COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Organizational depth is a commodity that every successful team needs. There will almost always be an injury that necessitates a player being called up from the AHL. This is a fact of life in the hockey world.
Blue Jackets center Mark Lestetu knows about the trials of making an NHL club, riding the "callup" shuttle and the value of depth within the club. In the midst of training camp, with "bubble" players still trying to make their mark with the team, he knows they don't want to be sent down to Springfield.
"Obviously, their first goal is to make this hockey club," said Lestetu. "If it is unfortunate that they go down, it's always nice to have depth.
"We've run into some injury troubles, every team does. Usually, you're not going to go with the 22 or 25 guys that break camp. You need your farm system to be strong. You need them to be structured and ready to come in and play when they get here."
With two weeks until the puck is dropped on the regular season, one key for the Blue Jackets is getting the season started by being more consistent. The rollercoaster ride of last fall is fresh in their memories.
"I think it's just trusting the system," he said, "[and] trusting each other because we've been through it. We came back from two five-game losing streaks at the start of last season. We dug ourselves a hole and came out of it. We've come through some stuff that should give guys confidence.
"We can lose a game, bounce back and know that we're going to win the next couple. You're going to lose a couple of games in a row, that's going to happen over an 82-game season. But, there has to be a confidence and a swagger that we're a good team."
Getting Better
Forwards Boone Jenner, Alex Wennberg and Matt Calvert all skated with the non-game players today. All appear to be on the mend and close to 100 percent through the middle of training camp. Defenseman Ryan Murray skated solo in the Ice House today and is getting closer to rejoining his teammates for full practices.
Game planning for injuries
The season opener is Oct. 9 and head coach Todd Richards is game planning for any players that might be injured on opening night. With Ryan Murray and Nathan Horton yet to skate with the team, plus the absence of budding star Ryan Johansen, they want to get the training camp squad down to a manageable level in the next few days.
"It will probably happen in the next week at some point," said Richards. "We have three games here to get us to six (games played in preseason), and the last two games, possibly the last three games, going with real close to what we would start the season with, as long as everybody's healthy."
Thursday night's lineup vs. St. Louis Blues
Forwards: Ryan Craig, Simon Hjalmarsson, Jerry D'Amigo, Dana Tyrell, Michael Chaput, Jared Boll, Scott Hartnell, Lukas Sedlak, Mark Letestu, Marko Dano, Nick Moutrey, Nick Foligno.
Defensemen: Frederic St. Denis, Cody Goloubef, Dalton Prout, Jamie Sifers, Fedor Tyutin, Thoas Larkin.
Goaltenders: Curtis McElhinney, Anton Forsberg.
Curtis McElhinney is expected to go the distance tonight in St. Louis.
Still no Johansen
"Joey Watch" enters Day 8 with 14 days until opening night...
