Biggest news of the day is that Kris Beech did clear waivers this morning and will be reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch.
This is great news for the Jackets as they retain some of that NHL depth that they signed this summer. Should say, a Fedorov/Novotny/Malhotra get injured, Beech would be recalled to fill that hole. Again he's not gonna light it up but when your in the thick of a season you want to be able to turn to a guy who understands what it takes to play in the NHL and not just throw a rookie to the wolves.
According to Portzline's blog Michael Peca was again held out of practice today. Its looking more and more likely that Peca will not be part of the opening night lineup. GM Scott Howson said no 
one would be recalled in Peca's absence. Instead Malhotra has been skating between Modin and Brule at practice.
Marc Methot was returned to the Syracuse Crunch today. Since Methot has not been a pro for 4 years or more he is not eligible to pass through waivers. Methot had a great camp and will be the first call up in the event of an injury on defense. The demotion for Methot means only one thing and that is that captain Adam Foote (pictured left) should be ready to go opening night.
Coach Ken Hitchcock said on his radio show today that goalies Pascal Leclaire and Fredrik Norrena will be rotated in goal. The organization is pleased with their performance in camp but remains cautious regarding the health of both goaltenders. Norrena has been battling a groin problem this preseason and Leclaire, while healthy thus far this year, has had a number of injuries problems throughout his career.
As Hitch stated, the goaltending position is just to critical and the Jackets cannot afford not to have options in case of injuries.
Hot shot rookie goaltender Steve Mason has been retained from his junior team as insurance in case one of these two goes down. Mason, who is 19, had a great camp and once he's returned to his junior team the team cannot recall him back. If Leclaire and Norrena prove to be healthy and are performing well a month or so into the season Mason will most likely be returned as the organization wants this kid to keep developing and not sitting up in the press box.
Hitch also said that the goaltenders will be rewarded on performance and that he'll only name a #1 if someone really grabs it -- seems fair to me.
Two other notes from Hitch in that Adam Foote has felt good the past two practices and when asked who will be a our presence in front of the net on the PP the names Modin and Chimera were mentioned. I was a little surprised not to hear Nash's name brought up there.
Oh...and Hitch is pumped for the cannon!
2 days until Ka-BOOM!
-LTL
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Beach clears waivers, Peca still out & Methot returned to Syracuse
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Ka-BOOM!
That's the sound we hope to hear over and over....and over again at Nationwide this season!
games, 111 goals, 18 wins).-- man, is this awesome or what?
-- the Blue Jackets have hired a sentry to stand guard of the cannon during games and play Civil War era songs on a trumpet. He'll be wearing Union garb. (I'm not making this up.) His name is Peter Quint, and he'll be available to answer questions and pose for pictures.
-- don't touch the cannon or the wheels. Seems the grease from your hands can ill-effect the steel gun and wheel covers. And that's before you chowed that Donatos.
-- the cannon is a hand-made "authentic replica" of a 1857 Napolean 12-pound Field Cannon. The "12-pound" refers to the size of cannon balls it is built to fire. Apparently this sucker has been fired about 200 times in southern Illinois before the Blue Jackets bought it. If you've ever been to southern Illinois, that shouldn't surprise you.
-- each blast registers about 105 decibles
-- the cannon weighs about 1,800 pounds
-- the cannon (caisson, included) cost "about $20,000" said a high-level VP with the Blue Jackets
Monday, October 1, 2007
Blue Biscuits
USA Today had their NHL season preview in this morning's paper. Unfortunately for NHL fans they annual insert they typically include for their preview was replaced by a two page preview burried deep in the Sports section -- really a dissapointment for a paper that typically gives hockey and the NHL a fair shake. Here is their preview capsule for the Jackets:
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
Goaltending: It's hard to know whether Pascal LeClaire and/or Fredrik Norrena can lead this team to respectability because the overall team performance was so inferior last season.
What's up: This team could surprise you. Coach Ken Hitchcock will make them play better defensively and there is enough talent to be dangerous. When you ponder the potential of Rick Nash, Fredrik Modin, Nikolai Zherdev, Dan Fritsche, Adam Foote, Sergei Fedorov, etc., you wonder why they have played so poorly.
Pressing question: Can Nash stay healthy and perform consistently well enough to be among the NHL's top five NHL players, as projected?
