And now we wait.

It's the slowest time of the year for Jacket fans. Other teams are enjoying the playoffs and our team is out on the golf course. The draft is still two months away, and the front office won't start signing free agents until the summer, and certainly not without our new GM. We've probably got a while on the GM signing too.

Aaron Portzline's article in the Dispatch explains that the Jackets' GM search is just in the preliminary stages. This is partly due to the fact that several of the candidates currently work for Cup-contending teams and therefore won't be immediately available for interviewing. In the mean time, Mike Priest, the new CBJ President, will be granting interviews to two front office employees already in the organization. While these candidates are worth examining, I have faith that Priest will focus more of his attention elsewhere. Promoting a MacLean crony to the top spot in the organization isn't a good way of "moving in a new direction." Regardless of their selection for the new GM, the Jackets will see a lot of changes in coming months. Even though the waiting is rough, it's a short wait compared to the last six seasons.

But hey, we've got playoff hockey to watch... and this:

SI and YouTube Present: Five of the Worst NHL Hits

Sports Illustrated doing exactly what they do best, illustrating sports, has posted an online slideshow of ten of the most infamous hits in the NHL. Being that SI.com only provides photos, I took it upon myself of rounding up a few of them on YouTube. So here they are in all their glory horror.

Cam Janssen hits Thomas Kaberle. This happened last week.


Chris Neil hits Chris Drury, leading to the "Buffalo Brawl". This clip happened before the segment posted on the prior post regarding this incident.


Marty McSorley nails Donald Brashear's head with his stick.


Dale Hunter drills Pierre Turgeon after he scores a goal in the 1993 Playoffs.



And the one I hate the most... Todd Bertuzzi attacking Steve Moore. This clip gets me fired up... this hit isn't hockey at all. It's a malicious assault.

Ryan Smyth Says a Tearful Goodbye to Edmonton, or a Tearful Hello to New York

In what can only be described as one of those great sports moments that tugs at your manly heartstrings, Ryan Smyth gave a press conference on Wednesday to the people of Edmonton. He expresses how much he has appreciated playing for the Oilers organization and tries to look positively on his move to the Big Apple.

His emotional display demonstrates some of his classy behavior Covered in Oil has described in the past, and justifies the image of Jesus with Smyth's likeness instead of the savior. Anyway you cut it, Smyth characterizes the kind of player that can really pull a team and its community together- and the kind of player we could really use here in Columbus... a guy who can make a difference on and off the ice.




On a mildly disturbing sidenote, when i first saw the video, I thought he had gum in the side of his mouth. I thought, "Gee, that's unprofessional when on (inter)national media." Moments later I discovered that no, that's not gum... those are his teeth. And they're simply missing on the other side. Ick. I thought most hockey players had fake teeth they put in when they donned their suits and other formal attire. Guess not.

Buffalo Brawl Leads to 136 Penalty Minutes

Last night's Ottawa-Buffalo game created quite a spectacle. I didn't watch the game personally, so I don't know what kind of rough-and-tumble sort of play led to this, but this is one of the most egregious hockey fights I've seen in a while. It seems like everyone was throwing punches, and it ultimately leads to a goalie fight. (I've never completely understood the goalie fight. It's not like one laid a cheap shot on the other or anything.) It's some great Emery on Biron action though.

Check out all the penalties from the game on the official scoresheet.

Hockey Havoc at the Hilton

As mentioned in a recent post on End of the Bench, Ovechkin, Crosby, Havlat, Luongo and others star in a recent commercial on NBC.

I like the new NHL marketing campaign a lot. I just think opening up this advertising to a larger demographic might be more beneficial.

"J-Hi" and Ben Affleck are pregnant with Luongo's baby?

Courtesy of Deadspin comes this YouTube clip from a hockey game involving the Canucks. Not sure who else is playing, but that doesn't really matter. The scene takes place up along the glass where a 'fan' is notifying Luongo that she's 'with child'. Probably not though, but it makes for a funny scene.

Listen to the announcer talk about the scene... made me laugh pretty good.
Ben AFFLAAAACK!!!

