I elected to stay in last night. It came down to the money, mostly. But I did watch some great hockey on TV though- the Toronto-Montreal game was one of the best hockey games I've seen in a long time. I could try to give you a run down on this post, but I couldn't do it justice. The final was 6-5 Toronto, and one of the Canadiens had a natural hat trick within 6 minutes. Alas, the effort went for naught. Despite the Leafs' big win, the Isles' shootout victory over the Devils today kept Toronto out of the playoffs and granted New York the 8th seed.
The Jackets didn't fare so well. Even a late rally couldn't put them past Selanne and his cronies. Despite this, it sounds like it was a fun evening iniside the arena, and if the cards were stacked differently, I would have been there.
Norrena solidified his place as the first CBJ goaltender to amass a greater than .500 record. For that, he deserves congratulations. After all, he's the only Blue Jacket to do so, aside from maybe a call-up or two that only played a couple of games in Columbus. It really shows a lot about Norrena though, that he can have a winning record, yet the team as a whole is just 33-42-7. Leclaire really struggled early, and Conklin and Boucher... well, there's a reason why they didn't play any more than they had to.
It's one more season in the history books for the Jackets, and it 's bittersweet. It's always tough to see my favorite sports team end their season, knowing it will be nearly 6 months before I see them take the ice again. But it's chance to say good riddance to a season that has effectively been over for months. But I digress. We Jacket Fans need a week or so to cool off and reflect on the past 82 games. There were a lot of changes, a few surprises, and another disappointing ending. But I'll make an effort to keep a positive (all be it realistic) attitude toward the offseason and next year. ...right after I get the 06-07 season out of my system.
