October 13, 20168 yr The puck drops tonight in Nationwide for the CBJ 2016-17 season. I've got some info to post about the opening night roster ... but first this off-the-ice news. Team captain Nick Foligno had a sub-par year last season and is hoping to rebound this season (as are his Jackets fans). But no matter his on-ice performance, Foligno is an All-Star human being. Yesterday, Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno and his wife Janelle Foligno announced they are donating $500,000 to Nationwide Children's Hospital and $500,000 to Boston Children's Hospital. The donation is in recognition of both hospitals treatment of their daughter, who was born with a life-threatening congenital heart defect in 2013. Now their daughter, Milana, is a healthy and happy three-year-old. Their donation will be used to fund research and support pediatric heart care.
October 13, 20168 yr Here is the projected opening night roster for the CBJ. Below that are the season previews for these three team roster positions from the Jackets Cannon - what I consider to be the most useful and informative CBJ source anywhere: Forwards: Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson Brandon Saad - Sam Gagner - Nick Foligno Scott Hartnell - Alexander Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand Matt Calvert - William Karlsson - Josh Anderson (extras: Lucas Sedlak - David Clarkson (LTIR-INJ) Defense: Zach Werenski - Seth Jones Ryan Murray - David Savard Jack Johnson - Markus Nutivaara (extras: Dalton Prout - Scott Harrington - Cody Goloubef (INJ) Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky Curtis McElhinney Joonas Korpisalo (INJ) 2016 Season Preview: The Forwards 2016 Season Preview: The Defense 2016 Season Preview: The Goalies
October 13, 20168 yr As I said previously, I'm cautiously optimistic that this season's CBJ will be better than last season's CBJ - but the question is how much better? Although the Jackets didn't make any big off-season signings, they quietly reshaped their roster to be younger and faster. They cleared out some older deadwood when they bought out Boll and Tyutin - let Bourque go - waived Campbell to Cleveland - and placed Clarkson on the LTIR. They got better with low-priced FA signing Gagner as a 2nd/3rd line center - Bjorkstrand as a skillful winger ready to make the leap to the NHL-level - and either/or/both Anderson and Sedlak as energetic fourth-liners. Combined with the young talent of Saad, Jenner, Atkinson, Wennberg, Karlsson and veterans Dubinsky, Foligno, Hartnell, Calvert - this is a talented and deep offensive roster. The defense got remade even more. 19-year-old Werenski is not a surprise on the roster. But Werenski on the top-line with Jones is! He might not stay on the top-line, but his preseason play has justified it so far. Another surprise almost as big is Nutivaara knocking Prout off the third-line. Nuti-who? The 22-year-old Finnish d-man was an overage 7th-round pick in 2015 who had only played in Europe before this year. A Finnish diamond-in-the-rough from our Finnish GM? Jones, Murray, Werenski (and now Nutivaara) combined with Savard and Johnson form a mobile and talented defensive corps. Last year's best goalie Korpisalo suffered a groin injury and will be out for a month. So the team didn't really have much option but to send Forsberg to Cleveland, use McElhinney as a McBackup and go 'Bob or Bust' to start this season. Bobrovsky is currently healthy and had a great World Cup of Hockey with Team Russia. But to start 2016 - "as Bob goes, so go the CBJ". And as this chart from http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/thn-s-2016-17-nhl-season-preview-columbus-blue-jackets - that had been the story for the past four seasons: Bob's first CBJ season in 2012-13 was his best and he dragged a sub-par CBJ team a tie-break short of the playoffs in that strike-shortened year. 2013-14 was above-league-average and the Jackets reached the playoffs. 2014-15 was still above-league-average but an historic number of team injuries doomed that season. Last season, Bob was below-league-average and the Jackets failed to reach the playoffs. The CBJ need Bob to be at or above league-average to have any shot at a playoff run this season. One troubling sign for this season's start is a very tough opening seven games. The CBJ face Boston, Stanley Cup runner-up San Jose and Chicago at home, then a road game at Dallas and the three-game California road trip. That's a seven game stretch that could start this season 0-7 if Bob goes bust! -- But hopefully not. GO CBJ!!!
