Down the Frozen River

Tag: Ryan Johansen

  • Predators Force First Game 7 in Franchise History

    By: Nick Lanciani

    UnknownPekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators forced a Game 7 with a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night at Bridgestone Arena. Rinne stopped 26 shots on 27 shots faced for a .963 SV% en route to the win, while Frederik Andersen made 23 saves on 25 shots against for a .920 SV% in the Anaheim loss.

    Entering Monday night, Nashville had a 0-5 record in all-time Game 6 situations where they were facing elimination. Craig Smith returned to the lineup for the Predators, but not without a price in the eyes of the hockey gods, as Cody Bass left the game after the first period and did not return for the night with an injury.

    After a scoreless first period, in which the Predators and the Ducks swapped power play opportunities only three minutes into the game, Nashville was leading 8-7 in shots on goal. The Preds were also leading in hits (12-11), giveaways (3-1), takeaways (3-2) and blocked shots (5-2), while Anaheim led in faceoff wins (10-7) after twenty minutes of play.

    Mattias Ekholm scored the game’s first goal at 8:10 of the second period to give Nashville a 1-0 lead. The goal was Ekholm’s 2nd of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs and was assisted by Calle Jarnkrok (1) and Ryan Ellis (2). Almost ten minutes later, James Neal put the Predators up by two with his 2nd goal of the series, assisted by Ryan Johansen (2) at 17:45 of the period.

    Ekholm then served a minor penalty for holding Anaheim skater, Hampus Lindholm, at 19:17 of the 2nd. The Ducks forced their way into the front of the net during the ensuing power play opportunity and Ryan Kesler picked up a rebound before shoving it home for his 3rd goal of the postseason, thereby cutting Nashville’s lead in half on the man advantage. Kesler’s goal was assisted by Corey Perry (4) and Cam Fowler (2) at 19:46 of the 2nd period.

    After forty minutes of play, the Predators led 2-1 on the scoreboard and 20-18 in shots on goal. Nashville also led in giveaways (3-2) and blocked shots (12-6), while the Ducks led in hits (23-20) and faceoff wins (19-17). Both teams had 4 takeaways after two frames and Anaheim was 1/2 on the power play, while Nashville was 0/1.

    UnknownThe third period saw a 9-6 shots on goal advantage in favor of Anaheim, but the Ducks last ditched effort was matched by the cool, calm and collected goaltending by Rinne.

    With ten seconds left in regulation, Shea Weber fired the puck down the frozen river and into the empty net that had been vacated by Andersen with about 90 seconds to go in the period. Weber’s goal, his 2nd of the postseason, gave he Predators a 3-1 lead and was his 12th career playoff goal. As well, James Neal picked up an assist on the empty net goal.

    Weber is now one goal shy of tying David Legwand’s franchise record of 13 career playoff goals.

    Nashville finished the night leading in hits (30-25), giveaways (8-5) and blocked shots (21-11), while Anaheim finished the night leading in faceoff wins (28-26) and takeaways (5-4). With the win, the Predators tied the series at 3-3, thereby forcing a Game 7 on Wednesday night at 10:00 PM EST at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. It will be the first Game 7 in franchise history for the Predators and can be viewed on NBCSN in the United States and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.

    In rare NHL form, Round Two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs kicks off on Wednesday night before Round One will have even concluded, as the Tampa Bay Lightning square off with the New York Islanders at Amalie Arena.

  • Frederik Andersen and Chris Stewart Lead the Ducks to a Crucial Game 3 Win

     

    The Anaheim Ducks took care of the Nashville Predators by a score of 3-0 on Tuesday night in the heart of the music city. The Ducks were led by an unlikely hero, right winger Chris Stewart. He picked up a goal and an assist in tonight’s contest.

    You were able to tell at the immediate start of the game that the Predators fans were amped up and ready to go. The fans stuck to their 14-year tradition dating back to 2002 and ended up throwing not one, not two, but THREE huge catfish on the ice. So the Bridgestone Arena was all ready to go, but unfortunately, the result was not what they were hoping for. While the Ducks, on the other hand, were looking to build off of their outstanding 23-11-7 record away from the Honda Center (their home rink) during the regular season.

