Goal Line Report
Entries with the tag: Columbus+Blue+Jackets
Curtis Sanford: A Bright Spot in Gloomy Columbus
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/25/11 at 05:00 PM ET
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With all the bad things going on with the Columbus Blue Jackets this season, there has been one bright spot for the hockey club.
No, it is not the play of Jeff Carter, Rick Nash, Vinny Prospal, Grant Clitsome, etc. Rather, it is the play of backup netminder Curtis Sanford.
With starting netminder Steve Mason nursing a head injury, Sanford has come in and provided the Blue Jackets with something they have been missing for the past few seasons - consistent goaltending.
In five games this season, the 32-year-old journeyman netminder is 2-0-2 with a 1.33 goals against average and a .946 save percentage. Considering that this is Sanford’s first time back in the National Hockey League since the 2008-09 season, those are pretty solid numbers.
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Tags: Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Curtis+Sanford,
Is the Central Division the Best in the NHL?
by Patrick Hoffman on 08/27/11 at 07:27 PM ET
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Over at TrueHockey.com today, I explored that topic:
When looking at the Central division, it’s possible all five teams could clinch playoff spots in the extremely competitive Western Conference.
Detroit Red Wings
Even without the likes of Brian Rafalski, Chris Osgood, Kris Draper and Mike Modano, the Detroit Red Wings could very well be the class of the Central Division once again this season.
The Red Wings still have guys like Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall and goaltender Jimmy Howard. These players all had solid seasons last year and got the Wings to within one game of the Western Conference Finals.
This team will be the team to beat not only in the division, but possibly the entire conference.
Click here for more on the rest of the division.
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Tags: Chicago+Blackhawks, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Detroit+Red+Wings, Nashville+Predators, St.+Louis+Blues,
An E-mail Interview with Columbus Blue Jackets Prospect Cameron Atkinson
by Patrick Hoffman on 08/10/11 at 11:06 AM ET
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It was an honor to conduct an e-mail interview with this sixth round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets back in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Cameron Atkinson was kind enough to take time out of his very busy summer training schedule to tell us about how he got into hockey, what it was like to be drafted, what he wants to do with Blue Jackets and more.
PH: How did you get into hockey?
CA: I started playing hockey because of my dad, who was born and raised in Vancouver. It was innevitable that I would play at some point and when I did at age two, I did not look back.
PH: Growing up, who was your favorite team/player? Why?
CA: Growing up, the New York Rangers were my favorite team but, Marty St. Louis was my favorite player because he is small and has what it takes to be an impact player and one of the best players in the NHL.
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Tags: Boston+College+Eagles, Cameron+Atkinson, Columbus+Blue+Jackets,
No More Prospal
by Patrick Hoffman on 07/23/11 at 12:27 PM ET
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As our fearless leader just said in a recent post, former New York Rangers’ forward Vinny Prospal has inked a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets for one year at $1.75 million.
Prospal will certainly be missed by the Blueshirts. In two season with the club, Prospal amassed 81 points in 104 games. He consistently produced, he was a leader on and off the ice, and he was someone that worked hard every shift for team head coach John Tortorella.
With that said, it was obvious that he was going to be the man out on the upcoming season’s Blueshirts hockey team. With the new signings, the money being doled out by general manager Glen Sather and the makeup of this team, Prospal unfortunately lost a spot.
Here is to a few good seasons and continued success with the new and improved Blue Jackets hockey team.
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Tags: Columbus+Blue+Jackets, New+York+Rangers, Vinny+Prospal,
Searching for the Real Steve Mason
by Patrick Hoffman on 07/20/11 at 09:23 AM ET
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Yesterday at RLD Hockey, I penned a blog about Columbus Blue Jackets’ netminder Steve Mason.
You can click here to read it or continue below:
Which Steve Mason will show up this season
By Patrick Hoffman
This is something that Columbus Blue Jackets fans are probably thinking about, considering that their franchise netminder, Steve Mason, has not been the same goaltender that won the Calder Trophy back in 2009.
There is no doubt that Mason is a young, talented and athletic netminder who has the ability to win hockey games on his own and make big saves. With that said, however, he has not done that on a consistent basis over the past two seasons.
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Tags: Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Steve+Mason,
Rangers Pick Up the All-Important Two Points in San Jose
by Patrick Hoffman on 03/13/11 at 10:22 AM ET
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It does not matter how you get them just as long you get them.
That is what the New York Rangers were able to do last night in their 3-2 shootout victory over the San Jose Sharks. It wasn’t pretty but the Blueshirts did not allow two deflection goals against to derail them en route to a victory.
At this point in the season, one point is not good enough for the Blueshirts and they showed that last night in San Jose. The team got goals from from Erik Christensen, Michael Sauer and in the shootout, got the winner from Brandon Dubinsky after Wojtek Wolski extended the shootout by scoring on Sharks’ netminder Antti Niemi in the third round of the skills competition.
The Blueshirts also got a terrific performance from their netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist made 31 saves in 65 minutes and then went and stopped five of six shots in the shootout to pick up his 28th victory of the season.
