Columbus' own Great 8
Behold Zach Werenski
The first Disrespected live event will be on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, because what the world needs now is love, Dis love. It'll be at RBar in the Arena District beginning at 2 p.m., ahead of a Team USA Olympic hockey game. I'll be buying a few beers, but not too many. There will be a raffle, some branded merch for sale, and a podcast going on. Come say hello to me and gather with kindred spirits. I'm driving toward a landmark subscriber number, and I need your help.
A couple of things to mention before we get to the subject at hand: the god among us.
First, whoa, Nellie, look at the Blue Jackets go. With back-to-back shutouts – a 3-0 victory at New Jersey Tuesday night and a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationwide Arena Wednesday night – the Jackets hit the Olympic break on a seven-game winning streak.
(The NHL had a seven-game slate of games Thursday night, the last day before the break. The regular season resumes on Feb. 25. The Jackets' first game after the break is the 26th.)
They've won 11 of their last 12 and they're 10-1 since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as coach Jan. 12.
Dating back to last season, the Jackets players' have harbored a belief that there is a playoff-caliber team within their own locker room. Here they are: They've won 11 of their last 12 and they're 10-1 since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as coach Jan. 12. There's a whole column to write on the subject and I'm not going to force the jump shot. I'll return to the subject in the coming days.
Second, congratulations to Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, who has begun rehabilitating his game under Bowness. Elvis will represent Latvia at the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games. He will be in a good frame of mind. Although his season numbers (11-8-1, 3.49 GAA, .888 SV%) are by no means sterling, he is 5-1 with a shutout in his last six starts. His Olympic experience may include more than sitting on the bench and watching Arturs Silovs man the Latvian net.
The Blue Jackets, to a man, have spent the past week talking about the god among us and adding, "and Elvis is going to the Olympics, too."
Which brings us to the buried lede, Zach Werenski.
"I don't want to have any regrets."
Werenski watched the documentary, "Miracle: The Boys of '80," and was moved by the stories from the men who beat the Soviets at Lake Placid. Hearing Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, Mark Johnson, et al, describe their Olympic experience touched his heart. In fact, he was so moved that he decided to leave two days early for the Milano-Cortina Games so that he could walk with the U.S. delegation for the opening ceremonies.
Michael Arace
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I don't want to have any regrets," Werenski said Wednesday night, right after the Jackets had finished off the Blackhawks at Nationwide.
"My first flight is in less than 12 hours, so my mind is there," he said. "I've got a little travel anxiety – I've got to get home and finish packing and what not. Super excited. Happy I came out of this healthy. That was a big part of it. So, yeah, ready to go to Milan and hopefully win gold."
I don't think we in Columbus take Werenski for granted. I hope not. My own kids don't need telling, but I tell them all the time anyway: You're watching the greatest player in franchise history and one of the greatest defensemen of this era. Cherish it.
Werenski burst on the world stage last year. He was a key player for the U.S. at the 4-Nations Faceoff, a best-on-best tournament that also featured Canada, Finland, Sweden. How key? The Canadians beat the Americans in overtime in the final. The leading scorer in the tournament was Werenski with six points in four games. He was followed by Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby with five points apiece.
Werenski made a late decision to play for Team U.S.A. at the IIHF World Championship last year. He has six points in seven games and was named the tournament's best defenseman. The U.S. won the Worlds for the first time since 1933. As the post-game ceremony got underway, Werenski ran back to the locker room and fetched a Johnny Gaudreau jersey so he could drape it over the trophy.
NHL players are participating in the Olympic tournament for the first time in 12 years. Both the U.S. and Canada are loaded. If you've been watching Werenski, you may have the same feeling as I: Despite his burgeoning presence among the best in the game, he is still underrated when he steps on the big stage because he plays in Columbus. Welcome to The Disrespected.
The best defenseman in the world?
