It's Tyler Fight Night in Columbus

Blue Jackets fans are getting ready to take over Nationwide Arena tonight. Well, sort of. The Red Wings have a history of traveling quite well to games in Columbus. But there are a couple of points of distinction that promise to make tonight one of the more spirited and evenly matched competitions between CBJ fans and Red Wings fans in the 10 year history of the rivalry.

First, it just so happens to be Tyler Wright Night, or as my friend Joe is calling it, Tyler Fight Night. Throughout the year, the Blue Jackets have been honoring the players from the team's inaugural season to celebrate the organization's 10th anniversary. So tonight one of, if not THE, most popular Blue Jackets players of all-time will be honored. His standing ovation will be long and loud. And right after he drops the ceremonial first puck, I hope he makes a bee line toward Todd Bertuzzi and gives him the business. Don't laugh. It could happen.

There isn't a lot of Tyler Wright footage on Youtube from his days with the Blue Jackets. But long-time fans don't need to see video to remember the way Tyler Wright played in a CBJ sweater. He brought heart, determination and a mean streak to each and every shift. This is one of the only clips I could find of Wright. It serves as a fitting tribute though, not because of how he fared in the fight, but because it shows him going toe-to-toe with a much larger Sandy McCarthy of the New York Rangers in the interest of sticking up for his teammates. That's what Wright did on a nightly basis as a Blue Jacket. And that is why I wear my Hats for Heroes (which was founded by Wright) with pride.

And then there is #MoneyOnTheBoard. The idea to post a bounty for a game-winning goal,with all the proceeds going to charity actually started last year,according to Tyler Schweinfurth, a diehard Columbus fan and the originator of the concept within the #CBJ Twitter community. When Tyler decided it was time to go back to the well for tonight's game against Detroit, the intent was the same as last year -- have some fun and try to get the fan base energized enough to jump start a CBJ team that appears to have a dead battery. But this time, with the help of Lori Schmidt from 97.1 The Fan, #MoneyOnTheBoard blossomed into a yet another national feel-good story with its roots in Columbus. Hockey fans from all around the North America have joined in and are pledging thousands of dollars (as well as their blood to the Red Cross) to the cause. It has been quite the encore for the city that just last week took one of its homeless people and elevated him all the way to a second chance in life within the space of 48 hours.

With so many people, so many local charities, not to mention hockey fans all around the NHL watching this game and it's outcome so closely, Nationwide will be fully charged by the time Tyler Wright heads to center ice at approximately 7PM. There will be many Red Wings fans in attendance. There always is. But if karma means anything, they are in for a very long night.

Howson's Gambit: Two Possible Scenarios

By waiving both Kyle Wilson and Mike Commodore, without immediately making call-ups from Springfield, Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson has ignited a raging brush fire across the Columbus hockeyscape and beyond. Lots of rumors are starting to fly. The latest one has Columbus sending Rick Nash, R.J. Umberger and Nikita Filatov to Pittsburgh for Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Alex Goligoski. Sweet Cheez-its! Could something like that really be in play? There's a multitude of possibilities here, but only two scenarios really make any sense.

The first scenario would have Columbus trading an active player (not named Wilson or Commodore), thus creating a third "open" roster spot and receiving three active players in return. This could also play out as a four player for two player type of deal. Obviously the active player being traded from Columbus would have to be a really big name for the Jackets to get three players back and, let's face it, the Jackets only have one really big name player. However, the trade referenced in the rumor above doesn't really fit the mold that Howson has already cast. The Jackets would be giving up two active players and getting three back. There would still be an empty roster slot, meaning he wouldn't have had to waive Wilson AND Commodore. Nash, Wilson and Filatov for three players? Maybe.

The second scenario would have the Blue Jackets adding two players to the active roster without giving up any in the deal. It could look something like Filatov and a draft pick (or picks) for two active players.

Any scenario other than these two eventually leads to questions about Howson's decision to waive Wilson and Commodore without making corresponding call-ups, or at least the timing of those moves. In other words, if Howson was considering more call-ups one would think the players involved would be on a flight to Anaheim already.

So which is it, Door Number 1 or Door Number 2? Scott Torgerson (@myguythetorg) from 97.1 The Fan says he has a "great source", the identity of whom he is naturally protecting, who tells him the Blue Jackets are working on a BIG trade. The Source narrowed the list of potential trade partners down to San Jose, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Boston, Montreal and Pittsburgh.

There's also this from @EricSmith_FSO, who covers the Blue Jackets for Fox Sports Ohio:

"The rumor I heard last night from a source about a proposed trade, if it happens, would rock this town."

