2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets season

The 2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the ninth National Hockey League (NHL) season in Columbus, Ohio. On April 8, 2009, the Blue Jackets clinched a playoff berth after a shootout victory against the Chicago Blackhawks, the first berth in team history.

2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division4th Central
Conference7th Western
2008–09 record41–31–10
Home record25–13–3
Road record16–18–7
Goals for226
Goals against230
Team information
General managerScott Howson
CoachKen Hitchcock
CaptainRick Nash
Alternate captainsRostislav Klesla
Fredrik Modin
Michael Peca
ArenaNationwide Arena
Average attendance15,543
Team leaders
GoalsRick Nash (40)
AssistsRick Nash (39)
PointsRick Nash (79)
Penalty minutesJared Boll (180)
Plus/minusJan Hejda (+23)
WinsSteve Mason (33)
Goals against averageSteve Mason (2.29)

Preseason

The Jackets selected Russian forward Nikita Filatov with the sixth overall pick at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Filatov made an immediate impact with Columbus, scoring a goal in his NHL debut against the Nashville Predators. Columbus was rather aggressive in free agency, signing proven forward Kristian Huselius, and solidifying the defensive core with veteran Mike Commodore. General Manager Scott Howson also engineered two key pre-season trades, trading a draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for R. J. Umberger, and trading stars Nikolay Zherdev and Dan Fritsche to the New York Rangers in exchange for defensemen Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman.

Regular season

Rookie goaltender Steve Mason, who missed the first month of the season following knee surgery,[1] led the Blue Jackets into playoff contention at the All-Star break. Recalled from the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch following Pascal Leclaire's injury, Mason was named the Rookie of the Month by the NHL for November after recording five wins in eight decisions, including two shutouts.[2] He again won Rookie of the Month honors in December,[3] and was named to the YoungStars team at the 2009 All-Star Game in Montreal, though he declined to play after suffering back spasms.[4] Captain Rick Nash was the team's representative at the All-Star Game, his fourth appearance at the game. Rookie Nikita Filatov scored his first career hat trick on January 10, 2009, in a 4–2 win against the Minnesota Wild. Filatov's achievement marked the first hat trick by a Blue Jackets rookie. On the eve of the NHL trade deadline, Columbus traded recently oft-injured goaltender Pascal Leclaire and a draft pick to the Ottawa Senators for forward Antoine Vermette.[5] Vermette made an instant impact with the club, racking up seven points in his first six games.

The Blue Jackets struggled on the power play, finishing 30th in power-play goals (41) and power-play percentage (12.73%). They also had the most shutouts of any team in the league, with 11.[6][7][8]

Divisional standings

Central Division
GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1y – Detroit Red Wings82512110295244112
2Chicago Blackhawks82462412264216104
3St. Louis Blues8241311023323392
4Columbus Blue Jackets8241311022623092
5Nashville Predators824034821323388

Conference standings

Western Conference
R Div GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1p – San Jose SharksPA82531811257204117
2y – Detroit Red WingsCE82512110295244112
3y – Vancouver CanucksNW82452710246220100
4Chicago BlackhawksCE82462412264216104
5Calgary FlamesNW824630625424898
6St. Louis BluesCE8241311023323392
7Columbus Blue JacketsCE8241311022623092
8Anaheim DucksPA824233724523891
8.5
9Minnesota WildNW824033921920089
10Nashville PredatorsCE824034821323388
11Edmonton OilersNW823835923424885
12Dallas StarsPA8236351123025783
13Phoenix CoyotesPA823639720825279
14Los Angeles KingsPA8234371120723479
15Colorado AvalancheNW823245519925769

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, pPresidents' Trophy winner
CE – Central Division, NW – Northwest Division, PA – Pacific Division

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

2008–09 Game Log

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

The Blue Jackets have reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals 

Goaltenders

Note:  Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;
Regular season
Player GP Min W L OT GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO
Steve Mason613663332071402.2916581518.91610
Pascal Leclaire12673461433.83324281.8670
Fredrik Norrena8323132173.16133116.8720
Wade Dubielewicz3168120103.567767.8700
Dan LaCosta315520041.548076.9501
Playoffs
Player GP Min W L GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO
Steve Mason423904174.26139122.8780

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blue Jackets. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
Traded mid-season
Italics denotes franchise record

Awards and records

Awards

Steve Mason - Calder Memorial Trophy

Rick NashNHL Foundation Player Award

Records

PlayerRecordNumberReached
Steve MasonConsecutive shutout minutes199:19January 2, 2009
Rick NashMost Points Scored - Career318 ptsJanuary 18, 2009
TeamMost Goals Scored - Game8 goalsMarch 7, 2009
TeamLargest Margin of Victory6 goalsMarch 7, 2009
Steve MasonMost Wins - Season28 winsMarch 12, 2009
TeamMost Wins - Season36 winsMarch 13, 2009
TeamMost Points - Season82 pointsMarch 21, 2009
Steve MasonMost Shutouts - Season10 shutoutsMarch 26, 2009
Rick NashMost Points Scored - Season79 ptsApril 8, 2009
Jan HejdaHighest Plus/Minus Rating - Season+23April 11, 2009