I can conjure this one game from years ago when Seth Jones, previously the best defenseman in Jackets history (and now a member of the Florida Panthers), got stripped of the puck by Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes. It happened in the Jackets' defensive end of the ice.
Aho is fleet and slippery. He wove his way through the right circle and darted across the top of the slot – and Jones chased him down, dispossessed him, skated the puck out of the zone and sprang a rush the other way.
I asked Jones about that after the game. Jones left a side of the next exposed to hound a world-class skater. That's not how the coaches draw up defensive coverages.
"I was pissed he took the puck from me," Jones said.
(Jones was chosen for the U.S. Olympic team but is injured; Aho will be an important piece of an excellent Finnish squad.)
Over the last season plus, but particularly this season, there have been times when Werenski has gotten pissed off. Oftentimes, it's when the Jackets aren't scoring and what he does is take the puck and go score. He can do this with a 190-foot route to the net, weaving through an entire defense, or he can just take a peek through a crowd of bodies and THWIP there goes the wrist shot, top corner, nearside.
It's all so smooth.
Even more impressive is his command of the ice. He has a lot of Nicklas Lidstrom in him, which is to say that he seems to be directing almost everything that is happening when he's out there. Master puppeteer.
Bowness, who is 71 years old and has coached, assistant coached and interim coached more NHL games than anyone in history, understands what No. 8 represents. Here's Bones:
"The thing you look at about Z is, games get real crazy," Bowness said. "He'll go calm it down. Like, elite players do that. The elite players see the game in slow motion. Some guys see the game, it's 100 miles an hour. Some guys see it in 10 miles and hour, and then you can see everything (that's) going on. He has that ability. You watch when things are getting a little scrambly, and he'll just take the puck and he'll go back and he settles things down.
"And when we need a goal, you see him up the ice, like tonight, he's going. So he has a great hockey IQ. He has got a great feel for the game. I knew he was a good player. I didn't know he was this good. He is elite. And he's just a wonderful, wonderful guy. Great teammate. He shows up every night to be the best player on the ice. And I love that about him."
Werenski scored his 20th goal of the season in the first period Wednesday night. With that, he became the third American-born defenseman in NHL history to record consecutive 20-goal seasons. The others are Phil Housley, a Hall of Famer who is the third-leading American-born scorer in NHL history (behind Patrick Kane and Mike Modano), and Reed Larson, who has a Lester Patrick Trophy for contributions to hockey in the United States.
Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche is, by acclaim, the best defenseman in the world. Makar won the Norris Trophy last year; Werenski finished second in the voting. If the Jackets make the improbable climb from last place in the East to a playoff spot, Werenski will likely be the Norris favorite and in the Hart Trophy (MVP) conversation.
To overlook Werenski is becoming impossible.
He took a seven-game scoring streak into the break. He leads the Jackets in goals, assists and points. He had four goals and 16 points in the past 12 games; the Jackets 11-1 over that span.
He has 32 points over his past 22 games since Dec. 11.
He has 20-42--62 in 52 games played this season. Among defenseman, he leads the league in goals, is second in points and is tied for fourth in points.
“I feel like I’m playing probably some of the best defensive hockey I’ve played in a long time, which is important since Bones (Bowness) has gotten here to kind of clean up that area,” Werenski said. “The offense is still coming. So yeah, I feel really good about my game.”
Perhaps you, too, dear reader, have the feeling that he has intentions of changing this dynamic on one of the biggest stages of all. He is 28 years old and in his prime. Of late, he has been propelling the Jackets to victory with a combination of human excellence and sheer will.
He and his wife, Odette, announced earlier this week that they're expecting their first child, and he has been talking about past teammates/mentors (Nick Foligno, David Savard, Cam Atkinson) and how they are great fathers.
And today, he will walk with the entire U.S. delegation into San Siro Stadium in Milan, compelled by the men who made the Miracle on Ice, cognizant of the fact that he is standing on their shoulders.
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Michael Arace
