Winter meltdown

Rick Nash leads the Blue Jackets in both goals (18) and points (35).(Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Ryan Dixon
2009-12-21 13:00:00

What has Rick Nash signed up for?

When the Columbus Blue Jackets got Nash to commit to an eight-year contract last summer, it was just another indication the team was finally, truly heading in the right direction.

Turns out it was also the last one.

After making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season, life has been more miserable than ever in Central Ohio, mostly because a return post-season date was the minimum expectation for the Jackets this year.

But everything has gone wrong in Columbus. Goalie Steve Mason has such a bad case of the sophomore blues B.B. King probably feels sorry for him; lynchpin defenseman Rostislav Klesla is out long-term with groin and abdomen tears and Derick Brassard – who had a promising rookie season derailed 31 games in by shoulder surgery last year – has just four goals this time out.

The Jackets have lost six in a row and have been outscored 11-1 in first periods over their past seven contests, something that smacks of a lack of preparation and intensity you’d never expect from a Ken Hitchcock-coached team.

Then again, who saw any of this coming in Columbus?

THE HOCKEY NEWS POWER RANKINGS
RK.	TEAM	LW	OVERALL	L10	THE SCOOP
1		4	25-10-1	8-1-1	Would you believe this team has the league's worst power play at 14.3 percent?
2		2	25-8-1	8-2-0	Even though things are going well, coach Jacques Lemaire split up Travis Zajac and Zach Parise in an effort to spread out the scoring
3		7	23-8-3	7-2-1	Cristobal Huet's numbers are getting right up there with the league's elite these days
4		2	22-8-6	7-3-0	Tomas Fleischmann has seven goals in his past nine games, continuing his development as an offensive threat
5		3	22-12-3	7-2-1	Scuttlebutt is Drew Doughty just may push his way onto Team Canada's defense corps
6		12	22-11-3	7-1-2	Lots of talk about Pekka Rinne's development, but Dan Ellis has been good in the Preds crease, too
7		6	21-10-3	6-3-1	Thanks mostly to Ryan Miller, the Sabres are 9-4 in one-goal games this season
8		5	20-8-7	4-3-3	Devin Setoguchi takes advantage of being re-united with Joe Thornton by snapping a 10-game goal drought
9		8	20-11-6	6-3-1	As Ryan O'Reilly struggles with no points in 13 games, Matt Duchene puts up 10 in his past 10
10		10	21-13-2	7-2-1	Goal-scoring a real concern as captain Shane Doan has managed just six points in his past 20 games
11		9	20-11-4	4-5-1	After a 10-2-2 November, Flames have 18 goals in nine December games and a 3-5-1 record
12		16	18-13-4	5-5-0	Mostly thought of as a two-way 20-goal scorer, Mike Fisher is on pace for 36 goals and could hit 70 points
13		13	15-9-11	4-2-4	Defensive stalwart Karlis Skratins has first two-goal game of his career in big 4-3 win over Detroit that tied the teams in eighth place with 41 points
14		15	20-16-0	6-4-0	Mason Raymond is one of the West's most exciting players and is providing much-needed secondary scoring
15		18	17-15-3	7-3-0	Haven't heard many stories stranger than the Wild's equipment van catching fire
16		11	16-11-7	4-3-3	Killing penalties at a league-best clip of 87.1 percent
17		25	15-15-7	4-3-3	Did well to earn points in five of six games, including four wins, in eight-day stretch
18		17	18-13-3	4-6-0	Chased Martin Brodeur from the net after scoring three goals on first six shots of the game, then go on to lose 5-4 at home
19		14	18-13-5	5-4-1	Amazing this team is doing as well as it is given the unthinkable string of injuries its dealt with
20		24	14-14-7	4-3-3	Jonas Hiller has won his past three starts, allowing just five goals on 107 shots
21		19	13-16-7	6-4-0	Have to feel good for rookie goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who got his first NHL shutout on Saturday after enduring two minor heart procedures this season
22		21	16-18-3	4-5-1	Jaroslav Halak has shown more game-stealing capabilities than Carey Price of late
23		22	13-16-7	3-7-0	Tied for third on the team in goals, Josh Bailey hasn't scored since Nov. 27
24		23	15-14-5	5-5-0	Big win over Vancouver on Sunday, but the Blues haven't won back-to-back games in regulation since beating Detroit twice to kick off the season in Sweden
25		28	16-16-3	3-5-2	Thank goodness for Henrik Lundqvist, who has let in 15 goals in eight December games, but has only three wins to show for it
26		20	15-16-4	5-4-1	Just as it looked like they were turning it around thanks to a five-game winning streak, Oilers lose three in a row and blow a couple of two-goal leads
27		27	15-17-2	2-7-1	Jeff Carter looked like a 50-goal scorer coming into this year, but he'll do well to get half that many
28		29	12-14-9	2-7-1	Will Mattias Ohlund have his Swedish passport revoked for taking out countryman Henrik Zetterberg with a hard, clean hit last week?
29		30	9-20-6	4-5-1	Next win brings season total to double-digits
30		26	14-15-7	1-6-3	Two wins in their last 16 trips to the ice