Flyers 9, Blue Jackets 2: Somehow, Jackets sink further
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Tom Mihalek | associated press
Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason hangs his head after a second-period goal. Mason was pulled in the first period after allowing three goals, but backup Allen York did no better, so Mason returned.
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A blog about the Blue Jackets and the NHL
Vermette Traded To Phoenix
The Blue Jackets have traded forward Antoine Vermette to the Phoenix Coyotes for two draft picks and goaltender Curtis McElhinney.
The Jackets get a second-round pick in 2012 (previously owned by Ottawa) and a fifth-round pick in 2013. McElhinney, who had abdominal surgery in January is not expected to play the rest of this season.
"This is moving forward," Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson said. "We have to move forward. It wasn't working this season as we expected. We're going to move forward and this is part of the process of reshaping the team.
"Antoine was very professional, just as I expected he would be. I thanked him and his wife Karen, who did a lot of work in our comminity, for being such a good player and such a good person for our organization."
Vermette, 29, played his 600th NHL game on Tuesday. In 241 games with Columbus, Vermette had 61 goals, 91 assists and 112 penalty minutes. His best season was in 2009-10 when he had 27 goals, 38 assists and 65 points, all career highs.
McElhinney, who is in the final year of his contract, had abdominal surgery in January and is not expected to play this season. However, in order to facilitate the trade, the Coyotes needed to move a player off their roster as they were nearing the roster maximum of 50 players.
Vermette was in the first year of a four-year, $14 million contract. He is signed through the 2014-15 season with a $3.75 million cap hit.
"This gives us more flexibility," Howson said. "It's never fun trading anybody. I don't think any GM enjoys that. But this is about us moving the team forward."
More to follow.
-- Aaron Portzline
twitter: @aportzline
PHILADELPHIA — As Blue Jackets players milled about in a hush-quiet dressing room — some hurled gear in their travel bags, others stared blankly at nothing in particular — coach Scott Arniel paced a few feet away in a hallway, alone with his thoughts and looking out into an empty rink where a massacre had just taken place.
The season from hell descended further into the depths last night with a 9-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers before 19,784 in the Wells Fargo Center.
The Blue Jackets have lost by a bigger margin during their inglorious history — twice, in fact — but never have they been so thoroughly outclassed or so woefully incompetent as last night.
“We’ve hit a lot of bottoms this year,” Arniel said, “and this is another big one.”
The Blue Jackets dropped to 2-11-1, the worst record in the NHL and the worst start in franchise history. They have failed to win in 12 straight on the road (0-10-2) and are 5-23-8 dating to the final months of last season.
Of all the games in that woeful 36-game nosedive, this one was the worst.
It was 5-0 after one period, 8-0 after two and a slop-fest in the third when the Flyers — 15 of whom registered points — decided they were done padding their stats.
The Blue Jackets gave up an endless string of odd-man rushes capped by a “did-I-just-see-that?” moment early in the second. The Flyers scored a short-handed goal off a 3-on-1 rush to make it 6-0.
Yes, a short-handed 3-on-1 rush.
“It’s tough to take,” Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash said. “Guys are embarrassed for the effort we put out for the coach and coaching staff, and management. It’s just not good enough. It’s undisciplined hockey. We’re getting caught with three guys deep. Coach and staff informed us. It’s just poorly executed.”
Asked if he was fearful of losing his job, Arniel said: “Nice question, all right. Nice question. I’m not in charge of that. I’m worried about what I have to do tomorrow with this hockey team.”
General manager Scott Howson was expected to attend the game last night but was not in the postgame dressing room.
“It was unbelievable,” center Sammy Pahlsson said. “They had 3-on-2s the entire — I don’t know how many they had. There’s always the potential (for changes), especially now when we’ve had this start and (we’re) losing way too much … there’s usually changes.”
The Flyers took a lead only 98 seconds into the game when James Van Riemsdyk — left alone in the left circle long enough to get lonely — beat Jackets goaltender Steve Mason with a stick-side wrist shot.
Barely 90 seconds later it was 2-0 when a centering pass from Jaromir Jagr went into the net off a skate or stick of Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin.
Flyers grinder Max Talbot got behind the Jackets defense and scored between Mason’s pad. Mason was pulled at that point — 13:09 of the first — but unlike a 4-1 home loss Thursday to Toronto, these were not his breakdowns.
Allen York replaced him for the rest of the first, allowing two goals on five shots, then gave way for Mason to return for the final two periods.
“(Mason) could probably look at the rest of his teammates tonight,” Arniel said, “because I don’t think they gave either one of those goaltenders much of a chance.”
aportzline@dispatch.com
