Mental Monday (10/31/11)

Last Monday we were looking at a four game week and the hope of being 4-7-1 as we stand (and fight) here today. The Blue Jackets ended up going 2-2, winning both of their home games and dropping two on the road. It's not good enough to extricate themselves from the grave they have dug for themselves, but it represents a major breakthrough and hopefully signals that this team is beginning to come together the way GM Scott Howson and coach Scott Arniel envisioned it would entering the season.

Boo! The CBJ are 2-9-1, which is scary bad.

Speaking of The Scotts, the heat was turned up on their respective electric seat cushions this weekend when Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch reported on his blog that both could be relieved of their duties as early as today. Portzline went on to suggest that former CBJ coach Ken Hitchcock might be tagged to replace Arniel and that former Calgary Flames GM Craig Button might be replacing Howson. Needless to say, Porty's blog post caused quite a stir in Columbus and throughout the NHL. By the end of yesterday, there were the obligatory denials by all parties involved. No big surprise there. And so the plot thickens.

Perhaps the rumors predicting the fall of The Scotts Empire made an impact.  The team called a "players only" meeting three hours before Sunday's game against Anaheim, after which the players voiced their unification behind each other and the organization, which is to say Arniel and Howson. They proceeded to go out and play one of their most complete games of the season, winning 3-1 and effectively adding mud to the water. Did the win buy The Scotts some extra time or will the next few days turn out to be the calm before the storm?

With all that bubbling below the surface, Blue Jackets fans can look forward to the following this week:

• It's D-Day for Ryan Johansen. After playing in the allotted nine games, Howson must now decide whether he stays in Columbus for the season or is sent back to Portland for another year of juniors. Last Sunday, after the Ottawa Debacle, and based on the limited amount of ice time that Arniel was giving the young phenom-in-waiting, I opined that it was looking more likely that a return to Portland was in the offing. Since that time, Johansen was given significant time on the second forward line. He also netted the game-winner last night against Anaheim on a slick backhand move that hinted at his immense upside as a playmaker. In fact, he has scored both game winners in the team's two wins. During the four games last week, RyJo averaged just over 13 minutes of ice time per game, an increase of more than 2 minutes per game over his first five games. So is Arniel easing him into the lineup for the long haul or was it RyJo's last chance to prove he belongs? And if the latter, did he make his case? Howson finds himself in a precarious position with respect to how this decision plays with the fan base. Sending Johansen down will be interpreted that the Blue Jackets are more concerned about the future than the present and are essentially cashing out this season. If that happens, the rumors of Arniel's (and possibly Howson's) impending demise will certainly reach a boiling point. For what it's worth, at least one blogger in Portland (where they have been following this matter closely) believes that RyJo can start looking for an apartment in Columbus.

• How does 4-9-1 sound? That's as good as it can be a week from now with only two games on the schedule between now and then. On Thursday, the Jackets welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs to Nationwide. The Leafs are one of the surprise success stories (so far) in the league and start the week with a 7-3-1 record while going 2-3-0 on the road. On Saturday the Jackets travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers (6-4-1 overall; 3-3-1 at home). Given that 1) the Jackets are riding a two game win streak at home (yeah, it feels strange to type that) and 2) Philly is encountering some goaltending issues that would make even Jackets fans cringe, a two game sweep for the week is certainly achievable. 

• There isn't going to be any kind of announcement for another month, but the Blue Jackets and their fans continue to monitor the ongoing discussion regarding NHL realignment. A proposal is gaining steam that would result in four conferences, inter-divisional playoffs in the first round and a lot less travel to the west coast for the CBJ.

Have a safe Halloween and a great (and winning) week!

Apocalypse Now

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The end is near. Blue Jackets fans have been feeling that way for a couple of weeks when it comes to the team's chances of making the playoffs. But for coach Scott Arniel and his staff (and maybe even GM Scott Howson) the end might come as early as Monday.

The Dispatch's Aaron Portzline is reporting on his Puck-Rakers blog this morning that Blue Jackets President Mike Priest is on the verge of making big changes, possibly on Monday. Porty's report was quickly picked up by the Puck Daddy blog. It's really not a shock. A record of 1-9-1 is going to get you fired in rec league hockey, let alone the NHL.

