Ohio State men's hockey releases schedule

For those interested the Ohio State men's hockey team has released their schedule for next season.

There are some interesting games including a season home opener against the Miami Redhawks on Friday October 10th. If you recall two Jackets prospects will be suiting up for Miami this season in 2007 draft picks Will Weber and Trent Vogelhuber. Unfortunately that is also the season opener for the Jackets in Dallas.

They also play Michigan four times, two of which in Value City Arena on Feb 20th and the 21st. The 5th annual Ohio Hockey Classic will be Januray 2nd and 3rd also at Value City Arena.

Check out the full Buckeye schedule here.

The latest on hot shot Buckeye's recruit Zac Dalpe remains the same as my last report which is that he still plans on attending OSU and playing for the Buckeyes.

The Hockey News ranked NHL logos. The Jackets came it at #24 and here is what they had to say:

A marked improvement from the original ‘cribbage board’ design.

Perhaps its the home in me but in terms of just logos surely the Jackets look is better than Atlanta, Nashville, Colorado, Florida and Vancouver all of which are ranked ahead of them. I think its a classic case of out of sight out of mind -- lets get that baby showcased in the playoffs!

Hard to argue with the 'hawks at #1 -- that is a timeless logo.

According to the Syracuse crunch blog Geoff Platt will head overseas to Finland to play this year:

"By no means is it conventional what I'm doing,'' Platt said. "You don't see guys my age going over. I thought I achieved what I could in the AHL. Another season in the American League was too much. The AHL was getting stale. I needed a new challenge. I think whether I came back and scored 30 or 40 goals next year, it wouldn't have changed their mind toward me.''

Kramer makes a real good point. With Platt heading overseas it sure does swing that trade that sent Aaron Rome and Clay Wilson to Jackets/Syracuse in their favor don't you think?

This is kind of a cool link. NHL.com has a list of every NHL team with links to 1. Top Prospects Story 2. Noteworthy Offseason Moves 3. Related Links. Check it out here.

According to BlueJackets.nhl.com both Tom Sestito and Derek Dorsett will be at the Columbus Zoo to sign autographs on August 6th from 6-7. I know these two have been in town for the summer working and have really done a good job of getting out in the community. I also expect both to see time on the big team next year with Dorsett being my darkhorse to make the team outta camp.

-LTL

Platt doing well in new home

Was just taking a gander to see how Geoff Platt has been doing since his trade to the Portland Pirates of the AHL - I have some good news to report as Platt is playing just fine:

7 GP 5G 8A for 13 points

Those are pretty incredible numbers. Great for Platter.

On the other side the guys the Crunch got back for Platt are doing a good job as well:

Cody Wilson - 4GP 1G 3A for 4 points
Aaron Rome - 3GP 1G 2A for 3 points

Granted you must also take into account these guys are both defensemen.

By the way - the Crunch have finally updated their web site -- check it out here.

Platt moved in minor league deal

I just read over on the Puck-rakers blog that Geoff Platt (pictured left) has been traded to Portland for two minor league defensemen Clay Wilson and Aaron Rome.

The Puck-rakers do a good job getting into the "Disney-like" Platt story so I won't get to much into that here.

The bottom line is that Platt didn't fit into the future plans of the organization and the Jackets needed to bolster both their defensive depth and more importantly get their minor league affiliate the Syracuse Crunch some badly needed help on the back end.

First lets take a deeper look at who the Jackets are getting back in this deal:

Clay Wilson (pictured right)

LW/D

Age 24

6 ft, 195lbs

Undrafted
11-Jul-06: Signed as a free agent by the Anaheim Ducks.

Has played 3 years as a pro with his best year coming last season for the Portland Pirates where he put up 9g, 34a for 43 points. He appears to be one of those players who can play both defense or offense. I'm still not clear exactly where he's been playing recently but you'd think with Syracuse's defensive woes Wilson will certainly start out on the blueline.

Aaron Rome (pictured right)

D

Age 24

6.01 ft 225 lbs

Drafted in the 4th round by the LA Kings in 2002

07-Jun-04: Signed as a free agent by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Rome has been a pro now for 5 years. He's known as a stay at home defensemen and judging by his PIMS (he had 139 in 76 games last year) he's not afraid of the physical stuff. All signs point to Rome sliding right into a top 4 spot in the Crunch lineup and he may even be an call up option for the Jackets if they get thin in the back.

