I agree with Lee, but in addition to IQ we also need to improve our conditioning. In order to play "Blue Jackets hockey" or a very gritty, tough to play against style, our players have to be able to skate hard all game. They'll need to be able to close gaps quickly and win tough battles in dirty areas. That's currently something that we're struggling with. Instead, teams are quickly closing with our guys and forcing turnovers and bad situations. We don't necessarily have to be fast (although that's a stated goal of Kekkalainen's), but we need to be able to come out strong and maintain an oppressive tempo throughout. Which requires being very well conditioned. Further, good conditioning should help with some of our injury concerns (doesn't do much for broken hands but it can help with groins or lower body injuries).
We were missing Ryan Murray until last night. He, along with Johansen, are the highest hockey IQ guys we have. But yes we need to be better all around. Letestu has decent hockey IQ, I hope Wennberg can develop it, but we do have more than our fair share of boneheads. Guys like Johnson, Wisniewski, Savard, Boll, even Dubinsky and Hartnell aren't there because they're hockey masterminds.
Last night we made some boneheaded plays which cost us. However, for most of the night we skated right alongside and matched the most dangerous home team in the league.
One last thing. I don't really care much about who the captain is or isn't. However, it's becoming clear the question is less "should it be Dubi, Johnson, or Foligno" and more "who will it be between Jenner and Murray." After listening to Murray's postgame interviews, I was very impressed. He's very smart, well spoken, and serious. Jenner is very much about heart and leading by example (he isn't bad from what I've seen in front of the cameras) but Murray seems very well composed even when microphones are shoved in his face. Also I expect Murray will be leading our blueline very shortly.
