After the Blue Jackets’ 3-1 win over Calgary on Friday night, Pascal Vincent and Boone Jenner had a quick chat before the team headed to Minnesota.
Columbus had just responded from a shutout loss three days earlier to Detroit with one of its better performances in some time in the win against the Flames, and there was a palpable feeling of accomplishment among the team.
The Blue Jackets weren’t resting on any laurels, though. The thought was, if we can play like this every night, then we’ll really be on to something.
“I spoke to Boone after the game, and he said, ‘We love playing this kind of game, this pace, with energy, in your face,’” Vincent said. “That’s the kind of game we can play. And when you look at teams making the playoffs, what they do is be consistent at playing that style of game.”
The challenge, then, was in front of the Blue Jackets. Sure, any team can win a game and be happy with its performance, but the good teams at the NHL level do it night in and night out. Consistency is what separates the haves and the have-nots, and Columbus had the opportunity to get right back on the ice Saturday night and do it again at Minnesota.
Mission accomplished. The Blue Jackets weren’t as good as they were against the Flames; they were better. Columbus had the puck for most of the night against the Wild, posting the fourth-most shots on goal in franchise history in a 5-4 overtime win.
There’s a long way to go in the NHL schedule, 76 games after last night’s overtime setback vs. Anaheim. But under Vincent’s watch, the Blue Jackets are starting to establish what type of team they want to be.
On the ice, that means fast, aggressive and smart – which you hear from just about every team in the NHL. To accomplish that goal, though, Vincent has asked for a tremendous about of buy-in.
“The season goes by so fast; we don’t have time to waste,” Vincent said. “We want to set a culture that the foundation of it is we are going to be hard to play against. But in order to do that, you need energy, so making sure we do the right things in practices, in the gym, away from the rink. We’re looking for those kinds of people.”
If it sounds like it’s asking a lot, it is. But on the other hand, if you’re a Blue Jackets player who just went through one of the most miserable seasons in franchise history, the discipline required to win feels like a piece of cake after experiencing the reality of losing a season ago.
“The buy-in has to be there, no matter what system you play,” Jenner said. “But ours, we need 100 percent buy-in from each guy. The pace we want to play, short shifts and getting off the ice and getting everybody out there, if you want to sustain that intensity or that pace, it’s going to take everybody.”
If you listen to Vincent talk for long enough, a few common themes emerge. The first is pace, referring to the speed and the sustained energy with which the Blue Jackets need to play. Another is the word habit, with the coach believing that both teams and individuals need to build the habits that will help them stay on track throughout the season.
And then there’s the phrase “all-in”, and you don’t need to be a poker player to understand that one.
“If we want to go somewhere, if we want to win some games and make the playoffs, we need to do the things that are hard to do,” Vincent said. “It’s not that it’s hard to do once in a while; it’s to do it constantly. The discipline in the consistency in how you’re going to prepare, being a good pro.
“Right now, I have a good example. Jake Bean is playing really, really well, but if you look at him, I told him the other day, I asked if he owned the gym that we have at the rink. He’s always in there, he’s doing his stuff, he’s stretching, he’s working out. He’s been a real good pro, and we know he takes good care of himself away from the rink. You see the difference.
“We want more like that. We want to set the culture that when you play for the Blue Jackets, you’re all-in. Because if you’re not all-in, you’re in the way for us.”
In some ways, it’s asking a lot of players, but a funny thing tends to happen when you’re working with elite athletes. If you tell them what they need to do to get to the top – and clearly communicate it – they're pretty OK with what they’re being asked to do.
“He tells us exactly what he expects of each guy or expects of the group as a whole,” Jenner said. “As a player, that’s what you want. There’s no black and white. There’s no secret plays, as he always says. It’s go out and execute, bring the intensity and execute our system the way we want to do as a group. As a player, you know exactly what to bring.”
Marchy Marches On
If you know one thing about Kirill Marchenko, he’s not going to lose his sense of humor.
The effervescent Russian arrived on the scene last year and quickly turned into a fan – and media – favorite for both the ease with which he scored goals as well as his endearing, fun-loving personality.
A smile is never far from his face – unless he’s not scoring goals. On the way to setting the CBJ rookie goals record a season ago, Marchenko made no bones about the fact he wants to be as good a goal scorer as there is in the NHL, constantly comparing himself to the best in the game.
It’s too early to call it a sophomore slump, but Marchenko finds himself in a different world to start the 2023-24 season. A year ago, he had one of the most unique stat lines in NHL history, posting a 21-4-25 line to become just the second player in the league’s modern era to score at least 20 goals and notch as few as four assists.
This year, though six games, he has zero goals and three assists, taking to calling himself a “playmaker” for his increased total of helpers this season.
“If I get two more assists, I’ll break my total from last season,” he said recently with his megawatt smile before clarifying. “I’m joking.”
So while he’s still finding ways to contribute, Marchenko considers himself a goal scorer, thanks to a hard, deceptive shot and no bashfulness when it comes to using it. Frustration is not yet on his mind even though he hasn’t gotten one in the net yet.
“It’s only five games now,” he said before last night’s contest. “If I have 80 games and I have zero goals, I will be frustrated a little bit. But the important thing is we have three wins.”
One has to think a breakthrough for Marchenko is near. His 25 shot attempts at 5-on-5 through six games is tied for second on the team, and his 12 scoring chances per Natural Stat Trick are tied for first on the squad. On the power play, he has team-best totals of 11 shot attempts and seven shots on goal.
"Those offensive guys, they want to score goals,” Vincent said. “Now he’s pushing to score goals and maybe he’s holding his stick a little bit tighter. It’s going to come. He’s passionate about the game. He’s coachable. He works hard. It’s just a matter of time.”
