Can Filatov Break the Zherdev Mold?

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Written on 12/11/2010 by Jim Cerny

Here in Columbus to cover Rangers and Blue Jackets and much of the talk at the morning skate over at Nationwide Arena was about a talented winger with questionable work ethic and desire from Eastern Europe that is frustrating Columbus coaches and management to no end.

And perhaps the worst part for the Blues Jackets is that there is a major sense of deja vu taking place with this particular situation.

The player in question now is 20 year-old Russian Nikita Filatov, who was just sent to Springfield in the AHL yesterday after the 2008 6th overall pick had recorded just seven assists---and no goals---in 23 games.

The player in question five or so years ago was Nikolay Zherdev, the 4th overall pick in 2003 by Columbus, who drove Ken Hitchcock and company so batty that he was traded away after just four seasons wearing the red, white, and blue of the Blue Jackets.

It's still too early to say that Filatov will also be dealt unceremoniously out of Columbus, but it is not too early to say that there are definite similarites between the two uber-skilled former first-rounders. At their core no one questions either's talent, but nearly all question their passion and desire.

To be fair to Zherdev he still scored 34 points in 57 games as a 19 year-old rookie in 2003-04, and also had seasons of 27 and 26 goals in Columbus. It was his seeming indifference to the game, and the fact that many close observers felt he could have been a 35+ goal scorer if he worked harder with the Blue Jackets, that got him shipped out of town rather quickly.

Filatov spent most of his rookie pro year in the minors back in 2008-09, but he caught everyone's eye by scoring four goals in 8 NHL games as an 18 year-old, too. Last year, though, Filatov scored just twice in 13 games, and then refused a minor league demotion---instead having agent Don Meehan broker a deal where Filatov would finish the season playing in Russia. By not showing a willingness to continue to hone his craft within the organization at the minor league level, where his every move could be studied and coached, Filatov raised red flags about his true desire and passion to succeed in North America.

That Meehan felt compelled to publicly state Filatov was "willing" to accept a trip down to the minors yesterday says more bad than good about the kid, and his reputation.

Scott Arniel, the Blue Jackets rookie coach, had much to say on the topic this morning.

"It's about doing the extra work before practice, after practice...we've talked about it," Arniel said of Filatov's work ethic. "He needs to continue to work at his trade and make sure he gets better every day. As for not scoring goals, he needs to bear down more, fight for rebounds. He's got some work to do."

Several times when speaking on the Filatov topic, Arniel spoke about how some players are "just not ready" for the NHL life at such a young age, and that you "can't force-feed" these players into feeling comfortable until they really are.

Though he was speaking in general terms, it seemed as though Arniel was talking specifically about the maturity level of Filatov, which has been questioned from the outside on a fairly regular basis.

"I tried to put him into as many opportunities where he could have success---on the power play, on the top lines---but there was some inconsistency with his play," explained Arniel. "We just wanted him to go out and do what he does best. But as it went along and he didn't, then you could see it really started to weigh on him. And now he was starting to press, and now he wasn't playing on the inside and his compete, at times, was not where it needed to be."

Arniel and team GM Scott Howson felt they only had one good option. And fortunately this time Filatov accepted his assignment to Springfield.

"Again, he's a young player, and he just needs to go and get confidence," said Arniel. "He has to go feel good about himself. It may take two weeks, may take two months, I don't know what it's going to be. But the first step is going there and understanding why. Some guys get it instantly, and for some it takes a little longer. We're not giving up here. It's part of the process."

Filatov was chosen sixth in the 2008 NHL Draft. Here are the five players selected before him: Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Zach Bogosian, Alex Pietrangelo, and Luke Schenn. Quite a bit of early NHL success to be found in that group, which makes Filatov's struggles stand out that much more. Among those selected after him: Tyler Myers (12th), Michael Del Zotto (20th), Jordan Eberle (22nd), Colin Wilson (7th), and Tyler Ennis (26th).

Filatov is playing catch-up with his draft class, no question about it, but this next segment in his career---how he handles being back in the AHL and how hard he works at his craft and how much desire he shows in returning to The Show---will help determine what his future may hold.

Will Filatov be taking the Rick Nash course in Columbus. Or will he take the Nikolay Zherdev path.

Time will tell.

Follow Me On Twitter: @jimcerny

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Taylor Hall's First Goal and Six Degrees of Separation

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Written on 10/29/2010 by Jim Cerny

For the record Taylor Hall, the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, recorded his first National Hockey League goal last night. The goal came at 9:57 of the third period and helped Hall's Edmonton Oilers pull even with the host Columbus Blue Jackets 2-2, in a game Edmonton would eventually lose 3-2 in a shootout.

