Oct 5, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets celebrates the win against the New York Islanders in shootout at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Columbus won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
It’s Wednesday, and we are now three days removed from the last Columbus Blue Jackets game – a shootout win against the NYI. Fear not though, tomorrow is game day again. The Blue Jackets will head to Buffalo to face a struggling Sabres team that finally earned a point last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning – but lost in OT. Like we saw against the Calgary Flames on opening night though, no team is to be taken lightly in the NHL.
The last two fan polls have graded the overall play of the Blue Jackets, and had you vote on who you think the best Blue Jackets player has been so far. With the up and down play of the Blue Jackets, there are several players that need to step it up and improve their play. If the Blue Jackets are going to continue to win against other eastern conference opponents, then the team will need to score more and the defense needs to shape up.
In the General Consensus post from yesterday, I took a look back at the fan poll that asked what you thought the overall grade of the Blue Jackets was so far. A majority of the voters gave the Blue Jackets a “C” for a grade. Average play won’t cut it as the Jackets move on through the season. When asked Who Has Been The Best Player For Columbus So Far? (<—- vote now if you haven’t), voters have chosen Jack Johnson and Dalton Prout a majority of the time- a combined 50% of the vote.
Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports
When asked, what one Columbus Blue Jackets player needs to improve, a few names come to mind. James Wisniewski and Ryan Murray are the first players to pop into my head. Wisniewski is a minus 3 so far in two games, and has played sloppy at best. Murray’s play is similar to Wisniewski’s, sloppy at times, with the addition of some rookie mistakes – also is a minus 2.
Other players that stick out to me as needing to improve include Artem Anisimov, and Ryan Johansen. Both players haven’t exactly played bad, per se, but improvement in their game would give the Blue Jackets a much needed boost. Anisimov has been invisible at times, and he is hardly noticeable while on the ice. Johansen needs to start producing and or show that he can make things happen in the offensive zone.
If this season is going to be a success for the Blue Jackets, more players need to get involved in the offensive zone, and the defense will have to clean up its act. Your opinion matters, vote now and tell us who you think needs to improve the most to give the Blue Jackets a boost.