October 17, 20168 yr It's a good thing the Buckeyes won in Wisconsin - otherwise Columbus sports teams would've been a complete bust this weekend. The Jackets are 0-2 and off until Friday. Think Torts will let them R&R until then? Not bloody likely! In order to find some positive CBJ news, I'm going back to opening night. CBJ fan Dancing Kevin got some national sports fame a few seasons ago when this video of his huge shirtless body got posted to YouTube: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,1654.msg730009.html#msg730009 Despite the fame it got him, I was always more than a bit uncomfortable cheering on someone as morbidly obese as he was in that video. Eventually Kevin himself realized that - internet fame or not - he needed to lose some weight. So in the past year, Kevin has shed 161 pounds! On opening night, he unveiled his new slimmer body: https://bustedcoverage.com/2016/10/14/dancing-kevin-weight-loss-blue-jackets-fan-video/
October 22, 20168 yr CBJ get off the schneid with a gritty 3-2 win over the Blackhawks last night in Nationwide. (No 0-8 start this year!! Maybe 1-7 but not 0-8!!!) Actually it was a much needed win as the Jackets start a four-game road swing tonight at Dallas. And it was a solid win over a quality team: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/10/21/13364096/game-3-quick-takes-blackhawks-at-blue-jackets One negative takeaway from last night's game was an injury to Ryan Murray. After last season's 82-game healthy rebound for the young d-man, this season has been snakebit. In game 1 he took a puck to the leg in the first period. He stayed in the game but missed game 2 with a bone bruise. In last night's game 3, Murray took an elbow to the face in the first period and did not return. The team won't say if he injured his jaw or nose, but its serious enough that he won't be flying with the team for tonight's game at Dallas.
October 23, 20168 yr CBJ follow home win over Chicago with a 3-0 road win at Dallas. So that's what a CBJ winning streak feels like! http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/10/23/13369608/game-4-recap-jackets-3-stars-0
October 24, 20168 yr This Werenski kid is going to be good. 5 points in his first 4 NHL games. Very Stable Genius
November 1, 20168 yr This Werenski kid is going to be good. 5 points in his first 4 NHL games. His play is starting to get noticed. USA TODAY: Blue Jackets' Zach Werenski, the other 19-year-old American rookie, showing he belongs
November 1, 20168 yr CBJ October Review and some team stats: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/10/31/13477062/columbus-blue-jackets-october-month-in-review-bobrovsky-werenski-foligno Goals: 18 (28th out of 30) Goals Allowed: 17 (t-3rd) Power Play: 33.33 (2nd) Penalty Kill: 86.96 (7th) Save: .940 (2nd) The CBJ finished October 3-3-1. They struggled early with two home losses but got a home win before leaving on a four-game road trip. They won at Dallas before a three-way split in California, going 2-1-1 overall. After a rough opening night, Bob's been top-notch for the next six - netting two shutouts and a second-best-in-the-league save percentage. The power play has been red-hot and the penalty kill almost as good. The 5-on-5 offense is a concern. But the 5-on-5 defensive play has been good. Given the October schedule, 3-3-1 is a very solid start for the CBJ. The November schedule lays out better for the team. 9 of the 14 games are at home; only 1 game is outside the eastern time zone (at STL); and only 3 back-to-backs (they had 2 back-to-backs in their first 7 games. If the team can keep up their recent level of play, they might start to bank some points in the standings.
November 2, 20168 yr The CBJ started November with a dramatic last second win last night over Dallas. They tied it 2-2 with only 16 seconds remaining in regulation. Then, they won it 46 seconds into overtime. After the game, the three CBJ stars of the game emerged wearing Cleveland Indians baseball caps. Go Tribe!
November 3, 20168 yr Same formula as several seasons ago...ride a hot Bobrovsky. The offense is pretty stagnant right now when not on the power play. But hey...above .500! Very Stable Genius
November 5, 20168 yr I was pondering how to summarize last night's stunning 10-0 romp over the Montreal Canadiens. Then the Jackets Cannon pointed me toward this video: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/11/5/13534046/hero-from-fridays-game-goal-patrol-cannon-man
November 5, 20168 yr Some trivia from last night's 10-0 win: - Montreal did not have a regulation loss in their previous 10 games of this season (9-0-1). - In those previous 10 games, Montreal had only given up 13 total goals in regulation and had a +20 goal differential. - The 10-0 loss matched the biggest shutout loss in the Canadiens' 100+ year history - but had not lost in a shutout by that many goals since their 1941-42 season. - The last time an NHL team scored double-digit goals was in 2011 when Detroit got 11. - The Jackets had scored only 20 goals in their previous 8 games. - The 10-0 win broke the CBJ franchise record for most goals scored in a game (8 was the previous high) and it broke the franchise record for biggest win (8-1 win over Detroit in 2013 was the previous best).