Will Priest replace Howson with former Calgary GM Craig Button? Will he turn the reins back over to former Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock? Do either of these guys know how to walk on water? Stay tuned. It should be an interesting 48 hours or so.

Score the Assist to Number 3, Ryan Salmons

       Eric and Ryan, Wizmas 10/25/11

Like many Blue Jackets fans, I left Nationwiz on Tuesday night with an ear to ear grin. As I shuffled out of the nearest men's room and jostled for position toward the exit, I happened to bump into a friend of mine. He was wearing a Ryan Salmons jersey and for good reason. Eric was one of Ryan Salmons best friends. And then it occurred to me. Hockey Fights Cancer Night. Ryan Salmons. Duh . . . . . winning!

Much will be written about #Wizmas, the first NHL goals scored by Ryan Johansen and Johnnie Moore, and the gutsy performance turned in by the beleaguered Steve Mason. All of those contributed to one of the biggest and most desperately needed wins in CBJ history.

But I attended the game with my wife, who is a Breast Cancer Nurse Navigator at Ohio Health. The night belonged to her, all of her awesome colleagues and the cancer survivors to whom the game was dedicated. And to Ryan Salmons, one of the greatest Columbus Blue Jackets fans to ever carry the flag, who died of pediatric cancer at the age of nineteen.

The Blue Jackets needed a win on Hockey Fights Cancer Night. And they got one, with the help of an angel. Score the assist to number 3, Ryan Salmons.

Mental Monday (10/24/11)

Words do not seem capable of conveying the shock, the disappointment and the resignation of Blue Jackets fans on this wet blanket of a Monday, a mere eight games into the season. Only in the weeks prior to the 2009-10 season, fresh from the franchise's first playoff appearance, had the buzz around this team ever peaked higher than it did just a month ago. And never has it wallowed as deep as where it is now. The sudden drop in altitude has left Blue Jackets fans reaching for their oxygen masks. (Remember, if you are travelling with children, put your mask on first!)

So, "wha happened?"  The Dark Blue Jacket references the fact that although the Blue Jackets have the third largest payroll in the NHL, the players that they have been able to put on the ice would have the lowest payroll of any team at the moment. Injuries and Wiz's suspension are undoubtedly a big part of "wha happened." But there also seems to be a confidence void on this team that emanates from the back end and, although I haven't actually measured it, I would bet that it is roughly 48 inches high and 72 inches wide.

Here's a fair and objective breakdown of the State of the Union Blue from a Canadian perspective.  I also like it because the author compares the Blue Jackets to a song by The Tragically Hip. I love The Hip. 

Here's a very unfair and biased breakdown written by an Ottawa writer after Epic Meltdown 2. No mention of injuries, no mention of the pending deal to fix the Blue Jackets lease problems. The sharks smell blood in the water and they don't care about facts.

And for all you math nerds out there, here's a rather sobering breakdown of the Jackets dwindling playoff chances. If you are not into charts and graphs and such, here's all you need to know: the Blue Jackets now have only a 6.1% chance of making the playoffs. Or, as Mike LaFontaine (the character in the video clip above) would say, "I don't think soooooooooo!"

Having said all that, a week could make a big difference. At this time next Monday the Blue Jackets could be on a four game winning streak! That's right, the Jackets have four games in the next six days so there's plenty of opportunity to apply a tourniquet and stop the bleeding. To get to 4-7-1 the Jackets need to safely navigate through the following minefield:

• Detroit (5-1-0) at home on Tuesday;
• At Buffalo (5-2-0) on Thursday;
• At Chicago (4-1-2) on Saturday;
• Anaheim (4-3-0) at home on Sunday.

No worries, right?

Blue Jackets fans (or at least the ones still willing to admit to being one) have a strong sense of humor. We will march on. We will still Carry the Flag. And we will laugh. We would prefer laughing with the CBJ as opposed to at them, but either way we will laugh. So with that in mind, here are a few light-hearted links to help get you through a gloomy Mental Monday:

• The CBJ Blog had one of the more sarcastic "Game Recaps" I've seen in a while after Epic Meltdown 2. 
• Mary over at Fire That Cannon is not going to let an eight game winless streak ruin Wizmas. 
• Welcome John Kemp to the CBJ bloggernet. To him, what is happening to the Jackets is Almost Laughable (With Tears). 

