2007–08 Columbus Blue Jackets season

2007–08 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division	4th Central
Conference	13th Western
2007–08 record	34–36–12
Home record	20–14–7
Road record	14–22–5
Goals for	193
Goals against	218
Team information
General manager	Scott Howson
Coach	Ken Hitchcock
Captain	Adam Foote (Oct.–Feb.) Rick Nash (Feb.–Apr.)
Alternate captains	Sergei Fedorov (Oct.–Feb.) Rostislav Klesla (Feb.–Apr.) Fredrik Modin Rick Nash (Oct.–Feb.) Michael Peca (Feb.–Apr.) David Vyborny
Arena	Nationwide Arena
Average attendance	15,146 (83.5%)
Team leaders
Goals	Rick Nash (38)
Assists	Nikolay Zherdev (35)
Points	Rick Nash (69)
Penalty minutes	Jared Boll (226)
Plus/minus	Jan Hejda (+20)
Wins	Pascal Leclaire (24)
Goals against average	Pascal Leclaire (2.25)

The 2007–08 Columbus Blue Jackets season began October 5, 2007. It was the Blue Jackets' eighth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blue Jackets did not qualify for the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Key dates prior to the start of the season:

• The 2007 NHL Entry Draft took place in Columbus, Ohio, on June 22–23
• The free agency period began on July 1.
• The Blue Jackets played 8 preseason games starting September 16.

The Blue Jackets attempted to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Scott Howson was hired prior to the 2007 NHL Entry Draft as the second general manager in team history, replacing Doug MacLean. The Blue Jackets finished with a 34–36–12 record, earning 80 points and missing the playoffs. The Blue Jackets finished fourth in the Central Division, finishing above the St. Louis Blues and 13th in the Western Conference. On March 16, 2008, Columbus set a franchise record for points in a season, 75, with a 4–3 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Columbus.

The Blue Jackets started off the season well with a 7–3–1 record in October, but falling behind in the Western Conference in November with a 4–7–3 record. During the All-star break, Rick Nash was selected to participate in the 2008 All-Star Game for the Western Conference. He scored a record-breaking goal just 12 seconds into the period. Nash scored three goals in the game, yet the Eastern Conference won the game 8–7. The Blue Jackets earned average records in December through February, staying within reach of a playoff spot. On February 26, Captain Adam Foote was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for two draft picks. Rick Nash was named the new captain of the team. In March, the Blue Jackets' chances of playing in the post-season were fading away after a 4–6–3 record due to the injury of starting goaltender Pascal Leclaire. After being mathematically eliminated from making the playoffs, the Blue Jackets lost their last three games of the season.

Regular season

Divisional standings

Central Division

		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Detroit Red Wings	82	54	21	7	257	184	115
2	Nashville Predators	82	41	32	9	230	229	91
3	Chicago Blackhawks	82	40	34	8	239	235	88
4	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	34	36	12	193	218	80
5	St. Louis Blues	82	33	36	13	205	237	79

Conference standings

Western Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Detroit Red Wings	CE	82	54	21	7	257	184	115
2	y – San Jose Sharks	PA	82	49	23	10	222	193	108
3	y – Minnesota Wild	NW	82	44	28	10	223	218	98
4	Anaheim Ducks	PA	82	47	27	8	205	191	102
5	Dallas Stars	PA	82	45	30	7	242	207	97
6	Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	44	31	7	231	219	95
7	Calgary Flames	NW	82	42	30	10	229	227	94
8	Nashville Predators	CE	82	41	32	9	230	229	91
8.5
9	Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	41	35	6	235	251	88
10	Chicago Blackhawks	CE	82	40	34	8	239	235	88
11	Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	39	33	10	213	215	88
12	Phoenix Coyotes	PA	82	38	37	7	214	231	83
13	Columbus Blue Jackets	CE	82	34	36	12	193	218	80
14	St. Louis Blues	CE	82	33	36	13	205	237	79
15	Los Angeles Kings	PA	82	32	43	7	231	266	71

Divisions: PA – Pacific, CE – Central, NW – Northwest
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, p – Presidents' Trophy winner

