SvoNotes: Robinson's hat trick puts him in rare air among CBJ players

SvoNotes is a weekly column by BlueJackets.com reporter Jeff Svoboda.
The Blue Jackets are in their 22nd season of hockey, and in that time there have been just 46 hat tricks recorded in 1,711 games by 29 different players.
In other words, they don't happen very often. Some very, very good players have worn union blue and never had three goals in a game. There's a reason the hat trick is venerated in hockey lore; it takes a unique set of circumstances for a player to finish with three goals in a game.

On Tuesday, those circumstances came together for Eric Robinson. The sixth-year Jacket is a dependable bottom six player, a speedy, big body who has proved to help his team play against some of the best players in the game while contributing offensively.
But on the list of hat trick scorers, he wouldn't be someone you'd necessarily bet on. Just ask Robinson himself, who couldn't remember the last time he'd scored thrice in a game after tallying in the first, second and third period in the Jackets' 5-3 win to become No. 29 in CBJ history.
Robinson had scored two goals twice previously in his NHL career, and he admitted the thought of a third came to mind after his tally in the middle frame. He just wasn't expecting it to happen.
"It's a natural thing (to think about), but it's been at least 12 or 15 years since I had one," the 27-year-old New Jersey native said. "It doesn't come natural to me, that's for sure."

But there he was, becoming the third CBJ player to get a hat trick this year, joining Kirill Marchenko and Patrik Laine. Robinson found a loose puck in the slot after a strong Sean Kuraly forecheck in the first period, corralled it and fired past the glove of Buffalo goalie Craig Anderson.
In the second, Kuraly again did the dirty work, finding the puck behind the net on the forecheck and sliding it past Owen Power to Robinson, who was alone in front and quickly snuck the puck past Anderson. Finally, with the Jackets protecting a one-goal lead in the final moments, Robinson chased down a puck and scored into the empty net to ice the win.
Considering it was a Tuesday night in Buffalo, there weren't many CBJ fans there to litter the ice with hats, but it counted just the same.
"You know, the thing about Robbie is he's a quiet guy," head coach Brad Larsen said. "He's constantly working at his game. He's always on the ice with (assistant coach Kenny McCudden). There's a group that every day at the end of practice is working. He's got great speed. He's been a valuable player for us the way he kills penalties.
"You guys have seen how I've used that line (with Robinson, Kuraly and Mathieu Olivier). Their plus-minus is not a great reflection of how hard the assignments (are) they've had all year. And you know, I love to see guys that put all that extra work in get rewarded for something like that and he does it. He's one of the guys."
So how did it feel to get his first hat trick since ... well, he's not even sure what level?
"It's really nice," he said. "Anytime you get one goal in the NHL, it's pretty special. A cool night for me for sure."

Trade Winds

As we post this, the NHL's trade deadline -- set for Friday at 3 p.m. -- is about 29 hours away.
Some fans have lamented in recent years how few trades happen in the NHL as compared to the NBA, which has cornered the market on player movement drama over the years. But this deadline has been an exception, with such names as Patrick Kane, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakob Chychrun being dealt in the past few days.
On the Blue Jackets front, Columbus is currently in last place in the NHL standings, so
the moves sending Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo to Los Angeles as well as Gustav Nyquist to Minnesota
were about the future.
Columbus netted three draft picks -- a likely first-rounder and a fifth-rounder in 2023 and a third-rounder in 2024 -- which gives general manager Jarmo Kekalainen either more firepower to add to the team's highly ranked prospect pool or flexibility to add to his arsenal for trades, either before Friday afternoon or at the NHL draft in the summer.
It's
tough to say goodbye to Gavrikov, Korpisalo and Nyquist
, all of whom were fan favorites for their play on the ice and their character off of it, but that's part of the business with players who are on expiring contracts. With this season's playoff hopes over and the Jackets turning their eye to the future, Columbus had to look at what it could do to help this team become a winner sooner rather than later.
Stay tuned here and on social media for updates as any news remaining breaks, and be sure to tune in tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. as myself and Blue Jackets personalities discuss the deadline on our #CBJin30 Trade Deadline LIVE show presented by Ruoff Mortgage. Live on YouTube, we'll break down the CBJ moves as well as the craziness around the league.
And if you want some analysis now, myself and Dylan Tyrer had SportsNet's Elliotte Friedman on our Safelite Skate Space show yesterday, plus CBJ broadcasters Jeff Rimer, Bob McElligott and Jody Shelley. We went a solid hour talking about the moves, and it was a ton of fun.
Just click here to listen
.

Sweezey Debuts

When a player makes his NHL debut at age 27, at that point, it's a bit of a stretch to call him a prospect.
But it does show that player has taken the long road to make it to the league, and Billy Sweezey fits that bill.
The Blue Jackets defenseman skated in his first NHL game Sunday when he filled in for the injured Adam Boqvist in the team's game at Minnesota, and while he doesn't exactly have a closet full of jerseys from years toiling through the minors, he did have to work for everything he's received thus far.
The Hanson, Mass., native didn't make it to the USHL, America's top junior league, full-time until 2015-16, a season in which he turned 20 years old (an age Cole Sillinger is yet to get to). He then spent four seasons at Yale before making his AHL debut in his age 25 season.
Sweezey signed an AHL deal with Cleveland last season, and his physical nature, dependability and fearlessness caught the eye of the Blue Jackets, who signed him to a two-way deal in March of last season.
"I've always taken the long road," Sweezey said after making his debut. "I always had to prove myself at each level, never really got to skip one. It's been my life -- just put my head down and keep working and hope for a day like this, if it comes. I was lucky enough that it did."
Those types of stories are familiar to someone like Larsen, the CBJ coach who was a grinder himself. Though Larsen was drafted twice and ended up playing 294 NHL games, he was someone who had to work his way up through the levels, and he recognizes what it takes for players to have to have patience to make it to the top.
"He was on an AHL deal last year, and we flipped it," Larsen said. "I love stories like that. I love guys that have to go through the grind of it and earn it -- not that the other guys don't, being a draft pick -- but (the players who) take the long road, I almost feel like they appreciate it so much more.
"If you're ever around Sweezey, he's got a great passion for the game. So those are great stories. You love to see them earn their way up here. And, you know, I think it was a pretty exciting moment for him and his family."
That it was, as Sweezey's father Ken -- himself a college player at Providence, where Sweezey's mom, Lorie, also played -- was able to be in Minneapolis for Sweezey's debut.
"He was able to come out, which is awesome," Sweezey said. "I was telling guys, I went right up to him, gave him a hug and cried a little bit with him. So it was a really special moment for us both. I mean, I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am right now without him. So I was really, really happy he got to make it, and I know he was happy to be there."
Sweezey played 10:01 in the game, finishing plus-1 with three hits and two shot attempts before being returned to Cleveland on Tuesday. He's not a flashy player -- he has 4-20-24 in 133 AHL games -- from the blue line but Carson Meyer has described him as "one of one," a gregarious and unique personality who plays with his heart on his sleeve and never backs down from physical play.
Sweezey was called up earlier this year and didn't get into a game, something he admitted was disappointing but also alerted him to just how close he was to making it to the show. Finally, on Sunday, it happened.
"It was a dream come true for me," he said. "Everyone, you know, family, friends were texting me after, and it was just great to hear from all them congratulating me. I don't think it really hit me until the day after, so yeah, it was an incredible experience start to finish. Guys and coaches were great to me, so just happy to have accomplished that."