Happy Monday everybody!

The Case Against Keeping Johansen Builds

Oh, the humanity. After the most epic in a string of increasingly epic losses, Scott Howson - or somebody - has some very important decisions to be made in the near future. 

Run along laddie. Nothing to see here.

Should the Blue Jackets finally give up on the idea that Steve Mason can resurrect his career? Should we at least think about having a viable option to Mason on the roster like most NHL teams do? Speaking of careers, is it time for Scott Arniel to find a new one? And lest we forget, there's this: do the Jackets keep Ryan Johansen in Columbus or send him back to Portland?

Johansen has played in five games. That gives him four more before the decision must be made. Most everyone agrees that Johansen has nothing left to prove in juniors. But the argument for sending him back gets stronger and stronger with each disastrous loss. 

There really is no point in burning a year of his eligibility if he isn't going to help the club. So far he hasn't helped much at all, which is not to say he has played poorly. The issue isn't really about how he's played. It's about how little he's played. In the five games he has been in the lineup Johansen has averaged only 10:41 in ice time.

Perhaps more importantly, giving Johansen a front row seat from which to witness the atrocities that are unfolding in Columbus can't be a good idea. Some might argue that young Johan has already seen enough to experience permanent scarring. If so, that's even more reason to send him to Portland, get him a therapist and hope he'll be OK.

Johansen has shown enough for us all to see that he has a great future ahead of him. Staying healthy and getting stronger, both physically and mentally, should be his primary objectives. As painful as it is to admit, it's starting to look like the best place for that to happen is Portland.

Is Columbus On An Island?

I'm lucky to have several friends that are diehard Blue Jackets fans. And I'm also lucky that they have a good sense of humor. Well, actually, most CBJ fans that are left have a sense of humor. Let's just leave it at I'm lucky to have friends.

Anyway, my friend Joe and I were enjoying a frothy beverage the other night and commiserating over the Blue Jackets excruciating start (which hardly seems like an appropriate word) to the season. Out of nowhere, Joe hit me with this:

Joe: "I feel really bad for Carter, Wisniewski and Prospal.

Me: "Why's that?"

Joe: "They have to feel like they were shipped off to the Island of Misfit Toys." 

It took several seconds for the audio/visual portion of my brain to process that information, but when it did I immediately blew beer out of my nose and cried. Unsatisfied that he had tormented me enough, Joe went on.

Joe: "Can't you just see it? Umberger is the Charlie in the Box. Wiz is Yukon Cornelius. Prospal is Hermey and Carter is Rudolph.  . . . ."

Me: "Stop it.  My sinuses are becoming intoxicated."

Joe: "The three of them walk up and Umby tells them his story.  . . . . 'Nobody wants to play with an Umby in the Box. That's why I had to come here' . . . And then Carter asks, 'Where's here?'"

This went on for 20 minutes. I haven't laughed that hard in quite a while. I came home and dug up the Youtube clip below and I haven't stopped laughing since.  It's therapeutic. 

After watching the clip and considering the real message behind Joe's analogy, I too feel bad for Carter, Wiz and Prospal. Hang in there fellas. Don't get too down on yourselves. 

And remember, the show has a happy ending! That's right. Rudolph and his shiny nose go on to lead Santa's sleigh through the blizzard and all the misfit toys get dropped off at their respective homes on Christmas morning. 

Let's hope Rudolph's hoof heals real soon.

Tough Times, Tough Questions

This is bad. And the timing couldn't be worse. First, GM Scott Howson goes out and opens the team's wallet to snag top-tier talent. The fan base rejoiced. Then came news that city officials would help the financially troubled team by allowing Nationwide Arena to be purchased with casino revenue. Great! But before anyone could even open their box of Crackerjacks and relish in the start of what looked to be a competitive NHL season, a very unfunny thing happened. The Blue Jackets forgot how to win.

