The Columbus Blue Jackets are 1-1-0 so far in this very young season, and their next game is not until Thursday, the tenth, against the Buffalo sabers. Fans have seen two very different sides of the Blue Jackets this season. One side being the hard working, determined, score anyway you can, Blue jackets. The other side being the sloppy, and unintelligent play that we saw during the first game, and parts of the second game.
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When watching the hard working, determined, score anyway you can, side of the Blue Jackets, there have been players who stand out. There has even been players who stand out when the Blue Jackets aren’t playing their best hockey, and those are the players who have helped keep the two games close and within reach of a win.
Players who have attracted my attention have been some of the usuals who you would expect to thrive, including; Sergei Bobrovsky, Jack Johnson, Brandon Dubinsky, Marian Gaborik and Cam Atkinson. Others that could make the list though are Dalton Prout, David Savard, and even R.J. Umberger (at times).
While Bobrovsky’s stats may not show that he is playing well, which would mostly be due to the lack of help from the defense in game one, he has made superb saves to keep the Blue Jackets in both games. Both Johnson and Dubinsky have been working hard and producing points. They are also making a strong play for captain of the team. Gaborik made a brilliant seem pass to Johnson for the first goal of the season, and also has one goal. If he continues to perform as he has been, I think we can expect great things from him this season. Atkinson may only have one assist to his name right now, but he is flying around on the ice and is always involved in the play. Most notably, he worked well with Dubinsky and Gaborik against the Islanders.
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Savard, Prout, and Umberger are dark horses for best Blue Jackets player so far. Savard is a plus 2 right now, with one assist and over 18 minutes of ice time in both games. Prout, who is a minus 2, with no points, but has also been playing big minutes on the blue line (18+, 23+), is also playing really well at times. Last but not least, Umberger, a player that fans are expecting to step it up a notch this season. While he probably hasn’t been the best player on the ice for Columbus, he did make one hell of a play to help tie the game up against the Islanders. More importantly, I think he is begininng to really show some veteran qualities in his play.
Now you can take a moment and vote for the player in which you think has been the best on the ice for the Blue Jackets.