Pascal Leclaire is a big reason why the Blue Jackets are contenders this season.

Edmonton’s Woes

The Edmonton Oilers seem to have suffered a number of setbacks over the past few weeks. Their defencemen are dropping like flies.

On Friday night, Mathieu Roy, who was filling in for an injured Matt Greene, was on for his first shift when Nashville’s Jordin Tootoo checked him into the boards. Roy hit the boards with great force, causing him to separate his shoulder.

The Oilers’ injury curse actually began in the pre-season with Roy, who was plastered into the end glass by Vancouver centre Rick Rypien. Rypien received a five-minute major penalty and Roy suffered a concussion.

The second major setback occurred when newly acquired Sheldon Souray separated a shoulder in a fight with Vancouver's Byron Ritchie. Souray is no stranger to fighting but he has the added pressure of being the only candidate, since the Oilers do not have any decent tough guys to take on that role.

A week later, Joni Pitkanen tore a knee ligament and last Tuesday Greene fractured his left fibula and damaged a ligament in his left ankle in a fall in a game against Detroit.

Going into this season the Oilers had several respectable defencemen and they did not know what to do with them all. It turns out they have needed all of them to keep a full lineup throughout the first month of the season.

Winger Ethan Moreau was injured in a shot block, while Jarret Stoll still has not found his touch since before those repeated concussions from last season.

The backbone of the Edmonton defence, the heart of the team, and one of the key players the Oilers counted on for offence are all currently out of commission. This is the reason why this promising, young team is doing so poorly. Edmonton has a record of five wins and 10 losses and occupy last place in the Northwest Division.

The injuries are certainly a tough break, but every team has their downfalls at some point. Perhaps Edmonton should focus on what they have, not what they do not.

The Oilers are in Colorado to play the Avalanche on Wednesday.

Columbus who?

One month into the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets are the biggest surprise in the NHL.

The Blue Jackets are off to the best start in their seven seasons with a record of 8-3-2 and are sitting in second place in the Central Division.

They did not pick up their eighth win last season until December 5.

This is their first full season under veteran head coach Ken Hitchcock. Hitchcock preaches accountability and defensive responsibility as the most important aspects of his game. Through 13 games, Columbus has allowed a mere 23 goals. They are on pace to allow 133 goals, more than 100 fewer goals than a season ago.

Much of the team’s early success is accredited to Hitchcock. Upon his arrival last November, and he immediately gave the Blue Jackets something the franchise never has had before – character.

Goaltender Pascal Leclaire was happy to have Hitchcock in Columbus. “All the media built him up as big guy who yells at everybody,” Leclaire said of his new coach. “So we weren’t sure what was going on. But since Day One that he got here, he was an honest guy. He knew what he was expecting from us and he told us it was not going to happen overnight. Everybody really appreciates him around here. He brought something that actually works for us right now. So guys believe in him and we’re really happy to have him in Columbus.”
 “It’s a lot easier now because our defensive game has improved a lot,” said Leclaire. “It’s not a matter of not giving up shots, it’s not giving up scoring chances. You can give up 40 shots off the blue line but most goalies these days in the NHL will stop them from the blue line. We cut down on scoring chances big time.

Columbus plays the Blackhawks in Chicago on Wednesday night.

Player Profile: Pascal Leclaire

Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire has as many shutouts this season as Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Miikka Kiprusoff, Henrik Lundqvist and Nicklas Backstrom combined.

Through his young career, the native of Repentigny, Quebec – who turns 25 on November 7 – has never lost confidence. Leclaire was chosen eighth overall the First Round in the 2001 entry draft.

The goaltender collected his fifth shutout of the season Sunday night as the Blue Jackets beat the Blues 3-0.

Leclaire boasts a 7-2 mark now with four straight wins featuring two shutouts and a pair of one-goal games. The combination of Leclaire finally being healthy with this Hitchcock team playing well defensively have made fantasy owners lucky enough to have him and thrilled with the results so far.

Leclaire finished the season’s first month with a 6-2 record, 1.25 goals-against average, .950 save percentage and four shutouts, numbers that earned him the NHL’s second-star for October. Leclaire is the first player in the six-season history of the club to be named a star.

But with new coach Ken Hitchcock implementing his defense-first game plan from training camp this season, Leclaire finally is able to showcase the skills that made him the eighth-overall choice in his draft year.

His career has been filled with stops and starts, one step forward, followed by two injury-related steps back. After being drafted, he played one final season in the QMJHL for Montreal, but has spent most of his pro career moving between Columbus and the Blue Jackets’ American League club, the Syracuse Crunch. Last season was the first time he spent a full campaign in the NHL, but with all the injuries, it was not really a complete season.

Leclaire said he has not changed much from last season. He says its better health and better play from the team in front of him that is allowing him to reap the benefits.