Jamie Allison pounded the bejeebers out of Dave
Karpa, and fan favorite Jody Shelley made Vladimir Malakhov pay for
an ill-advised dance invitation late in the third.)
No, this Jackets team seems to be developing a sense of confidence.
It’s only pre-season, but last year’s monotonous drubbings appear to
be giving way to an improved (probably) and more exciting
(definitely) team. And it’s never too early to instill a winning
attitude.
“As a young franchise, you’ve got to start with the pre-season,”
said Marshall. “Some teams maybe don’t have to rely on it as much,
but we have to play hard from the start.”
POSTSCRIPT:
Are the Columbus fans getting dissed by the opposition during the
preseason? Tonight the Rangers showed up without Lindros, Messier,
Bure (injured), Dvorak, Poti or Leetch. The Penguins showed up at
Nationwide sans their only good players- Lemieux, Straka and Kovalev.
The Red Wings arrived with only a handful of players anybody had
ever heard of. Heck, if the vile Nashville Predators had any players
worth a crap, they probably would have been left off the team’s
hayride to Columbus.
As encouraging as the last two games have been, part of me wonders
if beating up on the Rangers minus Lindros et al and the Penguins
minus Lemieux et al is akin to declaring that you’ve vanquished the
Super Friends, when all you really did was give Aquaman a wedgie.
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