Prospects win first game and Legein to return?

The Jackets prospects won their first game yesterday 4-3 in a shootout. Some thoughts from the game from NHL.com (thanks to anonymous for link!):

Led by Colton Gillies (who looks more like a pro every time he steps onto an ice surface), the Wild came out hammering the Blue Jackets – but the Jackets gave it right back.

Down by one late in the third period, Columbus’ kids tied it up on a goalmouth scramble, then held on during a tenuous 4-3 powerplay in overtime to reach the shootout. Jakub – that’s “Jake” now people – Voracek took the tournament’s first shootout attempt of 2008, and buried a low shot just over the right pad and under the outstretched blocker of goaltender Steven Stanford (a free agent invite from the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL).

The kid from Kladno, Czech Republic looked like he was walking down the cobblestone streets of Prague, he was so cool and collected. The Blue Jackets’ faithful are going to like this kid, and for a long time, I tell you what.

Here are some more details regarding the shootout attempts:

Voracek was Columbus’ first shooter and he looked cool, calm and collected. He went right down the center and with a no frills attached shot beat St. Jacques with a low shot just inside the left post. It looks as though Voracek has the entire package, at least from what I can tell from one game in a prospects tournament, so take that for what it’s worth.

Calvert had the highlight goal to cap the shootout and a great game by smoking a shot into the top right corner.

During the overtime, Columbus killed off tripping penalty on Grant Clitsome. The six penalty killers the Jackets used were Brian McGuirk, Steve Delisle, Nick Holden, Rob Page, Erik Felde and Brent Regner.

Calvert, Didiomete & Yaworski had the goals for the Jackets.

I was also told that Voracek was a man among boys and that Clitsome and Holden were very impressive.

Nice start so lets see if it can roll over to today when the Jackets take on the Stars at 6 p.m. Remember this is the game that will be shown on NHL Network tomorrow night at 10 p.m.

The full box score for yesterday's game can be found here.

Is Legein already thinking about a return to pro hockey? According to this article on NHL.com that may certainly be the case:

Legein, who last month stunned the hockey world when he announced he would hang up the blades after suffering from burnout, may now be contemplating a return to the ice. According to Legein’s agent, Doug Woods, whose client was a member of last year’s Canadian World Junior championship team and a second-round draft pick of the Blue Jackets in 2007, he has had conversations with Legein regarding the subject.

“I think after assessing the situation, I’ve learned that he had a lot of pressure on him the last year,” Woods told NHL.com. “He’s now seriously thinking about it and working some things out right now, and I feel confident that there’s a good possibility he will be back. We’re talking very regularly and certainly he’s willing to discuss it now. Once I return to Toronto, we’ll be talking more about it.”

For me its never been a question of "if" but "when". Apparently life working at a pizza parlor (as reported by the Dispatch gang) isn't all that its cracked up to be.

Guess where Ottawa scribe Bruce Garrioch ranks the Jackets in his power rankings this week?

Dead last:

30. Columbus: Haven't made necessary improvements.

Haven't made the necessary imporovements? Has this guy payed any attention to this offeseason?

Apparently if the Jackets would have added one player like Oli Jokinen they would have made his "Top 5 movers", "Top 5 on the rise" and placed 17th on his power rankings.

Message to Garrioch, there is a reason Jokinen was traded for so little.

He also has apparently enjoyed the fantasy moves the Lightning have made yet no mention of their swiss cheese defense or goaltending question marks.

Its only one guys opinion of course and as I've stated numerous times the Jackets are going to have to get it done on the ice before opinions start to change.

Some good news for enforcer Brandon Sugden as it looks as though he will be re-instated.

I just got a call from Brandon Sugden. Bill Daly called him earlier tonight and said he spoke with the teams that were blocking his removal from the retirement list and that they’ve all agreed to unblock him.

When I asked him how he felt, Sugar said it’s a huge weight off of his shoulders and he’s looking forward to attending Islanders training camp, which starts Thursday in Moncton, New Brunswick. He added that he has every intention on making the team and he feels he can help the Islanders.

Lindsay Kramer also weighs in on the Crunch blog with some Sugden quotes:

"He said it's official,'' Sugden said. "I think I thanked him about 50 times in a minute. He said, 'Good Luck. I hope you do well.'''

"My mother said, you have the ticket to the ball, now you have to show you can dance,'' Sugden said. "I am fired up.''

Good for you Sugden. Now go out there and crack some faces (just not Jackets!) and earn a job!

-LTL

TSN previews the Jackets and more...

TSN has been running their 30 teams in 30 days NHL previews. Today the Jackets are up.

