Bethany's Hockey Rants

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Victory!

by Bethany on 10/31/08 at 09:10 PM ET
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Victory. Sometimes, you just need to score some goals, get awesome goaltending, and well have a Calder Trophy candidate (or two) on your team, and you get...A WIN! Fredrik Norrena had a great night, stopping 30 of 32 shots. Brassard, Chimera, Murray, and Hejda all scored last night. Hejda scored his first goal in 115 games, and yes, it was his second goal in the NHL. Here’s the best quote of the night from Jan Hejda:

“It’s hard to for me to say which of my two goals was more beautiful.”

Andrew Raycroft was absolutely dreadful in net for the Avs last night, and was replaced by Peter Budaj who received cheers every single time he made a save. Norrena was outstanding for the Blue Jackets and the only goals he let in were power play goals. He made at least four outstanding glove saves, and looked confident and big in the net. It’s nights like these you have to be proud. There were still times that we weren’t playing as well as we should have been, like the third period, but the thing is, the Avs had the pressure on, and we were able to hang on to our lead.

Think about this, we won the game by only throwing seventeen shots at the oppositions goaltender. That’s not going to happen every single night, but we were able to do it. We were also able to win without getting any contribution from Nash and Huselius, our top line guys. Also, the Nash at center experiment, I don’t remember seeing it, but apparently Aaron Portzline did, at least four times.

Fedor Tyutin had a great game last night also. It has taken me some time to get used to him, but he is starting to earn my respect. Mike Commodore made some great plays, and slid all over the ice blocking (and attempting to block) shots. I could go on and on, but the defense looks better every game, and they aren’t making me as nervous anymore.

Other news about the game, that was mentioned earlier, Jared Boll received a one-game suspension and Hitchcock received a $10,000 fine. All of this because Boll fought, in the dying minutes of the hockey game and received an instigator penalty. In all honesty, Boll needed to fight, he stood up for his teammate and that’s something that needs to happen. Derek Dorsett took a big hit from an Avs player, and Boll stood up for him.

We still have a lot to work on, but it came together last night, and let’s hope it keeps going! We have the talent, we have the players, and last night we had accountability, communication, and did all the things that we should have been doing all along. Now if we could just get Nash and Huselius going.

Fight of the night, Dorsett and Tucker.

The Blue Jackets face the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow night, a game that I am hoping to be able to watch live, but at this point in time, I’m not planning on it. One of my good friends Sarah and her fiance are getting married tomorrow, and you know I can’t choose hockey over her wedding (and if I did, I may not have a job considering she is my boss!!).

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Tags: Colorado+Avalanche, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Derek+Dorsett, Jan+Hejda, Jared+Boll,