The Jackets give up Geoff Platt who under the MacLean administration was a diamond in the rough who really showed some much needed offensive talent. Unfortunately for Platt his game didn't quite fit into the plans of what Howson/Hitch are trying to build in Columbus and he wasn't getting the playing time in Syracuse so obviously something was up there as well - he had only scored 4g, 3a in 15 gp after piling up 28g, 21a for 49 points in 53 gp last season.

It also appears that Bruno St. Jacques is headed to Anaheim/Portland as part of this package. Jacques was brought in as a late free agent signing to try to fill wholes in the Syracuse roster specially on defense. It appears that move didn't accomplish much and he was thrown in as part of this package.

This trade makes sense on a lot of levels. For Columbus they get some much needed young but experienced defensive depth that should instantly pay dividends for the Crunch. For Platt he gets a new start for a Portland team that I'm sure was looking for some more offensive fire power - he'll be penciled right into their top 6. They also get Jacques who can fill a hole vacated by the loss of Wilson and Rome.

Platter (as his teammates regularly referred to him) seemed like a great guy and his story from undrafted player to NHL regular is a compelling one. I wish him nothing but the best of luck in the future and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him back at the NHL level sooner rather than later.

I also want to note that this is Scott Howson's first trade as General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets - albeit a minor one.

-LTL

More cuts announced

According to Aaron Portzline 5 more cuts have been made:

The Blue Jackets have made five training camp cuts -- forwards Kirill Starkov, Adam Pineault and Geoff Platt, defenseman Mikko Maenpaa and goaltender Dan LaCosta. All five were sent to Syracuse.

Geoff Platt (pictured above right) is probably the guy that sticks out most in this group. He's a been a Cinderella story ever since he turned pro in 2005-2006 signing as an undrafted free agent out of the Ontario Hockey League to play with the ECHL's Dayton Bombers which is Columbus affiliate. He quickly turned heads at the Traverse City Tournament earning a Syracuse Crunch contract and a full time ticket to the AHL and even making it all the way to the NHL level that year (he played in 15 games w/ 5 assists).

Unfortunately for Platt the Jackets prospect pipeline has improved and it appears guys like Derick Brassard have passed him on the center depth chart. Platt is a fighter though, he'll go back to Syracuse and further his case. I wouldn't be surprised to see Platt back up sometime this year if he continues to light up the AHL like he's been doing the past two years. He needs to work on his defensive game and become even stronger on the puck though.

I wasn't expecting Mikko Maenpaa to stick with the big club in his first year over top play in North America from Finland. What I am surprised by is just how much better he's looked since prospect camp until now. He's an offensive defensemen but in just two months time seems to have developed dramatically. It will be interesting to see how he does for the Crunch this year.

Forwards Starkov and Pineault as well as goaltender Dan Lacosta all need to bake longer in the system before being ready for the big time.

Still more cuts to go before getting down to a roster of 22 to 23 players. The roster stands now at 36.

-LTL

Eklund: Jackets interested in Lindros?

I know there are many love/hate relationships with Eklund out there but quite frankly I find him fun to read but at the same time don't really put much stock in his rumors. That said his rumors do make for good discussion among the Jacket faithful out there so more often than not I will address them in this blog. So for those that "hate" please disregard this post. For those that "love" lets continue with his latest CBJ rumor:

The Blue Jackets have reached out to Eric Lindros even though #88 has hinted towards retirement. A source told me that Columbus is looking for some size to play with Nash.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=9263

The latest news with Lindros (picutred left) is that he was focused on his role with the NHLPA and was leaning towards retirement. The Jackets may be looking for someone to play with Rick Nash but it won't be Eric Lindros who only averaged 40 games played his past 3 NHL seasons. While once a great player the 'Big E' has seen his career slowed by multiple injuries and isn't the answer for the Jackets.

I believe the Jackets are done with their free agent acquisitions for now and will wait and see what this team looks like in camp as for instance perhaps a Brule/Platt/Brassard/Fritsche could step up in camp and grab that open top 6 center position. If there is an obvious hole in the roster that is not filled in camp then I believe GM Scott Howson does have some flexibility in the budget to address it and there is always the trade route.

-LTL