I realized just how bad things were on Sunday night when I sent a tweet out indicating that I was at a concert seeing my favorite band and I felt compelled to qualify that my message was not about the Blue Jackets.

Twitter / @gregin120: Widespread Panic (not a #C ... via kwout

How bad is bad? Bad enough that Scott Arniel should be very worried. At some point, Arniel has to be thinking about walking into the locker room and, with a nod to former NFL coach Jerry Glanville, addressing his troops with something like this:

"Guys, this is the NHL. That stands for Not Here Long when you play like this. I'll be bagging groceries."

Everyone remembers that two years ago, 58 games removed from the first playoff appearance in team history, the Blue Jackets fired the man that led them there, the venerable Ken Hitchcock. Why? After starting 12-6-2, the Blue Jackets imploded during a 24 game stretch that saw their playoff chances evaporate (realistically) before New Year's Eve. During that brutal run the Blue Jackets compiled a record of just 3-14-7, including a nine game winless streak from December 10 through December 26 during which Hitchcock's Jackets went 0-7-2.

The Blue Jackets have opened the 2011-12 campaign on a six game winless streak at 0-5-1. If you want to go back to last season the steak is 12 games. In fact, during the last 24 games dating back to March 7 of last season, Arniel's record is 3-14-7, exactly the same as what Hitch posted during his fateful tailspin. Now consider that Hitch won 532 NHL games, coached in over a thousand of them and won a Stanley Cup. Those are Hall of Fame numbers. Guys like Hitch generally come with an extra long leash. Guys on their first NHL gig generally do not.

Some fans will say that it isn't Arniel's fault. A good number of people said it wasn't Hitch's fault. He still got fired. And history suggests that if this team continues on it's current trajectory over the next 10-15 games Arniel will be fired too. That doesn't mean he's a bad coach or a bad guy. It's just the way it works when things don't work. Howson said so himself when he fired Hitch. 

"It wasn't working," Howson said. "The team wasn't responding to the message."

Arniel's message was puck-possession and energy. Fans have yet to see much of either, and the results look very familiar. The Blue Jackets are not scoring enough goals to win. It should be noted that four of the Jackets' losses this season have been by a single goal. They have outshot they're opponents in four of their six games (and tied Vancouver in another). So, is this team close to getting over the hump or is the gap wider than it appears? That is the question, isn't it?

And while Arniel's seat has got be feeling a wee bit toasty, so too does Howson's. Many people around the league surmised that Howson's acquisition of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski amounted to his last stand in Columbus. Will ownership allow Howson to make a coaching change when his own status may in fact be in doubt? Will we see another "interim" head coach? Will his name be Todd Richards?

These are all difficult questions, the kind that nobody in Columbus wants to be discussing right now. Recent history - and a tremendous sense of urgency - leaves us no choice.

Veni, vidi . . . . . DAMMIT!

The idea was born at Cannonfest, bloggers getting together to take in a game. After looking at the schedule and realizing that Game 4 would not be televised, #NoBloggerBlackout Night was born. The opportunity to bring home the first W of the season added extra meaning. And so we gathered at Nationwide last night: Matt from The Cannon, Tom aka The Dark Blue Jacket, Alison of Heart of a Jacket and me. 

My view for #NoBloggerBlackout Night. Speaking of
bottles,  I was ready to hit one after this game.

The seats were ridiculously good. Tom is a seat shark. He volunteered to get the tickets for this event. And boy did he! 103, Row E, three rows behind the back of Scott Arniel's melon. Well played Tom! This is the second time I have had the pleasure of taking in a game with Tom and both times it has been a blast! He's got a great sense of humor. If you regularly visit his blog you already know that. The Dark Blue Jacket is  approaching rock star status. And it is well earned.

She will probably kill me for saying this, but nobody rocks a CBJ sweater like Alison. I kept thinking people were looking at us all night and saying "Hey, those are all bloggers", but honestly I think they were checking out Alison. Especially when she proudly jumped to her feet in her Derek Dorsett jersey as DD was engaged in a pugilistic moment with Cody McLeod early in the first period. Alison is witty, extremely knowledgeable about hockey and somewhat mysterious. (She has sources who will remain anonymous.) If you aren't checking out her blog on a regular basis you are missing out.

