Jack Johnson recorded 34:59 of ice time in Columbus’ 4-2 win over Detroit on Saturday night. This I learned, thanks to a tweet by Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch, was the most minutes logged in a regular season NHL game since Dan Boyle of Tampa Bay took the ice for 37:03 in a game against Boston on February 23, 2008.
With injuries to several key Blue Jackets defensemen, Johnson is likely to again see upwards of 30 minutes of playing time tonight against the Kings. He was a popular figure in the Columbus’ locker room this morning, and took some time to speak with LA Kings Insider about his experience in Ohio’s capital.
Jack Johnson, on how the Buckeye fans have treated a Michigan man:
“Oh, they’ve been awesome, actually. I was expecting my fair share of kidding, and I’ve gotten that, but honestly they couldn’t have been nicer. I went to the Michigan – Ohio State game, and everyone’s welcomed me with open arms. It’s pretty overwhelming, actually.”
Johnson, on whether he flies a Michigan flag at home in Columbus:
“I’ve got Michigan license plates. I’ll hang my Michigan flag on Football Saturdays. I actually grew up a big Andy Katzenmoyer fan, who was a middle linebacker for Ohio State. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Ohio State. Everyone’s treated me better than I could’ve asked for.”
Johnson, on playing against the Kings and scoring a goal in a win over L.A. last March:
“At the time, it was a huge win for us, just because we were trying to end the season on the right note. We approached that game like every other game. I had been here long enough that who we were playing wasn’t an issue. It’s always nice to score a goal, obviously.”
Johnson, on providing an example for a young D-corps with his ice time:
“I hope so. You’d have to ask them. I mean, I have fun playing. I want to play. Nobody wants to sit on the bench. The extra minutes and everything – I love being out there. Unfortunately, those guys are out. It would be a lot easier to play these games with these guys than without ‘em. But those cards were dealt, and we’ve got to make due.”
Johnson, on what Columbus is looking to accomplish at this point in the shortened season:
“We don’t get a lot of time to practice, so we’re learning on the job, so to speak. We got a chance to practice yesterday and work on our defensive zone coverage and just clean up a few things. Situations came up where there was some uncertainty, and you try to clean it up as much as you can. Other than that, you’ve got to just play hockey and make the right reads and at the end of the day, you’ve got to make more plays than the other team.”
Johnson, on what came together in the win over Detroit on Saturday:
“Well, I think that we were winning our one-on-one battles, a lot of times that makes a huge difference in the game. If you have the puck more than they do, you’re probably going to win the hockey game. I think that our team just really wanted it, and I think it was more of a mindset than anything, that we went out with the mindset that we weren’t going to lose at home again. I think that was the difference.”
Johnson, on whether he keeps in contact with his former teammates:
“I haven’t talked to any of the guys since the season started. I talked to a couple of guys during the summer and during the lockout, congratulated a few of ‘em. I talked to a couple guys during the lockout, but that’s about it.”
Blue Jackets Associate Coach Craig Hartsburg, a former All-Star defenseman, on Johnson:
“He’s a horse. Physically, he’s a great skater, but he’s conditioned and strong. But he’s been good. We certainly ask a lot of him right now with four defensemen out of the lineup. He’ll get a ton of ice time again here tonight, and he’s extremely hard worker and competitive player, so obviously he’s a big part of our team.”
Do we miss Jack Johnson?
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Bradapiller Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 10:52 am
@kissmyblarneystones, Sure could use him right about now with Willy and Green out.
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kissmyblarneystones Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:02 am
@Bradapiller,
+1
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tornado12 Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 10:59 am
@kissmyblarneystones, I like Jeff carter
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kissmyblarneystones Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:04 am
@tornado12,
I do too!
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KingsGuy Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:03 am
@kissmyblarneystones, He walked the line (blue line) as good as any…
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Lake Forest Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:09 am
@KingsGuy, @puck73 will remind you shortly of his +/- stats
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Michael J. Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:17 am
@kissmyblarneystones,
No!
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kissmyblarneystones Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:32 am
@Michael J.,
He’s no 7, 2 or 33. That’s for sure.
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Michael J. Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:05 pm
@kissmyblarneystones,
You mean +7, +2 or +33 right?