    The Anaheim Ducks decided to move away from their young goaltender John Gibson after his underperformances in Games 1 and 2. Ducks skipper Bruce Boudreau turned to his usual number 1 goalie Frederik Andersen, who hasn’t played since the season finale on April 10th, to help backstop the Ducks and hope to propel them to a Game 3 win.

    The first scoring chance went to Ducks young center Rickard Rakell just 5 minutes into the game with a quick snapshot from the right dot. Although, Predators superstar goalie Pekka Rinne was sublime and snared the puck out of the air. Nashville then counters with a great chance just a minute later with Pred’s left winger Colin Wilson driving to the slot and ripping a shot, but Andersen was up to the task and made his save look even easier.

    The first goal of the game came with 9:55 remaining in the first period. Predator’s youngster Anthony Bitetto committed a horrendous turnover in his own defensive end. Ducks winger Chris Stewart picked up the loose puck, dropped it off to Shawn Horcoff, who then drew two Nashville defenders to him and spotted Duck’s left winger Jamie McGinn open on the right side and slid a pass over to him and he hammered it home to open up the scoring. It was McGinn’s 3rd career playoff goal and first of the 2016 playoffs.

    Then a minute later at 8:13 remaining in the period Pred’s right winger James Neal took the game’s first penalty by catching Anaheim defenseman Simon Despres up high with his stick. This sent the Ducks to the power play where they looked to build on their  1-0 lead but only had one shot and never gained any great scoring chances.

    Simon Despres looked to add to his team’s lead himself when he was spotted by Ducks vet Ryan Getzlaf with a beauty of a backhand pass from the corner. Although, Rinne stood tall and stoned his one-timer to keep the ducks lead at one. Also to end the period, Despres took down Nashville’s Mike Fisher with 41 seconds left in the first to earn a two-minute spot in the sin bin. This sent the Predators to their first PP of the game.

    Nashville opened up the second period still on the power play looking to tie the game early. Unfortunately, Anaheim had an awesome penalty kill and only gave up 3 weak shots. Nashville would then go back on the PP with Jamie McGinn tripping Predators left winger Filip Forsberg  just eight minutes later, but just like before, it did not amount to anything.

    Just 3:37 later the Ducks add another goal, courtesy of Ducks center Rickard Rakell. Ducks winger Corey Perry fed a nice pass to defenseman Sami Vatanen who let a wrist shot go from the point that found Rakell in front for a beautiful tip just over Rinne’s pad. This was also Rakell’s 3rd career playoff goal and first of his 2016 playoff campaign.

    Believe it or not,then 5:37 later Anaheim tacked on another goal to push its lead to 3-0. This time, Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, after receiving a pass from defenseman Hampus Lindholm, drove right down main street, making moves left and right and pulled the puck into the corner going untouched. From there he spotted a streaking Christ Stewart in the slot and hit him with a superb pass. Stewart corralled the pass, threw a quick shot that was swiftly turned away from Rinne with a pad save. Then, immediately got his own rebound and lifted a backhand shot right over Rinne’s blocker for his first goal of the playoffs.

    With 1:53 remaining in the second Duck’s D-man Cam Fowler took an interference penalty on Pred’s center Mike Ribeiro. This sent the Predator’s on the 3rd PP of the game, but just like the previous two resulted in nothing special.

    The third period had little to no action at all, a couple shots here and there but nothing big. Ducks right winger Jakob Silfverberg slashed Mike Ribero sending the Pred’s to their 4th PP just 29 seconds into the third period. Everyone in the building and all the fans begged and pleaded for a goal or just some momentum going their team’s way but never got it. The only exciting play on this power play was Ryan Johansen beating Simon Despres behind the net, then played the puck in front but Andersen had that play covered up. The Pred’s last PP came just five minutes later with the Ducks picking up a bench minor for too many men. This, just like the other power plays, resulted in nothing special again. They simply need to produce on the man advantage if the want to win the series and win the Cup.