November 7, 20168 yr Wow, not a single hat trick. That's impressive. That would be a fun game to be at
November 7, 20168 yr Wow, not a single hat trick. That's impressive. That would be a fun game to be at They really did spread the scoring around. 16 of the 18 CBJ skaters got either a goal or assist in that game.
November 7, 20168 yr Why can't CBJ fans have nice things??? https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/seth-jones-broken-foot-injury-november-7/c-283499326 "The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed defenseman Seth Jones on Injured Reserve, club General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced today. He is expected to miss three weeks after suffering a hairline fracture of his foot in Saturday's contest at St. Louis."
November 8, 20168 yr More detail on how Seth Jones suffered a hairline fracture on the top of his right foot in Saturday's game at St. Louis: http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/2016/11/jones-to-miss-3-weeks-with-foot-fracture.html The injury was suffered in the first period of Saturday's 2-1 overtime loss to St. Louis. -- "Just a weird play," Jones said. "First period, in front of the net, Berglund and I got tied up, and the back of his skate blade came down hard on top of my foot." -- "It went through the tongue (of my skate) and my sock. I didn't want to take (the skate) off between periods because I knew the swelling would build up and I wouldn't be able to get my skate back on." As he has most of the season, Jones led the Blue Jackets' in ice time (26:19) and played two shifts in overtime against the Blues. But after the game, he said he noticed blood coming up through his laces. As the adrenaline started to fade, he knew something was wrong.
November 8, 20168 yr http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/11/8/13561542/vote-werenski Werenski a Calder Trophy candidate? (IMO, he's in the running for the Norris right now, too) Very Stable Genius
November 15, 20168 yr In an odd scheduling quirk, the Jackets are the last team in the league to play a divisional game - they host Washington tonight. The CBJ have played the fewest games, but are right there on pace in contention for a Wild Card spot. Very Stable Genius
November 16, 20168 yr Haven't seen even a highlight clip of them yet this season. But rumor has it that we don't actually suck!
November 18, 20168 yr But rumor has it that we don't actually suck! Past season's have bred low expectations for the CBJ fan! Given the difficult early schedule and our notorious slow starts, many have said "We hope we're still in the playoff race by Thanksgiving!". Well, mission accomplished!! Actually, they've had a very good start. After that troubling 0-2 start, they've gone 8-2-2. The current 8-4-2 record is good enough to be in the playoff picture. (And on a PPG basis, an outstanding 7th-overall going into tonight's game: http://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/stats/team-standings-points-per-game/2016/) This team reminds me the 2014 Playoff team. Both that team and this current team were similarly constructed. They lack superstar players and superstar top lines. But the rest of the team is made up of good-to-very-good players. They can "roll four lines" on offense and "roll three lines" on defense for the full game without shortening the bench and can pay off in the third period with the CBJ having fresher players, while the other team runs out of gas. -- The team got away from that in the past two sub-par seasons, with unproductive 4th-lines on offense and weak 3rd-lines on defense. Without top line talent to compensate, the CBJ were the one's running out of gas in the final period and losing games. So we'll see if they can keep this up. But I do like the depth and youth of this team. It's still Bob or bust in goal. But for now we're getting Vezina Bob. And that would be good enough for a playoff run.
