Update: Third Quarter Report

[Nanabijou]

12 games are in the books and we're already through 1/4 of the season. Who's your MVP and what's your assessment?

MVP
Very hard to pick. I'd guess I'd go Jack Johnson. His last couple of games have not been as good, but he's been eating major minutes and holding together a young D-corps.

Most Positive Surprise
Again hard to pick. Not a huge surprise, but given the fact that he was a healthy scratch the first few games, got to go with Mark Letestu.

Biggest Disappointment
It's almost become too cliche here to type it, but RJ has not looked good. As the highest paid player the last few years, Nash took alot of flak when he went through his slumps. RJ is now the highest paid forward, so when you score 0 goals in your first 11 games, a target on your back should be expected. Let's see if he builds on his goal in the 12th.

The Good
1) It's now a blessing that the season is only 48 games. Only 16 more home games for the C-bus fans to suffer through if things don't turn around.
2) We're tied with LA for 2nd last in the league. Even though I won't cheer for tanking, I won't be upset with a top draft pick and I'd really like to see the same with the LA pick.
3) Springfield seems to be doing good

The Bad
1) Defense has struggled to find a groove with the injuries. Too many minutes to Johnson may be catching up with him.
2) Early on had trouble with playing for 60 minutes. Now, playing more full games but finding ways to lose in the third.
3) Goaltending has not been terrible but no #1 tender has emerged yet. Flashes of good tending but not enough to steal games, and it's been inconsistent game-to-game.

The Ugly
1) The offense. Can't win many games when you average 2 goals/game.
2) Becoming very evident that having a 'hard-working identity' is not going to be enough to fill Nationwide seats if the team can't score goals, make highlight reel plays, or win games without these two former traits (like Nashville seems to be able to do).
3) The commission for the season ticket reps for 2013-2014

Click to read more...

 

[Fro]

3) The commission for the season ticket reps for 2013-2014

i disagree with this part...if we get MacKinnon and Jones, ppl will pay to see legit young stars in the making playing here...

 

[blahblah]

Report? D-

Nothing else needs said.

 

[Timeless Winter]

Last in the NHL again. I can't come up with anything good about that, but I'm sure the Howson police can polish this turd well.

 

[Robert]

Report? D-

Nothing else needs said.

I'm not sure I can believe these words but I agree....

I'm done with GM's and coaches... fire freaking McConnell.... Ohio or Kentucky, no McConnell is worth keeping...

 

[Sore Loser]

I'm not sure I can believe these words but I agree....

I'm done with GM's and coaches... fire freaking McConnell.... Ohio or Kentucky, no McConnell is worth keeping...

So the team is expected to do terribly ... is doing terribly, and you're furious because of it?

I'm not surprised by what has happened at all. I expected this to be a team that wouldn't lie down, but also a team that would struggle with consistency (youth) and capability to score (talent).

We're in the midst of a complete rebuild; consider this year 1 all over again. What I've been looking for is a compete level and a new attitude. I've gotten that. For that reason, I give this season a solid "C" ... not exceeding my expectations, not letting them down. We'll be picking very highly at the draft (hopefully twice!) ... with the new attitude, some fresh, high end talent should go a long way. Whatever we can add to Ryan Murray, Boone Jenner, Oskar Dansk, and the rest of our prospect pool will be a big help.

 

[Socks]

I'm disappointed with the first quarter but not surprised so far. Basically as long as we can get out of this season without a major injury I'll be happy. Anything else is just gravy.

 

[Nanabijou]

i disagree with this part...if we get MacKinnon and Jones, ppl will pay to see legit young stars in the making playing here...

I would say it's a pretty big if right now that we end up with one of them.

If we get both, the rapture must actually be starting soon.

 

[Timeless Winter]

So the team is expected to do terribly ... is doing terribly, and you're furious because of it?

I'm not surprised by what has happened at all. I expected this to be a team that wouldn't lie down, but also a team that would struggle with consistency (youth) and capability to score (talent).

We're in the midst of a complete rebuild; consider this year 1 all over again. What I've been looking for is a compete level and a new attitude. I've gotten that. For that reason, I give this season a solid "C" ... not exceeding my expectations, not letting them down. We'll be picking very highly at the draft (hopefully twice!) ... with the new attitude, some fresh, high end talent should go a long way. Whatever we can add to Ryan Murray, Boone Jenner, Oskar Dansk, and the rest of our prospect pool will be a big help.

The team has been doing terribly since 2000. There are no excuses for that. No other teams have trouble drafting talented players, we do. Someone should be held accountable, and yet no one ever is.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

I'll put the most of the offense of the first quadrant of the season in the "I" grading category for the following reasons:

1) A lot of players are being asked to play different roles than what they have in the past. The new faces (Asinimov, Dubinski, and Foligno) are in the transition from 3rd line roles to top 6 roles. It will take time to adjust to the new roles and the new faces. 12 games with essentially no training camp is not enough.