    With 8:26 remaining in the game Predators winger Calle Jarnkrok slashed Jamie McGinn’s stick and broke it right in half to cap off a terrible night for all Predators players. This sent the Ducks on their second and last PP of the game, nothing came from it. Nashville would get their last good scoring chance with six minutes remaining with a shot coming from the point from Pred’s D-man Ryan Ellis firing a low hard wrister from the point which was calmly saved by Andersen capping off a big night from the Dane.

    The Predators would then pull Pekka Rinne with 2:19 remaining in the game in hopes of a miracle comeback, but clearly it did not work at all. On the other hand, Duck’s goalie Frederik Andersen had a huge night! He stopped all 27 shots Nashville threw at him for his second career playoff shutout. Predators goalie Pekka Rinne stopped 18 out of 21 shots and finished with an awful .857%

    The Predators outshot the Ducks (27-21) lead in faceoffs (33-30) and giveaways (14-3). While the Ducks lead in hits (29-27) penalty minutes (10-4) and blocked shots (15-11). Anaheim went 0/2 on the power play and Nashville went for a dreadful 0/5.

    It was also a special night for Anaheim Ducks captain, Ryan Getzlaf as he played in his 100th career playoff game. He now holds the record for most playoff games played by a Duck after passing long-time Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin.

    This was a huge win for the Ducks because they avoid going down 3-0 and cut Nashville’s lead down to 2 games to 1 (2-1). These teams will be back at it on Thursday night back here in Nashville, Tennesee at 8 pm EST. The game can be caught on NHLN-US, FX-CA, or FS-TN.

  • Predators Stun Heavily Favored Ducks in Game 1 at Honda Center

    By: Nick Lanciani

    Pekka Rinne, and the usual suspects for the Nashville Predators when it comes time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, stunned the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of their series, emerging victorious on road ice, 3-2. Rinne made 27 saves on 29 shots against for a .931 SV% while picking up the win, as Anaheim’s goaltender, John Gibson made 30 saves on 33 shots against for a .909 SV% in the loss.

    Gibson had appeared in four Stanley Cup Playoff games heading into Friday night at the Honda Center, having gone 2-2 with a 2.70 GAA, and entered the night as the regular season’s tied-for-2nd best goaltender in goals-against-average with St. Louis Blues goalie, Brian Elliot, with a 2.07 GAA behind only Tampa Bay Lightning goalie, Ben Bishop’s 2.06 GAA.

    UnknownJames Neal started the scoring for Nashville 35 seconds into the first period and gave the Predators a 1-0 lead with some help from Ryan Johansen.

    The Predators and Ducks then swapped minor penalties about four minutes apart nearly seven minutes and eleven minutes into the opening frame, with Nashville forward, Mike Ribero, being sent to the box for hooking at 7:08 and Anaheim defenseman, Simon Despres, sent to the sin bin for high sticking at 11:24 of the first period. Neither team was successful on their first power play opportunities of the night.

    At 16:15 of the first period, Nashville’s Anthony Bitetto was called for holding the stick of Ducks forward, Nate Thompson, giving Anaheim a power play. Less than 40 seconds later, the Ducks went on a two-man advantage with star defenseman, Shea Weber, going to the box for cross checking David Perron.

    Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf capitalized on the ensuing 5-on-3 power play with his first playoff goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs assisted by Cam Fowler and Corey Perry at 17:39 of the first period to tie the game at 1-1. Shots on goal were even at 12-12 after the first twenty minutes of play and the Ducks were leading in hits (16-12), faceoffs (17-9) and giveaways (7-2), while the Predators led in takeaways (1-0) and blocked shots (8-4).

