If Blue Jackets fans think winger Jared Boll looks different this season, they're not alone. Coach Ken Hitchcock agrees.

"It's what all second-year players go through," Hitchcock said. "As much as you try to change it, you can't change it. They all go through it. He's in the middle of it, and he's coming out of it now."

"It" is commonly referred to as a sophomore jinx. Typically, it's scoring wingers who go through second-year slumps, not fighters and agitators.

Boll looked fast and fearless last season when he was second in the NHL with 228 penalty minutes and first in fighting majors.

This year, he looks a step slower.

"Last year, it was 'get the puck deep,' " Hitchcock said. "This year, it's 'I can make a play.' When you get outside your foundation, you overthink and underreact. That's what's going on with Jared. We're trying to simplify his game. He's made it too complicated. There's too many thoughts in his head, too much hesitation in his game."

Dorsett up to fire things up

Hitchcock made it abundantly clear why right winger Derek Dorsett was recalled from Syracuse on Wednesday.

"The coach is not happy with the way the forwards are competing," Hitchcock said. "I don't want to get into naming specific players, but I have not been happy with our group's competitive level. I would like to see change."

Dorsett, Hitchcock said, is the kind of player who can fire up both benches, by "dragging players from both clubs into the fight."

"This young man (Dorsett) never has to be told to compete. You don't have to tell him to show up and play physical. You don't have to tell him to play tough. He just does it. It's in his DNA. It's who he is."

Heading the puck

An odd scene midway through Tuesday's loss to Edmonton: Michael Peca heading a puck in the neutral zone to knock it out of harm's way.

"I couldn't catch the puck because I was in the neutral zone," Peca said. "And I was right underneath it, so I had to improvise. Pavel Kubina used to do that all the time when I played with him in Toronto. I've done it a few times."

Was Peca paying homage to Crew fans on hand to watch their team be honored by the Blue Jackets during the first period?

He wasn't. But Peca is a huge soccer fan. Not Major League Soccer so much, but the Champions League, specifically AS Roma.

Did he play soccer as a youth?

"I'm Italian," Peca said. "Figure it out."

Slap shots

Defenseman Rostislav Klesla (high ankle sprain) said he's out for at least two more weeks. He was still wearing a protective boot on his right foot yesterday. Jason Chimera played the point on the second power-play unit during practice yesterday. The Blue Jackets kept the No. 1 line intact -- Kristian Huselius, Derick Brassard and Rick Nash -- but the No. 2 line featured Chimera, R.J. Umberger and Fredrik Modin. "Three big guys," Hitchcock said. "It's a big, weighted line, and they can do things off the rush."

aportzline@dispatch.com