Calling All Blue Jackets Fans!

BY ARI FLEEMAN

The Blue Jackets are off to a slow start, but who cares? The year is young. This team is young and full of potential, and just waiting to blow up the Western Conference standings. Tonight we host the Colorado Avalanche, but sadly the game is not being televised. What a perfect excuse to head to Nationwide, see a game live and help turn this thing around! 

If there is one thing we as fans need to do, it is to make that arena feel like OUR house. We all remember what happened last year when the Penguins came to town. Say what you will about how well Pittsburgh fans travel but they packed our house better than we could and it felt like an away game. 

A lot of people will say Columbus can’t be a hockey city and that the Blue Jackets will never get the same amount of attention as OSU, but why can’t we convert those fans? Especially now with the way the Buckeyes have been playing as of late. If you haven’t been to game yet, or have a friend who has never seen the Blue Jackets live, lets get you there. The atmosphere will bring you back for more (I mean we did have the number one rated goal celebration according to yahoo.com last year). And we're going to score goals. Eventually. I promise.

We need to make Nationwide Arena a barn that opponents hate to play in, where the crowd is so loud and intense it is hard for them to focus. It's times like right now when a team needs its fans to help pull them through. Let's stop all the finger pointing and unite behind this young team! So get off the couch, grab a buddy and get down to Nationwide tonight. Your team needs you to Carry the Flag!

Must See Video From Down Goes Brown

This will make your day. I promise. The guys at Down Goes Brown have just posted this video "tribute" to Brendan Shanahan and it is absolute comedic genius. Here's the link to the entire post.

The View From 0 and 3 Is Not Straight Down

FMJ welcomes Ari Fleeman as a new contributor to the site. Ari hails from the North Coast where he has been blogging and covering Cleveland sports. He's a goalie in a Chiller league and he is a big Blue Jackets fan. We'll get a full bio of Ari up soon. Here's Ari's first post for FMJ. 

BY ARI FLEEMAN

It took just over 2 games for Cam Atkinson to score his first NHL goal. How can you not be excited about this kid and what he brings to the Blue Jackets? Atkinson is young grinder in every sense of the word. He just loves to be near the net and is going to do everything he can to get that puck there. Here’s hoping his youthful enthusiasm is contagious and that he is able to light a fire under an offense that needs to get hot. And now.

Cam Atkinson gets fist bumps after his first NHL goal.

Sure, there are going to be a lot of long faces in Jacketsland today. The first 0-3 start in team history will do that. But as was stated on this blog yesterday, this is a young team. (Heck, we’ll say it again.) There are four rookies on this roster, as well as two other players with less than a year of NHL experience. When you combine the kids with five or six veteran newcomers to the squad, there’s a lot of chemistry that needs to be built. Good thing there’s still 79 games left.

Two other players that I'll be watching closely over the next several games: Steve Mason and R.J. Umberger.

Mental Monday (10/10/11)

Who would have thought that after two games we would be hearing fans telling other fans that they shouldn't be panicking, or to "back away from the ledge." I've always found it funny when someone who senses a panic coming on tries to calm everyone down. It rarely works. In fact, it seems to always have the opposite effect.

The word panic has a negative connotation for most people, but it can actually be a good thing. First of all my favorite band is Widespread Panic, so whenever somebody says "panic" it usually puts me in a happy place. Second, sometimes panicking (and doing it early) is good, like when it gives you a head start and might help you avoid getting trampled.

What I find interesting about the "don't panic" talk in Jacketsland so far is that it seems to be suggesting that we shouldn't be freaking out about the defense being so bad. Really? I don't know what anyone else was thinking, but I kind of figured this group of d-men was going to give up lots of goals. There really isn't one blue-liner on the roster that you can call a shutdown defender. Telling people not to panic about the defense is somewhat misleading, like it might get a lot better. And quite frankly, it might not
This year's team is going to sink or swim based on its offense. The additions made to the roster in the off-season by GM Scott Howson were all about offense. Carter, The Wiz, Prospal, and even the rookies that made the squad --  mostly all offense. Sure, Wiz is a blue-liner, but one who has earned his stature as an offensively gifted one. Same goes for Savard. Any panic needs to be about the offense, about how we are 0 for 11 to start the year on the power play. Or about how this team looks no better at protecting the puck than last year's squad. 