2) The games of Brassard and Umberger no longer can be tied to Rick Nash. These guys have spent their entire careers playing second fiddle and now they are being asked to play co-first fiddles with the some of the new acquisitions. As is fairly well known, I don't much care for the RJ Umberger of the past 2 years, however, sometimes players try to do too much and/or overthink for a while when thrust into more prominent roles. 12 games is not enough to make a full evalutaion for the two longer term Jacket stalwarts, though Umberger would probably deserve an "F" if I weren't such a fair-minded guy

3) Atkinson gets the "I" due to injury.

I'd assign an overall "C" to the rest of the offense. Dorsette, Prospal, Letestu, Boll, MacKenzie and Calvert have pretty much performed as one could expect. Only Letetsu has excelled a bit and Prospal has not performed as well as one could have reasonably expected.

The Defense is in the "C" range. They rank 23rd in GAA at 3.00 per game and 22nd in shots against at 29.6 per game. With the injury to Murray considered and and mediocre goaltending, the overall performance of the defense isn't much different than one could reasonably expect.

Goaltending gets a "C/C-". Each goalie has had a few good performances and a few bad ones. Both have save percentages and goals against bordering the lower third of the league. With Bobrovsky, there is a bit of a disappointment in these numbers; with Mason, it's actually somewhat encouraging.

Coaching gets a "C". It's hard to win games when one doesn't have a legitimate NHL top line and when one's potentially most potent offensive force (Atkinson) is on the sidelines. The need to overplay Umberger in the hope of getting him out of his funk definitely decreased overall offensive performance but was understandable given Umberger's history and pay check. Even Richard's biggest detractors would likely submit that this team would need outstanding goaltending to have a fighting chance at a playoff berth and that has not been the case. He's got a rough job and his evaluation is not an easy one to make.

A lot of "C" grades, but I'm grading according to what I think are reasonable expectations of the personnel. The grading of he who is in charge of procuring these players is an entirely different matter. LOL

As the OP so aptly pointed out, it's really a bargain that this season is an abbreviated one. 48 games will give JD a valid sample upon which he can base his decisions upon and it's short enough to not induce the amount of pain that a full Jacket season generally does.

 

[EDM]

The best thing about this season is its length.

 

[Skraut]

Logically this is where I expected the team to be. Long term fan in me, knows that bottoming out is how you build for future success. But emotional fan wonders if I'll still be a fan in the future.

It's one thing to know that losses can be a good thing. It's another to drive 4 hours a dozen times this season to watch those losses. It's even more to give up evenings to watch games that I really don't care about the outcome.

The team is where I thought they'd be after 1/4 season. What I didn't expect is where I would be.

 

[pete goegan]

I'm disappointed with the first quarter but not surprised so far.

Me, too.

 

[Paisano*]

3 wins out of 12 games? F!

JD says to be patient. After 13 years, we should be patient. Howson is still here, how can we be patient with that...

 

[CrazyCanucks]

So in a re-build you are expected to lose etc. Why are people mad that there is more losing? Isn't that a by-product of trying to re-build anyways? Stock pile your roster with young talent/prospects, and they they all grow up and in 3-5 years you will have a good team?

1st thing team needs to do is get rid of Mason in teh off season. He has had so many years to take teh #1 and is not right for teh team anymore.

 

[JacketsDavid]

Tough to find many positives.
THe team just doesn't bring it for 60 minutes most nights - last night against Edmonton was about as good as it gets energy wise and we still lost 3-1.
We were the worst team in the NHL last season and we're likely headed to a similar position this year.
We should have a lot of peices that other teams may covet at the deadline - lot of the 3rd line forwards that others will overpay for in a pretty deep draft.

JD can't be to thrilled with any of the players right now. Goaltending is average and quite honestly with the pair we have that is probably about as well as they can do. Glut of forwards who can provide secondary scoring in the right situation, but none that can carry a line. I personally think JJ is a keeper, lot of other peices (would love to trade Wiz in right deal) at d-men especially if any of the kids impresses.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

The team has been doing terribly since 2000. There are no excuses for that.

I'm with you so far.

No other teams have trouble drafting talented players, we do.

Oh boy.

Someone should be held accountable, and yet no one ever is.

Sheesh. "No one ever is"? Seriously?

 

[MattTheMask]

So in a re-build you are expected to lose etc. Why are people mad that there is more losing? Isn't that a by-product of trying to re-build anyways? Stock pile your roster with young talent/prospects, and they they all grow up and in 3-5 years you will have a good team?

1st thing team needs to do is get rid of Mason in teh off season. He has had so many years to take teh #1 and is not right for teh team anymore.

