Intros

Big nod to Bethany for posting up the new Blue Jackets Intro:

I really love this new intro.  It is very nicely done, very tasteful and yet very exciting.  Compared to the Blackhawks intro, much better.  

There are two of the Blackhawks I saw, mostly on TV.  The first one below they play I think before games that feature an appearance of the past greats like Stan Mikita & Tony Esposito.  

The next one is an older variation of the one I saw at the preseason game.  I think now it's redone to feature some of the new 'Hawks and erasing the older ones like Marty Lapointe & Robert Lang.  I'm just not a big fan of having them skating through the streets of Chicago shooting the puck.

Nash, Filatov, & Voracek goals (vs. Preds, 10/17/08)

via YouTube: (note - I'm not sure if the videos are really showing up or not. I'm at work and am using Chrome, so it will have to wait till I get home and check on Firefox)

Rick Nash Goal:


Nikita Filatov & Jakub Voracek Goals:

LaCosta called up

LaCosta got the win just recently in Syracuse, and he should be on his way to Columbus, or actually, Nashville eventually, to back up Freddy tomorrow.

With the new rules we may not know specifically Pazzy's injury (we may get just the general location of the injury), but I really hope it is not too bad and he will be back soon.

Facebook Group

For fellow Blue Jackets fan bloggers: I created a new Facebook group called "Blogging the Blue Jackets." Join up if you are on Facebook (let me know who you are and I will approve you) & spread the word.

Live Blog - Blue Jackets vs. Preds 10/17/08 (third period)

I posted a question for the radio but it wasn't answered :(

Key is defense. Columbus need to get that feeling again.

3rd period begins.

9:08: Nashville scores again. Come on defense!!!!!

9:17: I'm getting sleepy. I'm glad I don't have to be on the road four hours...it's bad enough driving two hours home late at night from Chicago. Usually in the last 30-60 minutes it's autopilot, partly because it is pretty unpopulated (for the Midwest) down that stretch of I-65. It can put you to sleep easily.

9:18: Picard vs. Smithson; Picard won! :)

9:20: Power Play!!

9:21: Chimera scores!!!! 5-3 Jackets!

9:32: penalty kill time. penalty killed off again.

9:34: Great save by Pazzy, but he seems to be injured :(. Freddy is in. Sounds like a hand injury for Pazzy.

Final seconds of the game....and Columbus did it!! 5-3!!

It came with a cost if Pazzy is injured though.

Other Scores:
USHL: Waterloo 1, Indiana 5 (final score)
IHL: Fort Wayne 6, Port Huron 2 (final score)
NHL:
Vancouver 2, Buffalo 5 (final score) - Buffalo has been a pleasant surprise so far this season. I like Patrick Lalime and was sad to see him leave Chicago, but commentators on HNIC Radio seemed to indicate he may play more in Buffalo to relieve Ryan Miller, which is great to hear.
Toronto 0, NY Rangers 1 (final SO score) - Toronto is kind of impressive to me also, especially ruining Detroit's night :)
Phoenix 3, Ottawa 6 (final score) - Alfredsson back in the line up and gained 2 A's in the game
Other games going on (too late for me): The Battle of Alberta, The Battle of California (Anaheim @ San Jose), and the East Coast/West Coast Battle (Carolina @ LA).

Syracuse got 18th consecutive victories, a new AHL record. Congrats Crunch, way to go!

Live Blog - Blue Jackets vs. Preds 10/17/08 (second period)

OK, they really need to cut out that burrito lady song. It's freaking annoying. And really, until I googled it to find out who's trying to sell me a burrito (should have known it was Chipotle), I didn't know where to get that said burrito, but since it is Chipotle, never mind (I'm a Qdoba fan myself, and Moe's).

