Written by Adam Burke

---

Dmitry Chesnokov, Yahoo Puck Daddy Contributor extraordinaire, tweeted yesterday, the Blue Jackets had won ONE of their last 30 games in regulation. Make it two (!!) after their first win of the season over Detroit. The win snapped a 14-game winless streak. Excuses are being made all over the place about injuries, the Wisniewski suspension, and whatever else, but a statistic like that speaks to a huge character issue.

Failure cannot be an option when being paid millions of dollars to play professional sports. The organization cannot expect hard-working people to spend their dollars on supporting a losing team. Too many players in that locker room are taking their positions for granted and accepting a culture of losing.

Prior to last night’s game, two players had been regular contributors, Rick Nash and Vinny Prospal. Prospal was a brilliant acquisition by Scott Howson, but the awful play of the rest of the team has camouflaged Prospal’s performance. Ironically, in the Jackets lone win of the year, neither player registered a point.

While I would almost never advocate trading a player like Ryan Johansen, the time may be coming. Steve Mason has a .889 save percentage. Say what you want about the lack of offense, but Mason has not helped this 0-7-1 start. Honestly, the guy is not a starting-caliber goaltender. His inconsistencies are beyond frustrating and the Jackets are developing into a team who desperately need an elite goaltender. Johansen alone wouldn’t net one of the good goaltenders who may be available, and I have yet to look at the 2012 Draft Class to see if a future star could be worthy of a top five pick, but the idea has to be discussed.

I realize the effect that injuries have had. With injuries to defensemen and forwards, the Blue Jackets are playing at least six players who would have started the year in the AHL. Certainly, that is a lot of adversity to overcome, and even more so when the team is off to such a bad start. That’s where leaders step up. The team clearly feels sorry for itself. That doesn’t work in the NHL. The opposition smells blood every time they face off with Columbus.

RJ Umberger, John Moore, and Ryan Johansen recorded their first goals of the season and Johansen played his best game to date as his deadline of nine games rapidly approaches. James Wisniewski blocked four shots and led the team with 27 minutes played. Umberger and Antoine Vermette combined for three points against Detroit. This team needs secondary scoring to compete and those are the two responsible for providing it.

Then, there’s Scott Arniel. He will be given time to dig his own grave or rise from it, but, for right now, his ass is burning. The hot seat has been preheating since the end of last season and now the burner is fully lit. Quite frankly, I don’t find this his fault. The Blue Jackets have lacked role players since the days when Doug MacLean was GM. The team has nobody capable of shifting momentum with a big hit or an intermission speech.

It’s a very hard thing to be a coach in the NHL when your team lacks vocal leaders. Case in point, look at the Washington Capitals. They are overflowing with talent. As seen in the HBO 24/7 Winter Classic special last year, when they were in the midst of a lengthy losing streak, the coach was the only one talking. The players said very little. It’s also part of the reason why, with all their talent, they have not made a Stanley Cup final.

This year, Washington added veteran goaltender Tomas Vokoun. They acquired Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern, two tremendous role players. They’ve always had a grizzled veteran in Mike Knuble. They added 19-year veteran Roman Hamrlik on defense. The Capitals are 7-0, including rolling Philly 5-2 on the road and crushing Detroit 7-1 last Saturday.

There are examples to follow. The Blue Jackets organization just hasn’t followed them.

Finally, Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog made light of the Jackets’ win over Detroit.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vi3Ulwk6Nw8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Have to admit, that’s pretty hilarious. The way things have gone, you can see how excited they were to get the monkey off their backs.