More losing? We have been losing for 13 years!! We have been a loser every year of our existence! There is no past history of success here to feel good about, or supply hope for the future. This is the very reason we are hopeless is because we have been down this road many times, and have never seen positive rewards from it.

Perhaps the most irritating issue is the lack of accountability. We have yet to develop or draft a player, yet Tyler Wright remains here. We have the same GM leading yet another rebuild.

The fans of Columbus are knowledgeable. Passionate. We understand what it takes to build a winner. And it doesn't take 13+ years. Some accountability in the front office would be a welcome change.

 

[JacketFanInFL]

MVP
Letestu. He can play anywhere. This pick says more about Richards' inability to judge talent than about Letestu's play.

Most Positive Surprise
Tim Erixon. Quietly putting togerthing a solid run since being called up. FAR better than Savard (How was he left up with Columbus for so long??)

Biggest Disappointment
The defense/goaltending. 3.12 GA/game. This is more of a byproduct of having no real system and no sustained offensive possession, but the defense was supposed to be our backbone.

The Good
1. Moore/Erixon
2. Tyutin's offensive output.
3. Anisimov has had some cool goals.
4. Only 3 more seasons until Commodore's salary comes off the books.

The Bad
1. Shootouts
2. Save Percentage
3. We are 2nd in the league! In penalty minutes.

The Ugly
1. Attendance. We have some nationally televised events coming up and the place is either going to be empty, or worse, full of the opposing fans. It's a national embarassment.
2. We may well be stuck in the Western Conference forever, in this division, with these teams and our travel schedule.

 

[Samkow]

So in a re-build you are expected to lose etc. Why are people mad that there is more losing? Isn't that a by-product of trying to re-build anyways? Stock pile your roster with young talent/prospects, and they they all grow up and in 3-5 years you will have a good team?

1st thing team needs to do is get rid of Mason in teh off season. He has had so many years to take teh #1 and is not right for teh team anymore.

Thanks for this! Us dumb Columbus fans could have never come up with this!

I was mad about the losing before, but not after this!

I don't think anybody here accepts losing. Maybe puts a silver lining on it, but that's not exactly acceptance.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Here is my summary of the team. In general, they may be working hard but they aren't working smart.

For example, they threw a lot of shots at Dubnyk last night but in general they were easy saves. There was quantity but not a lot of quality shots.

Puck movement is generally slow and by the time they pull the trigger, the goalie is already in position. That extra .5 seconds means a lot.

 

[blahblah]

1. Attendance. We have some nationally televised events coming up and the place is either going to be empty, or worse, full of the opposing fans. It's a national embarassment.

I admit I am not following that aspect of the team closely, however looking at the schedule on ESPN I see two games on the NHLN (not the same as NBC coverage) and both of those are on the road. Am I missing something?

I find the "national embarrassment" thing over the top, but it certainly is concerning when we are 29th at 84.7% capacity. What should be interesting is that we have two crappy draws in March for Friday or Saturday games in Phx and Calgary, I wonder what those will look like.

Figured with so many weekday games so close together, attendance would be an issue. Afraid to say I think that 84.7% number is probably our peak for this year unless we have an unbelievable road trip and get back into this thing.

 

[pete goegan]

Biggest Disappointment
The defense/goaltending. 3.12 GA/game. This is more of a byproduct of having no real system and no sustained offensive possession, but the defense was supposed to be our backbone.

This is the one that gets me. I know there have been injuries, lots of new guys and new combos, and no preseason, but I expected better play from the backend. We've all unloaded on how miserable the offensive output has been, but they're giving up far too many goal for even an average offense to overcome. No one in the west has given up more, and that has been my biggest disappointment.

 

[CapnCornelius]

The good? Anisimov has showed some skill and could have some upside. We have 3 1st round picks and right now two of them would be pretty high in the draft.

Which takes us to the bad and the ugly.

Last year at the 12 game mark we were 2-9-1. We'd let up exactly 1 more goal and scored 4 more goals.

So, the bad is that I think we will get even worse before it is over. You can't average 2 goals/game and expect to win much...particularly with our goaltending.

The ugly? Trying to figure out how you turn this lineup with average defense, a woeful forward group and horrible goaltending into a contender any time soon. The cupboard is bare at forward and any goaltending help is going to have to come from prospects that aren't even in Springfield yet. Given how long goalies can take to develop, when developed properly, this is a problem.

Disappointments:

Nick Foligno. First couple games this guy looked engaged, but since then he's been laregly invisible.

RJ Umberger. 'nuff said.

 

[Nordique]

Its been rough, but it will get better imo. This team is young, and has many new faces in the lockeroom. The growing will continue, lines will get settled in, and the goal tending will get better.

I don't expect the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th quarters of the season to be this bad. By the end of the year we'll be sitting in 10th or 11th in the West and playing .500 hockey imo.