And other games I'm following:
USHL:
Indiana Ice 1, Waterloo Black Hawks 0 at the end of the first. This was the game I was going to go see tonight (before deciding to pay for the Jackets ticket and then changing my mind). Playing for Waterloo is Eddie Olczyk, the son, not the father (Ed Olczyk does color commentary for Comcast SportsNet Chicago & NBC Sports)

IHL:
Fort Wayne Komets 3, Port Huron IceHawks 1 at the end of the first period. Fort Wayne are defending champs from last season, and this is their season opener. Season home opener is tomorrow.

NHL:
Ottawa 4, Phoenix 0, midway through the second period.
Toronto-NY Rangers, null through midway in the second period.
Vancouver 0, Buffalo 3, at the end of the first.

8:16: Nash score again, 23 seconds into the 2nd period.

8:28: Preds scored two quick goals. Come on defence! 4-2 Jackets.

8:31: 2nd power play.

8:35: 3rd power play. Tootoo goes to the sin bin.

8:40: The airing of my favorite commercial: The Klesla/Boll smooth jazz commercial. :) This makes staying home worth it (I don't think I will be hearing that at Nationwide Arena).

8:41: another penalty kill. Let's go Jackets! And penalty killed off.

8:49: End of second period.

The Jackets need to get back into the game; they need to play like they did in most of the first period.

Live Blog - Blue Jackets vs. Preds 10/17/08 (first period)

From the comfort of my home, via streaming radio online & CBSSports.com's boxscore. Hopefully by me staying home this should guarantee a win (like if I went it's a good chance the Jackets will lose because that's my luck :). )

Spent around 20-30 minutes trying to get the stream up. Stupid computer.

7:30ish: Nash score the first goal in the game, assisted by Commodore & Huselius!

7:32: Dorsett vs. Tootoo. Sounded like Tootoo "won." Actually, looking at the penalty minutes, it looks like it was more of a scrub than a fight, each getting two minutes.

7:40: Looks like Columbus has its first penalty kill. Dorsett 2 minutes for high sticking. Let's get a SH goal men!

7:44: Penalty Killed Baby!

7:46: FILATOV SCORED!! Dang, now I'm regretting staying home.

8 seconds later....Voracek scored!!! And there goes Pekke Rinne.

7:52: Second penalty kill (Modin for hooking) - Penalty Killed

7:57: First power play of the game.

7:58: end of First period.

That was a great first period. Kicking myself for not taking the chance and go, but it's a regret I can live with (as opposed to the other possibilities....).

If they can play like this in the next two periods, I'll be VERY happy.

Columbus, Here I Come

Tomorrow. And I have a big knot in my stomach. I mean, it's a four hour drive to see a game and I am nervous. But I guess it is worth it: cheap ticket, cheap gas, tribute to McConnell, free hat, Nikita Filatov.

I just pray for a blowout win on the Columbus end & no overtime, because it is a long drive home.

I just hope I am not making a big mistake on this.

UPDATED:
For some reason, I have this bad feeling about going to Columbus, so I am not. But I will be listening to it online. Even though I did buy the ticket, I'm only out $26. That just means I can't buy a book or two this pay cycle. That's the sacrifice I can make.
So Columbus, I won't be coming. Sorry.

UPDATED #2:
Yeh, so actually I'm still undecided about going. I think this bad feeling is more paranoia than anything else. It's funny, when I was in my first-round undergrad years, I had absolutely no qualms about driving 8 hours to Minnesota, even when I drive at night and sleep in rest areas. However, now, 10-12 years later, I'm freaked out about a four-hour drive. This is something I'm gonna have to sleep on and decided tomorrow, probably before 2pm.

Weekend Hockey Roundup (Late, Late Edition)

First stop, the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL. Last week were the preseason games, and they went 3-0-0, defeating the Bloomington (Illinois) PrairieThunder (awesome name!) and the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Wings. Regular seasons play begins Friday in Port Huron (Michigan) against the IceHawks and coming back home on Saturday to play against the Flint (Michigan) Generals.

There has to been some complaints about the overzealous advertising at the home ice of the Komets. Blake Sebring writes about the advertising on the new scoreboard while icethetics posted a picture of the Nascar erm...I mean rink of the Komets.

