Tidd Talk

      On this special Monday post of Tidd Talk, we will take a bit of a deep dive into the Columbus Blue Jackets and the final week of the season as drama continues to grow late in the season.

      Monday sets up to be the biggest night of the year for the Columbus Blue Jackets, despite the Blue Jackets not being scheduled to play. The matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks tonight has every implication imaginable for the Jackets and the Habs. With the debut of Ivan Demidov for the Habs and the possibility of clinching the final spot in the east, the Chicago Blackhawks are looking to play spoiler. There is no doubt everyone in Columbus is rooting for the Blackhawks tonight. The only path for the Blue Jackets to make the playoffs is to win out and for Montreal to lose out. Montreal has to win one, get two overtime losses, or have the Jackets lose one of their last two to clinch. Chicago is realistically their chance to do so. They do not want to leave this to the last game of the season, especially when that last game is against the big bad Carolina Hurricanes who will be looking to set the tone and possibly end the hopes of the Habs.

      Let’s face it. The Blackhawks are BAD. There is no question who the better team is here. But aside from that, it is not impossible for a Blackhawks win of any kind tonight. The Canadiens are beginning to feel the pressure as the Jackets heat up and very much look like they will win out with a game at the shaken-up Philadephia Flyers and capping it off with a game at home against the Islanders. This Canadiens team is young and the experience of meaningful hockey is still not quite there for them. Not to mention they are quite streaky. Either they win so many in a row or they lose so many. It is quite possible this team could be falling into another slump after dropping two straight to critical opponents in Ottawa and Toronto. The only thing on Montreal’s side tonight is the game being at home. This could ultimately be the game changer as they are 9-0-1 in their last 10 at home and are 22-12-5 overall. Combine that with the debut of Demidov and it being against the Blackhawks who have 22 wins overall and there is just no way the Canadiens lose right? Coach Martin St. Louis will have this group fired up as well as he is a player coach. He is a big reason for the success of this team and there is no doubt he will be right there in the battle with his team. If Marty could still lace them up with his guys he would. I love coaches like this and I have always been a big Martin St. Louis fan. As a matter of fact, I have a Habs jersey and a Marty jersey hanging in my room and will be rooting for them if they knock out Columbus.

      I am not one to count any team out until it is virtually impossible and right now it is still very much so possible for the Blackhawks to win this game. As I said before, the only flaw with this Montreal team is the lack of experience in playing meaningful hockey this late in the year for much of the main core. Even Patrik Laine has not played meaningful hockey in quite some time and he is one of the veteran guys on this team. Maybe I am biased as I am a Columbus native but I do believe in Chicago tonight. They have nothing to lose, and like the Habs, are a very young team. Why not go out and make it hard on the Habs? Have some fun late in the season. Easier said than done I know, but these are bright spots that rebuilding teams build off of heading into the next season. This Blackhawks team has been know to push some top teams into overtime and I think we see another one of these games tonight if Spencer Knight gets the start and comes out hot. Now their problem with pushing the overtime games they have is they wind up on the wrong end of them. They need to find a way to win this one in any fashion for the sake of Columbus fans everywhere.

      Now let’s talk about my hometown Jackets. This team has been all over the place over the past couple of months winning 6 in a row in January and then dropping 6 in a row in one of the most crucial parts of the season in March. They have also been one of the best scoring teams in the NHL and one of the worst as over the course of their 6 games losing streak they only scored 7 goals. Overall, this team is still the best-scoring 5-on-5 team in the league and is getting hot and refusing to lose at the perfect time. They know what they have to do and they have also finally been getting some solid goaltending from Jet Greaves who let in just 1 goal in 2 starts against the Capitals over the weekend to none other than the Great 8 himself. The young guys are playing well together and the vets are providing the boost they need to finish strong. It helps when you have one of the toughest bottom sixes in the league to play against too. Having guys like Kuraly, Olivier, and Aston-Reese allows for the young core to go out and just go out and play and that is exactly what they have been doing as Fantilli notched 4 goals over the 2 game series against Washington. I truly see this team winning out as Philadephia is still dealing with their coaching transition and the Islanders have to face the Jackets at home with the playoffs possibly on the line, when they have been one of the best home teams and scoring teams in the league all season.

      As a Jackets fan and a fan of the game, I truly believe tonight’s game in Montreal is going to be one for the ages. My first NHL game was the Blue Jackets vs. the Blackhawks at Nationwide Arena in 2012-13 when the Blackhawks began their heater of a point streak and beat the Jackets 3-2 on January 26^th, 2013. Now why am I telling you this when that 2013 Blackhawks team is likely one of the best rosters of all time? Well, it is my personal history. I have seen the Blackhawks play the Blue Jackets a number of times over the years and just have a gut feeling that they will help the Jackets out tonight. Like I said previously before maybe I am just biased but you have to be optimistic here as a fan of the Jackets. Anything can happen in sports and this is too good of a script to be impossible late down the stretch here.

Anyways, just thought I would hop on for a special feature of Tidd Talk today. Hopefully will return tomorrow with Tiddy’s Toe Drags and on Friday where I will preview every playoff matchup. Thank you everyone for all of the support so far I have greatly enjoyed this project and look forward to growing it more as I move forward.