Columbus Blue Jackets notes: 'Boone's not going anywhere'
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — The promo starts with the backbeat of a drum line and Boone Jenner’s face encased in a grizzly 5 o’clock shadow.
He’s staring through his plastic visor straight into your soul.
As the camera pans out, the backdrop of massive Ohio Stadium ― a.k.a. ‘The Shoe’ ― widens behind him as a virtual hockey rink forms around the Blue Jackets’ captain. All at once, Jenner is standing at midfield on Ohio State’s famed block O and at “center ice” while he looks around his surroundings and soaks in the scene.
What a time to be the Blue Jackets’ alpha dog.
“It was just on the turf, but looking up and seeing how big that crowd is (going to be) and seeing football games there, you know how loud it is and how many people are there,” Jenner said. “So, to take it outdoors and play at ‘The Shoe’ ... it’s awesome.”
It’s been an eventful week for Jenner, the Blue Jackets are Columbus.
Reports confirming the NHL’s decision to pit the Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings next season in a long-anticipated Stadium Series matchup at ‘The Shoe’ surfaced last Wednesday. The next morning, the Blue Jackets announced they’d fired long-tenured general manager Jarmo Kekalainen. The Jackets then boarded a plane bound for California to start a three-game road trip to play the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.
The trip started with a boom thanks to Jenner, who potted a winner over the Sharks on Saturday night with just 12.9 seconds left in regulation. The NHL finally confirmed the outdoor matchup earlier the same night, and two days before that was a declaration by Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and interim GM John Davidson that made news.
“We get a lot of (trade) calls on Boone, but Boone’s not going anywhere,” he told Sportsnet's Jeff Marek during a radio appearance. “And Boone doesn’t want to go anywhere.”
“Never say never,” often applies to the NHL, especially with the trade deadline starting to loom March 8, but it’s almost a certainty Jenner won’t be traded. Davidson hadn’t changed his tune after watching a spirited Jackets practice Monday at the Los Angeles Kings’ practice facility.
“We have no intentions of trading him, no,” Davidson said. “I don’t think there’s any good reasons to. I get lots of calls on Boone. Boone wants to be a Blue Jacket. Boone’s happy to be a Blue Jacket. He wants to lead us out of where we are right now and help get us to where we want to go.”
One of the youngest teams in the league, the Jackets can’t afford to deal away their main veteran pillar. Jenner remains their best center option on faceoffs, has a contract that’s ridiculously economical, soaks up a ton of ice time and is leading the Jackets with 17 goals.
No contending GM who’s thinking straight could come close to offering what it would likely take for Davidson to part with his captain right now. He’s too valuable to what the Jackets are trying to become.
“You need leaders,” Davidson said. “He’s a Blue Jacket. So, when you’re a Blue Jacket, you’re a Blue Jacket. Everybody’s gonna call and they’re going to ask about him, and why wouldn’t they? I accept that, but he’s a Blue Jacket and he’s staying a Blue Jacket.”
Otherwise, the outdoor game's promo video would've featured somebody else.
Columbus Blue Jackets leaning heavily on captain Boone Jenner again
Jenner has battled a back injury, on and off, the past two years and it doesn’t take much to correlate it with large ice times he’s logged since ascending to the top center role. The ice time and shifts have climbed steeply since his return from the jaw fracture, but Jenner is still feeling good after missing six weeks with his mouth wired shut.
“I’m not thinking about it,” he said. “I feel great. Every game’s different and you don’t know how it’s going to go, so I’m just trying to play and help the team.”
Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent, who’s been double-shifting Jenner’s line in the third periods of close games, said his staff is monitoring the situation closely.
“Behind the bench, maybe people don’t see it, but we’re in constant communication with Boone,” Vincent said. “At the end of the second period in the last game (San Jose), I called out Boone’s line to go next, but I told Boone, ‘Take a shift off here. We’re going to send Sillinger in your place.’ Once in a while, you’re going to see that, but we keep asking him, ‘You good to go, Jenns? You good to go?’ And, players, they’re honest. If they can’t, they can’t. But when he says ‘yes,’ I believe that he’s good to go.”
Jenner has played 22-plus minutes in two of past three games and a whopping 26:42 in the third one to set a career high for a non-overtime game. He’s shown no signs of it being too much to handle, scoring four goals in the past three games.
“We’re looking for leadership, and the way he’s playing right now, he’s driving the team,” Vincent said. “I thought Zach Werenski was good, as well (in San Jose), Johnny Gaudreau’s been really good. Those guys are driving the bus.”
Columbus Blue Jackets' Roslovic returning to form after fractured angle
Jack Roslovic isn’t just one of the fastest skaters on the Blue Jackets’ roster. He’s probably the fastest and one of the most skilled at using the edges of his skates to make sharp turns and intricate cuts. None of that meshes well with ankle injuries, which is one reason it’s taken him a few weeks to play like he did before fracturing an ankle on Nov. 12 against the New York Rangers.
“I can still feel it a little bit, from time to time,” Roslovic said. “It was brutal. I’ve never had anything like that before, so I can still feel it, and actually, you still treat it and keep the strength up in it. I’ll sometimes tweak it, but it’s nothing too crazy.”
Roslovic moved back to the top forward line against the Sharks, and it clicked. Skating with Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau as linemates, Roslovic helped their line post dominant possession numbers against the Sharks, two 5-on-5 goals and will be there again to start out Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets notes: Boone Jenner staying put as trade deadline looms
