Great day of hockey!

Here we are...the final day of 2008 and if your a die hard hockey fan (which chances are if you read this blog you are!) then what a day of hockey we have in store.

In progress right now is the New York Islanders vs. Florida Panthers.

Then at 6 o'clock its the San Jose Sharks vs. the Minnesota Wild.

..and then it gets even better. For you folks with the NHL Network be sure to tune into the World Junior game of the week and that's the 3-0 United States vs. the 3-0 Canadians! That game will be a great one -- they always are. Check out the game preview here. The two CBJ prospects to keep an eye on are Teddy Ruth for the US and Cody Golubeuf for Canada.

Of course the main event is later tonight as our Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Anaheim Ducks at the pond. Just a quick preview on this one today. As the Dispatch points out the Jackets are 13-13-1-3 against Anaheim all time, including 5-7-1-2 in the Honda Center.

For the Jackets its pretty simple. Keep playing the way you have the past two games which is strong hard working straight line hockey with Mason cleaning up any mistakes and chances are you'll find success.

Of course the key to shutting down Anaheim is to limit Getzlaf and Perry and to not give their 11th ranked PP with guns Pronger and Niedermayer launching rockets from the backend many chances (i.e. no dumb penalties).

As Hitch stated the last couple of days this team is really dug in. Well tonight is not the time to put the shovels or hard hats away if they want to make it 3 in a row.

Enjoy this final day of 2008 folks and if your like me, its about time to break out the bubbly!

Have a happy safe new years!

p.s. it looks like the R Bar will not be opening tonight but should be open by Friday. If your looking for a place to watch hockey I would recommend the Buffalo Wild Wings in Dublin as a great place to start.

-LTL