Winger Rick Nash was named to the Western Conference all-star team over the weekend. Nash has had a solid season posting 13 goals and 17 assists in 39 games. This will be Nash’s second all-star appearance. He was an all-star back in the 2003-04 season when he posted 41 goals and 16 assists in 80 games, and was tied at seasons end for the league lead in goals with Jarome Iglina and Ilya Kovalchuk. The NHL All-star game will take place Wednesday Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. in Dallas.

Injury Bug Bites Hard

Injuries to some of the Jackets star players have crept up over the past week. Sergei Fedorov was just placed on injured reserve is out indefinitely with an unspecified elbow injury. Fedorov was enjoying a productive season with 13 goals and 15 assists in 36 games this season.

All-star Rick Nash is currently day-to-day with a back injury he suffered in the game against Anaheim Dec. 5. Nash was scheduled to practice with the team Monday, and the team hopes he will return some time this week.

Defenseman Duvie Westcott is also out indefinitely from a concussion he suffered in the game against San Jose a day after Nash’s injury. Captain Defenseman Adam Foote is also banged up and is listed as day-to-day.

“We started to lose people, and you can’t lose top-end people and continue to play hockey without having to make huge adjustments,” said coach Ken Hitchcock after the teams 4-1 loss to the Predators last Friday. “We got a couple of days to get ready to make some adjustments, but we are going to have to live with outsome of these guys.”

The Hitchcock Effect

Since taking over as the Jackets head coach, Ken Hitchcock has certainly had this team playing better. They beat the best team in the league last week in the Anaheim Might Ducks. In his first full month as head coach in December they had a record of 9-7 including a winning streak of five in a row early in the month. But since the injuries really started pilling up, the Jackets are just 1-5. The bottom line is that the Jackets are still at the same place they were in the standings a month ago. They are in last place in both their division and in the Western Conference. Hitchcock’s over all record since he took over is now 11-14.

The Week Ahead

The Jackets will go on a quick two-game road trip this week to Chicago and Nashville before the return home to play the Detroit Red Wings Friday at 7p.m. Then they’ll have a week off for the All-star break to hopefully get healthy before they take on the Buffalo Sabres the following Friday.