Brilliant!

So how cool is this fantasy draft deal that Hitch conjured up for the beginning of camp? Here are the details via the Dispatch:

On Tuesday, at a private function in Nationwide Arena, the Blue Jackets' ownership group -- majority owner John P. McConnell, and minority owners Ron Pizzuti, Jay Crane and John F. Wolfe, publisher of The Dispatch -- will each draft a 16-player team off the club's training camp roster. That's three centers, seven wingers and six defensemen per team. The goaltenders will be assigned to teams each day by the coaching staff.

The teams will square off on Sept. 13, the first day of on-ice camp: McConnell vs. Crane, 10:30 a.m.; Wolfe vs. Pizzuti, 2 p.m. The following day, the consolation game and championship games will be held at the same time. If a game is tied at the end of regulation, it's straight to a shootout. (Insert Blue Jackets' shootout joke here.)

I love it!

..and quite honestly it's a brilliant idea mostly because it gets the owners involved with more than just signing checks.

I also love it because we get to see actual hockey (not just drills) at the first day of camp.

I think it's a lock that Nash goes first but the real question is who goes second especially since goaltenders are off limits? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Umberger but if it were me it's Brassard hands down.

Sure some of you folks don't want to rethink your decisions to not attend the first day? Can't beat this expecially since it's free. No way I'm missin this!

Players better come into camp in game shape or they will get exposed pretty quickly.

Here is an absolute must read from Scott Burnside over at ESPN regarding the NHLPA fiasco. Some highlights:

The outcome of the weekend's events is all in keeping with what appears to be a dangerous return to the Stone Age of labor negotiations that should put fear into all the league's players and its fans.

"Scary days," one prominent player agent told ESPN.com Monday morning.

Another former NHLPA executive member was livid, saying the timing of this leadership change was "terrible."

"We need to get behind Paul Kelly and let him do his job," he said.

If those behind the movement really cared about the future of the union "they'd let this pass." Further, he added, "if Eric Lindros really cared about the union, he'd let this go and get himself another job."

One area that also infuriated this former union executive member was the interviewing of office staff to see how Kelly treated them.

"Who cares," he said. "Do you think the president of Johnson & Johnson walks around worrying about hurt feelings?"

Many players, agents and former players contacted by ESPN.com expressed concern about changing leadership with a new collective bargaining agreement looming within the next couple of years.

One top player told ESPN.com that by the time the search committee gets around to finding a new executive director and gets up to speed, "he won't have time to get his pencil sharpened before we're in another lockout."

"It's the culture of paranoia," added a former player and former NHLPA executive committee member. "And what sign does this send to the league? Where's the stability at the union? It's a year or two away from needing to negotiate a new CBA."

What remains most perplexing about how all of this has unfolded is the seeming rush to judgment.

Why, for instance, didn't the player representatives opt to take the information provided to them in Chicago back to their teammates when training camp opens in two weeks? Isn't firing their executive director an important enough decision to want to make sure the constituency is on board?

The players should be working in the coming hours to see that this decision is reversed or, at the very least, held off until they can sort through the lies, innuendo and gossip that permeate this Byzantine drama.

If there is reason for Kelly to be dismissed, then so be it. If not, then it behooves the players to roust out the group that led the charge for Kelly's dismissal so he can return to the business of keeping the game on the rails.

If not, good luck. Good luck to the NHLPA, which will get exactly what it deserves, a step back to the Stone Age. Good luck to the fans, who can expect only rancor and, at some point, another, potentially lethal, labor stoppage.

It sure does appear a few inmates are being aloud to run wild in the asylum.

I hate to say it fans but with this union we should all be worried about the future of this league once this current CBA expires

Speaking of this NHLPA mess... who in their right mind decided it was a good idea for Manny Malhotra to vote for the Blue Jackets?

I don't know which way Manny voted but don't you think the fact that he doesn't have a contract yet would factor into his decision on whether to vote Kelly in or out? Nevermind the fact he's representing a team and it's contracted players that he doesn't even play for anymore? I have a feeling Rick Nash doesn't have much of a problem with Kelly after inking his whopper (with cheese) of a deal.

I just don't think all of these players grasp the ramifications a decision like this may have on their playing and paying futures. It seems to be taken seriously only by a few older and vocal players (Chelios for example) and that minority are driving this union straight into the ground.

Hey, perhaps they don't mind busing it around in Russia?

I'm sure the KHL is loving every second of this.

Sorry to be a downer but the thought of a another lockout makes me ill.

On a positive note. I would like to give a shout out to my CBJ season ticket rep (Andrew) for a great deal on Creed tickets!

-LTL