The Weekly Dis
Heading west, hot goalies and Hell is Real
A week ago, the Blue Jackets were riding a four-game winning streak and feeling good about themselves. Then, on Sunday, they coughed up two goals in the final 67 seconds of regulation and lost to the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y. They regrouped, got on a plane and headed to Calgary – where, on Wednesday night, they got thumped 5-1 by an offensively challenged team with the worst record in the NHL.
Yeesh.
The 2025-26 NHL schedule is compressed to make room in the middle for the Milan Olympics. Under such stress, everything feels bigger. Like, when top-line center Sean Monahan, one of the bedrock veterans, left the game in Calgary with an undisclosed injury, that felt huge. It brought on flashbacks of last season, when Monahan missed 28 games with a wrist injury and the Jackets missed the playoffs by two points. HERE WE GO AGAIN!?
Young Adam Fantilli did a fabulous job, by and large, when he moved into the No. 1 center slot in Monahan's absence last season. We're still waiting for a more detailed evaluation of Monahan's current injury. Indications are it's probably not a long-term thing. Indeed, president/GM Don Waddell said Friday morning that Monahan "should be fine for practice."
What's up with Yegor Chinakhov? His trade request leaked out last summer, no one was happy about it (except maybe his agent) and Chinakhov, who has top-six skill, has been relegated to fourth-line duty. Chinakov was scratched in Calgary. Don't they need this guy? One hopes that coach Dean Evason and president/GM Don Waddell aren't making this issue a personal one.
The Flames game was a tough watch for Jackets fans. Young defenseman Denton Mateychuk, who had been working well in tandem with Zach Werenski on the top pair, was out with an undisclosed injury. The Jackets played recklessly at times – overly aggressive blue liners left the rear door open for numerous odd-man rushes, two of which the Flames converted into goals. Calgary's Dustin Wolf joined a cadre of goaltenders – Nashville's Juuse Saros, New Jersey's Jake Allen and Washington's Logan Thompson – who've managed to deflect a fusillade of Columbus shots and beat the Jackets. It's not a good sign when every other goalie the Jackets face is smokin' hot.
The season is compressed, but it's still a long, 82-game thing. Just about 16% of it is gone now. It's going to be a prolonged dogfight with every team in the East at or above the .500 mark (as of this writing.) Even keel, etc.
Dang, though, when you see what Joel Quenneville is doing with a young, talented team in Anaheim – a team that lost 37 games and had a minus-42 goal differential last season – if you are a Jackets fan, you want to feel some of that. Like you did last week.
Michael Arace
The Jackets are in Vancouver (Quinn Hughes is back in the lineup) Saturday night, then play at Edmonton Monday and at Seattle Tuesday. They'll return to Nationwide Arena to host Edmonton Thursday.
Evason rejiggers his lineup
According to Blue Jackets team insider Jeff Svoboda, the forward lines at practice Friday looked like this:
Dmitri Voronkov-Adam Fantilli-Kirill Marchenko
Miles Wood-Sean Monahan-Kent Johnson
Cole Sillinger-Charlie Coyle-Mathieu Olivier
Boone Jenner-Luca Del Bel Belluz-Yegor Chinakhov
Defensive pairs:
Zach Werenski-Denton Mateychuk
Ivan Provorov-Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen-Dante Fabbro.
I like it. So does one of The Disrespected's Jackets correspondents, who said: "They needed this after the last two offensive performances. I like Del Bel Belluz and Chinakhov together in the lineup. Jenner is better in a bottom-six role. Need to get Fantilli and Johnson going."
Posts
Monday: A first take on the Crew's utter domination of their arch rivals, FC Cincinnati, in Game 2 of their Round One playoff series. The new Crew stadium often rocks, but rarely does it rock like it rocked Sunday night.
Michael Arace
Wednesday: I've been going heavy on Crew stuff of late because they're still alive and, lo and behold, their performance Sunday night was probably their best since the Leagues Cup final against LAFC last year. A breakdown:
Michael Arace
Friday: Contrasting the way the combatants in the Hell is Real derby-darby build and maintain their rosters. One of them spends like the Pentagon. Now, it's on to Game 3, the rubber match, at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati Saturday night. Plus, a word from the coach on Daniel Gazdag.
Michael Arace
Thanks to all the readers who left tips to help me get to the Queen City for the game. I will raise a pint glass to one and all at O'Malley's in the Alley. Join me if you wish.
From the mouth of Crew coach Wilfried Nancy
- Did FC Cincinnati use any different looks during the first 30 minutes of Game 2, before Cincy midfielder Yuya Kubo was tossed on a red card? "Uh, no. they tried, at certain moments, to press less, I would say. But in a few moments they tried to press a bit higher. They tried to play out of the back – they tried, too, in the first game. And at certain moments they play long. So, no, I think it's us. I think we had a really good performance, like we did during the year for a few games. But for sure, they're going to prepare something for the third game."