November 19, 20168 yr Last night's win over the NY Rangers was the type of game the Jackets would've lost in previous seasons. The CBJ built a 2-0 lead, then lost the lead when the high-flying Rangers tied it 2-2 in the third period. Then the Jackets gave the Rangers a power-play and set them up to take the lead. But instead, the Jackets scored a short-handed goal to win the game. Even more amazing, the game-winning goal was scored by Matt Calvert. A player who got hit over his left eyebrow with a hard slap shot in the middle of the second period. It opened a bloody gash that was attended to in the locker room (and required 36 stitches!). Then Calvert returned for the third period to score the game-winner!!! #hockeyplayersRtough Here is a link to the full game video highlights: https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-cbj/2016/11/18/2016020257#game=2016020257,game_state=final The NHL video didn't show Calvert's puck to the face incident, but a Canadian broadcaster posted it at YouTube: And here is Calvert's star-of-the-game interview from FSO:
November 21, 20168 yr CBJ still on a roll (and getting some notice -- linked below). They downed the Caps yesterday in DC; are getting Seth Jones back from the IR; and are in the middle of a 5-games-in-7-nights stretch with games at Nationwide tonight and Wednesday - the Thankgiving Break - then Friday at Tampa Bay and Saturday at Florida. That's a tough stretch, but when a team's on a roll, you don't mind it: Time to give the surging Columbus Blue Jackets and coach John Tortorella some love Love for the Jackets: Isn't it time we started to give the Columbus Blue Jackets and head coach John Tortorella some well-deserved love? Tortorella took a lot of heat, along with the rest of Team USA, for the team's lifeless performance at the World Cup of Hockey. But after losing their first two games of the regular season, the Blue Jackets have gone 10-2-2, including Sunday's 3-2 win over the defending Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals. That win marks four in a row for a team that leads the NHL in power-play efficiency (they scored one with the man advantage Sunday) and is second in goals scored per game. With a sterling 7-2-2 record at home, it means the accursed Columbus Civil War cannon is going off like crazy at Nationwide Arena. Sunday's win wrapped up a weekend that also saw them knock off the red-hot New York Rangers on Friday night. The Blue Jackets are for real. http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/18102812/nhl-give-columbus-blue-jackets-coach-john-tortorella-some-love
December 1, 20168 yr Jackets Cannon 1st quarter report card / 20 game recap (doesn't include Tuesday's win over TB): http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/11/27/13756984/the-blue-jackets-1st-quarter-report-card November recap: CBJ finished the month 9-2-3, best November in franchise history and third-best month ever in franchise history. The Jackets finished with a dominating 5-1 win on Tuesday over last season's Eastern Conference runner-up Tampa Bay. CBJ controlled the game from the opening puck drop in a performance about as great as Nov. 4's 10-0 win over Montreal. (TB got much better goaltending than the Habs did.) November's performance was even more impressive given that #1 d-man Seth Jones was injured for most of the month. His fractured foot is healed and he's back in the lineup. The team kept chugging along thanks in no small part to 19-year-old d-man Zach Werenski - who was just named NHL Rookie of the Month for November. The Jackets are 12-5-4 after 21 games and hold the first wild-card spot (7th overall) in the Eastern Conference. They start December's schedule with a two-game Mountain time zone road trip. At Colorado tonight, then at Arizona on Saturday.
December 2, 20168 yr Jackets are good. 6th overall in the NHL with the fewest games played. It's early but...the advanced metrics suggest this pace is fairly sustainable. They're starting to dominate in possession numbers, their power play is a bit up and down but mostly been excellent, Bob is playing well again and healthy....it's all things go for the CBJ. Very Stable Genius
December 6, 20168 yr This team is winning the Cup. Considering last year's last-place finish (at least within the division, and I forget if we were last in the whole league), this turnaround is both unexpected and unprecedented. As of the time I'm writing this, we're the highest-ranked team that has played only 24 games. In fact, everyone above us in terms of points has played at least 26. Chicago has played 27 and they're only 1 point ahead of us. In the Metropolitan (which looks like the toughest division in the NHL this year), NY Rangers and Pittsburgh have each played 26 games and are 1 point ahead of us. Not sold on them as a Cup contender just yet--but that may be the eternal cynic in me that's just waiting for that patented Blue Jackets meltdown.