Schedule and results

2007–08 regular season
October: 7–3–1 (home: 4–1–1; road: 3–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points 1 October 5 Anaheim 0 – 4 Columbus Leclaire 17,852 1–0–0 2 2 October 6 Columbus 2 – 3 Minnesota Norrena 18,568 1–1–0 2 3 October 10 Phoenix 0 – 3 Columbus Leclaire 11,944 2–1–0 4 4 October 13 Columbus 1 – 5 Colorado Leclaire 16,153 2–2–0 4 5 October 17 Dallas 3 – 2 Columbus SO Norrena 11,820 2–2–1 5 6 October 19 Columbus 3 – 0 Buffalo Leclaire 18,690 3–2–1 7 7 October 21 Vancouver 4 – 1 Columbus Leclaire 12,667 3–3–1 7 8 October 23 Columbus 7 – 4 Chicago Norrena 10,884 4–3–1 9 9 October 25 St. Louis 0 – 3 Columbus Leclaire 12,786 5–3–1 11 10 October 27 San Jose 1 – 2 Columbus Leclaire 13,234 6–3–1 13 11 October 31 Columbus 4 – 1 Los Angeles Leclaire 11,491 7–3–1 15
November: 4–7–3 (home: 3–2–1; road: 1–5–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points 12 November 1 Columbus 1 – 2 Anaheim SO Norrena 17,174 7–3–2 16 13 November 4 St. Louis 0 – 3 Columbus Leclaire 13,254 8–3–2 18 14 November 7 Columbus 2 – 5 Chicago Norrena 9,717 8–4–2 18 15 November 9 Columbus 1 – 4 Detroit Leclaire 18,654 8–5–2 18 16 November 10 Columbus 3 – 4 Nashville SO Norrena 15,947 8–5–3 19 17 November 12 Nashville 4 – 1 Columbus Leclaire 12,554 8–6–3 19 18 November 14 Chicago 2 – 4 Columbus Leclaire 13,622 9–6–3 21 19 November 16 Columbus 2 – 3 St. Louis Norrena 19,150 9–7–3 21 20 November 18 Detroit 5 – 4 Columbus SO Leclaire 15,503 9–7–4 22 21 November 21 Florida 5 – 2 Columbus Leclaire 13,326 9–8–4 22 22 November 23 Columbus 4 – 0 Minnesota Leclaire 18,568 10–8–4 24 23 November 24 Detroit 2 – 3 Columbus SO Leclaire 17,513 11–8–4 26 24 November 26 Columbus 1 – 3 Edmonton Norrena 16,839 11–9–4 26 25 November 29 Columbus 0 – 2 Vancouver Norrena 18,630 11–10–4 26
December: 7–5–2 (home: 6–3–2; road: 1–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points 26 December 1 Columbus 4 – 3 Calgary OT Norrena 19,289 12–10–4 28 27 December 3 Dallas 2 – 1 Columbus SO Leclaire 12,233 12–10–5 29 28 December 5 Colorado 4 – 5 Columbus Norrena 12,851 13–10–5 31 29 December 8 Minnesota 2 – 1 Columbus Leclaire 15,666 13–11–5 31 30 December 10 Anaheim 4 – 3 Columbus OT Leclaire 11,984 13–11–6 32 31 December 12 Colorado 1 – 4 Columbus Norrena 13,150 14–11–6 34 32 December 15 Columbus 0 – 2 Boston Norrena 14,058 14–12–6 34 33 December 18 Calgary 3 – 0 Columbus Leclaire 13,181 14–13–6 34 34 December 21 Los Angeles 1 – 2 Columbus Leclaire 14,034 15–13–6 36 35 December 23 Nashville 3 – 1 Columbus Norrena 15,481 15–14–6 36 36 December 26 Atlanta 0 – 2 Columbus Leclaire 15,726 16–14–6 38 37 December 27 Columbus 3 – 4 Nashville Norrena 14,331 16–15–6 38 38 December 29 Carolina 1 – 4 Columbus Leclaire 17,453 17–15–6 40 39 December 31 Edmonton 2 – 4 Columbus Leclaire 16,774 18–15–6 42
January: 7–7–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 4–6–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points 40 January 2 Columbus 1 – 2 Anaheim Leclaire 17,174 18–16–6 42 41 January 3 Columbus 4 – 3 Los Angeles Norrena 14,173 19–16–6 44 42 January 5 Columbus 2 – 3 San Jose Norrena 17,496 19–17–6 44 43 January 8 Columbus 1 – 6 St. Louis Norrena 14,818 19–18–6 44 44 January 11 St. Louis 4 – 6 Columbus Leclaire 15,233 20–18–6 46 45 January 12 Nashville 1 – 2 Columbus SO Leclaire 16,230 21–18–6 48 46 January 15 Vancouver 2 – 3 Columbus Leclaire 13,555 22–18–6 50 47 January 17 Columbus 4 – 3 Phoenix Leclaire 11,114 23–18–6 52 48 January 19 Columbus 1 – 3 Dallas Norrena 17,811 23–19–6 52 49 January 20 Columbus 1 – 3 Colorado Leclaire 17,197 23–20–6 52 50 January 22 Columbus 4 – 2 Dallas Leclaire 17,087 24–20–6 54 51 January 24 Columbus 1 – 0 Chicago Leclaire 16,094 25–20–6 56 52 January 29 Phoenix 2 – 4 Columbus Leclaire 15,127 25–21–6 56 53 January 31 Columbus 2 – 4 Nashville Leclaire 13,745 25–22–6 56