- On handling their press by simply executing with smarter strings of passes: "Yes. Definitely yes. Like I told you: When I watched the first game, if we were better in execution we could have been many times on a 1v1 or 2v1 or 4v2 with the goalkeeper, but we didn't do it well. But for (Game 2) ... The brain, it controls everything. The mindset we had was the same as the first game, but we all connected in the same way (in Game 2). That's why we were able to have this kind of moment. So, it's going to be interesting to see if we are able to do it the third game. Tres interessant."
- On receiving the pre-game lineups, and whether he makes any adjustments after seeing what the opposition looks like: "I was an assistant coach for many years, as you know, and I work with five, six, seven coaches in Montreal. We are all different. I remember a few coaches in Montreal, they were waiting for the lineup of the opposition, sometimes like it was a Christmas gift, sometimes like it was 'Wow, this is the end of the world.' Gameday, I'm pretty calm and composed because I cannot change anything. We try to do what we did during the week and gamed is just freshness, adapt to the situations and try to do the best we can."
Watch party
Right out of the press release:
The Columbus Crew travel to face FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium in the third contest of the Round One Best-of-3 series of the 2025 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 8 [6 p.m. ET / MLS Season Pass on Apple TV / Alt 105.7 FM / iHeartRadio app (English); La Mega 103.1 FM, 107.1 FM / La Mega app (Spanish)].
The Crew are hosting supporters for a “Clock In” Watch Party at Lower.com Field’s Chase Plaza, with gates opening at 5 p.m. Free tickets to the event are available now on the Crew website.
The playoff match atmosphere will feature t-shirt giveaways and games, including Soccer Darts. Food and drink specials will be offered at family friendly pricing.
*Free parking is available in the Hocking Lot (260 Hocking St).
Remember the name: Jesse Vogel
The man in the middle of the photo is Jesse Vogel and what his smile exemplifies is pure class. This photo was taken moments after Vogel delivered a concession speech Tuesday night. He lost and he's smiling, and there's nothing fake about it because there's nothing fake about Jesse Vogel.
Vogel's election-night party was at Nocterra Brewing's restaurant at Audubon Park. There, more than 100 people who worked on his long-long-longshot campaign for Columbus City Council gathered with family and friends to wait for the returns to come in. Picture: Everyone on their phone, constantly refreshing the Franklin County Board of Elections website, growing increasingly excited.
As the night wore on, Vogel's took a slim lead in his race for the council seat in District 7, and he maintained it. For hours, he was up two or three points – until the final precincts reported. By 11 p.m., it became clear that he had been nosed out at the wire. Final tally: Tiara Ross – and incredibly flawed candidate who was endorsed by the mayor, the city attorney and the entire council – the Whole Machine – tallied 51% of the 107,000-plus votes cast; Vogel received 49% of the vote.
Here's the rub: In District 7, Vogel received 63% of the vote to Ross' 37 percent. In other words, Vogel won the district in a romp – but he will not represent it, the constituents' will be damned. In this space, we know what that is. Disrespected.
In Columbus, the district system is such that a candidate must live in the district they're to serve but their election is subject to a city-wide vote. Ross won the city-wide by around 1,500 votes – and lost to Vogel in District 7 by a spread of 4,500 votes. Confused? You should be. The system is whacked.
If you're like me, you've heard scores of concession speeches on election nights. My wife, whose family was in the ward-politics business back in the day, has heard hundreds. Neither of us has ever heard a more considerate, articulate and ... can "brilliant" be attached to a concession speech? It was full of pathos and hope, positivity and defiance, in equal measures. It was brilliant. Somehow, in the throes of defeat, he fired up his people one more time.
Full disclosure: One of my sons is an old friend of Vogel's and Mrs. Arace and I are quite fond of Vogel's parents. We're honored to know them.
Vogel was a virtual unknown – a lawyer who spent his time in the trenches, advocating for immigrants and poor people, mostly on housing issues – when he decided to run. He lost to a person who rang up thousands of dollars in parking tickets, drove with a suspended license and moved to Columbus just to run for the District 7 seat. The people of the district elected Vogel, but the Machine lined up behind Ross, an assistant city attorney, and she got the job.
Remember the name. Jesse Vogel. He may have just gotten robbed by the system, but his chin is up, he is smiling and those who support him are energized. I am personally biased, but the following is fairly objective: This is an immensely talented 30-something who hasn't even begun to make his mark.
Thanks for reading. If you're enjoying what you see and you are of a mind, click on the link below and leave a tip. It'll help defray costs for the trip to Porkopolis for Game 3. If you've yet to subscribe, consider making a small hop over a paywall. It'll help keep local, independent media disrespected. Have a nice day.
Michael Arace
