Berard and Westcott Join Leclaire and Fritsche on Bench for Remainder of Season

Berard's back pain has returned, despite two surgeries and sitting out 82 games. The former #1 draft pick (1995) has been instructed by his doctors to sit out the rest of the season. After being signed to a two-year $4.5 Million contract, Berard has only played 55 games in a Blue Jackets uniform, working out to roughly $82,000 per game. Ouch. Sources tell Aaron Portzline that Berard is very unlikely to be re-signed for next season. It's also possible that Berard's career is over, though we'll have to see what happens to him in the offseason.

Westcott has made it official that he won't be back this season either. Still suffering from a concussion that occurred months ago, there's no need to get him back in the lineup. His injuries pose to great of a risk, especially when the Jackets are out of playoff contention.

Adding these two to the already-done Pascal Leclaire and Dan Fritsche, we have four CBJ players who we won't see until at least next year, and in the case of Berard, won't likely ever see again at all.

I'd like to say that these guys would make a good golf foursome and would have the advantage of early season prices, but with their particular injuries it looks like the only golf they could play would be Tiger Woods PGA Tour on Playstation.

The Photo is of Berard and Wags and/or Elliot from QFM96. I think the two of them look like they're ready to kick someone's ass. Perhaps that of Wags or Elliot... whichever is not in the picture. And why is he leaning on Berard? He has a bad back!

Leclaire Done for Season, Westcott likely to Follow Suit

After only 24 games as Columbus' starting goaltender, Pascal Leclaire has called it quits on the season. The decision comes only after months of a reoccurring injury to his knee that started back in December. We all had hopes that Pazzy would be back in crease before the end of the season, but the attempt he did make to return just reignited his ailing leg.

Leclaire, just 24, is said to be one of the great futures of the CBJ organization. He's said to have the skills and potential to lead this team since joining the Jackets' organization via the 2002 NHL draft.

Pazzy has played a total of 59 games in the Columbus sweater, including call-ups from previous seasons, his back-up duty under Marc Denis, and this season's starter spot. In his 24 games this season, he posted a 2.97 GAA with a .897 save percentage. While those numbers are short of spectacular, the GAA has decreased in recent seasons. That's shows promise, I suppose.

Duvie Westcott is also still out on injury. He hasn't played since January 6th, and his return isn't looking good. His concussion still affects him, particularly when his heart rate gets up.... clearly an issue in a fast-paced full contact sport. Until a few days ago, Westcott hoped to return to the lineup this week. When his headache problems sprung up on Tuesday, CBJ medical staff decided it would be best to postpone his return and go see a specialist.

While I would love to see either of these players get back on the ice before the end of the season, there's no sense in multiplying their risk of further injury by rushing them back onto the ice. The Jackets don't have anything left to play for with the playoffs out of the picture, so taking it easy is the way to go for the injured Leclaire and Westcott.

Roster News - Nov. 7

Jackets GM Doug MacLean and Coach Gerard Gallant have made a few small roster moves.

-Shelley was scratched for Saturday's loss to Detroit, though Gallant says that it is only a temporary move.

-Duvie Westcott has elected to have surgery now to repair is broken finger. His spot on the blue line will be filled by Aaron Johnson, though his special teams time will likely go to Anders Erikson. Westcott will be on IR for 6-8 weeks, which is to the serious detriment of the Columbus offense. The defenseman is tied with Rick Nash for 2nd in team scoring.

-Brian Berard is still out of commission following back surgery. The defenseman will likely return to the ice in late January.

MacLean has stated that he is looking to make a trade for another defenseman to alleviate the injury situation. Unfortunately, the trade market is too slow to get any good options. Hopefully it will heat up in coming weeks.

While the jackets injury situation will weaken an already struggling team, I can't help but feel sorry for the Blackhawks. Khabibulin, Lalime, and Havlat are all out for injuries, and Handzus will be gone for the rest of the regular season, minimum.


Other significant injuries from around the league:
Phoenix: Comrie, Reinprecht, and Ricci all out indefinitely
Buffalo: Afinogenov out indefinitely
Carolina: Kaberle, Letowski, Stillman
Florida: Bertuzzi, Nieuwendyk