Garon gets cup crazy and more..

An absolutely fantastic read sent in by Kory here about our new backup goalie Mathieu Garon with the Stanley Cup.

Love the Super Chexx bubble hockey game in the back ground. Nice touch!!

Ready for a good laugh? Well check out who made the Hockey News first and second All-Overlooked Free Agent team:

D - Christian Backman (Columbus) — Quietly efficient and ever improving, Backman is the kind of support player that every blueline needs.

Oh my.

Thanks to Jeff D. for the heads up on that one.

Anthony (a.k.a. whalerjacket) pointed me in the direciton of this piece over on the Bleachereport. It lists Columbus as the #1 destination for Mats Sundin should he choose to play this season:

Well, they need a top-line center. I may sound crazy to still be giving such a title to Sundin, after his stint with the Canucks, but I truly believe a fresh start could bring him to his old form (or close to it) for one more year.

Other centers on the team include Antoine Vermette, R.J. Umberger, Manny Malhotra, and Derrick Brassard (only played 31 games due to a dislocated shoulder). The highest scorer of these players was Umberger, who scored 26 goals, and finished with 46 points in 82 games.

If Sundin were to become a Blue Jacket, and left winger Rick Nash (who scored 40 goals this past season) were placed on a line, the results could be spectacular.

Sundin's playmaking skills combined with Nash's natural goal scoring ability could make for enough offense to not only make it into the playoffs, but to actually win the franchise's first playoff series (or playoff game, for that matter).

I can certainly understand his reasoning but those who closely follow this squad know that:

1. Sundin made what, 7 to 8 mil last year for 1 season with the Canucks? --- the Jackets just simply can't afford that.

2. Sure they could use that additional depth down the middle -- most teams could -- but the Jackets fill comfortable with their center ice and they have a bigger need for a puck moving d-man.

Where things could get real interesting is if the Jackets suffer a long term injury to either Vermette or Brassard. Howson would be forced to make a move and the Sundin chatter would certainly pickup at that point.

Finally wanted to pass along a new article up over at The Hockey Writers by Rick called For Love of the Game.

-LTL