SvoNotes: Korpisalo's confidence leads to comeback season

We might not quite be at the point of saying right now is the best of times for Joonas Korpisalo.
But we can agree last season was the worst of times.

The longtime Blue Jackets goaltender had the season from hell in 2021-22, in part because of a nagging hip injury that limited him throughout. He posted career worsts in just about every statistical category, including goals-against average (4.15) and save percentage (.877), and multiple bouts with illness (COVID and non-COVID varieties) and injury kept him from getting into any kind of flow.
To sum it up, anything that could go wrong did go wrong.
"Pretty much I would say that," Korpisalo admitted. "It wasn't a great season in every way, mentally and physically. It just wasn't meant to be."
What a difference a year can make. Rehab of surgery on that injured hip cost him the start of this season, but Korpisalo feels much better on the ice, and better numbers have followed.
He's posted a 3.35 GAA and .905 save percentage, numbers that don't quite jump off the page but are major improvements from a year ago. Looking at the advanced numbers that take into account the quality of the shots Korpisalo has faced, he's 24th among the 57 qualifying NHL goalies in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes per MoneyPuck.com, so you can say among the best in the world, he's having an above average season.
He's also turned in some standout showings of late, including performances last week in Calgary and Edmonton that allowed the Blue Jackets to earn three points out of four in a pair of charged-up games in Alberta.
"He's playing confident," defenseman Erik Gudbranson said, "and we're feeding off him for sure."
If there's one word it all comes back to, it's likely confidence. There are a few positions in sports where a player simply has to be confident to get the job done -- a pitcher on a baseball mound, for example, or a quarterback in football -- and hockey goalie is right near the top of the list given the importance of the position on a team and the mental fortitude it takes to stand in front of pucks that can come in at nearly 100 mph.

As the frustrations mounted a season ago, Korpisalo simply wasn't a confident goalie. And goalies struggling in that arena tend to try to do too much, to chase the game and make their impact on it. At that position, that's a fatal flaw because it leads to overcompensation, being out of position, scrambling and ultimately more goals against.
"100 percent, especially for me," Korpisalo said if that was an issue a season ago. "I was always all over the place. Things didn't feel well, and I felt like I was always going all over the place and doing too much. It's more like this season, I'm still in one location and let the game come to me and hope it works out after."
This year, things are certainly working out more for Korpisalo, which feels like a weight lifted off the goaltender's shoulders. He went into the offseason facing a ton of question marks, not the least of which was his contract status as Korpisalo entered the summer as an unrestricted free agent.
Columbus quickly signed him, giving him some peace of mind when it came to his NHL future, but there was still the long work of rehab throughout the summer, plus the curiosity of how things would go once he got back in the net. Physically and mentally, he'd have to power through when he got back to Columbus.
"I would say it was both," Korpisalo said. "More physically for sure. But you know, summer was a lot of time to think about my game, what I want it to be this season. It wasn't easy to recover from the surgery. Coming to training camp I still wasn't 100 percent. There were a lot of question marks -- on my side, too. Like, 'Can I play anytime soon? What's going on?' It wasn't easy, but I think what I learned is just to not think too much and work on it and once you're good, just go play."
It's something that serves him well at the moment, as Korpisalo is again in the last year of his contract. The longest-tenured CBJ goalie in franchise history -- he's the only to skate in eight seasons for the team -- could be on the move either before the deadline or after the season, but he's learned that's not the kind of thing he can really worry about.
Right now, it's better to simply view him as one of the best stories of the season, an extremely well-liked figure in both the locker room and the fan base who has overcome adversity to work his way back to the top of his game.
"He's right back to where he was at," Jenner said. "He's a really good teammate, and he's played really well for us, giving us a chance to win every time he's out there. He's the best teammate that you could ask for. He comes in, he works hard, he's a great guy in the room. He battles in games. He shows up, and he's obviously a guy that is valued in this room because of the person, the teammate and the player he is."