February: 5–5–3 (home: 0–3–2; road: 5–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points 54 February 2 Minnesota 4 – 1 Columbus Norrena 18,529 25–23–6 56 55 February 5 Washington 4 – 3 Columbus OT Norrena 14,450 25–23–7 57 56 February 7 Columbus 2 – 1 Phoenix Norrena 13,918 26–23–7 59 57 February 8 Columbus 1 – 2 San Jose OT Norrena 17,210 26–23–8 60 58 February 10 Los Angeles 3 – 2 Columbus SO Leclaire 15,823 26–23–9 61 59 February 13 Chicago 7 – 2 Columbus Norrena 14,918 26–24–9 61 60 February 15 Columbus 5 – 1 Detroit Leclaire 20,066 27–24–9 63 61 February 17 Columbus 1 – 5 St. Louis Leclaire 19,150 27–25–9 63 62 February 19 Columbus 1 – 3 Toronto Leclaire 19,347 27–26–9 63 63 February 21 Columbus 3 – 2 Ottawa SO Leclaire 19,612 28–26–9 65 64 February 23 Columbus 3 – 0 Montreal Leclaire 21,273 29–26–9 67 65 February 27 San Jose 4 – 2 Columbus Leclaire 16,029 29–27–9 67 66 February 29 Columbus 3 – 2 Vancouver OT Leclaire 18,630 30–27–9 69
March: 4–6–3 (home: 4–3–1; road: 0–3–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points 67 March 2 Columbus 3 – 4 Edmonton SO Leclaire 16,839 30–27–10 70 68 March 4 Columbus 0 – 1 Calgary Leclaire 19,289 30–28–10 70 69 March 7 Edmonton 2 – 1 Columbus OT Leclaire 14,933 30–28–11 71 70 March 9 Tampa Bay 3 – 5 Columbus Leclaire 14,796 31–28–11 73 71 March 14 Chicago 6 – 3 Columbus Norrena 15,699 31–29–11 73 72 March 16 Detroit 3 – 4 Columbus Norrena 18,188 32–29–11 75 73 March 18 Calgary 0 – 3 Columbus Norrena 14,270 33–29–11 77 74 March 19 Columbus 1 – 3 Detroit Norrena 19,061 33–30–11 77 75 March 22 Detroit 4 – 1 Columbus Norrena 17,681 33–31–11 77 76 March 25 Columbus 0 – 3 Nashville Norrena 16,330 33–32–11 77 77 March 26 Chicago 0 – 4 Columbus Norrena 14,454 34–32–11 79 78 March 28 Nashville 2 – 0 Columbus Leclaire 15,595 34–33–11 79 79 March 30 Columbus 4 – 5 Chicago SO Norrena 20,885 34–33–12 80
April: 0–3–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points 80 April 3 Columbus 2 – 3 Detroit Leclaire 19,435 34–34–12 80 81 April 5 Columbus 0 – 3 St. Louis Leclaire 19,150 34–35–12 80 82 April 6 St. Louis 4 – 1 Columbus Norrena 17,739 34–36–12 80
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Rick Nash	LW	80	38	31	69	95	2	10	4	6
Nikolay Zherdev	W	82	26	35	61	34	-9	7	0	3
Michael Peca	C	65	8	26	34	64	-1	3	0	3
Ron Hainsey	D	78	8	24	32	25	-7	8	0	0
Jason Chimera	LW	81	14	17	31	98	-5	1	1	3
Manny Malhotra	C	71	11	18	29	34	-3	2	0	2
Sergei Fedorov	C	50	9	19	28	30	-3	5	0	1
David Vyborny	RW	66	7	19	26	34	-8	2	0	0
Dan Fritsche	C	69	10	12	22	22	2	1	1	4
Jiri Novotny	C	65	8	14	22	24	-10	1	0	0
Rostislav Klesla	D	82	6	12	18	60	7	3	0	1
Adam Foote	D	63	1	14	15	95	3	0	1	0
Jan Hejda	D	81	0	13	13	61	20	0	0	0
Curtis Glencross	C	36	6	6	12	25	3	1	0	1
Fredrik Modin	LW	23	6	6	12	20	1	2	0	1
Andrew Murray	C	39	6	4	10	12	0	0	0	0
Jared Boll	RW	75	5	5	10	226	-4	0	0	3
Kris Russell	D	67	2	8	10	14	-12	1	0	1
Kris Beech	C	16	5	4	9	2	3	2	0	0
Dick Tarnstrom	D	19	2	7	9	12	-5	1	0	0
Gilbert Brule	C	61	1	8	9	24	-4	0	0	1
Joakim Lindstrom	C	25	3	4	7	14	0	2	0	1
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen	D	51	2	2	4	111	-3	0	1	0
Duvie Westcott	D	23	1	3	4	30	-10	1	0	0
Derek MacKenzie	C	17	2	0	2	8	-2	0	0	0
Derick Brassard	C	17	1	1	2	6	-4	0	0	0
Aaron Rome	D	17	1	1	2	33	-4	0	0	0
Clay Wilson	D	7	1	1	2	2	3	0	0	0
Pascal Leclaire	G	54	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
Fredrik Norrena	G	37	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Zenon Konopka	C	3	0	0	0	15	0	0	0	0
Dan LaCosta	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Marc Methot	D	9	0	0	0	8	-1	0	0	0
Alexandre Picard	LW	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Adam Pineault	RW	3	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Tom Sestito	LW	1	0	0	0	17	0	0	0	0
Jody Shelley	LW	31	0	0	0	44	-2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Pascal Leclaire	2986	54	24	17	6	112	2.25	9	1379	1267	.919
Fredrik Norrena	1960	37	10	19	6	89	2.72	2	856	767	.896
Dan LaCosta	13	1	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	5	5	1.000
Team:	4959	82	34	36	12	201	2.43	11	2240	2039	.910