Robyn Pennington Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:27 am
@kissmyblarneystones, there was a reason DL traded him for Jeff Carter. Someone mentioned that with our 2 best D guys out, it’d be nice to have him and his experience. But I don’t think we’re sorely missing him
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Michael J. Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:07 pm
@Robyn Pennington,
Kings + Carter = Cup winner
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variable Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:35 am
@kissmyblarneystones,
i like jmfj…but i don’t miss him…he will help Columbus out, but could be one of those guys that constantly gets moved every few years because of his value and need for a player of his skill-set for a contending team…
i know the blue jackets would tell you otherwise…but…it could be a very distinct possibility if he under-performs for them…
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 2:15 pm
@variable,
Hope you’re wrong…
I want him to succeed.
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BakoCAkingsCondorsGuy Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 2:25 pm
@V,
Thing about JJ… +/- Deficiency.
Even now, he’s a -2.
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TheRussianKing Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
@kissmyblarneystones, I like him as an athlete but he’s been a minus his whole career.
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Press Box Scratch Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 7:20 pm
@kissmyblarneystones, He never earned the MF in LA, maybe at Michigan, but no where close here .. passive, – player, great trade to get Carter
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I like the last “Jack Johnson” album !!!!
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Duncanz Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:33 pm
@neil, Trade neil!
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Why not talk about the elephant in the room?
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JMFJ -2 through 9 games
Doughty and Scuderi both -5 through only 7 games
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luc20rules Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:32 am
@Munchrat, JJ must be playing great logging 30 minutes/game and only being -2 through 9 games on a losing team. But lets remember it is only 9 games and its a different system then what the Kings use that didn’t really suit JJ’s talents. I am happy for JJ sounds like he is in a better place for him closer to home, and now he is the man/leader of the team. Wish him all the luck in the world except vs the Kings.
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Robyn Pennington Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:32 am
@Munchrat, Isn’t Voynoy +4? Or he was until the Ducks game. After that game, I think everyone received a minus rating…
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Munchrat Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:03 pm
@Robyn Pennington, Muzzin leads us with +3
Second is Drewiske at +1
Voynov Amart both at 0
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Robyn Pennington Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:32 pm
@Munchrat, Are those numbers following the Ducks game? Cuz I would’ve sworn Muzzin was negative going into that game, but I can’t remember anymore.
Do the +/- stats really matter that much in general?
i think we could use someone like mark streit…i can see him really helping our scoring and pp…and if lubo is wanting to be “rescued” off the island, maybe he comes back to his original team…
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luc20rules Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:40 am
@variable, Like both those players, but we are missing the stay at home PK type guys right now. Not really sure if a offensive Dman would be much of an upgrade at this point. Maybe relieving DD of some mins will do us good, but that will happen with Mitchell’s return hopefully soon. The way DS plays the pairs its on Stay at Home guy with a O guy. What we really miss is Mitchell to be that on ice/bench player/coach to stop the bleeding when the Kings lack D focus on the ice.
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variable Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:53 am
@luc20rules,
absolutely – not having mitchell is huge for the kings…greener, too…
but streit plays an excellent two-way game…his defense gets overlooked too often…i think he would be a good fit here…
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I’ve always liked Jack Johnson but getting Jeff Carter back in return I can live with that trade.
Best of luck to Jack on the rest of his career.
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Token Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:01 pm
@KOHO, don’t forget the 1st round pick we sent over to Columbus in that deal.
Way the team is playin now, that might be a killer pickup for CBJ.
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KOHO Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:33 pm
@Token, That’s true! Kings should be able to turn this around but you’re right it could be costly if this team falls off the rails..good for Colombus if that happens.
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Belexes Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:13 pm
@Token,
Somehow I doubt it will be better than a Stanley Cup.
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Its funny to read the comments about any trade in the last few years that the Kings made…. I will never complain about any of the trades…length of contracts or draft picks (including Hickey) cause we won the Cup and I wouldnt redo anything for that cup…..The other teams can have JJ…Smyth…Hickey….ETC !!!!! cause we are the Champs !!!!