Marchenko Searching for a Helper

A few weeks ago, in this space
, we detailed a funny story from Carson Meyer about Kirill Marchenko's sense of humor and mind-set as a hockey player.
"We had a running joke a couple of weeks ago where we were doing power-play practice and Marchy passed the puck," Meyer said. "Somebody yells at him, 'Don't pass that, shoot that if you get that,' and he just heard, 'No pass,' so now he just keeps saying, 'No pass.' It's worked out."
Funny enough, though, that phrase takes on a bigger meaning when you look at Marchenko's stat line through 28 games. He's put in 13 goals in that time, the most ever for a Blue Jackets rookie in that span to start a career, but has zero assists.
That puts Marchenko in some pretty rarefied air, as he's one of just three players in NHL history to have each of his first 13 NHL points come solely in the form of goals. John McKinnon last did it in 1926-27 with Pittsburgh, while Montreal's Joe Malone started his career with 16 goals before he had a helper in 1917-18.
That was the first season of NHL hockey, when there were just four teams -- and only until midseason, when the Montreal Wanderers disbanded after the city's arena burned to the ground.
That should tell you how long it's been since someone has put together Marchenko's type of numbers, but the funny thing is he hasn't done it through being a selfish player. Sure, his shot is his best asset, and he's not afraid to let it go, but head coach Brad Larsen isn't out here pounding the table and demanding the rookie give up the puck.
"I don't think he's a guy that doesn't pass the puck or doesn't want to," Larsen said. "I love that he wants to shoot the puck. Too many guys, I feel, get too cute on the 2-on-1s or 3-on-2s, especially as young guys. Sometimes you're forcing plays that aren't there. I'd rather see them be direct, guys with those heavy shots. If (the goalie) makes a save, we can live with that. It's when you go to make a pass and it gets broken up and you get nothing out of it, that's the frustrating part.
"I like his directness. If he sees a shot, he's gonna take it, and I love his attitude about that."
Still, Marchenko's stat line has led to jokes that he's in the running for the NHL Cy Young honor, with the reference being a player's goals and assists stat line reads like a pitcher's record in baseball. That leaves Marchenko at an unbeaten 13-0, putting him right at the top of the list if such an award existed.
For his part, Marchenko admitted he wishes he was filling up all categories of the score sheet, not just one.
"Of course I am looking for an assist," he said. "It's just how it's working. I try not to think about this. I try to pass. Maybe it's unlucky for me."
The funniest part? Marchenko was an assist machine when he began the season in Cleveland, posting eight goals and 11 helpers in 16 games with the AHL squad.
"I had a lot of assists!" he pointed out with a big smile on his face when discussing his start in Cleveland. "More assists than goals!"

Congrats on 2,000!

There's a lot more to the Blue Jackets family than just players and coaches.
It's not quite an army, but there's a strong support staff that shows up every day to make sure the team has what it takes to compete. There are front office staffers, development coaches, trainers, strength coaches and equipment managers who dedicate their lives to the organization.
There have been two major milestones in the CBJ family during the month of January. First, on Jan. 7 against Carolina, head trainer Mike Vogt celebrated working his 1,500th NHL game. Then, on Saturday in Seattle, equipment manager Jamie Healy worked his 2,000th career pro hockey game.
Healy has been an institution since the beginning of the franchise, as he was hired before the inaugural 2000-01 season. The Blue Jackets celebrated his accomplishment in a variety of ways, including wearing white T-shirts pregame featuring Healy's original mug shot and the text "Congratulations on 2000 games."

"It's great to celebrate something like this," Larsen said as he wore the shirt for his pregame media session. "These guys work so much and they get zero credit for it. Nobody talks about them nearly enough. We land at whatever time in the morning, everyone is going to the hotel, (the equipment staffers) are coming right here unloading stuff. They get in late, then they're the first ones here unpacking stuff and making sure things are right.
"Again, they do not get enough credit for how much work they put in. To last this long and be around for this many games, it's incredible. It's a great night to celebrate for him."
Given that assistant equipment manager Jason Stypinski worked his 1,500th pro game late last season, it's fair to say the Blue Jackets have one experienced support staff. And as more of those honors come to pass for CBJ staffers, the players know they're in the hands of one of the hardest-working crews in the league.
"it's a cool honor," defenseman Gavin Bayreuther said. "Guys like him are the glue guys in the locker room. We wouldn't be here without them. They work so damn hard. I can't even explain it. They are so valued. We notice how hard they work."