    The second period started with another quick goal, however, it was scored this time Anaheim Ducks forward, Ryan Kesler, to give the Ducks their first lead of the night at 2-1, 48 seconds into the 2nd. Kesler’s goal was assisted by Andrew Cogliano (1) and Hampus Lindholm (1).

    UnknownNashville responded to Anaheim’s goal with a goal from Colin Wilson at 7:55 of the 2nd period, with help from Ryan Ellis (1) and Roman Josi (1) to tie the game, 2-2.

    Both teams continued to swap chances as the rest of the second period went on and after forty minutes of play the Predators were leadings in shots on goal 25-20, takeaways (3-1) and blocked shots (12-11). Anaheim, on the other hand, led in faceoffs (26-17) and giveaways (12-6) after forty. Both teams had 27 hits aside.

    Twenty-five seconds past halfway in the third period, Filip Forsberg shot the puck towards Gibson and it appeared to have deflected off of Anaheim’s Shea Theodore and wound up behind Gibson. Forsberg’s fluke goal proved to be the game winner, as the Ducks could not answer the Predators tally, despite trailing 3-2 with almost half a period left in regulation.

    Anaheim used their timeout with 1:51 remaining in the game and had pulled their goaltender, but it was to no avail. Nashville kept the puck out of their zone and forced the Ducks to recover and retreat.

    After sixty minutes of play, the Nashville Predators had won 3-2 and took a 1-0 series lead on the home ice advantage, Anaheim Ducks. The Preds ended the game with 33 shots on goal compared to the Ducks 29. Nashville also led in hits (33-31) and blocked shots (20-17), while Anaheim dominated the faceoff dot (42-27), giveaways (20-11) and went 1/4 on the power play. The Predators failed to convert on all three of their power play opportunities and tied the Ducks in takeaways (5-5).

    This is just the 2nd time that the Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators have met in a Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup. The previous series between these two teams was back in the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals, where Nashville went on to win the series in six games (4-2). That same series was the first playoff series win in the Predators franchise history, before succumbing to the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Western Conference Semifinals.

    Game 2 of this year’s 2016 Western Conference Quarterfinal between Anaheim and Nashville is slated for Sunday at 10:30 PM EST on NBCSN, live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, before swinging to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for Game 3 on Tuesday.

  • NHL Trades Since January 1, 2016

    NHL Trades Since January 1, 2016

    By: Nick Lanciani

    Here’s a quick recap (and I mean really quick recap- more like a brief refresher) of every trade made in the league since January 1st. For anything before the 2016 calendar year, check out NHL.com’s Trade Tracker.

    This year’s trade deadline is Monday, February 29, 2016 (in other words- tomorrow). All trade calls must be made by 3:00 PM EST on Monday in order for any deal to potentially go through.

    On January 3rd, the Chicago Blackhawks traded F Jeremy Morin to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for F Richard Panik.

    January 6th saw two trades made across the league with the Philadelphia Flyers having traded F Vincent Lecavalier and D Luke Schenn to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for F Jordan Weal and a 3rd round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

    That same day, the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired D Seth Jones and sent F Ryan Johansen to the Nashville Predators in a one-for-one trade.

    The Anaheim Ducks traded F Max Friberg to the Montréal Canadiens in exchange for G Dustin Tokarski on January 7th.

    On January 8th, the New York Rangers dealt F Emerson Etem to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for F Nicklas Jensen.

    The league saw several days off from trade action until January 14th when the Nashville Predators acquired D Patrick Mullen from the Ottawa Senators for D Conor Allen.

    January 15th witnessed two trades in the NHL, first with the Nashville Predators trading D Victor Bartley to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for D Stefan Elliott. This trade became part of the now infamous, John Scott trade, in which the Coyotes then traded D Victor Bartley and F John Scott to the Montréal Canadiens for D Jarred Tinordi and F Stefan Fournier.

    On January 16th the Pittsburgh Penguins traded F David Perron and D Adam Clendening to the Anaheim Ducks for F Carl Hagelin.

    The Chicago Blackhawks sent D Ryan Garbutt to the Anaheim Ducks for F Jiri Sekac on January 21st.

