Season tickets renewals trending up, Methot and more...

Just caught this great read over at HF. It's a look at CBJ season ticket and sponsorship renewals for the Jackets thus far from Columbus Business First:

The buzz created by the Columbus Blue Jackets’ first run into the playoffs and some twists on seating packages seem to be trumping the recession’s effect on ticket and corporate sponsorship sales.

With seven weeks before the start of the preseason schedule Sept. 18, the National Hockey League club’s season-ticket sales are running about 5 percent ahead of the pace from a year ago, said Larry Hoepfner, senior vice president of business operations. The renewal rate for season tickets is nearly 87 percent, which is a few percentage points above where it stood at this time a year ago.

The Jackets also have signed nearly a dozen corporate sponsors to renewals this summer, including six-figure deals with Verizon Wireless, American Electric Power Company Inc. and AAA Ohio. More agreements are expected before the regular season begins in October, Hoepfner said.

“It’s pretty good given the (economic) challenges that everyone faces, including us,” he said.

Unfortunately you have to be a member to view the rest of the article but the part that is open to everyone shows some positive signs.

Check out another great read here from the Ottawa Citizen about Marc Methot and his brother Matt:

Marc, 24, is looking forward to his second National Hockey League season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In his first full season, the defenceman had four goals and 13 assists in 66 games, enough to earn him a new two-year contract.

His junior career was spent with the OHL's London Knights over three seasons, ending with a Memorial Cup title in 2005.

"It was unbelievable," Marc says of his first full year with the Blue Jackets following three seasons with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.

"It was a great experience. I went through a lot of hardship before I got to this point. Grinding it out in the American league wasn't exactly easy, but it made me better and made me really appreciate the opportunity that I had this year in Columbus, and I really took advantage of it."

Thanks to Pucklaw for the heads up!

Pahlsson, Modin and Huselius were all invited to the Swedish Olympic camp according to Jackets.com.

That makes 6 Jackets so far that have been invited to an Olympic camp. Although it should be 7 as Umberger got screwed (yeah, still bitter).

Still have the Czechs and Fins to go. The Jackets don't have any Fins on their current roster but Hejda, Voracek and Klesla are all Czechs. I would think at the very least Hejda would get an invite and I wouldn't be surprised to see Voracek or Klesla on that list either.

-LTL