Blue Jackets Blogger Roundtable, Part 5

The Blue Jackets kick off the 2011-12 NHL campaign tonight at Nationwide against the Nashville Predators. The bandwagon has been washed, waxed and gassed up. It's time to get this party started. But before we do, let's take care of some unfinished business.

Welcome to the fifth and final installment of the Blue Jackets Blogger Roundtable. All week long, Matt Wagner from The Cannon has been releasing segments of a roundtable discussion he led involving other CBJ bloggers. The panel consists of Andy Krygier of CBJ Blog, Mike MacLean and Dan P. from The Cannon, Alison Lukan from Heart of A Jacket, J.Martin Poston of Martini Hockey, Jeff Little of Ten Minute Misconduct and yours truly. Parts 1 through 4 can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Let's have at it.

Question #9: I’m borrowing a question overheard many times online: The defense can certainly score more than last year – but are they better?

Jeff: Yes.  Part of the problem the defense had was the inability to skate with the opposition, particularly for Hejda and Commodore.  We have a strong skating unit now, with a nice combination of youth and veteran savvy.  Methot is a key.  He has not looked good in camp, and has to stop being a spectator, trapping himself on the backhand, and finishing people off physically.  He's playing like he's a legend in his own mind right now, and somebody needs to snap him out of it.  But overall, the unit is much better.  Also, keep in mind that an improved scoring punch means the puck spends less time in the defensive zone, and with the ability to score, the pressure is reduced.

Alison:  Yes - If Savard continues to improve, the 3rd pair will be stronger than in past years.  Tyutin, and Wiz have shown scoring ability, while Methot, and Martinek are reliable when on the ice. 

CBJ fans hope The Wiz  is the missing piece to the CBJ playoff puzzle.

Andy: 2011-2012 in:

Martinek

Wisniewski

Savard

Johnson 

Moore

Holden

2010-2011 out: 

Stralman (thank god!)

Lepisto

Hejda

Klesla

Commodore

Rivet

Do you trade to get the 2011-2012 group straight up for the 2010-2011 group? I'd say no doubt.  Of the group we lost, the only ones I'll miss are Hejda and Klesla.  No matter what your favorite motivational poster says, you win games and championships by outscoring opponents and you do that by scoring more or giving up less goals than your opponent. Do Wisniewski and Martinek represent an increase in goal differential over Hejda and Klesla.  Absolutely.

Dan:  Depends on how you define "better". I think they can move the puck better, which is what Scott Arniel wants. They don't have a true "shut down" pair in my estimation, but they have a top pair that can play high minutes, and that is responsible in getting the puck up and out to move it the other way. I think one thing the team is counting on is increased offensive possession, which should do a little to hide any warts defensively. 

Greg: This is a classic chicken/egg situation. Does a good offense start with a good defense, or does a good defense start with a good offense? On paper, this defense would appear to be a little thinner than what the Jackets rostered over the last two seasons. That being said, it would not surprise me if they post better numbers than those defenses did. Arniel came to Columbus preaching puck-possession. The problem was he didn't have the all the parts he needed. But Howson went on a veritable shopping spree in the off-season and, as discussed, several young guns are loaded and cocked. Perhaps we might finally start to witness the kind of play that made Arniel's teams so dominant in the AHL. The Real Arniel (I hereby copyright that phrase). If the Jackets start playing puck-possession hockey, the d-line and Mason will be big beneficiaries. Will they be better? Maybe not. But maybe they won't have to be.


(Continued after the break)

Mental Monday (10/3/11)

Here is the first installment of something you might see from time to time this season: Mental Monday. The idea is to catch up a bit from the weekend and look forward to the week ahead. But it probably won't run every Monday because sometimes Mondays just suck. And I refuse to write when things suck. Right now though things are pretty much suck-free, so here we go.

