Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips December 16-19, 2017 Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Seth Jones, Zach Werenski quite a pair PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets notebook | Jenner’s first game at center encouraging PAGE 05: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: Wennberg stands out in win against Islanders PAGE 07: Columbus Dispatch: Hurricanes 2, Blue Jackets 1 | Season series ends early with a 2-2 split PAGE 09: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Scott Harrington enjoying regular duty on defense PAGE 10: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Pierre-Luc Dubois, just 19, has solidified spot with Jackets PAGE 12: The Athletic: When Blue Jackets lack bite, they lose sight of the 'blue' PAGE 14: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets’ folksy nicknames part of hockey culture PAGE 16: Columbus Dispatch: Bruins 7, Blue Jackets 2 | Nick Foligno says Jackets show ‘lack of care’ in road loss PAGE 18: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets | Sonny Milano brought back for another try PAGE 19: The Athletic: 'We failed miserably': Blue Jackets irate, embarrassed after ugly loss in Boston Cleveland Monsters/Prospects PAGE 21: The Plain Dealer: Cleveland Monsters lose in OT to Texas Stars, 5-4 PAGE 22: The Plain Dealer: Cleveland Monsters shut out by Iowa Wild, 3-0 NHL/Websites PAGE 23: Sportsnet.ca: 100 things I love about the NHL right now PAGE 27: Sportsnet.ca: NHL unlikely to hold outdoor game in Canada during 2018-19 season PAGE 28: TSN.ca: TSN Hockey's Top 10 Storylines of the Week PAGE 32: USA Today: NHL turns 100: 21 of biggest changes from then to now PAGE 34: Sportsnet.ca: Five potential trade partners for the struggling Penguins PAGE 38: The Athletic: Mark Scheifele: An all-consuming passion for hockey PAGE 43: USA Today: New Era Field promises a unique experience for U.S.-Canada world juniors game 1 http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20171215/blue-jackets--seth-jones-zach-werenski-quite-pair Blue Jackets | Seth Jones, Zach Werenski quite a pair By Steve Gorten – December 15, 2017 Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella has shuffled his forwards like pieces in a shell game all season. Thursday, he tinkered with his second and third defensive pairings after deciding the Jack Johnson-David Savard partnership had grown “stale,” and when they’re on the ice together, one “kind of blows up the other one.” But Tortorella has no interest in trying anything new with the Jackets’ top pairing of Zach Werenski and Seth Jones. “I’m not splitting up Jonesy and ‘Z’,” Tortorella asserted. He made that clear before Thursday’s 6-4 home win against the Islanders, and then again after. While putting Werenski and Jones with different partners might balance the Jackets’ top two pairings, the two “rovers” — Tortorella’s term for the skilled, swift skaters he has described as a hybrid of forward and defenseman — give the Jackets too much of a unique look, and opponents too much to handle, to separate. “They determine too much of the pace of the game for us to split them,” Tortorella said. Because they “control games for us,” he added, “if they have to play 30, 32 minutes, they’ll play 30, 32 minutes if we don’t get something from other guys. And they’re capable of doing that.” “I really like it,” Werenski said of skating with Jones. “We work well with each other. We feed off each other. We’re always pushing each other to be better and more offensive.” Thursday’s game showcased their offensive abilities. Werenski buried his 10th goal — most among NHL defensemen — and assisted on another. Jones also scored. They had enough chances to have had five goals apiece, Tortorella said. “It was one of those games where we just found the puck on our stick a lot,” Jones said. “Teammates did a good job of hitting us in open areas and putting us in situations to succeed. It’s our job to be there, and some of those were awesome passes.” Added Tortorella, “That first goal by ‘Z’, that’s a hard play. (Artemi) Panarin rifles one across. It’s not a one-timer, it’s almost a shovel into the net. Strong stick and all. That’s a great play all around.” As a pair, Werenski (10 goals, eight assists) and Jones (four goals, 12 assists) have provided the points needed to supplement the team’s struggling forwards. With 50 games left, Werenski needs just three goals to top the single-season franchise record of 12 by a defenseman achieved by Bryan Berard in 2005- 06 and matched by Jones last season. “It’s a big part of our offense, not only off the rush, but in the end zone, too, as far as our ‘D’ moving and trying to jump the holes, not get locked into positions,” Tortorella said. “With these two guys, they can be the first ones up the ice, or leading the rush, but they have the skating ability to get back, too.” That requires a confidence to take risks. Werenski said Tortorella gave him such confidence early in the season when he coined the term “rover.” 