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variable Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:38 am
@neil,
in hindsight, dl did a helluva job last year…he took some chances and most all of them came through…
i have no regrets, either…;)
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KOHO Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:42 am
@neil, I don’t like the Hickey situation..wasted 4th overall pick with nothing in return. I just don’t get that. I knew that guy was crap.
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luc20rules Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 11:46 am
@neil, Very well put. +1
I would even warn against doing something to early now, before the D is back at full strength. That said Greene being out for 2 months may be too long to wait. If Mitchell returns and we still have problems over the next 2 weeks after that then some moves must be considered. The one good thing out of the last couple of games is that Brown is getting in front of the net on a regular basis and is primed to start/continue his hot streak. Kopi shoot the puck Brown will clean up the rebounds if you fail to find the back of the net.
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Michael J. Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
@neil,
Every team makes bad draft choices and trades. If you judge the merit of trades and picks by the success the team has then DL did great. Anyone can nitpick DL for Hickey (and Lewis for the matter), but they can just as easily look at signing Muzz, drafting A-mart, Slava, Toffoli, Campbell, King, Nolan, dealing for JJ, Williams, Richards (maybe), etc and see that his +/- is about a +12.
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Duncanz Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
@King of Pop., In DMFL We Trust!
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Sancho Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
@neil, yup, the Kings won the Cup. Now they’re playing like bitches…
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Robyn Pennington Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:37 pm
@Sancho, Have you seen a team in recent years that had a strong start following their Cup win? Seems to me Kings are just following the usual pattern (not that that’s a good thing…)
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Duncanz Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:42 pm
Heh heh, with a name like @Sancho, you’d know all about that!
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this was dd’s team the minute he got drafted…and jmfj and drew weren’t the best d-combo when they skated together…jmfj reminds me a bit of rob blake, where they both like to leave their position to lay a big hit…at this point, however, blake would have the overall edge, if you would compare both careers from start-to-date…
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I loved JMFJ when he was on the Kings and I hope he has a long and successful career.
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I said it the day of the trade and I will say it again. Great deal for LA, they got the sniper they sorely needed and brought balance to their attack while replacing JJ with a player just as good in Voynov.
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FJMFJ. Dude has heart but is a defensive liability. I don’t miss him one bit.
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If anything the Kings are missing toughness of the blueline. Greene and Willie brought size and toughness, Kings really missing that with the siz that dress now.
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monkeyboy Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:14 pm
@hbjohn, the forwards need to be much better on the backcheck….that would help the youngsters be more agressive knowing that there is help
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Why is everyone forgetting that the deal was JMFJ AND our 1st round pick for Carter? CBJ got to choose between the 2012 and 2013 draft and passed last year.
It’s not that good of a deal.
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Munchrat Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:16 pm
@Token, It doesn’t suck if we repeat!
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DesertKing Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:18 pm
@Munchrat,
It doesn’t suck even now since we already won a Cup as a direct result of that deal.
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Munchrat Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:23 pm
@DesertKing, I was just thinking the same thing!
GMTA, baby!
neil Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:27 pm
@Token, It was a great deal…we have the CUP !!!!!! scoreboard….
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Todd Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:48 pm
@neil,
Columbus took 2013 for the draft pick we we drafted Tanner. From what I’ve heard he is potentially going to be really good hopefully. Can’t say who the Jackets will take in the coming draft with our pick but I’m sure glad they decided at the moment to use the pick in 2013.
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Todd Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:49 pm
@Neil
I meant to say @Token.
Shuchuk Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
@Todd, “potentially going to be really good hopefully” you just described EVERY 1st round pick EVER
variable Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:46 pm
@Token,
really…?
i think it was deal that we had to make…we weren’t scoring…and the team was heading the wrong direction…it was done just in the nick of time…
even though a lot of credit should go to sutter for turning last season around, do not underestimate the importance of the carter deal…in many ways, it showed the team that their upper management knew they were close beforehand and instilled the belief that “yes they can” pull this off…when you make a big deal like getting carter, it’s bound to make the team more confident and self-assured…
…and they won it all…:)
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Duncanz Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:48 pm
@variable, hope and change..
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Token Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 4:30 pm
@variable, it was the right deal, no doubt, we won the cup.
That does not preclude it from being a crappy deal. We gambled and overpaid. The gamble paid off.