    Then on February 9th the Toronto Maple Leafs sent D Dion Phaneuf, F Matt Frattin, F Casey Bailey, F Ryan Rupert and D Cody Donaghey to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for D Jared Cowen, F Colin Greening, F Milan Michalek, F Tobias Lindberg and a 2nd round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

    February 21st played a part in the day that the Toronto Maple Leafs traded F Shawn Matthias to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for D Colin Smith and a 4th round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

    The Toronto Maple Leafs followed up with another trade on February 22nd, sending D Roman Polak and F Nick Spaling to the San Jose Sharks for F Raffi Torres, a 2nd round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and a 2nd round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

    That same day (February 22nd) the Calgary Flames acquired F Hunter Shinkaruk from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for F Markus Granlund.

    The Washington Capitals sent a 3rd round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for D Mike Weber on February 23rd.

    On February 24th the Edmonton Oilers traded the rights to RFA D Philip Larsen to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a conditional 5th round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

    The Winnipeg Jets traded F Andrew Ladd, F Matt Fraser and D Jay Harrison on February 25th, to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for F Marko Dano, a 1st round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and a conditional 3rd round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft (if the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 2016).

    The Chicago Blackhawks then traded D Rob Scuderi to the Los Angeles Kings for D Christian Ehrhoff on February 26th.

    Not to be outdone, the Montréal Canadiens sent F Tomas Fleischmann and F Dale Weise to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for F Phillip Danault and a 2nd round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft also on February 26th.

    February 27th began a long list of trades, first with the Edmonton Oilers sending G Anders Nilsson to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for G Niklas Lundstrom and a 5th round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

    Next the Toronto Maple Leafs traded G James Reimer and F Jeremy Morin to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for G Alex Stalock, F Ben Smith and a conditional 4th round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft (can become a 3rd round pick in 2018 if the Sharks reach this year’s Stanley Cup Final).

    The third trade on February 27th sent D Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a 6th round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

    The Calgary Flames then sent F Jiri Hudler to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and a 4th round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. 

    Also on the 27th, the Edmonton Oilers acquired a 3rd round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and sent D Justin Schultz to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    The sixth trade of the day saw the Oilers send F Teddy Purcell to the Florida Panthers for a 3rd round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

    Finally, the last trade on February 27th witnessed the Buffalo Sabres trade F Jason Akeson, F Phil Varone, D Jerome Gauthier-Leduc and a conditional 7th round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for D Michael Sdao, F Eric O’Dell, F Cole Schneider and F Alex Guptill.

    On February 28th the Carolina Hurricanes dealt F Eric Staal to the New York Rangers in  exchange for F Aleksi Saarela, a 2nd round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and a 2nd round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

    The New York Rangers traded F Ryan Bourque to the Washington Capitals in exchange for F Chris Brown.

    In the third trade of February 28th, the Carolina Hurricanes acquired F Valentin Zykov and a conditional 5th round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and sent F Kris Versteeg to the Los Angeles Kings.

    Finally, the Washington Capitals closed out trading on February 28th by sending F Brooks Laich, D Connor Carrick and a 2nd round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for F Daniel Winnik and a 5th round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft (previously acquired from the Anaheim Ducks).

     

  • Colby’s Corner: Columbus Winless through 7 and Torts

    Columbus Blue Jackets

    The Columbus Blue Jackets were picked by many, including myself, to make the playoffs this year. The key addition ofColumbus Blue Jackets Logo Brandon Saad was supposed to improve the team drastically. However, after a 0-7-0 start to their season, many people might be recanting their statements.

    On Wednesday, October 21st, the Columbus Blue Jackets fired their coach Todd Richards and hired John Tortorella (Torts) as the new coach. Torts brings experience and a Stanley Cup ring from when he led the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. Along with signing him, Columbus has to give a second round pick to Vancouver because Torts was last employed by them and he was fired. The pick would’ve been a third rounder if Torts was hired during the off-season, but during the season requires it to be a second rounder. Columbus also agreed to keep some of their assistant coaches, maintaining familiarity with the players.