The Indiana Ice of the USHL swept the two-game homestand against the new expansion team the Fargo Force.

The Columbus Blue Jackets won a great game (except for the lost of Michael Peca, with a potential 10+ game suspension for allegedly hitting a ref with his stick) against Dallas but lost against Phoenix. Tonight they play in San Jose.

The Chicago Blackhawks lost all three games they played this weekend, against the Rangers, the Caps, and the at-home shoot-out lost against the Predators. Is it really bad that I am starting to root against the Blackhawks because I am so sick of the media hype on their end? Has anyone seen the Patrick Sharp commercials for some electronics place in the Chicago area? He's one of the better looking 'Hawks, but he is definitely not a great actor. I can't stand those commercials now.

Right now I am listening to the Wild @ Thrashers game online. This is my excuse to post this funny commmercial for the Wild:

Final Score

7-1. Jackets blew the 'Hawks out of the water.

I work in a bookstore in a college town, and during the first week of courses, a student who was buying books notice the 'Hawks shirt I was wearing (I wore the Jacket's shirt before and it needed to be washed). He asked me if I was a 'Hawks fan and I said I was a bigger Jackets fan. Turned out he was a Jackets fan too. Anyways, he was telling me to keep my eyes out for Tyutin, that he was going to shine. And he was right.

Awesome game guys!

But I am getting sick of that burrito song commercial. It's embedded in my head now.

Why Couldn't the Jackets Played Like This In Chicago Last Week???

Halfway through the second period, 4-o Jackets. That is so freaking awesome!!

There is a lot of excitement in Chicago, but I never felt it. I feel so much more excited with the Jacket's new and awesome lineup. There wasn't much change in the 'Hawks lineup. I think the hype is because of John McDonough's marketing genius (Hey, it worked for the Cubs).

I really do think that the Jacket's changes are not given the respect that it deserves. This is a new team now, much better. 4 goals in less than 5 minutes? We beat Nashville once? Heck yeh, we got a great team.

Ain't I excited? Heck yeh.

In other news, the 'Bulin wall is on waivers. Think he's going to get snatch up? Only if a team is really needing a goaltender. Maybe LA. But I don't think it's going to happen.

Holy Crap!! We DID IT!!!

We beat the PREDS!! WE BEAT THE PREDS!!

Great game guys!!

Voracek with a goal & assist. Tyutin sounded great. Nasty Mirasty dropped them early (unfortunately I missed the first period).

And I can't hear enough of that Nationwide "smooth jazz" commercial with Jared Boll & Rusty Klesla. That is a classic.

Quick Initial Thoughts about the Game Last Night

• I will try to post up my photos later on today. They are not exactly perfect (the camera is a loaner so I wasn't entirely familiar with it, I was at a kinda bad angle for some of the action, and I after a while I wanted to focus on watching the action rather than trying to find photo opportunities). (I saw the request for Versteeg this morning; I may have one or two of him, since he seemed to be on the ice quite a bit).
  
• For someone who never been to an NHL game before (been to the old IHL & the current USHL games), you get a new appreciation for the game that you don't get watching it on TV. Like, the ice looks bigger on TV; it's not. They check REALLY REALLY hard into the boards. And it was REALLY cold near the ice (and I was dressed warm too).
• Over 18,000 for a preseason game. Impressive. It was nearly packed, especially in the 200 & 300 levels. There were more open spaces in the 100 levels but people moved down towards the 3rd period to fill those spots.
  
• There was a guy sitting about 5-10 rows behind me wearing a CBJ jersey who looked very familiar. It took a few takes and then I realized where I saw him (considering I've never been to Columbus before). He was in the background of the Leclaire computer background download photo released by Blue Jackets. That was just weird. I think I saw maybe 2 others CBJ jerseys in the crowd (I went incognito for safety. If something were to happen to me no one would know until Thursday when I go back to work. We are talking about Chicago here...I had on a old Nordiques tee but mostly wearing my black Indiana Ice hoodie jacket inside)
• It is really rough rooting for your team in enemy territory.
  