The notorious Eklund, The Anonymous Hockey Blogger and Founder/CEO of Hockey Buzz, took it one step further, saying the rumored trade would not only rock Columbus but the entire "hockey world". As one CBJ blogger said to me yesterday, "Eklund is only right about once a year," so caveat emptor on this one.

If there is anything to these rumors and sources and what have you, then the answer appears to be lurking behind Door Number 1, meaning the Blue Jackets might be on the verge of trading an active player or players in a deal that involves a total of five or 6 players. That would be BIG. Door Number 2 - Filatov and draft picks for two players - is Boys Husky, but it's not BIG. And it probably wouldn't rock The Newport, let alone Columbus as a whole or the "hockey world".

As the Blue Jackets prepare for back-to-back road games against the Anaheim Ducks and the L.A. Kings, we're left with lots of questions, lots of rumors and a plot that thickens with each passing minute. Whatever happens, based on the clues that Howson has provided, it's starting to look like the team that takes the ice at Nationwide on Tuesday night against Phoenix is not going to be the "same old Jackets".

The Winds of Change Are Blowing Down Nationwide Boulevard

What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here? First, we learned that coach Scott Arniel considers Mike Commodore to be his seventh best d-man. This is hardly news. But then we learned that Mike Commodore wants to be traded. This brings the total number of people in Jacketsland that want Mike Commodore to be traded to 10,001. Again, hardly newsworthy.

Later on Wednesday came reports that the Blue Jacket put center Kyle Wilson on waivers. Say what? This just doesn't make sense. Or does it? First, let's look at why it doesn't:

• It was just one month ago that Wilson was told to "get a place," meaning he had earned a spot on the roster and didn't have to worry about being shipped to Springfield if he kept playing the way he had up to that point. And he has for the most part. In fact, a couple of weeks ago Wilson was given a brief stint on the second line as Arniel shuffled his lines in an attempt to generate more offense. If Arniel has been unhappy with Wilson's play of late, he hasn't said so publicly.

• On Tuesday, the Blue Jackets traded d-man Nate Guenin to Anaheim for center Trevor Smith. Smith isn't an elite prospect, but neither was Guenin. Springfield has a plethora of blueliners and needed some offensive punch. But if the Jackets were thinking of sending Wilson down, why trade for a center? (The Guenin trade might also suggest that Scott Howson isn't planning to call a d-man up any time soon, but that's a conversation for a different day.)

• Ethan Moreau suffered a rib cartilage injury on Tuesday night and is likely headed to the IR. He will definitely miss the last two games of the current four game road trip. This opens a spot on the roster. Usually when a spot opens up on a team's roster, the natural tendency is to call somebody up from the minors, not send one down. Things that make you go "Hmmmmm."

• Wilson was 2 for 2 in shootout attempts. Both goals were sick. If you follow the Blue Jackets and have watched them in shootouts, you are undoubtedly scratching your head over the move for that reason alone.

So how in the name of Espen Knutsen could this move make any sense? On Wednesday night Aaron Portzline tweeted that the Blue Jackets placed Wilson on waivers to clear a another roster spot (in addition to the one created when Moreau heads to the IR) "because [the] potential is there for a large trade." But that still begs the question: why Wilson? Does Howson think he is more likely to slip through waivers than, say, Derek MacKenzie? Or Andrew Murray?

If Wilson clears waivers is Howson contemplating a call-up? Would he call up Matt Calvert or Tomas Kubalik and risk stunting their development by rushing them to Columbus? Not likely. Nikita Filatov hasn't yet found his game in Springfield. Surely, that can't be the reason for this move . . . unless he's about to get traded. Or is Wilson to become part of a trade once he clears waivers? If I was wagering, I'd bet on the latter. But I would probably wrap it in a teaser with a Filatov trade.

During his weekly radio call-in show on 97.1 The Fan tonight, Scott Arniel sounded emphatic in saying that the Commodore situation would not be allowed to linger, that it would have an ending and that it would happen sooner rather than later. That, combined with the move to place Wilson on waivers, makes it abundantly clear. We have ourselves a Developing Situation.

The Twittersphere is buzzing with speculation about an impending roster makeover. In fact, some #CBJ followers (yours truly included) displayed a condition called "premature e-speculation" tonight when @EricSmithFSO provided a link showing Mike Commodore's profile on the New Jersey Devil's team page. Simultaneous panic and joy (but mostly joy I suspect) ensued briefly until @frickindannie restored order by pointing out that Commodore's profile was part of the Devils' all-time roster page on their web site.

If only. Then again, Arniel didn't sound like he was kidding around. Commodore's days in Columbus appear to be numbered.

The forecast for the next couple of days calls for dense fog followed by high winds (of change).