Beach clears waivers, Peca still out & Methot returned to Syracuse

Biggest news of the day is that Kris Beech did clear waivers this morning and will be reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch.

This is great news for the Jackets as they retain some of that NHL depth that they signed this summer. Should say, a Fedorov/Novotny/Malhotra get injured, Beech would be recalled to fill that hole. Again he's not gonna light it up but when your in the thick of a season you want to be able to turn to a guy who understands what it takes to play in the NHL and not just throw a rookie to the wolves.

According to Portzline's blog Michael Peca was again held out of practice today. Its looking more and more likely that Peca will not be part of the opening night lineup. GM Scott Howson said no one would be recalled in Peca's absence. Instead Malhotra has been skating between Modin and Brule at practice.

Marc Methot was returned to the Syracuse Crunch today. Since Methot has not been a pro for 4 years or more he is not eligible to pass through waivers. Methot had a great camp and will be the first call up in the event of an injury on defense. The demotion for Methot means only one thing and that is that captain Adam Foote (pictured left) should be ready to go opening night.

Coach Ken Hitchcock said on his radio show today that goalies Pascal Leclaire and Fredrik Norrena will be rotated in goal. The organization is pleased with their performance in camp but remains cautious regarding the health of both goaltenders. Norrena has been battling a groin problem this preseason and Leclaire, while healthy thus far this year, has had a number of injuries problems throughout his career.

As Hitch stated, the goaltending position is just to critical and the Jackets cannot afford not to have options in case of injuries.

Hot shot rookie goaltender Steve Mason has been retained from his junior team as insurance in case one of these two goes down. Mason, who is 19, had a great camp and once he's returned to his junior team the team cannot recall him back. If Leclaire and Norrena prove to be healthy and are performing well a month or so into the season Mason will most likely be returned as the organization wants this kid to keep developing and not sitting up in the press box.

Hitch also said that the goaltenders will be rewarded on performance and that he'll only name a #1 if someone really grabs it -- seems fair to me.

Two other notes from Hitch in that Adam Foote has felt good the past two practices and when asked who will be a our presence in front of the net on the PP the names Modin and Chimera were mentioned. I was a little surprised not to hear Nash's name brought up there.

Oh...and Hitch is pumped for the cannon!

2 days until Ka-BOOM!

-LTL