What gives with the musical pre-season chairs? I can't remember the last time so many games were moved around after the schedule was released.
..but hey - it's just the preseason right?
Speaking of the pre-season... I'm still not giving up hope that the Jackets brass will one day slash the prices on these games and use them as a marketing tool. Why not at least give it a go for 1 game and see what the reaction is?
General admission. $5 dollars uppers... $10 dollars lowers.
It also sure would be nice if these pre-season games were televised... or at the very least streamed over the web.
Good review of the new EA NHL10 game from CNET here titled NHL 10 improves on an already winning formula.
Jeremy Roenick has officially retired. Don't look for him to be out of the spotlight for long as I'm pretty certain he'll make the jump from the dressing room to the broadcast booth in short order.
Some more classy quotes from Williams via the Dispatch:
"I was disappointed that it didn't work out, me coming back to Columbus," Williams said. "But I understand the situation. I think if (Howson) could have re-signed me, he would have. But his hands were tied. There's nothing else he could do about it. There's no blame at all.
"That's a good young team that's definitely headed in the right direction. If I could have gone back, that would be great. That team is making strides. But this is the business. It's tough to keep players."
Argh. Damn it Williams.. of all places why do you have to be a Wing!?!
I just saw this courtesy of HF Boards. Apparently the Jackets have invited 27 year old Jared Aulin to training camp.
Aulin in a 6ft 192lb center who played his junior hockey in the WHL for the Kamloops Blazers. He was a 2nd round pick of the Avalanche back in the 2000 entry draft.
Aulin had an agent send faxes to all NHL teams and follow that up with phone calls. He admits he didn’t expect to hear from anyone and was, in fact, prepared to check out the European market. Which is when the Columbus Blue Jackets called.Don Boyd, their director of hockey operations and player personnel, remembered Aulin and convinced general manager Scott Howson that signing him was worth the gamble.
“I was ecstatic,” Aulin said, adding that he is a different person than he was during his first go-round.
Coincidence that that this player just so happens to be a center? I think not.
Be sure to check out the rest of the article as there are a lot more quotes.
So which month is worse in the sports calendar - July or August? It's close for me.
July at least we have free agency and the fallout -- after that though it's pretty dry although the Columbus Crew has entertained me some. August is absolute road kill for NHL news but football trianing camps open.
Regardless September can't get here soon enough. 36 days til camp.
-LTL
Friday, August 7, 2009
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It's August - No hockey, football camp is not worth tracking, Reds and Indians are clearly out of it. At least July has the Tour de France and Wimbledon.
August would be much worse without LTL! Just happy to keep finding good reads here. Thanks!
By the way, perhaps one reason that the CBJ might be reluctant to lower prices for pre-season games is that full-season ticket holders are essentially "forced" to pay full price, a sticking point for many PSL holders. If the CBJ lowered the price, they would most likely have to do so for the PSL holders and that would be a chunk of lost revenue. Just a thought. But, I agree, anything they can do to bring in the "casual" fan and then maybe get them hooked on Jackets hockey might be a good investment. Better than a bunch of empty seats. Those don't by beer and hot dogs!
I regularly attend the pre-season town hall meetings held with Hitch and Howsen for season ticket holders. Mike Priest and other CBJ execs are usually there, too. Mr. Priest was asked point blank one time about the price of pre-season tickets and whether it'd ever be lower. Without hesitation his answer was "No". He went on to say something to the effect of the CBJ counting on those pre-season ticket sales towards their bottom line.
Not the answer I wanted to hear because I have season tickets but rarely go to pre-season. Several hundred $$ down the crapper. Whereas people who only by ticket packages or single games aren't forced to buy pre-season. Why screw the full-season buyers if they don't want them?
What do you think about this rumor over at THN
"Teams interested in a defenseman with offensive skills might want to get in touch with Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford, who recently told the Raleigh News & Observer of his plans to shop Anton Babchuk.
A restricted free agent, Babchuk was unable to reach an agreement on a new contract with Rutherford. The defenseman posted good numbers last season with the Hurricanes (16 goals, 35 points, plus-13 in 72 games) and could be a good addition for teams seeking a puck-moving defenseman.
Babchuk earned $1 million last season and will undoubtedly try to use his numbers to land something in the neighborhood of $2.5 million. If Rutherford fails to trade him before the start of this season, Babchuk could opt to play in Russia, which he did in 2007-08 during a contract dispute with the Hurricanes."
Would he be someone the Jackets could use?
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