Parting Shot: With so many changes throughout their lineup, it may take time for this Columbus team to gel properly. And even when they do, the team has its work cut out for them in a tough conference that includes the much-improved Chicago Blackhawks and defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in their own division. That's a big mountain to climb for the only active team in the National Hockey League that hasn't reached the playoffs.

Nothing most of us here don't already know but a decent read none-the-less.

Also for you draft watchers out there TSN has an early top 10 list of draft eligilbe prospects for this season.

I will tell you one thing -- if your going to stink its a good year to do so as there are two studs right at the top in 6'7" Swedish defensemen Vitctor Hedman (or someone who can finally look Chara in the eyes) and 6'0" Canadian offensive dynamo John Tavares (who broke Gretzky's OHL record of 72 goals as a 16 year old) . The worst team in the league will get one of em.

Fortunately I don't think we have to worry much about this list this year as I just don't see the Jackets drafting top 10 this year. There, I said it!

There is also a video link here.

Fantasy watchers. CBSSports.com has listed their potential busts for the 2008-2009 season. I would have put money down that Kristian Huselius would be on that list but alas, no Jackets at all.

I am happy to report that one Predator made his list -- Dan Ellis:

2007-08 stats: 44 games, 23-10-3, 1,147 saves, six shutouts, 2.34 GAA, .924 save percentage
Analysis: The Predators traded Chris Mason to St. Louis in the offseason, clearing the way for Ellis to be Nashville's No. 1 goalie. We have seen this before. Mason took over as Nashville's top goalie last season with a strong performance in 2006-07 while Tomas Vokoun was injured. When Mason struggled, Ellis emerged as Barry Trotz's favorite in net. He finished the regular-season strong with eight wins in 15 outings, but fell apart in the playoffs -- 2-4 with a 2.52 GAA. Ellis spent many seasons in the minors before getting his chance to shine in '07-08. However, with the potential loss of Alex Radulov on offense and rookie goalie Pekka Rinne breathing down his neck, don't be surprised if Nashville uses a goalie-rotation if Ellis struggles early on.

Speaking of fantasy hockey. Light the Lamp is looking for 3 more members for its yahoo.com fantasy hockey league. If your interested post a comment below and I'll get you the league details.

Brandon Sugden has taken a new step in his bid to return to play in the NHL/AHL next season in the form of an online petition.

If you recall 4 teams blocked his application to return and according to Crunch blogger Lindsay Kramer those 4 teams have not come forward to announce themselves:

Sugden told me Wednesday that NHL attorneys have told the players union that the four dissenting teams will not be identified. Way to stand behind your beliefs. Nothing says character like blocking a man's shot at an NHL contract and then refusing to even give him the courtesy of a discussion.

So if you feel for Brandan "Sugar" Sugden's situation (which I personally do) -- head out to his petition by following this link and sign away!

If anyone makes it down to practice today please do report in the comments!

-LTL

Blue biscuits

Joe Sakic is back at it for one more year according to TSN.ca. This will mark the 20th season for the Avalanche's best ever player.

So my question is is this a good or a bad thing for the Jackets?

The good news is that with his 6 million dollar salary that takes the Avs up to over 51 million and likely finishes off their offseason. If he plays like he did last season which is to say he didn't play much (only 44 games) due to a hernia - then he won't be nearly as effective for the Avalanche thus handcuffing their offense and push for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

That bad news is that if he returns to his 2006-2007 form where he played in 82 games and racked up 100 points that could spell trouble for the rest of fringe playoff teams in the west including the Jackets.

I think Sakic is a great player and has had an unbelievable career but here's to hoping his body doesn't hold up for an 82 game stretch!

Former Jacket and 2nd round pick Joakim Lindstrom has signed a 1 year deal with the Anaheim Ducks according to their web site.

If you recall the Ducks acquired Lindstrom this offseason for a conditional 2010 draft pick.

I would assume this deal is a 2-way but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.

According to hockeyfights.com former Crunch tough guy Brandon Sugden's bid to return to the NHL/AHL has been blocked by 3 NHL clubs.

Travis Sugden called me on Wednesday morning with some stunning news about his son, Brandon, the former Syracuse Crunch enforcer. Travis said he just found out three NHL teams have objected to Brandon returning to pro hockey this season. Brandon had planned on attending camp with the Islanders. If he did not make New York, he said he was eager to explore playing for the Crunch again.

Travis did not yet know which teams blocked Brandon. But the denial means he can’t play in the NHL or AHL until next year. Brandon needed to clear this odd technicality because after leaving the Crunch two seasons ago, he announced it as a “retirement.’’ Because he “retired’’ then came back to play pro hockey (in the LNAH) within one year, every other NHL organization had to give him a thumbs up to return.

