Central Division Preview: Columbus
Bill over at Abel to Yzerman has tried to make the case for a rivalry developing between the Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets. It definitely makes some sense as the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is arguably the best in sports. The Tigers have finally become competitive so they should battle Cleveland - along with Chicago and Minnesota - in the Central Division for years to come. And of course last year LeBron James made Flip Saunders his property by single-handedly leading the Cavs past the Pistons and into the NBA Finals where they summarily were waxed by the Spurs.
So why isn’t there a rivalry just yet? Obviously it’s because the BJ’s haven’t turned the corner and become consistently competitive. All you need to do by comparison is take a look at the Nashville Predators. The Preds have made the playoffs the past three years and have given the Wings their only competition for the division crown over the past seven seasons. So the Preds are de facto the Red Wings main rival in the Central.
Nashville has had great management in the form of David Poile, who has put together a competitive team while barely scraping the basement of the salary cap. In a sign that he’s truly arrived the Toronto Maple Leafs attempted to poach him from Nashville. Not sure what it says when a franchise that seemed sure to move due to serious financial problems but has been competitive from it’s third year of existence seemed more secure than working for the Leafs.
Former Columbus general manager Doug MacLean was available to Toronto but perhaps Gary Bettman nudged MacLean towards becoming part of the ownership group that just bought the Lightning, figuring Toronto has enough problems without MacLean; perhaps the former GM could help bring parity to a Southeast Division that has won 2 of the last 3 Stanley Cups.
So the thing to watch will be to see how Ken Hitchcock and new general manager Scott Howson rebuild the franchise. The first obvious milestone is making the playoffs, as Columbus remains the sole NHL team to never make the playoffs with Atlanta getting off the schneid last season. Given how many teams are included in the NHL playoffs combined with what will likely be pretty good competition for at least second place in the division the Blue Jackets could make a quick turnaround.
Two of the Columbus bloggers have weighed in with their preview for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sarah gives us her take on how the lines at forward will look.
Nash-Zherdev-Vyborny
Modin-Fedorov-Brule
Chimera-Peca-Fritsche
Shelley-Novotny-Malhotra
Columbus is hoping that by moving Zherdev to center they can get him to finally live up to his potential. Drafted 4th overall in the 2003 draft, he’s had one solid year in 2006-07 when he played in 73 games. But last year he tanked and ended up in Ken Hitchcock’s doghouse [admittedly pretty big digs as many players have taken up residence there]. I agree with Sarah that this could be his make or break year as far as his career in Columbus is concerned. He’s being given every opportunity to succeed if he plays on a line with Nash and particularly David Vyborny, who has been the Blue Jacket’s best player.
If Zherdev doesn’t work out as the top line center it’s going to probably limit Nash and Vyborny’s production and it will be tough for Columbus to claim a playoff spot. So that will probably be the key development Columbus fans will follow. Sarah thinks the defensive pairing will look like so:
Hainsey-Foote
Klesla-Hejda
Westcott-Tollefsen
Here’s the big issue: the Jackets simply seem to be too thin on defense. They’re a team that was built around skilled offensive forwards wingers, so Hitchcock is going to have his work cut out for him. Derick Brassard might be their best hope for a playmaking center but he’s a couple years away from contributing.
I think they’ll be a better defensive team, but Nashville still seems like the better team and St. Louis has better talent on the blueline. If Columbus loses contact with the lead pack in the division race there will be lots of distractions with talk of trading Sergei Federov and Adam Foote before their contracts expire, much like what happened in St. Louis last season. If Zherdev bombs at center there’s a shot he gets thrown on the block as well.
I’ll have some commentary on Drew’s preview later on today.
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