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T/OT = Ties/Overtime Losses; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Jared Boll Kris Russell	1st NHL Game	October 5, 2007
Kris Russell	1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point	October 5, 2007
Fredrik Modin	200th NHL Assist	October 5, 2007
Jared Boll	1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Point	October 10, 2007
Jason Chimera	300th NHL Game	October 23, 2007
David Vyborny	500th NHL Game 300th NHL Point	November 24, 2007
Andrew Murray (ice hockey)	1st NHL Game	December 27, 2007
Andrew Murray (ice hockey)	1st NHL Goal 1st NHL Point	January 2, 2008
Rostislav Klesla	100th NHL Point	January 17, 2008
Kris Russell	1st NHL Goal	January 22, 2008

Transactions

The Blue Jackets have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

November 15, 2007	To Columbus Blue Jackets Aaron Rome Clay Wilson	To Anaheim Ducks Geoff Platt
January 22, 2008	To Columbus Blue Jackets Mark Rycroft	To Colorado Avalanche Darcy Campbell Philippe Dupuis
January 29, 2008	To Columbus Blue Jackets 6th-round pick in 2009 – David Pacan	To San Jose Sharks Jody Shelley
February 1, 2008	To Columbus Blue Jackets Dick Tarnstrom	To Edmonton Oilers Curtis Glencross
February 26, 2008	To Columbus Blue Jackets Conditional 1st-round pick in 2008 or 2009 – Luca Sbisa Conditional 4th-round pick in 2009 – David Savard	To Colorado Avalanche Adam Foote
February 26, 2008	To Columbus Blue Jackets Ted Ruth	To Washington Capitals Sergei Fedorov

Free agents

Player Former team Contract Terms Sheldon Brookbank Nashville Predators 1 year, $500,000 Jiri Novotny Washington Capitals 2 years, $1.5 million Jan Hejda Edmonton Oilers 1 year, $1 million Derek MacKenzie Atlanta Thrashers 1 year, $475,000 Kris Beech Washington Capitals 1 year, $585,000 Michael Peca Toronto Maple Leafs 1 year, $1.3 million plus incentives

Player New team Anders Eriksson Calgary Flames Aaron Johnson New York Islanders

Draft picks

Columbus' picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets picked 7th overall in front of their hometown crowd.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	7	Jakub Voracek	RW	Czech Republic	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
2	37	Stefan Legein	RW	Canada	Mississauga IceDogs (OHL)
2	53	Will Weber	D	United States	Gaylord High School (USHS-MI)
3	68	Jake Hansen	W	United States	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
4	94	Maxim Mayorov	W	Russia	Neftyanik Leninogorsk (Russia-2)
6	158	Allen York	G	Canada	Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)
7	211	Trent Vogelhuber	RW	United States	St. Louis Bandits (NAHL)

Farm teams

American Hockey League

Syracuse Crunch

ECHL

Elmira Jackals - It was announced on October 4 that the Elmira Jackals will take over as the ECHL affiliate to the Blue Jackets, replacing the Dayton Bombers.

See also

• 2007–08 NHL season

External links

• Player stats: Columbus Blue Jackets player stats on espn.com
• Game log: Columbus Blue Jackets game log on espn.com
• Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com

External links

• The Columbus Blue Jackets official website