I posted yesterday from the Crunch blog that if Sugden failed to catch onto a NHL team that the Crunch would be his first choice in the AHL -- now if the Jackets would have enterained that thought is another story -- especially with John "Nasty" Mirasty already in the fold.

Kramer has some more fallout from this story here. He's got some really good points and at the end of the day -- its just silly that any team would block him from returning.

With Sakic's future now decided it will be interesting to see if anymore dominos fall. There are still plenty of unsigned guys out there including the "Sundin Saga". Forsberg news is starting to bubble up again as well. Parrish and Murray are still hangin out on the market and we have the 5 or 6 teams that still sit above the cap let alone the two under it (Phoenix & LA). There are also a slew of RFAs left to be signed in Stoll, O'Sullivan and Meszaros to name a few.

The season doesn't start until October but the pressure is starting to mount for some of the GMs to make a couple of moves. I don't think Howson will be involved in any of the cap casualties unless a rash of injuries hit in camp.

-LTL

Rewind

Last night I was re-watching the Columbus-Atlanta game from December 26th 2007 (yeah I'm a dork -- well that and I needed a hockey fix) and as I heard the names rattled off during that game one thing kept occurring -- my gawd are we going to be a different squad this season.

Check out the list of names that were in that game:

Foote, Fedorov, Vyborny, Hainsey, Zherdev, Fritsche, Shelley, Brule, Glencross, Beech & Westcott

That is a total of 11 guys. When you think you can only dress 18 skaters and 2 goalies we are talking about 7 skaters out of that lineup who will be Jackets next season.

To be fair though three regulars in Nash, Modin & Peca were out of the lineup with injuries.

I know we've talked about the make over alot this summer but re-watching that game really drove it home that much more and got me even more pumped for next season.

We won that game 2-0 by the way. Fritsche and Boll with the goals and Leclaire with the shutout.

Z was clearly the best player on the ice and its game like that where you could only imagine the kind of player this kid could be if he committed himself -- unfortunately those games were to few and far between in a Jackets sweater.

That was also when Novotny was playing decent hockey. Fedorov was invisible.

A friend made a good point to me yesterday -- when is Howson going to have all these press conferences for the new players that he promised? If you recall Howson had said a few times leading into the draft and free agency that we should plan on having a lot of press conferences this summer.

He definitely acquired the players but thinking back there were no pressers. Perhaps he is planning on having one big one this summer with all the new faces to kick off camp? That would certainly be a fun and unique way to kick off the season.

Now to his defense he did have his own press conferences a few days there during free agency which were cool.

Crunch blogger Lindsay Kramer had some quotes from Crunch owner Howard Dolgon. He seems pleased with the Jackets veteran acquisitions for his squad this offseason:

"We had a much better-than-average offseason player-wise," he said. "Columbus did an outstanding job. They were very aggressive."

In another blog post Kramer also mentions the possibility of former enforcer Brandon "Sugar" Sugden returning to the Crunch:

Sugden left Syracuse during the season two years ago to play in the fight-filled Quebec League. Now, he wants to come back and play in the NHL or AHL again.

He can't announce the team yet because of a technicality. Because he said he retired, then played pro hockey again within a year, every other NHL team must give a thumbs up to him returning. The deadline for any objections was Monday, and so far Sugden has heard no objections.

If the NHL tryout doesn't work out, Sugden and Crunch owner Howard Dolgon have chatted about maybe bringing him back to Syracuse.

"If I had to choose where to play in the American League, I'd play in Syracuse,'' he said. "He (Dolgon) wants to get me back there. I don't know if it's wishful thinking on his part.''

Quite frankly I can't see the Jackets signing Sugden in addition to Mirasty. Having two enforcers doesn't make a whole lot of sense especially when you got guys like Sestito and Dorsett who aren't afraid of the rough stuff either.

Looks like Adam Foote is the clear winner in the "which player will you miss the least" poll currently occupying 47% of the votes. No surprise there. More of a surprise to me anyways is that Gilbert Brule took 2nd with 13% of the votes.

Darryl Dobbs on THN answers this question - Tanguay or Huselius?

I don’t think you can go wrong with Tanguay in Montreal. But I think both players are better off on their new teams. I know I’m in the minority when it comes to Huselius, but I think he’ll pop. That said, take the safer route with Tanguay on the Habs.

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning Star ranked the Jackets 11th out of the West in his blog post:

11. Columbus Blue Jackets _ Commodore signing a head-scratcher, but they should be better.

-LTL