Bush is to Hockey as Oil is to Water

Okay, so that analogy worked out a little too well. The sports blog Out of Left Field has brought us a doosey of a clip from the White House. It's Bush hosting last year's Stanley Cup winning Carolina Hurricanes, and W is just thrilled. You can tell he shot some pucks as a kid (or maybe just got hit by one.) He struggles through the script, which was obviously written for him, which makes the scene almost uncomfortable to watch, but hey, That's My Bush!

Will it blend? That is the question.

I was pretty bummed by the final score of the Flames game. This made me feel better though.


If you find this sort of thing amusing, (and I sure do!) check out willitblend.com. Talk about marketing! I'm ready to buy a $400 blender after this kind of demonstration. I'll put it next to my Ginsu knives and my ThighMaster.

All-Star Break Time for the Jackets

The Jackets took down the mighty Wings with three swift blows from the stick. I regret not attending this game- I should have thought to get some tickets during the 24 hour sale. Whoops. Anyhow, I did manage to watch exactly the first half of the game, and I was actually pretty impressed. The team played solid all around. After watching the dismal effort put up against Nashville, and then last night's game, it was pretty clear the Hitch ran a rigorous practice between games. The team seemed more focused on fundamentals and less on making a big play. Checks were finished, passes were crisp, and plays came together where there hadn't been a connection before. Perhaps best of all, the Jackets only ceded 6 penalties. I'll take it. In all, it was a good way to go into the All-Star break.

This year's All-Star game will be held in Dallas, or 'Big-D' as they say in Texas, where even cliches are big. A quick rundown of the schedule:

Tuesday: Young Stars game and the 'Super Skills' competition, which is always fun to watch.
Wednesday: The actual All-Star game. Rick Nash will be representing the CBJ.

Monday also includes an interesting event, and one that I was not familiar with. Quoth the Dallas Stars All-Star game web site:

American Airlines "Salute to a Generation of Stars," presented by Idearc Media, official publishers of the Verizon Yellow Pages (AAC, 6-8 p.m.): The all-stars will hold showcase practices during which there will be a salute to several former NHL stars. NHL legends scheduled to appear include: 19-time All-Star Ray Bourque; Hockey Hall of Famer and three-time Norris Trophy winner Paul Coffey; top-scoring US-born skater Phil Housley; 1999 Stanley Cup winner with the Dallas Stars Brett Hull; Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux; Olympic Gold Medalist and 13-time All-Star Al MacInnis; six-time Stanley Cup winner and 15-time All-Star Mark Messier; Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Murphy; four-time All-Star Joe Nieuwendyk; five-time All-Star Adam Oates and eight-time All-Star Luc Robitaille.

I think that sounds mildly entertaining, though I doubt it'll be televised. I look forward to the day when Columbus gets to host the game. You'd think we'd be pretty high up on the list after being voted the #1 stadium experience. And I'm sure we're as big of a market as Minneapolis, and we're reasonably close to two other hockey cities and several metro areas. Someday. Right about the time the Jackets win the division.

Alright hockey fans: today I leave you with a classic hockey clip. I've recently developed an affinity to posting clips from YouTube. Hopefully you don't mind to much. This is the intro from the 1980 NHL All-Star game. I'm sure you'll recognize a few faces.

Video Highlights from Blue Jackets vs. Anaheim Ducks 1/5/07

As promised, I found the video highlights for the Jackets game at Anaheim last Friday night. If you missed it live, here's your chance to see one of our beloved franchise's all-time best comebacks. Don't forget that the Jackets are on live tonight at 7 on Fox Sports Net Ohio at home vs. St. Louis. If things go sour tonight, just check out this video clip for hope. As for me, I'm off to the arena. Go Jackets!

Pants party in Minnesota

Earlier this week, the Jackets lost on what was being called a controversial goal by the sports media. The Jackets went to OT at Minnesota, and Wes Waltz scored the game winner in a surprising way. Apparently, the puck was deflected into his pants just as he was checked into the goal. Since the whole thing happened pretty much by freak coincidence, the goal counted. I suppose if he were to have placed the puck into his own pants it would have been a different story. Yoder knows the rules better than I- maybe he has some insight on that.

Anyhow, I was unable to witness the incident live, but I did find it on YouTube.

Nash goal from Monday 12/18

From YouTube comes this footage of Nash's goal from Vyborny and Fedorov on Monday. Definitely on the highlight reel for the season up to now- I'm hoping it'll cheer all of us up after last night's loss. Enjoy. (Chimera sure does)