• I focused entirely on paying attention to the Blue Jackets, so my comments will be about them. I cannot comment about the 'Hawks, except that Campbell was really quick out there.
• Lots of fighting last night. There's bad blood between these two teams.
  
• Players I was impressed with: Brassard, Voracek, Chimera & Novotny; Tollefsen & Backman; Sestito & Dorsett plowing the 'Hawks into the boards; Norrena coming back to finish strong in the 2nd after being plowed into the boards.
• More later on in the day. I rolled into home at 2am on autopilot (I don't remember much of the last 15-20 minutes of the drive), and I am still exhausted.
  

Game tonight

• Ticket? - Check.
• Camera? - Check.
• Roster Info? - Check.

I will be taking a lot of pictures tonight. And writing down my thoughts. I will try to post them as soon as I can, but I can imagine I will be sleeping in quite a bit on Wednesday. This should be an interesting game: Brassard & Voracek is playing on the CBJ side, while Patrick Sharp & Patrick Kane, as well as goalie Corey Crawford, on the CHI side. Interesting people to watch.

I now have a new favorite (non-goalie) player

From what I have been reading, I think I'm going to really, really, REALLY like Mike Commodore (not to mention his AWESOME last name!!)!

I hope to see that hairdo soon!

Updates

• Hockey Night in Canada Radio was not on last night, so I think it is safe to assume that will start airing again September 29.
• It appears I will not be able to see Nikita Filatov play on Tuesday in Chicago. Seems that they are keeping him off the ice till late next week in order to mend his (hairline) broken fibula. I hope to see Voracek play though.
• The Blue Jackets prospects beat the Tampa Bay prospects last night to take 7th place in the Prospects Tourney.
• Blue Jackets: Question about playoffs nets cautious optimism (Columbus Dispatch)
• For those in the Columbus area: Free food on Friday, 12-2pm at the Nationwide Arena Plaza. You can also see Fedor Tyutin, Kristian Huselius, Nikita Filatov and Jakub Voracek.
• Blue Jackets 2008 training camp preview (Hockey's Future Website)
• Voracek yanked from prospects tourney (Halifax's Metro News - The Q blog). I'm not a communications/journalism degree-holder, but isn't this title a little too rough?
• In unrelated news, I am fighting for first place in 2 out of my 3 fantasy baseball leagues, which is amazing because I never made it any better than 3rd place, even in hockey. And baseball I know little about.

Quick updates

• For those with Sirius Satellite Radio, Hockey Night in Canada Radio with Jeff Marek should be back on (Sept. 15 according to the Sirius.ca website). I haven't confirmed this yet because I take public transport to work rather than drive. But it should be on M-F, 4-8pm (2 hours, repeated twice), on Sirius channel 122.
• (see above): Looking at the cbc.ca website, Hockey Night in Canada Radio will start airing September 29, M-F, 4-7 pm (I think I heard they are doing 3 hours straight now) on Sirius channels 122 & 97. I will try to see if it's on tonight and confirm which may be true here.
• With the merger of Sirius & XM satellite radio, there should be more choices coming in the "early fall". This may or may not mean that with Sirius XM, those who were previously with Sirius may have access to the NHL games when it comes to a la carte programming. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but if this is indeed the case (o please please please!!), I will let y'all know.
• Six days to the first preseason game of the Blue Jackets in Chicago (I got my ticket! Three rows from the ice on the Columbus shoot-twice side! I will bring a camera and take beaucoup pictures).
• A bit of old news, but Robert Lang (C-Chicago) was dealt to Montreal for a draft pick in 2010. My first reaction was "That's a bummer," but then I realized he wasn't that great of a player last season. It was commented Langer was one of the players that caused the normally cool & calm Denis Savard to give his "Commit to the Indian" speech last season (Right after the lost to the Blue Jackets *big smile* in January).