Forecast: Hitchcock's presence is probably worth 10 or more points over a full season, but they will still miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
So another prediction of last in the conference but they do leave a little crack in the door for a surprise season.
They pick the Penguins to win it all.
Next up are the latest power rankings from ESPN.com - the good news is they aren't last -- the bad news, they are close at 28th:
28. Columbus Blue JacketsCan a team that sports Sergei Fedorov in its lineup really go far? We'd like to see coach Ken Hitchcock work his magic on that one. It's hard to remember that Fedorov was on those Wings' Cup teams ... and dated Anna Kournikova. Michael Peca signed on during the offseason and Rick Nash was buying into Hitch's system late last season, but can that provide a spark?
Hey...no place to go but up right? ...well except two places down.
Next up the power rankings from cbssports.com:
29
Ken Hitchcock has something to work with in his first full season as coach, just not enough for the Blue Jackets to realistically think about the playoffs this season.
Ahh....more of the same.
Spector from FoxSports.com has this to say about the Zherdev situation:
Columbus Blue Jackets winger Nikolai Zherdev did not have an impressive training camp, sparking internet rumors the club was shopping him.
Not so, according to the Columbus Dispatch, citing Zherdev's agent and Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson, both claiming the rumors were "without merit."
Howson stated this summer he's given Zherdev a clean slate for this season, allowing him the opportunity to make amends for his poor performance in 2006-07, but if his training camp struggles carry over into October and November, expectations of a trade will only grow.
If Howson does shop Zherdev, however, he might not find many takers. The enigmatic winger is considered to have a poor work ethic, particularly when it comes to the defensive game, and his $2.5 million-per-season contract will also dampen interest.
There were also rumors last week of the Jackets involved in talks with the Vancouver Canucks for a first line center, but the Dispatch shot those down too, correctly observing the Canucks themselves have no available centers of their own to deal.
That doesn't mean the Jackets won't be in the market for depth at center, particularly as they've been reduced to trying Jiri Novotny, Manny Malholtra and Kris Beech in the first line center role.
Pretty much stuff we've all seen and read before but figured I'd note this one.
The Jackets have also announced opening night activities and its clear they have finally embraced their Civil War connection - some highlights from the article:
To kick off the first Nationwide Night of the year, several pre-game entertainment elements represent a salute to the Civil War connection honored in the team's name. Beginning at 5 p.m., Battelle Plaza (Front St. entrance) will showcase Civil War era fife and drum performers, Civil War re-enactors demonstrating the life of a soldier, and a craft station for kids to make their own Ohio state flag. Also starting a 5 p.m., fans are invited for free public skating and skate rental in the Dispatch Ice Haus until 6:25 p.m. Free cookies and hot apple cider will be offered before the game at both Battelle Plaza and the Dispatch Ice Haus.
Inside the arena, fans will be entertained by the 338th U.S. Army Stage Band, The Thunderbolts, performing on the Bud Light Terrace before the Opening Night show and during intermissions. Fans can also view the Ohio Civil War battle flags on display from the Ohio Historical Society and enter to win an autographed Blue Jackets jersey.
Fans are encouraged to take their seats by 6:45 p.m. for the start of the Opening Night pre-game show. This year's ceremonies feature a live skating performance by Olympian and six-time U.S. National Men’s Figure Skating Champion Todd Eldredge while the video show pays tribute to fans who submitted personal photos demonstrating how they “Carry the Flag.” Other highlights of Opening Night include the traditional player introductions and the unveiling of the new goal celebration.
I'm excited about this (and the pre-game celebration at the Rbar of course!).
..and don't forget about the cannon!! Read more about opening night here and there are tickets still available so don't miss out on this event as opening night is always special and we want Nationwide packed!Finally some interesting nuggests from around the league:
Sidney Crosby was named Captain of the Pittsburg Penguins in just his 3rd NHL season.
2007 6th overall draft pick, Sam Gagner, has made the Edmoton Oilers roster.
Jason Smith was named captain of the Philadelphia Flyers.
3 more days until opening night!!
-LTL
Monday, September 17, 2007
The cannon arrives at Nationwide...
After a strong grass roots effort, especially by those over on HFBoards.com and with the help of the Dispatch, it does appear that the organization has listened and is bringing in a cannon to help mark a goal celebration and help add to the identify of the Blue Jackets name and arena experience. Here are Aaron Portline's comments on the subject:
I have seen the cannon … and it’s a beauty.