For the record, Steve Mason surrendered the first of what should be many goals for Hall, who had seemingly been carrying the weight of the hockey world on his shoulders after going his first seven games without lighting the lamp.

Hall seemed extremely relieved and happy to finally have scored his first goal when interviewed on Rogers following the game. He laughed when he estimated that he easily had answered the "So Taylor, when are you finally going to score a goal?" question at least a million times already this season.

The bottom line, though, is that Hall is an 18 year-old kid playing on a mediocre team. First overall pick or not, this year is going to be an uphill battle for the extremely talented youngster. Think of Steven Stamkos' rookie campiagn two years ago, and then you have a good comparison for Hall.

Last year John Tavares, already 19 by time training camp started, was the first overall pick by the Islanders. Extremely mature so as to be put in on-ice situations that Hall will not see just yet, Tavares scored 24 goals and notched 54 points while playing all 82 games. While I think Hall will steadily improve as the year progresses I don't expect him to match Tavares' numbers as a rookie.

But he's going to be a player, make no bones about it. And along with fellow youngsters Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi, Hall is poised to help turn this organization around. The future is brighter in Edmonton, for sure.

Interesting that on the night Hall nets his first goal, Tyler Seguin---with whom Hall will always be linked, with Seguin selected second overall in the '10 draft---scored his second of the season in Boston's 2-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. And who plays for Toronto? Why Phil Kessel, of course---whose trade from Boston last year included a first-round pick heading to the Bruins that ended up turning into none other than Seguin.

Gotta' love that six degrees of separation in the National Hockey League.

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Hits by Richards and Scuderi Suspendable or Not?

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Written on 10/26/2009 by Jim Cerny


Frightening scene in Philly on Saturday where David Booth of the Panthers was laid out on a hit by Flyers captain Mike Richards.

Any time you see a player motionless on the ice and then being taken off, immobilized on a stretcher, it give you pause for how dangerous a game this great sport can be.

Fortunately Booth is already out of the hospital, being released yesterday after sustaining a concussion on the play. But it was still extremely scary to watch Booth absorb the hard hit after dropping a pass to his left, and then hit the ice head-first, and remain motionless thereafter.

If you have yet to do so, check out the hit here.

So what do you think? Clean hit by Richards? Or a dirty one, with intent to injure?

The referees called it one way and Colin Campbell saw it another, with the benefit of much video study, of course. The refs handed Richards a five-minute interference major, and a game misconduct for "intent to injure". Campbell, after much review, did not see reason to suspend Richards.

For the most part, the referees and Campbell were both right.

The refs were on the mark with the interference call, as Booth clearly had dished the puck before being leveled, and without the benefit of watching the replay, they had little recourse other than to toss Richards from the game with Booth out cold on the ice.

But with the benefit of studying the video at all speeds and from all angles, Campbell was correct not to suspend Richards. I do not think there was an intent to injure here. And I agree with Richards' post-game analysis that he was just trying to deliver a hard shoulder-to-shoulder check, which, unfortunately flipped Booth to the ice head-first.

"Everything happened so quickly," stated Richards. "I just wanted to separate him from the puck. Obviously, I am not trying to hurt him. I don't have a history of head shots, and I am not even sure it was a head shot."

I was in Montreal at the Bell Centre writing my final game story for the Rangers-Canadiens match that night, while also watching and listening to the reaction to Richards' hit on Hockey Night in Canada. It sounded as if the fellas agreed with my take, that it was interference, for sure, but not a suspendable hit.

In fact the HNIC on-air crew was more upset with a string of knee-to-knee hits that took place around the league that night.

Then last night, the Kings Rob Scuderi sent Columbus' Jason Chimera head-over-heels with a hip-check dangerously close to Chimera's knees. Chimera flipped over Scuderi and landed face-first on the ice,  suffering cuts on his face and inside his mouth.

You can watch that play here.

Scuderi was not penalized on the play, and claimed afterwards that he made a split-second decision on delivereing the hip-check and was not trying to injure Chimera.

Needless to say, Chimera did not agree.

''I don't care what you call it. It was a dirty hit,'' Chimera said. ''I've been hip-checked before, but this wasn't a hip check at all. It was a direct hit on the knees. I mean, I landed on my face on the ice, and my neck was squished against the ice. I'm lucky I didn't come out with a concussion or something."
I have to side with Chimera on this one. Scuderi went way too low, much lower than your normal hip-check. Whether that was his intention or not can be debated.

Ironically when the game was complete, Chimera had racked up 12 minutes in penalties, and Scuderi had zero.

Scuderi needs to pay a post-game penalty for that hit, I think, perhaps two games for going for the knees

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