If anyone is out in Blue Jackets land reading recaps, learning more about the team right now, consider me impressed. Their fandom knows no bounds, and their attitude towards the team rivals few. The on ice disaster displayed last night would make the casual fan find something else to watch, the average fan laugh, and the die hard fan furious. I’m currently still furious.
Should we discount that Edmonton was 5-15-2 prior to the game? They are a team that has been playing hopeless hockey. A team that Columbus should have obliterated after a convincing win against Ottawa on Sunday. Apparently not. Apparently, Edmonton decided they would go out and embarrass everything this team is.
There are few words. Edmonton scored relentlessly while Columbus clutched onto anything they could until the game ended. No one made a difference. A couple of players stood out, but as a collective group, the only word that comes to mind, is suck. The suck. They sucked. It sucked. This was culminated by a whiffed shot (goal) on a breakaway where McElhinney seemed to do everything he could to get out of the way. Columbus simply wasn’t an NHL team last night.
Coach Richards did his usual post-disaster-game commentary. The guys didn’t do what he wanted to do, and he was disappointed in a large number of them. It’s a song and dance that losing teams fans come to hear often, and the words cut deeper each time. We saw professional athletes that don’t rise to the occasion, threw pride out the window, and got smattered by a basement dweller only slightly less hopeless than they are. Some players called it disgusting, some called it a sh*t show, and others I am sure just don’t care enough to categorize the game at this point.
The next laughable stat: 14 total shots on goal for the Blue Jackets. Dubnyk is a capable goaltender, however, throwing 14 shots on any competent NHL goaltender is usually going to lean towards shutout in their favour. It also takes actual puck possession to get shots on goal, something Columbus was not all that familiar with. On the other side of the ice, Bobrovsky and McElhinney combined for a .781 performance, although it’s probably quite a bit harder to stop pucks when there is no defense in front of a goalie.
Columbus was a collective -20 on the night, despite allowing goals on three of the four Edmonton powerplays. While they outhit Edmonton handily, it serves little to be gained on the scoreboard or on the shot totals. They also failed to capitalize on a staggering 16 giveaways by the home team. Arguably the most exciting part of the night for Columbus was a two on one including Foligno and Johansen. A nice feed from Foligno sent Johansen in alone on Dubnyk, who managed to poke the puck away. Brief excitement, followed by instant disappointment.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), Columbus is back on the ice tonight. They face Calgary, a team who shares an identical record of 7-11-3. To call this a make or break game for this season would be very fair. Fans want to see something, and after last night, Columbus has a mountain to climb. If folks want to talk fan interest or the attendance numbers for the next couple home games, they need not look further than the performance we were forced to witness last night. Change is good, so change. Get some pride.
Carry the Flag.
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