I almost wrecked pulling out of the parking lot, scrambling for my cell phone to take a picture.
To update an earlier post: the cannon has arrived at Nationwide Arena, but it's in a top-secret storage until opening night, according to a high-ranking Blue Jackets officials.
Read more here:
**SPOILER ALERT**
If you don't want to see the cannon until opening night then stop scrolling here.
If you want to see then by all means continue from here as a poster over on HFBoards has gotten a quick shot of the new prop and as Portzline says - its really is a thing of beauty:
FIRE!!
Edit: I just wanted to add that how cool was the drum beat before they broke into Machinehead yesterday? Gave me chills. I thought the whole game day presentation was much improved over previous seasons. Keep up the great work game ops!
-LTL
Saturday, September 15, 2007
More on Z and the cannon
So by all account the line of Nash-Zherdev-Vyronry (man is t
hat strange to type) had a good opening day of camp playing together:
It's our first practice," Vyborny said, "but it's good to look good from the beginning, right? You have to stay on the ground a little bit (with expectations), but I'm excited to play with these two guys."
Zherdev (pictured above right), a right winger who hasn't played center since he was a 17-year-old in Russia more than five years ago, must have a good memory.
"No problem," Zherdev said, in a rare exchange without an interpreter. "It felt good."
The trio scored on their first trip down the ice during three-on-three drills, bringing a rousing cheer from a crowd of several hundred who watched the first day of training camp. It seemed as if Nash, Vyborny or Zherdev scored every time they took off down the ice.
"That's how it seemed," Nash said. "It was good. We were clicking fast. We had some chemistry early. Those guys (Vyborny and Zherdev) are both right wingers, so I always got to play with one or the other. Now I get a chance to play with both, so it's going to be interesting."
But lets not get to far ahead of ourselves as Hitch points out:
"Obviously, there's some chemistry," Hitchcock said. "We'll have to see how it looks going forward."
Portzline also points out the terrible faceoff percentages all three have (no one above 43% last year) which is a problem as faceoffs are key to getting possession of the puck to start or continue an attack.
So while they are off to a good start lets see how this thing continues to develop before getting to excited. One thing is for sure is if these three do click and become something, somebody just throw Hitchcock in the Hall of Fame now -- there aren't many coaches who would have even thought of this let alone attempted it.
In other news, the Dispatch also has more info on the cannon. The good news is that there will be something, the bad news is it looks like they can't fire a replica cannon off indoors (which I personally don't understand since I thought AC/DC did that on every tour but I digress) :
"We can't legally fire a cannon off indoors," Kershaw said.
Instead, Kershaw and her staff are trying to simulate the noise. They fired off several "test" shots the past few weeks, with "booms" being felt throughout the Arena District.
"You want it loud enough that it can be heard over the crowd," Kershaw said. "But it can't be too loud. It can't be so loud that it frightens people who aren't expecting it."
It's unclear whether a Civil War cannon -- or even a replica -- will be on display in Nationwide Arena this season. On this matter, Kershaw has been tight-lipped. She wants to save some surprises for opening night Oct. 5.
I guess we'll have to wait and see what they've got in store for us tomorrow night! The Dispatch also confirms what we learned earlier, that Garry Glitter's "Hey" song is no more (RIP). Dont' forget to vote for your favorite new song here.
Read more of today's coverage of the Blue Jackets from the Dispatch here:
I'll have a report later on about Team Blue from the Ice Hause. I'm excited to see this new "Z line" myself.
-LTL
Sunday, September 2, 2007
For those about to rock - FIRE!
So it does appear Garry Glitter has finally been layed to rest as the goal celebration song after the Jackets score a goal. What's next you may ask? Well according to the Dispatch this morning a cannon, or at least cannon fire, will be part of the celebration:
"Something different that hockey fans might hear during the coming season: cannon fire after each Blue Jackets goal."
Personally I think this a great idea if executed properly. Hopefully the powers that be don't cop out and just play cannon fire over the PA system -- instead, bring in the real thing to really make it a unique experience, one that can not only be used to celebrate goals and victories but also a represent unique symbol to the CBJ in game experience.
Now lets just hope we have many more opportunities for cannon fire this year than we did the last.
11 Days til Camp!
-LTL
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