Matt Wagner and the crew over at The Cannon have posted the 2011 Blue Jackets Blogger Roundtable, Pt. 1. Per Matt, here's the 411:

If you missed last year's edition, here's how this works: I, your handsome and talented moderator, assembled a list of questions which we sent to our panel during the pre-season, and they had until yesterday to write their answers. (In many cases, that means the answers were written before the last round of roster cuts, so please keep that in mind.) 

We'll be kicking it off today with the first couple of questions here at The Cannon, then another blog will host part 2 tomorrow, another hosts part three on Wednesday, and so on. We'll have something for you each day this week until the roundtable wraps up on Friday morning, just in time for the regular season.

The panel consists of Andy Krygier of CBJ Blog, Mike MacLean and Dan P. from The Cannon, Alison Lukan from Heart of A Jacket, J.Martin Poston of Martini Hockey, Jeff Little of Ten Minute Misconduct and yours truly. Be sure to check it out and follow along. The final installment on Friday will be hosted right here at Full Mental Jackets. 

Someone who goes by XxAnzeKopitarxX on YouTube has gone to an awful lot of trouble to post the 2012 goal horn sequences for every team in the NHL. I can't say if it's entirely accurate, but I'm willing to give anyone who would attempt such a thing the benefit of the doubt. The CBJ sequence has apparently changed a little from last season. It's more of a tweak. The old one is also on the site if you want to compare. What say ye all - tumbs up or thumbs down?

Add another CBJ-centric blog to your browsing list. Tom Fellrath (aka The Dark Blue Jacket) has created Blue Jackets Pucks and Stuff, a unique site highlighting "the curious, the obscure and the best of Columbus Blue Jackets memorabilia." So yeah, I sent him photos of my CBJ Santa figurine and my limited edition (#73 out of 576) autographed Doug MacLean hat issued prior to the inaugural season. As I mentioned to Tom, they could have made a million of these hats and I'm pretty sure mine wouldn't be any less obscure.

Tonight is a big night for the Blue Jackets, their fans and the city of Columbus. At tonight's Columbus City Council meeting members will vote to approve the use of anticipated casino tax revenue to buy and operate Nationwide Arena. If approved a collective sigh of relief will be heard through Jacketsland. The deal is designed to save the team upwards of $10 million in arena lease and operating costs, something that team officials have said is key to keeping the team in Columbus. While not everyone in town is in favor of the deal, it is expected to receive unanimous support by City Council members. Read more about tonight's meeting here.


That's all for now kids. Let's get ready to get ready.

Howson Launches Youth Movement in Columbus

The Blue Jackets trimmed their roster to 29 players today. The list includes four players on injured reserve (Kristian Huselius, Jared Boll, Mark Dekanich and Theo Ruth). Also on the list is forward Alexandre Giroux, who was placed on waivers at the time the list was released. That leaves one final cut that will need to be made in the next week. That move will likely involve forward Ryan Russell who is injured.

What it all means is that the Jackets will be suiting up on Opening Night with four rookies. The four - Ryan Johansen, Cam Atkinson, Maxim Mayorov and David Savard - have all played well in camp and have earned their spots. But all the off-season buzz was about Howson "going for broke" with a veritable spending spree that brought in the likes of proven veterans Jeff Carter, James Wizniewski and Vinnie Prospal. The fact that Howson is willing to roster four rookies, not to mention two other players (Matt Calvert and Grant Clitsome) who have 42 games each of NHL experience is certain to raise a few eyebrows. But it probably shouldn't.

Howson believes in this youth movement. He showed that during the off-season when he elected to stick with Steve Mason in net. And he further showed that he is willing to roll the dice on unproven youngsters when he signed Mark Dekanich, a veteran of one NHL game, to be his primary backup. It's a high-risk strategy to be sure, and one that could find Howson sweating cannonballs if it doesn't work. By the looks of things in preseason, it should prove to be a lot of fun watching how it all unfolds.

The only remaining roster sub-plot involves the blue line. The Jackets have eight healthy d-men on the final roster. With James Wizniewski sitting out the first eight contests, Howson will have until Game 9, an October 25th home game against Detroit, to cut the last defenseman. That essentially creates an eight game bubble for Savard and journeyman Aaron Johnson. And possibly veteran Kris Russell.

Here's the official roster as of October 1, 2011.