Trinity to Columbus, the Filatov has landed

Filatov in town, set to go to work (Columbus Dispatch)

Oh yeh! He's here. Finally.

Thirteen days to the first Jackets pre-season game in Chicago & I will be there. Three rows from the ice, at the Columbus shoot-twice area (I just hope the people in front of me are short as well). I got a good price on that ticket too. The ticket should arrive today. Next step, get a good camera to take pictures with. I will be totally excited, I would love to see Filatov, Voracek, & Brassard play, as well as Nash, Commodore, Tyutin, & Pazzie. And I would be interested in seeing whoever Chicago puts on net (either Khabibulin or Huet I'm sure). I love watching goalies.

A small blurb about Steve Mason

From the Calgary Herald website (which I think is actually just a summary Sunday's Columbus Dispatch article):

Steve Mason would love nothing better than to be suiting up with the Columbus Blue Jackets prospects.

But the 20-year-old goaltender, who starred with the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers and London Knights, injured his left knee in April. He's had a quiet summer following surgery and hasn't skated since the injury.

"The pads are just sitting there collecting dust," Mason told the Columbus Dispatch.

Mason, who led Canada to a gold medal at the 2008 world junior hockey championship in Russia, is expected to start the season with the American Hockey
League's Syracuse Crunch. But the native of Oakville,Ont., is considered a significant piece of the Jackets' future.

It's that time of year again...

Time for those NHL season preview magazines to hit the magazine racks. And the only time of year I can get any hockey magazines at the local Barnes & Noble.

So, in my hands, or on my hardrive, I have:

• The Hockey News Ultimate Fantasy Pool Guide 2008-2009
• The Hockey News Yearbook 2008
• The Sporting News Hockey 2008-2009
• The Official 2009 NHL Yearbook

So, what are they saying about the Blue Jackets this year?

The Hockey News Ultimate Fantasy Pool Guide 2008-2009:

The Fantasy Impact Standings:

8. Columbus: Nash & Umberger lead revamped offense.

In their Hot 100 Top Scorers, they project Nash as being #42, with 78 games played, 4o goals, 32 assists for 72 points. The only other Columbus player on that list is Kristian Huselius at #95, with 81 games played, 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points.

In their Projected Shutouts, guess who they have on top? Yes, Pascal Leclaire with a project 8 shutouts (FYI, they projected 6 each for Giguere, Brodeur, Kiprusoff, Luongo & Lundqvist).

As for the Rookies to watch, they have Jakub Voracek at #6:

Voracek is more of a playmaker than scorer, which suits the Blue Jackets fine. They've been searching for someone to get Rick Nash the puck since he entered the league (43 points)

In their Ultimate Guide to the Teams:

The Blue Jackets are a defensive-minded squad under coach Ken Hitchcock, but rely heavily on star winger Rick Nash for offense.

A one time 40-goal man, Nash missed the milestone by two goals in 2007-08, but will get there again. Fifty goals is not out of Nash's reach, but, he needs a better supporting cast first.

Kristian Huselius will replace Nikolai Zherdev on the wing, playing with more consistency and causing less headaches for GMs.

Swedish veteran Fredrik Modin is also a strong winger with scoring ability, but has had a hard time remaining healthy.

There are solid role players, led by Jason Chimera, Manny Malhotra & Jiri Novotny. The team has high hopes for Czech winger Jakub Voracek, who will get every opportunity to earn a top-six winger spot this year.

While the Jackets are strong on the wings, they are weak at center. Neither Malhotra or Novotny are solid options for the first or second line and Rookie Derick Brassard needs time to develop.

On defense, new acquisitions Fedor Tyutin & Christian Backman have made the backend even bigger and tougher. Kris Russell is a few years away from handling the quarterback duties.

In goal, Pascal Leclaire has arrived as the No. 1 man. As the team improves, so will his numbers.

And finally, on the page about penalty stats, a photo of our very own Jared Boll fighting!

Next magazine up: The Sporting News Hockey 2008-2009