Still a lousy deal even if it was the right deal.
We will be paying for it through 2022.
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Hey, are we calling JJ a “horse” becaus eof his front grill? That is low even by Insider standards. By the way, when JJ was here, I really liked him and when he signed that team friendly long term contract, I liked him even more. If the contract he negotiated himself hadn’t been so fair, we might not have been able to trade him and bring in Carter. Moving JJ was the best thing for the team, but I wish JJ all the success in the world (as long as it doesn’t come at the expense of the Kings).
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Michael J. Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:20 pm
@DesertKing,
John Elway’s choppers > Jack Johnson grill.
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JonRosen Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:05 pm
@DesertKing, Can’t tell if that was a joke/sarcasm, but the “horse” reference was taken from Blue Jackets associate coach Craig Hartsburg, who referred to JJ as a “horse” in the final quote above.
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DesertKing Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:07 pm
@JonRosen,
Sorry, it was a joke. I should have added a
at the end. You are doing a great job Jon!
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Duncanz Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:52 pm
Some orherwise diligent journalist has not done his due research on the @DessertKing!
JonRosen Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 2:47 pm
ha. Guilty, @Duncanz! I was thinking of using an emoticon myself, @desertking. Maybe I should stop overthinging/analyzing things. Baachhhhhh.
Kenny44 Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 2:05 pm
@JonRosen,
Hello, Mr. Rosen:
Can’t tell if your “Can’t tell” was sarcasm. If it wasn’t, well, welcome to the blog rookie!
I can tell you that when I saw the headline on this entry, the very first thing I did was hit CTRL + F and search for “teeth”. I was surprised and relieved when I saw no hits, but then I found the DK Grill.
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No matter how these young D-men struggle we can still rest at ease that there is noone named Randy Jones on the current roster.
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neil Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
@Michael J., our worse defensemen is better then Jones !!!!
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variable Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 12:32 pm
@Michael J.,
…or yutaka fukufuji…:)
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I just hope I get to see the head-fake tonight…
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Deke'r Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 1:14 pm
@P1 LA Kings Fan, ….oh….you will…..you will….
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Kenny44 Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 2:10 pm
@P1 LA Kings Fan,
Is there such a thing as a Jack Johnson bobble-head? Or is the necessary gyroscope technology still beyond our grasp?
When will some forward give JMFJ the Doc Holliday response?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F3wYMkpovo
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we need our big D-men back, but if we don”t, I don’t think we should make any trades, even if we did get an elite big D-man it never works out immediatly, we still wouldn’t be any further along this year then if we just trian the people we have in the system, the reason we won the cup is we stuck to a plan of building our system from the back end without kneejerk reactions to bad games or bad stretches, and if we did make trades they where highly calculated durring the off season, I say train who we have if we find better or get our other guys back healthy so be it, I’m willing to have an off year like 90% of all the other cup winners on following years get our new D-men some training and then let them fight it out for a spot next year, but I still have faith this year can turn around, we do have the talent if we make the playoffs
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you know the ol’saying…
sometimes the best defense is a good offense…
well, get the guys we have to play better positionally and good stuff should follow…we need to get that first pass out of our zone quicker…and it has to connect more often than not…there are times when we look like we are playing as if the redline still exists…also, i can’t remember the last time the kings had so many issues holding on to the puck…we seem to have a case of the “jimmy hands”…
dl is probably has a short list of players he’s looking at to acquire…and i wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls the trigger sooner than later…
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I think I’m getting a little mixed up. Of our 6 D guys, which ones are more offensive defense and which are stay at homers?
I know Scuds is a homer and DD is more offensive, but I’m unsure about the others.
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Kenny44 Reply:
February 5th, 2013 at 2:14 pm
@Robyn Pennington,
Whiskey = homer (mmm, Whiskey!)
The rest are better characterized as puck movers rather than stay at home or “offensive”. Martinez has developed a pretty good two way game and I think that’s what they expect of Muzzin.
Slava could develop more on the offensive side if the Kings looked for the D back door or late on the rush. He’s not an end-to-end guy like Doughty, though.
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It would be nice if the Kings turned that traded horse into rented mule tonight in his own barn!
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