    The team only has two players that are even in plus-minus this year, and the rest of the team is a minus. Goaltending has been another serious issue with save percentage under NHL average, and Sergei Bobrovsky has the league’s worst with .835. The star players in Columbus might be another major issue. Ryan Johansen, the number one center, only has one goal in the year thus far. There are only three players with multiple goals: Brandon Saad (3), Boone Jenner (3) and Scott Hartnell (2). Nick Foligno and Ryan Johansen led the team in points last season, but this season each only has one goal through 7 games. The record resembles their performances on ice and their stats.

    My Opinion

    I feel like the firing of Todd Richards was unfair, and how they did it was very unprofessional. It’s not the coach’s fault if the franchise goalie forgot how to play hockey overnight. I understand it’s not all Bobrovsky’s fault, but he has a goals-against average of 5.07 in addition to his league’s worst save percentage. The defense is another struggle. David Savard and Dalton Prout have plus-minuses of minus 9 on the season. Defense is where Richards could be blamed, but you can only use what you have, and GM Jarmo Kekalainen didn’t strengthen the back end this off-season, he only went after forwards. giphy

    The Blue Jackets screwed up in their hiring process after the 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders Tuesday night. The management began looking into new coaches and had actually agreed to a deal with Torts before letting Todd Richards know he was fired. This is crap and actually makes me sick. The headline Wednesday morning was Richards out Torts in, and I understand the need for action, but come on. Torts, however, doesn’t have full control of his staff because Richards’ assistants stayed with team. Normally the head coach is allowed to pick his assistant coaches, but not in this situation. Now Columbus has to hope one of the most hard-headed coaches in the league gets along with these assistants.

    To wrap up, the Blue Jackets won’t go winless all season, so Torts will get a win, but unless Bobrovsky remembers how to play hockey, the Blue Jackets will not make the playoffs. Columbus will realize the issues weren’t behind the bench but in goal and in weak defensemen. The Blue Jackets’ next game is Thursday vs. Minnesota Wild.

  • Numbers Game: Look to the Rafters- Columbus Blue Jackets

    Numbers Game: Look to the Rafters- Columbus Blue Jackets

    By: Nick Lanciani

    I continue to explore an important element of the game and what retired numbers around the league may look like in the future. While there’s only a finite set of numbers to utilize on the back of a jersey, many teams choose to retire (or honor) some numbers based on extraordinary circumstances, dedication to the organization, or legendary status.

    Many thoughts went through my head in each and every consideration. Feel free to agree or disagree- I want to know what you, the fans, consider worthy when evaluating a player, their career, and whether or not their number should be retired by a franchise. I am interested in seeing what you have to say, assuming you are actually a fan of the team and/or player that you argue for or against. Drop us a line in the comments or tweet to @DtFrozenRiver using #DTFRNumbersGame.

    For each team, I thought of former and current players that should have their numbers retired now or once they hang up the skates.

    Columbus Blue Jackets LogoColumbus Blue Jackets

    Current Retired Numbers- None

    Recommended Numbers to Retire

    If Ryan Johansen sticks around long enough in Columbus, his number could be fair game to become the Blue Jackets first retired number.

    Otherwise, it’s unlikely they’ll set aside Sergei Fedorov’s number 91 for having spent three seasons as the star in Columbus. Most fans, and members of the Blue Jackets front office, probably wouldn’t be too keen on retiring Rick Nash’s number 61 after he retires, given the way he left.

    Also, they can’t just retire Brandon Saad’s number 20, when all is said and done, because of all he did with the Chicago Blackhawks before carrying his star power over to the Blue Jackets in a trade this offseason (by that I mean, he still has to do what he did in Chicago- and more- in Columbus). Other than that, the Blue Jackets are 1) still too young and 2) haven’t had any stars worthy of retiring their number at Nationwide Arena.