More bricks needed to finish this job
Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen sat down Monday for their annual debriefing with the media. The value of these things can be specious.
Two years ago, after the Blue Jackets went 15-1-1 down the stretch and played themselves out of the Connor McDavid sweepstakes, JDJK proclaimed the team
playoff-ready — and maybe ready to go deep.
The headline on The Dispatch sports page: “Message of hope.”
The Blue Jackets finished 27th in the NHL with 76 points.
Last year, JDJK talked about the raft of injuries the team had endured. This was no excuse, they said, but seriously — have you ever seen so many injuries?
The headline on the Dispatch sports page: “Major disappointment.”
What is the headline this morning? That is above my paygrade. I can only make suggestions, like “Message of hope followed by major disappointment” or “Bob: Better playoffs next year” or “Pittsburgh’s really good, you know.”
Here is Kekalainen’s summation:
As Davidson put it, after mentioning bricks: “There’s good things that are happening. We’ve talked from day 1 about the foundation. I think the foundation is stronger. We still have a ways to go, but we’re in a decent place.”
Coach John Tortorella’s debriefing, held two days earlier, had a different tone. His message: The Blue Jackets haven’t done anything yet; the next step is to become a winning playoff team (“Good is the enemy of great”). Tortorella did everything but pound his fist as he described the organization’s new standard.
JDJK struck a happier tone. They are entitled. The Blue Jackets went from the fourth-worst record to the fourth-best record in the league during the regular season. They won 50 games, racked up 108 points. Then, they were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs by the Penguins, and it took only five games.
The biggest problems? Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Pittsburgh’s other high-end talent slew the Blue Jackets. Plus, Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was not in peak form when he had to be, to put it gently.
“We may not have a Malkin or Crosby, but we have a lot of good depth and balance on our forwards side, and we have some good young players coming,” Kekalainen said. “We also have a back end we can compare to any in the National Hockey League, and a (Vezinacaliber) goaltender. (Bobrovsky) will be better. I’m convinced of it. ... I’m 100 percent confident he’ll get over that hump.”
JDJK said the depth the Jackets have accrued can help facilitate a trade. (“I’m going to start this week talking to all the disappointed general managers in the league,” JK said.) The Jackets might do something, but only if it’s within the flow of the offense, so to speak. They are counting on Bobrovsky to playoffproof his psyche, and for a number of young players to get over the hump, which is Penguin-shaped.