December 9, 20168 yr ENJOY THE RIDE It's been a great 2016 for the CBJ. 15-5-4 (and keep in mind that 0-2 start) after Monday's game. They've been off since then, resuming tonight at Detroit and tomorrow night back in Columbus against the Brooklyn Islanders. 15-3-4 since that troubling 0-2 start. Winning against top teams like Montreal, NY Rangers, Washington, Chicago, Tampa Bay, Dallas, and St. Louis (but for some reason not Boston, 0-2 against them with one game remaining this season). Getting though the California road trip + Colorado + Arizona (the Western Canada road trip looms next week). Offense doing well. Defense doing well. Bob playing like "Vezina Bob" and staying healthy. Even McBackup (aka C-Mac) got a win! The Jackets are 13-2-3 in their last 18 games, 7-1-2 in their last 10 games, riding a six-game point streak (5-0-1), and riding a four-game winning streak. But it's the past three wins I want to focus on: Last Thursday's 3-2 win at Colorado, last Saturday's 3-2 shootout win at Arizona, and last Monday's 4-1 win over Arizona back in C-BUS. Colorado and Arizona are two teams at the bottom of the Western Conference. Teams that a quality squad should beat, but two of three games on the road a couple time-zones away. -- Thursday's 3-2 win at Colorado; CBJ gains 2-0 lead; loses the lead in the second; then wins it with a strong third period. -- Saturday's 3-2 shootout win at Arizona; somewhat similar pattern; CBJ gains 1-0 lead; goes behind 2-1 in the second; then ties it 2-2 in third. Still tied after OT, it goes to a shootout and the Jackets win. However, C-Mac is in goal for Bob, and Arizona's goalie Mike Smith had a career-great game. Smith had 58 saves on 60 shots from the Jackets (a CBJ franchise record for shots-on-goal). -- Monday's 4-1 win over Arizona back in Columbus could have been a let-down game after the two road wins. But the CBJ thoroughly dominated the Yotes again. And this time they started a goalie who didn't have a career-game, so it was an easier win. That Monday win was also the franchise's 500th win. The CBJ are 500-570-33-117 (Wins-Losses-Ties-OT Losses; NHL regular season games could end in ties the first four seasons the Jackets played) since starting NHL play in the 2000-01 season. So I've seen just about every possible way for the Jackets to lose a game. And patterns of losing emerge. This season's team has been breaking those patterns. I'm not predicting the moon by saying this team looks like a solid playoff squad in the East (which was the upper limit of my pre-season projection for this team). Right now, they're exceeding that projection.
December 13, 20168 yr The games played metric is making the Yahoo Sports standings look absolutely ridiculous. Granted, of course, that's because yet-unplayed games are games you could lose, but the points-based standings give the initial impression that you've already lost them (because of course you get zero points for a loss and zero for an unplayed game). So the Blue Jackets are technically fourth of eight in the Metropolitan Division right now ... at 17-5-4. The division is probably be the best in the league, but it's still not that good. We're 6th in the NHL in goals, 2nd in goals against, and 1st on the power play. Obviously, everything can still collapse from here, but as of now, this team ought to be getting the coverage of one of the best teams in the league, not one in the middle of its own division. I can't believe I actually just wrote that, after last season.
December 13, 20168 yr The games played metric is making the Yahoo Sports standings look absolutely ridiculous. Granted, of course, that's because yet-unplayed games are games you could lose, but the points-based standings give the initial impression that you've already lost them (because of course you get zero points for a loss and zero for an unplayed game. So the Blue Jackets are technically fourth of eight in the Metropolitan Division right now ... at 17-5-4. The division is probably be the best in the league, but it's still not that good. We're 6th in the NHL in goals, 2nd in goals against, and 1st on the power play. Obviously, everything can still collapse from here, but as of now, this team ought to be getting the coverage of one of the best teams in the league, not one in the middle of its own division. I can't believe I actually just wrote that, after last season. This takes that into account: https://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/stats/team-standings-points-per-game/2016/
December 13, 20168 yr The games played metric is making the Yahoo Sports standings look absolutely ridiculous. Granted, of course, that's because yet-unplayed games are games you could lose, but the points-based standings give the initial impression that you've already lost them (because of course you get zero points for a loss and zero for an unplayed game. So the Blue Jackets are technically fourth of eight in the Metropolitan Division right now ... at 17-5-4. The division is probably be the best in the league, but it's still not that good. We're 6th in the NHL in goals, 2nd in goals against, and 1st on the power play. Obviously, everything can still collapse from here, but as of now, this team ought to be getting the coverage of one of the best teams in the league, not one in the middle of its own division. I can't believe I actually just wrote that, after last season. This takes that into account: https://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/stats/team-standings-points-per-game/2016/ Good chart, and shows the ridiculousness of our division--5 of the top 8 teams in the NHL are in the Metropolitan.
