TV alert and more

FSN Ohio hosts their annual Blue Jackets season preview starting tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. Oddly enough that is right smack dab in the middle of an Ohio State football game. That time slot should really generate an audience (not really) and shows how much FSN really cares about this preview.

They do however have repeat showings:

Sunday, September 7 - 12:30 p.m.
Wednesday, September 10 - 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Friday, September 12 - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 13 - 5 p.m.
Tuesday, September 16 - 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Thursday, September 18 - 6 p.m.

So if you miss Saturday's special there are plenty of opportunities to catch it. Of course there is always DVR as well and generally speaking this show is one big infomercial to sell tickets but there should be some new interviews and looks at the new faces.

Attention gamers! So I finally got around to playing both demos last night for the two new hockey games coming out - NHL2K9 and NHL 09. I used to always be a NHL2K guy until last year when EA really upped their "game" with NHL 08 and blew the 2K series out of the water --- I have played it ever since.


While 2K Sports has improved this year's game in my opinion it still hasn't closed the gap enough with EA. In fact EA's new "Be A Pro" feature is really slick but the game play is very similar to last year with the players being a little smoother and there are some new animations -- and that's a good thing as the gameplay last year was the best I've ever played for a hockey title. Why fix what's not broken?


Where 2K has a leg up (well besides the fact that our boy is on the cover) is that it will be the only NHL game available on the Wii and I'm very interested to see how the game interacts with the Wii-motes.

I own both an Xbox and Wii so I'll pick up both titles but if I had to choose just one EA retains the title for 2009. Sorry Nasher.

Looks like this week's poll is a landslide with currently 59% of you choosing "Failure to land a #1 center" as your biggest disappointment this offseason.

As much as the organization and media talked about this need heading into this offseason this one is certainly no surprise. I am a bit surprised more did not choose "not spending to the cap" as an option as it only captured 5 votes.

Spector over on FoxSports.com takes a look at players most likely to get dealt this season. Here were his thoughts on the Jackets:

Columbus Blue Jackets: Fredrik Norrena. He's been a capable backup to Pascal Leclaire, but he could find himself challenged by young netminder Steve Mason. If Mason proves ready to slide into the backup role Norrena, who's also a UFA next summer, could be shopped.

Really its hard to argue with that selection. The other higher profile UFAs to be are Malhotra, Peca & Backman any of which, depending on how the season goes, I could see being dealt. I really do think we'll be buyers this year at the deadline though.

Wes Goldstein of CBSSports.com take a really good look at the remaining veterans still on the market and what their status is. Here are a couple he notes:

1. Teemu Selanne: Selanne wants to come back to Anaheim and the Ducks want him back, they just don't have the cap space right now to sign him. Anaheim is more than $3 million over the limit, a problem they could solve by moving defenseman Mathieu Schneider and his $5 million salary. Problem is trading a 38-year-old with that kind of contract isn't easy these days. Anaheim has until opening night to get to the limit -- whether it involves Schneider or other players -- so they'll have to make some kind of move. In the meantime, Selanne is back in town after spending the summer at home in Finland, and waiting.

2. Brendan Shanahan: The future Hall of Famer is coming off a respectable season with the Rangers that earned him $5 million, but he's 39 and no longer an impact player. Shanahan wants to return to New York, even if it means taking a substantial pay cut, but the Rangers have had other priorities over the summer. The veteran has had other suitors, notably the St. Louis Blues who would pay him more than New York would, but so far Shanahan seems to be clinging to the hope he can still work out something with the Rangers.

Some of the other names like Lapointe, Hedican, Cullimore and Carney I didn't realize were still hanging out there. Should some teams suffer some injuries in the presason look for some of these guys to find homes quickly albeit at drastrically reduced rates from what they were previously making.

-LTL

Quick hits

Just a quickie today but there is a short interview up over at THN.com with Rick Nash:

THN.com: It has been a busy off-season for the Jackets, adding players such as Kristian Huselius and R.J. Umberger. What’s your take on your team’s moves this summer?

RN: It’s been good. We added a lot of depth to our team and a lot of strength. It should be good, we got some scoring up front. I guess you’ll never really know until the season starts and you see how guys gel together, but on paper it looks pretty good.

Also a buddy of mine sent me over this link to a preview of NHL2K9 with our boy on the cover. Check it out here.

For me I'll be buying the NHL2K9 game on the Wii and then the EA game on the Xbox. That should cover all my basis.

Crunch blogger Lindsay Kramer talks about Shane Willis who is invited to camp on a PTO:

One of the forwards invited on a tryout deal is Shane Willis, 31. He's a legit, proven AHL scorer, posting 20 goals and 23 assists in just 43 games for Albany two seasons ago. He's also played 174 NHL games. With the team's depth at center, he'd look pretty sweet at wing.

There's a couple of catches, though. He missed all but one game last season with a neck injury. And there's no guarantee if he doesn't make Columbus that the Blue Jackets would sign him for the Crunch.

"He's a proven AHL commodity. We're going to have a look and see how he does,'' said Columbus assistant GM Chris MacFarland. "It's simply an opportunity for us to see Shane and see where he is. Where it goes from there is wide open.''

Hey the more depth the merrier!

Also I guess the Jackets have an ECHL affiliate change. According to Puck-rakers the Elmira Jackals are out and the Johnstown Chiefs are in.

Cool logo!

-LTL