Milestones

Regular Season
PlayerMilestoneReached
Jakub Voracek1st NHL Game
1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Assist
1st NHL Point
October 10, 2008
Derek Dorsett1st NHL GameOctober 11, 2008
Mike Commodore300th NHL GameOctober 17, 2008
Nikita Filatov1st NHL Game
1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point
October 17, 2008
Marc Methot1st NHL GoalOctober 18, 2008
Derek Dorsett1st NHL Goal
1st NHL Point
October 21, 2008
Derek Dorsett1st NHL AssistOctober 30, 2008
Steve Mason1st NHL Game
1st NHL Win
November 5, 2008
Steve Mason1st NHL ShutoutNovember 22, 2008
Maksim Mayorov1st NHL GameJanuary 3, 2009
Nikita Filatov1st NHL Hat TrickJanuary 10, 2009
Fredrik Modin800th NHL GameJanuary 10, 2009
Ken Hitchcock500th NHL VictoryFebruary 19, 2009

Transactions

Trades

June 20, 2008
To Columbus Blue Jackets
R. J. Umberger
4th-round pick in 2008 – Drew Olson
To Philadelphia Flyers
1st-round pick in 2008 – Luca Sbisa
Third-round pick in 2008 – Marc-Andre Bourdon
July 1, 2008
To Columbus Blue Jackets
Raffi Torres
To Edmonton Oilers
Gilbert Brule
July 2, 2008
To Columbus Blue Jackets
Fedor Tyutin
Christian Backman
To New York Rangers
Nikolay Zherdev
Dan Fritsche
January 10, 2009
To Columbus Blue Jackets
Mike Blunden
To Chicago Blackhawks
Adam Pineault
January 14, 2009
To Columbus Blue Jackets
Jason Williams
To Atlanta Thrashers
Clay Wilson
6th-round pick in 2009 – David Pacan
March 4, 2009
To Columbus Blue Jackets
Antoine Vermette
To Ottawa Senators
Pascal Leclaire
2nd-round pick in 2009 – Robin Lehner
March 4, 2009
To Columbus Blue Jackets
Kevin Lalande
To Calgary Flames
4th-round pick in 2009 – Garrett Wilson

Free agents

PlayerFormer teamContract Terms
Mike CommodoreOttawa Senators5 years, $18.75 million
Kristian HuseliusCalgary Flames4 years, $19 million
PlayerNew team
Ron HainseyAtlanta Thrashers
Zenon KonopkaTampa Bay Lightning

Claimed from waivers

PlayerFormer teamDate claimed off waivers
Wade Dubielewicz New York Islanders January 17, 2009
Chris Gratton Tampa Bay Lightning February 21, 2009

Draft picks

The Blue Jackets entered the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa with the sixth overall selection. Columbus drafted Russian forward Nikita Filatov with the pick.[9] Filatov started the season with the Jackets' American Hockey League affiliate, scoring two goals in two games for the Syracuse Crunch before being recalled to the NHL.[10] Filatov made his NHL debut on October 17, scoring a goal against the Nashville Predators.[11]

Rnd Pick Player Nat Pos Team (league) NHL statistics
GPGAPtsPIM
16Nikita Filatov RussiaLWCSKA Moscow (RSL)Made debut in 2008–09
237Cody Goloubef CanadaDUniversity of Wisconsin (WCHA)
4107Steven Delisle CanadaDGatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
4118Drew Olson United StatesDBrainerd High School (USHS-MN)
5127Matt Calvert CanadaLWBrandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
5135Tomas Kubalik Czech RepublicRWHC Plzeň (Czech Extraliga)
5137Brent Regner CanadaDVancouver Giants (WHL)
6157Cam Atkinson United StatesRWAvon Old Farms (USHS-CT)
7187Sean Collins CanadaCWaywayseecappo Wolverines (MJHL)

See also

Farm teams

American Hockey League

Syracuse Crunch

ECHL

Johnstown Chiefs: GM Scott Howson announced on August 22, 2008 that the Blue Jackets reached an agreement with the Johnstown Chiefs to serve as the club's ECHL affiliate for the 2008–09 season, replacing the Elmira Jackals.

References

  1. "Blue Jackets lose Steve Mason for 4-6 weeks". CBC. September 23, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  2. "Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason named NHL rookie of the month". Canadian Press. December 2, 2008. Archived from the original on December 13, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  3. "Blue Jackets G Steve Mason named rookie of the month again". National Post. January 2, 2009. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  4. "Columbus Blue Jackets Goaltender Steve Mason to Miss this Weekend's NHL YoungStars Game". Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey Club. January 20, 2009. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  5. "Columbus Blue Jackets - News: Columbus Blue Jackets Acquire Center Antoine Vermette from the Ottawa Senators in Exchange for Goaltender Pascal Leclaire and a Second Round Pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft - 03/04/2009". Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  6. "2008-09 Columbus Blue Jackets Roster and Statistics".
  7. "2008-09 NHL Summary".
  8. "2008-09 NHL Schedule and Results".
  9. "2008 Entry Draft – First round tracker". TSN. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. "Jared Boll on IR, Nikita Filatov joins Blue Jackets". Canadian Press. October 15, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Valiquette blanks Leafs; Filatov nets first goal". Associated Press. October 17, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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