December 13, 20168 yr ^^ #1 in the points-per-game standings (really nice chart and site) ^ The top five teams in the Metro are red-hot. Pittsburgh (6 game win streak); NY Rangers (3 game win streak); Philadelphia (9 game win streak!); CBJ (6 game win streak); Washington (4 game win streak)
December 13, 20168 yr Keep enjoying the ride! The Jackets got two more dominating wins over the weekend (4-1 at Detroit; 6-2 vs. NY Islanders). They're hitting on all cylinders right now. Which seems to make it a good time for the "Western Canada road trip" (say it like "The Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field" for full effect!). Edmonton on Tuesday; Calgary on Friday; then Vancouver on Sunday. The schedule-makers even gave us some off days between the games. (Maybe this is our year!) Edmonton is middle-of-the pack but should be tough at home. Calgary's on a 6-game winning streak. Vancouver started strong, but lately has been looking like the team predicted to finish bottom 3 in the league. CBJ's on a 6-game winning streak and 8-game point streak. Let's keep it going!
December 14, 20168 yr 3-1 win last night over at Edmonton's brand new mega-size hockey palace (aka Rogers Place) 18-5-4 overall record; 7-game win streak; 9-game point streak On to Calgary on Friday.
December 15, 20168 yr 7-game win streak Psssht. Big deal. There are three teams in our division that have win streaks of at least 7 games, and another with 5. :-P P.S. Just checked the schedule to see when we start actually running into each other. We've actually got another 3 games out west (all winnable, though of course anything is possible--Calgary, LA, Vancouver) before we run into anyone else in the Metro. Then we host Pittsburgh here on Dec. 22. That could be a barnburner, especially if we both stay hot for one more week.
December 16, 20168 yr Psssht. Big deal. There are three teams in our division that have win streaks of at least 7 games, and another with 5. :-P Want more winning streaks? The Flyers just won their 10th-in-the-row! The Pens are also on a 7-game win streak. And I learned from the NHL Network yesterday that this is the 10th straight season the Pens have had a 7-game winning streak! (This coincides with their drafting of Sidney Crosby - but that's probably just a coincidence, right?) Tonight's opponent, Calgary, lost on Wednesday. If they hadn't, both the CBJ and Calgary would have had 7-game win streaks going into tonight's game! By the way, the Jackets are also riding a 9-game point streak - which goes back to Nov. 23, when the CBJ lost at home to ... Calgary. That 2-0 loss was the last bad game the Jackets have played.
December 17, 20168 yr Psssht. Big deal. There are three teams in our division that have win streaks of at least 7 games, and another with 5. :-P Want more winning streaks? The Flyers just won their 10th-in-the-row! The Pens are also on a 7-game win streak. Yes, those were the other two of the three in our division I mentioned (with of course ourselves being the third). :-P
December 17, 20168 yr CBJ still hitting on all cylinders. 4-1 win at Calgary last night. 19-5-4. 8 wins in a row (one short of the franchise record of 9) 10-game point streak going into Vancouver on Sunday.
December 19, 20168 yr Vancouver gave the CBJ a tough game yesterday. But the Jackets pulled out a 4-3 OT win to extend their winning streak to 9 games! Overall record is 20-5-4. The current 9-game winning streak ties a franchise record. Columbus has outscored opponents 37-14 during these 9 games. Last night's win gave Head Coach John Tortorella his 500th career coaching win. Torts is first among American-born coaches and 11th among all NHL coaches for career wins.
December 19, 20168 yr Obviously we still need to dispatch Los Angeles (a team that's at least above .500), but if we get that record-breaking win tomorrow, we're going to be very hard-pressed to hold it: Somehow we ended up playing games on back-to-back nights against Pittsburgh (20-7-5) 12/22 and then Montreal (20-7-4) 12/23, two of the top teams in the league.
December 19, 20168 yr Vancouver gave the CBJ a tough game yesterday. But the Jackets pulled out a 4-3 OT win to extend their winning streak to 9 games! Overall record is 20-5-4. I kid you not...every time my dad switched over to the game, Vancouver scored right after. After the third goal I'm like Dammit Dad, it's you!!!!
