BATTLING THE BIG APPLE 🍎 Blue Jackets vs. Rangers 😤 | Pregame Media

that game against Edmonton in particular the other night. What did you like about the way you guys played in that one? Yeah, I think uh I think we did a good job of managing the puck. Um you know, we knew that they were kind of a rush team and they thrived on the turnovers and I think we limited them pretty well. Um so I think that was kind of one of the main keys for us in our success that game. What did it mean to you guys to get that done given you had lost to Edmonton just a couple of nights earlier? Yeah, I think uh it was nice to, you know, you knew that we had him again soon after a tough loss like that, you know, giving up a lead and uh yeah, we’re, you know, it’s nice when you can redeem yourself that quick and it it meant a lot to the guys. I think that was a big win. You’ve played with a bunch of different partners this season. I’m not sure I’ve asked you too much about Damon Severson, though. So, what’s it like to play with Sibo? Yeah, I like play with Sibo. He’s a he’s a really smart guy. Um you know, he’s always talking and he’s uh yeah, he’s got, you know, a lot of good traits. He’s a he’s a great defenseman and you know I like it’s nice to get to know him a bit more. Uh you know you kind of when you play with somebody you kind of get to know him more than you would when you’re just you know on the team together. So I think uh yeah it’s nice to to get to know him. He’s a Sasky boy so he’s not far from Manitoba. So it’s uh yeah it’s pretty cool. All right. What have you learned about him? Uh yeah he’s he’s a good he’s got some good jokes. Like he’s Yeah, he’s sneak he’s sneaky with it. He he stays quiet but then when he when he peeps up he’s he’s got some something good cooked up. I like that. uh a lot of hockey and not a lot of time for you guys lately. How do you manage that both mentally and physically? Uh yeah, I think uh you know it obviously starts with the you know the recovery part and making sure you’re doing the right things. But I mean it’s it’s honestly for me I like the you know every second day you know you’re playing you’re getting kind of a rhythm of it and obviously there’s going to be some backto-backs mixed in but you know it’s it’s good. It keeps you uh keeps you in it and you know you’re not having you know big lulls in games like you’re just uh you’re always playing. So it’s uh for me I I like it. You guys are missing a couple of key veterans in this room right now. Eric Branson’s been out. Boon Jenner of course gets hurt in Seattle. Didn’t play the last game. What’s kind of the vibe in here without those guys? Yeah, I mean those are, you know, two leaders in the team and it’s, you know, tough losses to not have them in the lineup, but I think guys are, you know, stepping up like uh Coyle, you know, he comes in and he’s uh he’s a leader right from the get- go and, you know, it doesn’t change that he has a letter on now. I think he’s, you know, he’s still the same guy. And I think it’s uh you know there’s lots of guys that you know kind of pick it up for for them when they’re out and obviously you know we’ll be excited when they when they’re ready to come back. You brought up Charlie Coyle’s name right there. What have you learned from him and what what about him this season? Yeah, I mean he’s he’s an awesome guy. I sit beside him in the room. So uh yeah, we get to chat lots and uh yeah, he’s you know he’s a family guy. He’s got a he’s got a like a girl that’s two. So yeah, he’s always talking about her and I love to hear about it. It’s it’s pretty cool. And yeah, he’s he’s really nice guy. He’s always anything any questions that I have about anything, he’s always more than more than welcome to answer them. So, it’s it’s really nice. Three points for him in the last game. What’s he meant to this team on the ice? Yeah, I think uh you know, he’s responsible all over the ice. He’s really good in the faceoff dot and, you know, he he does stuff like that like he can, you know, take over a game, his line. So, I think uh to have a guy like that in your in your lineup who can, you know, do it all is it’s awesome. All right. Talk to me a little bit about playing the New York Rangers. It’s a team that they’ve got the offense going right now. I think 13 combined goals in their last two games. How can you guys slow them down? Yeah, I think uh you know, it starts with playing our game. Uh you know, you obviously have to make little adjustments for whoever’s coming in that on a given night, but uh you know, I think starts with our game and you know, keeping it simple. You know, we know they got some forwards that can hurt you. So, making sure we’re managing the pucks at the blue lines and uh yeah, if we start with that and you know, we do all our other things, we’ll be we’ll be good. All right, Den, thanks for this. Good luck tonight. All right. Thank you. Luca Delaloo’s played in your top six. I was talking to Don the other day. He sees a difference in him. Top six. Yeah. Among your forwards. Mhm. Um do you see a different Del Baloo? He’s obviously still a young guy. Ostensibly getting better and better. Um different from last year when he was here. No. Like he’s real good, right? Speed, strength, those kind of visuals. Um yeah, we actually talked about that that yeah, I think people have talked about his foot speed. It’s it’s fine. It’s good. Um strength, young guy. It’s like normal. A lot of guys are need, you know, the development process and um so yeah, he’s been he’s been real good. Um in particular on the road where we don’t get the matchups. Um, you know, you think back to the Edmonton game there. Um, you know, we started him in the defensive zone quite a bit. McDavid and Dryidle came and we were comfortable with, you know, having that matchup. So, yeah, has he been very aware defensively? Um, he might actually be a little bit too aware, right? Um, so whenever guys get called up, they obviously don’t want to make mistakes, right? So they side on being a little bit more careful, which is which is fine. Um, you know, again, he’s been he’s been good in in all three zones. Saw that Veronov, Wood, and Fabra were all out there this morning. Are there any changes from Thursday? Um, we we’ll we’ll see. We’re going to address um Ree and Mayo for warm-up and then we’ll see after that. So there’s there’s there’s some concern. Um there’s not. So I can’t give you 100% one way or the other. And the the goal the goalender tonight yet. That’s not alternating, is it? Of course. That’s four. Is it? That’s consecutive. Consecutive four. Hm. You guys keep good stats, eh? Like you guys you guys know all the numbers and four. Like four. Yeah. Four. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely hard for me. I don’t I don’t keep track of that stuff. I’ll I’ll follow that one up. Dean, is that based on merit? You said that you might vary from the uh rotation if one guy kind of grabbed it. Has he grabbed it? Well, I think we talked that there’s different circumstances, right, that you know, I’m not going to go into all the details of of why um but there is different circumstances that why he’s played consecutive four now. But yeah, um Marenko is on a on a 10ame point streak, which would indicate consistency. What have you seen in terms of consistency out of his game? um his compete level, his work. Um he’s, you know, we challenged him last year to get the puck right instead of just allowing somebody else to get it and then open up and look for offensive opportunities. We want him to get after it. We want him to stick his nose in there and compete and get the puck because the more he does that, the more he has it. and the more he has it, the more opportunity we have as a team to score. So, um, he’s done that on a consistent basis. He doesn’t cheat the game. His work ethic has been fantastic and he’s been rewarded for it. Is the the goal that he sets up Van Tilly for the other night. Um, is that an example of that where I think it was kind of a a puck battle on the wall, Marchie gets position, gets the puck, and creates. Is that is that basically what you’re looking for out of him? Yeah, like I don’t know what game it was, but like the the puck exchanged like four or five times along the wall and he got it back and then somebody stole it. I can’t remember who it was. Um but he just kept grinding in there and and getting after it and that’s that’s what we want. Um because when he does have it, he can obviously score goals, but he can obviously set up too. His ability, his vision um offensively, but you need to get that thing first. And his compete in that area has been real good. And you mentioned after the game Thursday that you had talked as a staff with Fanti a couple times about just keeping playing the right way even when he wasn’t scoring. He said the other day he was proud of himself as far as like he felt like he kept playing the game the way he wanted to play, kept playing the game the right way even though he wasn’t scoring. Did you see some young guys want to be on the score sheet? It’s they’ve been on the score sheet their entire life, but have you seen him maybe get better at handling those situations when the puck isn’t going in? Yeah. Yeah. And again, when when we have our conversations with players, our one-on- ons or what have you, we don’t say to them, well, you scored Fanty’s case, you scored 30 goals, we need 31 out of you this year. We don’t ask that. We just ask them to play the right way to compete to play the way that the Columbus Blue Jackets play on a consistent basis and then believe that that will allow you to have personal success. And if you do, then obviously you’re going to help the team win. And so that’s what we try to stress. And it’s hard, like you said, it’s hard for young guys. They the all the stats we just talked about, they they look at all those and the highlights and what have you. And um it’s just reminders to be good teammates and and to do the right things um on the ice to help your team win. And that’s not asking them to just score goals. Uh along those same lines, the other night, you basically said all that same stuff about Kent Johnson. You wanted to see a little bit more uh of that from him. Did you see that uh in that game? Were you happy with what you saw? Yeah. Yeah, we saw him sticking his nose in there and and getting getting after it and getting pucks out on the wall and and standing over pucks and not just going east west. we’ve asked him to go north and to play the game with pace and and um and drive and and yeah, he’s he’s doing that. Um so that’s why he’s in again. Dean, you’re not a numbers guy. You’re you’re a poet. So could you could you describe I’m a poet. Could you could you describe what you mean uh with some detail when you talk about playing the right way? Um, yeah, it’s just it’s just like every single shift just competing your your butt off. That’s that’s all it is. It’s just like it’s not rocket science this game. It’s it’s, you know, every guy in that room and on the other team, you know, can play. They’ve obviously proven that they can skate, they can shoot, they can pass, they can score. Um, but it’s that one-on-one battle. It’s that compete level um when you’re faced with it that uh that we ask every player to um do and if you do that on a consistent basis and everybody on your team does it then you have a better chance to win. Tonight’s opponent, the Ranger, I think the last couple times just Sturken’s been in net that’s been a shut out. Guess one of the things you’re trying to talk to your team about is crashing the net and creating chaos. Do you feel like you like the progress that your team is making in that area of the game? Yeah, just Yeah. Uh we constantly talk about getting um inside and then getting in the goalie’s eyes. Every coach talks about that. The goalies are so great now. Like if they see um shots, they’re going to make saves. Um so and and not only screening the shot, but when you’re in the goalie’s eyes and he can’t see you, you screen passes too, right? so that when the pass goes, the goalie doesn’t get over there in order to make that save. So, the more we can get to the inside and in front of the net, the better off we’re going to be, and the more goals we believe we’re going to score. Maybe not necessarily on that first one, but then that second and third one, you’re able to find that rebound. Thanks, guys.

Denton Mateychuk and Head Coach Dean Evason speak to the media ahead of tonight’s home matchup against the New York Rangers.

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