yave1964 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 preseason outlook: Rosy. The Jackets had made the playoffs for only the second time in the teams history the previous year, actually pushing the Penguins hard before bowing out. Johansen was proving to be a stud, a lot of young forwards and Bob in net, nobody doubted for a minute that they would build on the previous years success. FINAL RECORD: 42-35-5 87 points, 11th in the West. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: Half the team started the year on IR, Dubinsky, the heart and soul of the team was out as was Ryan Murray, James Wisniewski and many more. 10 Jackets missed the start of the year. Essentially playing with the Springfield Falcons for half the roster, the team stumbled out of the gate. They lost Bob after a 4-4 start, his injury broke the back of the team, they went 2-11-2 before he came back, the season essentially done before it began. HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON: If you believe in momentum from one season to the next you gotta believe the Jackets are going to be a serious contender next year. In their final 17 games, they went 15-1-1 outscoring their opponents during that sizzling stretch 72 to 43. Read that again. They were near impossible to play against down the stretch once everyone came back. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Nick Foligno established himself as one of the elite power forwards in the game (331 42-73) playing alongside one if the premier young centers in Ryan Johansen (26-45-71)and Scott Hartnell proved he is far from done with 28 goals. Jack Johnson was a QB on the Power play and had 23 PPP. Cam Atkinson contributed with 22 goals. David Savard turned into a nasty hitting blueliner with a bit of offense. Rookie Marko Dano had 21 points in only 35 games. Bobrovsky, when healthy managed 30 wins. WHAT WENT WRONG: Injuries primarily ruined the year. Dubinsky missed 35 games, Anisimov 30, Calvert 26, Jenner 51, Bobrovsky missed 31 over two stretches of the year. David Clarkson came over from Toronto and got hurt in his 3rd game and missed the season. Just one of those years. In truth, no player played significantly below expectations when healthy. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: Not a stat so much, but the Jackets managed to deal Nathan Horton who will never play again in exchange for David Clarkson who has been among the biggest busts in hockey since being signed by the Leafs. Strange deal. I guess one strange stat, Dubinsky scored 13 goals, not a single one on the power play in spite of ranking fourth among forwards in average power play ice time when he was in. UFA'S:LetestuSkilleMcelhinneyBrian gibbons TOP PROSPECTS FOR 2015-16: MArko Dano with 21 points in 35 games showed offensive skill this year. Ryan Murray, the number two pick in the draft a few years ago has been buried with injuries, the Jackets hope he will finally arrive next year as a dominant top pair blueliner. Kerby Rychel is a future star forward, and Alexander Wennberg will put up 40 plus points next year. Oliver Bjorgstrand will likely play at Lake erie (the Jackets new AHL affiliate) but see some time at the NHL level, he may be the best of the young forwards by the time it is over. Just oozing NHL talent. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS: Health, pure and simple. If this team can stay healthy, add Murray and a vet on the back end they will be a contender, not just for a playoff spot but for something much deeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 @yave1964 Love your title...I immediately thought of Phi Collin's album "No Jacket Required". Great album and great review of the Blue Jackets. Thought Jackets would have done better this year, OR, did they grossly over acheive last year. Granted I know they were hit with the injury bug this year. PS.. I hope you don't mind I updated the slider with another picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 @pilldoc Actually that was the pic I was looking for, thanks! Like I mentioned, nobody on the team could truly be accused of underachieving, when they finally got healthy down the stretch they went 15-1-1 absolutely blowing teams out. Health is the real concern for this club, they hit hard, have two young stud forwards and if Murray can finally stay healthy the blue line could be a huge plus. Love this club. My daughter wears her Dubinsky jersey (autographed twice) to school with pride, I am convinced to make her old man annoyed but in truth I am glad that she loves the game, even if it means we watch the Jackets a fair amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Actually that was the pic I was looking for, thanks! Not a pic but a vid will work!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 @OccamsRazor Hey that is me!! Heh, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 @OccamsRazor thanks OR..I've just been blinded and scarred for life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 To re-state the obvious, this team just NEEDS TO STAY HEALTHY!! We've all seen the style they play and what they are capable of when the skaters and goaltender are all up n running.These guys play and are built for playoff type hockey....now, if only they could stay on the ice long enough to reach it! And in looking at their contract situations, outside of a handful of UFA's and a backup goaltender, these guys should be set for the foreseeable with a nice mixture of players in-their-primes and players who have yet to hit their primes. Perhaps the Jackets can look at the relatively 'weak' free agent list and maybe sign some low cost fallback plans for depth purposes to deal with injuries.All teams go through health issues at any given points during a season, but they really shouldn't cripple a team as consistently as it happens to these guys. Good team makeup that could probably use upgrades in overall depth. Bottom line though...if these guys quit setting records for man-games lost, they SHOULD be in the mix for a playoff spot in 2015-16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertmega Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Since the theme is song names, I thought I was going to read a thread titled: "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 Since the theme is song names, I thought I was going to read a thread titled: "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket". You can believe it or not, but the wife suggested it! I came really close to going with that but thought that might be just a bit over the top...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 and Scott Hartnell proved he is far from done with 28 goals. yeah but "Hartnell plays all over the lineup and will score 30 goals if he plays on G's line" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 @yave1964 The Jackets are gonna be have to busy this summer, cause I believe at least 4 of their prospects are NHL ready....Centers Wenneberg, Dano...maybe even Sonny Milano....and wingers Rychel and Bjorkstrom...they should all be ready to take the Nestea Plunge...so they are gonna have to clear out some roster room to make room for a STRONG influx of some very talented forwards....a real nice spot to be in. Perhaps they can trade some of the excess forwards and turn them into draft picks in June. Possible that goalie Oscar Dansek or Anton Forsberg will be ready to take over as the NHL back up....I don't anticipate Curtis McHellaney (sp...lol) to be resigned. They should be in real nice cap space with all those rookies making an impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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