December 20, 20168 yr Vancouver gave the CBJ a tough game yesterday. But the Jackets pulled out a 4-3 OT win to extend their winning streak to 9 games! Overall record is 20-5-4. I kid you not...every time my dad switched over to the game, Vancouver scored right after. After the third goal I'm like Dammit Dad, it's you!!!! I've had the opposite thing happen to me and my Dad with CBJ games. One of us will either leave the room, or we'll switch during a commercial break to an OSU basketball game playing at the same time, and when we get back to the CBJ game - a goal got scored that we missed!
December 20, 20168 yr Obviously we still need to dispatch Los Angeles (a team that's at least above .500), but if we get that record-breaking win tomorrow, we're going to be very hard-pressed to hold it: Somehow we ended up playing games on back-to-back nights against Pittsburgh (20-7-5) 12/22 and then Montreal (20-7-4) 12/23, two of the top teams in the league. Pittsburgh and Montreal are gonna be tough ones. For tonight's LA game though, I really don't know what we're gonna get. The Kings are in the middle of a 9-game road trip(!). Plus, the Kings lost their All-Star goalie Jonathan Quick in their season opener to a possibly season-ending injury. The Kings usually rely on good defense and superb goaltending from Quick to win. Now they've got 34-year-old Peter Budaj in their net. A former NHL-starter five seasons ago, but since then a backup. Last year, Budaj spent the entire season (except for 1 NHL start) with LA's AHL team! So far, Budaj's mostly been very good, but has had a few clunkers. LA's other option is a 29-year-old career backup goalie. If LA gets some good goaltending tonight, they've got a chance. If they don't, then LA's toast. Unless the curse of Jeff Carter is still in effect. In which case none of those trends will matter! The Jackets are currently an NHL-1st in goals-per-game with 3.3 and an NHL-2nd in goals-against at 2.1. If the Jackets win tonight, they'll set a franchise record of 10 consecutive wins.
December 21, 20168 yr Can't take credit for that great "10 gif". It was in the third comment at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/12/20/14035206/quick-takes-jackets-3-kings-2-so - but it just needed to be part of this thread. The CBJ won a thrilling 3-2 SO victory last night over the Kings and Jeff Carter. That's 10 straight wins, in-a-row, consecutively - a new franchise record!!! And the Jackets did it against all odds: - No Bob in the net, C-Mac got the start - Kings goalie Budaj had a quality night - No CBJ power-play goals - Outshot 46-27 by the Kings - Jeff Carter got two regulation goals plus a shootout goal - and we still won! It was a gritty, grind-it-out game that featured two Dubi-to-Cam regulation goals, 44 saves from C-Mac, plus a Sam Gagner game winning goal in the shootout for the CBJ's 10th straight win. 21-5-4, 12-game point streak, more below: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/12/21/14036102/game-30-our-crown-is-called https://www.nhl.com/news/los-angeles-kings-columbus-blue-jackets-game-recap/c-284912900 http://www.espn.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400884880
December 21, 20168 yr Well, here goes nothing. 10-game win streak heading into Pittsburgh and Montreal back-to-back. If we knock down both of them on consecutive nights, then we really are in the national Stanley Cup conversation. Can't believe I'm writing that. (Still a lot of hockey left to be played either way, of course.)
December 21, 20168 yr Well, here goes nothing. 10-game win streak heading into Pittsburgh and Montreal back-to-back. If we knock down both of them on consecutive nights, then we really are in the national Stanley Cup conversation. Can't believe I'm writing that. (Still a lot of hockey left to be played either way, of course.) You had to say something didn't you? You better hope they win tomorrow!
December 21, 20168 yr Well, here goes nothing. 10-game win streak heading into Pittsburgh and Montreal back-to-back. If we knock down both of them on consecutive nights, then we really are in the national Stanley Cup conversation. Can't believe I'm writing that. (Still a lot of hockey left to be played either way, of course.) You had to say something didn't you? You better hope they win tomorrow! ROFL Been saying it for a while now, check my upthread posts! They've continued winning notwithstanding my reckless medding with cyberkarma.
December 22, 20168 yr This is the kind of run I assume management was hoping for back at the inception of the franchise. OSU basketball is the worst it's been in 10 years, paving the way for the Jackets to own the city from January-April (and perhaps beyond). A playoff series win (or heck, even two) would push the franchise to levels not seen before -> actual fan interest for the sake of interest, not people buying tickets to "be seen" as it was for many nights those first few years. Very Stable Genius
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