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Tags: Brandon+Dubinsky, Buffalo+Sabres, Carolina+Hurricanes, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Erik+Christensen, Henrik+Lundqvist, John+Tortorella, Michael+Sauer, Montreal+Canadiens, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, San+Jose+Sharks, Toronto+Maple+Leafs, Wojtek+Wolski,
Rangers Look to Bounce Back at Home Tonight
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/12/10 at 11:22 AM ET
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With the New York Rangers coming off a very disappointing 3-1 road loss at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets last night, the team will need to get back up on the horse quickly as they have a tough game tonight at home against the struggling Washington Capitals.
What was disappointing to see was that the Rangers’ had trouble scoring goals against a struggling Steve Mason. Mason had allowed less than two goals three times this season in 17 prior appearances this season.
It was also tough that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist allowed a particularly weak goal when Blue Jackets’ captain Rick Nash scored from below the goal-line and banked in a shot off Lundqvist’s skate and into the net. Up until that point, Lundqvist had been playing extremely well and was giving his team every chance to win a hockey game.
The Blueshirts didn’t stink in the game. They had plenty of chances to put the puck past Mason but unfortunately, were not able to finish, which is obviously important in the National Hockey League.
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Tags: Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Steve+Mason+Washington+Capitals,
UPDATE: Del Zotto a Healthy Scratch Tonight/Big Three Games in Four Nights for the Blueshirts
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/09/10 at 11:24 AM ET
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UPDATE: According to Ranger beat writer Andrew Gross’s Twitter, New York Rangers’ defenseman Michael Del Zotto is a healthy scratch tonight in Ottawa and that defenseman Matt Gilroy will be inserted into the lineup:
Michael Del Zotto a healthy scratch tonight for #NYRangers, Gilroy in. Henrik Lundqvist will be in net.
The New York Rangers have a busy next couple of days coming up with three games in four nights on tap for the Blueshirts.
It begins tonight in Ottawa where the Rangers will take on a Senators’ team that beat them at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night by a score of 3-1. It was a game in which the Rangers did not come out with the intensity that is needed to win a hockey game and it ended up costing them in the end.
What was also disappointing about that game was that the Senators were coming off a 1-0 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres the night before. The Blueshirts did not take advantage of the opportunity to beat a tired team and it’s a game that they needed to pick up two points in.
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Tags: Alex+Frolov, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, John+Tortorella, New+York+Rangers, Ottawa+Senators, Ruslan+Fedotenko, Washington+Capitals,
Offensive Explosion in second period
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/23/09 at 08:39 PM ET
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This is not earth shattering news for the hockey world but it might just be for New York Ranger fans: the Rangers are up 6-2 on the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring three goals in the first period and adding another four in the second period.
The team exploded for three goals in a span of 1:11 with two goals from Sean Avery and another one from Marian Gaborik, who has four points through two periods. The team has also received strong performances from Michael Del Zotto (1 goal), Matt Gilroy (1 goal), Artem Anisimov (1goal, 2 assists) Christopher Higgins and for the most part, Henrik Lundqvist.
Remember, this team was down 2-0 in the first period before exploding for 7 goals over the course of the next two periods.
There is less than five minutes to go in the second period so let’s see how the team plays the rest of the game.
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Tags: Columbus+Blue+Jackets, New+York+Rangers,
In Trouble?
by Patrick Hoffman on 11/23/09 at 04:34 PM ET
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If the New York Rangers lose to the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight, the team will be in trouble.
That would put the Rangers at 3-8 in their last 11 and would more than likely still keep them out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
There is one major problem here: secondary scoring!
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Tags: Columbus+Blue+Jackets, New+York+Rangers, Rangers+Reading,
Close But No Cigar
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/21/08 at 12:15 PM ET
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In what was the team’s biggest test of the season, the New York Rangers passed with flying colors despite losing to the league’s best team, the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 last night at the HP Pavilion Center.
Despite a poorly played first period, last night had to be one of the team’s best efforts all season. They were especially good in the third period, when they controlled play and dominated the Sharks, outshooting them 17-7. Unfortunately, the Blueshirts were unable to get one by Sharks’ netminder Evgeni Nabokov, who played well after dropping his previous two decisions to the Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Yes, the team lost a valuable two points last night but this was a game where the Blueshirts proved that they are not far off from being considered one of the league’s top teams this season.
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Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Brandon+Dubinsky, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Detroit+Red+Wings, Evgeni+Nabokov, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ryan+Callahan, San+Jose+Sharks, Washington+Capitals,
A Tough Test
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/20/08 at 03:00 PM ET
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If there was ever a game that the New York Rangers could use as a measuring stick, tonight’s tilt with the San Jose Sharks in San Jose would be that game.
San Jose comes into tonight’s matchup sporting a 25-4-3 record, good for 53 points and the top spot in both the Western Conference and the Natioanl Hockey League. On the other side, the Bluershirts come into tonight’s game with a 22-11-2 record, 46 points and sits in second place in the Eastern Conference (at least until all the other teams catch up in games played).
In his Rangers Report Blog, Journal News Ranger beat writer Sam Weinman says that tonight’s game could be a game where the Rangers realize that they’re not that far off or they could realize that they still have a lot of work to do to become a Stanley Cup contender.
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Tags: Brian+Boucher, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Dan+Boyle, Detroit+Red+Wings, Devin+Setoguchi, Evgeni+Nabokov, Joe+Pavelski, Joe+Thornton, New+York+Rangers, Patrick+Marleau, Rob+Blake, Ryane+Clowe, Sam+Weinman, San+Jose+Sharks, Scotty+Hockey, SNY+Rangers+Blog, The+Journal+News,