2 “I feel like I gained the coach’s trust right there,” he said. “That’s a huge bonus. So I’ve felt confident and comfortable all year doing that. Some games I haven’t been as aggressive, but I’m trying to get back to that, and (Thursday) was a good step in the right direction.” Jones sounds tired of hearing the term “rover.” He’s a defenseman first, he said. His two penalty minutes in 32 games (Werenski has just six) attest to his ability to defend cleanly. Jones prides himself in not surrendering chances, and his job is “to keep pucks out of the net first. “That’s what I continue to focus on,” Jones said. “Once that part of the game is taken care of, for me, then that gives me more confidence, more leeway to jump in the play.” 3 http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20171215/blue-jackets-notebook--jenners-first-game-at-center- encouraging Blue Jackets notebook | Jenner’s first game at center encouraging By Steve Gorten – December 15, 2017 Boone Jenner played center for the first time this season Thursday, and the initial sample has the Blue Jackets hopeful they’ve found a suitable substitute for injured Brandon Dubinsky and a defined role for Jenner. “I feel like I’m pretty comfortable there,” Jenner said. “It was a good first game to get under my belt playing center.” Coach John Tortorella said Jenner “handled himself really well” centering Matt Calvert and Nick Foligno and “for his first game there in a while, I liked the line, and I liked what he did.” Jenner played 20 minutes, 53 seconds and was minus-1 with two tripping penalties, though Tortorella didn’t fault him for one of those. He also blocked four shots and won 15 of 26 faceoffs, a category in which Dubinsky leads the team. Jenner will start in that same spot Saturday at Carolina. “The key thing with Jens is I don’t really think he’s found his niche this year as far as what he is,” said Tortorella, noting that he expected it would take Jenner time to get going after missing training camp, preseason and the first seven games because of a back injury. Tortorella said moving from wing should benefit Jenner, as it did Pierre-Luc Dubois, by forcing him to skate more. He also wants the alternate captain, who has three goals, six assists and a minus-2 rating, to distinguish himself. “Is it (as) that checking center that he’s going to grind and forecheck? Is he going to be able to kill penalties? Because I’m going to have to use him (after) losing Dubi,” Tortorella said. “I want him to grow into a role like he had last year. With the injury to Dubi, the road is there for him to take it.” “Center is a different game,” Jenner noted. “You’re in the play more, you’ve got a little more responsibility down low and in the D-zone and winning draws. I’m going to take pride in that and try to do it to the best of my ability.” Wennberg earns notice Center Alexander Wennberg had two assists Thursday after totaling two points in his previous 13 games. “It’s the most I’ve noticed him in a game (this season),” Tortorella said. The indicator of whether Wennberg is playing well, he added, is if Wennberg’s legs are moving and he’s carrying the puck through the neutral zone. “It’s the most I’ve seen him do that since even toward the end of last year to this point,” Tortorella said. “It’s been that long of a struggle for him. So that was encouraging.” 4 http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20171215/blue-jackets-wennberg-stands-out-in-win-against-islanders Blue Jackets: Wennberg stands out in win against Islanders By Steve Gorten – December 15, 2017 With the Blue Jackets clinging to a one-goal lead and five or six minutes left Thursday against the Islanders, Coach John Tortorella told himself that no matter the outcome, this was a game to be happy about. “Some good things were going on here with some players we’ve been waiting for,” Tortorella said after the 6-4 win. “It’s great we get the result. More importantly, for me, I saw some guys play with a little bit of confidence and had the puck more than usual.” That was most evident with much-maligned center Alexander Wennberg.