2008-2009 Columbus Blue Jackets: The Grind

2008-2009 Columbus Blue Jackets: The Grind

2008-2009 Columbus Blue Jackets: The Grind

While they ranked dead last in power play scoring efficiency, the Columbus Blue Jackets had a knack for grinding out wins even when they were down late in games in the 2008-2009 NHL regular season. Head coach Ken Hitchcock was entering his 3rd full season in Columbus and his players were beginning to buy in to the style of play he wanted to see.

The Blue Jackets went 41-31-10 with 92 points in 2008-2009, finishing in 4th place in the Central Division and 7th place in the Western Conference standings. The Blue Jackets finished 10 games and 20 points behind the division-winning Detroit Red Wings, going 3-3 against them in head-to-head play.

Left winger Rick Nash was undoubtedly the captain of the Blue Jackets for most of his 11-year tenure in Columbus, and he had a knack for scoring goals when his team needed them the most. Nash had 40 goals and 30 assists for 79 points off 5 game-winning goals, 263 shots on goal, spending 1650 minutes the ice and delivering 71 hits. Nash would win the NHL Foundation Player Award for representing the core values of a hard-working NHL player.

Center R.J. Umberger had 26 goals and 20 assists for 46 points off 234 shots, 404 face-off wins, 1539 minutes on the ice, 92 hits and 52 blocks. Left winger Kristian Huselius had 21 goals and 35 assists for 56 points off 212 shots and 1444 minutes on the ice. Right winger Jason Williams had 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points. Left winger Raffi Torres had 12 goals and 8 assists for 20 points off 6 game-winning goals and 75 hits. Center Manny Malholtra had 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points off 116 shots and 1387 minutes with 74 hits, 52 blocks and 801 face-off wins. Center Derick Brassard had 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points off 40 hits.

Right winger Jakub Voracek had 29 assists off 1013 minutes, 101 shots and 32 hits. Defenseman Fedor Tyutin had 9 goals and 25 assists for 34 points off 167 shots and 1928 minutes with 103 hits and 98 blocks. Center Andrew Murray had 3 game-winning goals along with 147 hits and 36 blocks in 67 games. Defenseman Mike Commodore had 19 assists off 103 shots and 1854 minutes with 201 hits and 162 blocks. Center Michael Peca had 18 assists off 1001 minutes with 54 hits, 56 blocks and 417 face-off wins. Defenseman Jan Hjeda had 18 assists off 1835 minutes with 168 hits and 157 blocks.

Goaltender Steve Mason won the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is the NHL’s version of the Rookie of the Year Award, with tremendous play at the net. In 61 starts Mason went 33-20-7, allowing 140 goals but recording 1518 total saves off 1658 shot attempts. Mason recorded 10 shutouts along with a .916 save percentage and a 2.29 Goals Against Average.

The Blue Jackets never went on any long winning streaks, but they had plenty of short winning streaks. In fact they had 3 separate 4-game winning streaks throughout the season. Their first winning streak started with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on December 27, 2008, and it ended on January 2, 2009 with a 6-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Their second winning streak started with a 3-2 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks on February 7, and it ended on February 14 with a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Their third winning streak started with an 8-2 pounding of the Detroit Red Wings on March 7, and it ended on March 13 with a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The 2008-2009 season was a special season for the Blue Jackets organization because as they finished in 7th place out of 8 possible teams, they qualified for the Western Conference Playoffs. They qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. When they entered the playoffs, however, they ran right into one of their biggest rivals in the Detroit Red Wings, and the Red Wings promptly swept the Blue Jackets 4 games to none in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

While the final score of Game 4 on April 23 will read 6-5 in favor of the Red Wings, the Blue Jackets made their opponents work for this victory in front of their home crowd at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. 2:58 in the 1st period Detroit scored first courtesy of defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom on a power play with the assist from defenseman Brian Rafalski. 6:12 into the 1st Kristian Huselius had a power play goal with assists from Rick Nash and defenseman Kris Russell. 7:09 into the 1st Detroit left winger Tomas Holmstrom scored a goal with assists from defenseman Brad Stuart and center Paval Datsyuk. 10:02 into the 1st Detroit right winger Dan Cleary scored a goal with assists from centers Tomas Kopecky and Valtteri Filppula.

1:44 into the 2nd period Nash scored a goal with assists by defenseman Rostislav Klesla and Huselius. 5:38 into the 2nd R.J. Umberger scored a power play goal with assists by Raffi Torres and Steve Mason. 6:59 into the 2nd Detroit right winger Marian Hossa scored a goal with assists by defenseman Niklas Kronwall and Stuart. 11:25 into the 2nd Hossa scored another goal with assists by Holmstrom and Lidstrom. 15:45 into the 2nd Russell would score a goal and Torres had the assist. 18:04 into the 2nd left winger Fredrik Modin scored a critical goal for Columbus to tie the game at 5-5 with assists by defenseman Aaron Rome and left winger Jason Chimera.

Johan Franzen

The deciding goal came almost before time expired in the 3rd period as left winger scored a goal 19:13 in with assists by center Jiri Hudler and Kronwall. Despite the end result the noise at Nationwide Arena had been at its loudest point in years, and this was due to all the hard work that the Blue Jackets had put in to get to this point. The grind of the entire season was a learning experience for all members of the Columbus Blue Jackets as they found ways to win hockey games with the talent they had.