You're Not Alone

I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't the only one irate at 3 am Thursday morning screaming at Frank from Step by Step as he introduced a new exercise for me to ignore. Versus is trying to establish themselves as an actual network and they pull this crap!? They still haven't responded to my email. Thank God for NHL.com's streamcast of the Canucks flagship so I could pretend I lived in 1925 for the 4th overtime. I was half expecting to be interrupted by a fireside chat or Orson Welles trying to convince me that aliens were invading the earth. Well I'm not buying it. Flames over Wings in 6, calling it now.

Update: The Versus outage was noted on Deadspin as appearing in a Letter to the Editor in the Albany Times-Union... I'm sure amongst other places. I hope Versus noticed.

Sedin Scores in 7th Period, Or Why I'm Mad at Versus

I tuned in to the Stars-Canucks game last night at the beginning of the third, which was just before midnight in the eastern time zone. It was a fun, quick scoring game and the Stars tied it up at 4 midway through the third. Little did I know that I was in for an all-nighter.

The game proceeded to overtime. The sudden death play continued through three overtimes, stopping between each for an intermission. I stayed with it, even though it was soon 3 am. I was invested, and I wanted to see the goal that broke the deadlock. But then came heartbreak. Versus went to commercial between the third and fourth periods and never came back. Instead, viewers were subjected to a fitness infomercial starring Patrick Duffy. I didn't find out til this morning that the Sedins broke the tie with less than two minutes left in the 4th overtime.

Damn you Versus!! Damn you!!!

Is GM Doug MacLean stuck in 1996? 8 reasons why I think so.

Inspired by a conversation I had with faithful Jacket Times commenter Brandon, I've gathered evidence supporting the fact that Blue Jackets General Manager Doug MacLean is stuck in 1996.

Brandon: i heard today from a buddy of mine that McConnell told MacLean to fire Gallant and that if he didn't he'd be firing two people.

Tyler: i believe it

the whole gallant situation is maclean's fault going back to when they fired king

they fired king and never did anything about it, then wonder why we stink four years later

Brandon: might help if we brought in some actual talent. it's like he's playing NHL 1996 and trying to grab the best players from that

Interesting point. 1996 Was a good year for MacLean. That year he was the GM of the Stanley Cup finalist Florida Panthers. With that kind of performance from his team, I can imagine why he'd want to live those days forever. Let's take a look at some of the decisions MacLean has made recently and see if he's still stuck in the 26 team version of the 1996 NHL.

1. Bryan Berard - In 1995, he was the #1 overall pick in the NHL Draft. By 1996, little about the NHL performance of the defenseman was known, and he was no doubt a hot commodity.
2. Anson Carter - Played his first games in the NHL in 1996 for the Washington Capitals
3. Dave King - In 1996 King just finished his third consecutive year coaching for the Calgary Flames. He reached the playoffs each season but always lost in the first round.
   
4. Sergei Fedorov - #91 had already played a number of successful seasons with the Red Wings, and their team looked really sharp. (They went on to win the Cup in '97 and '98) Sergei also posted over 100 points during the '95-'96 season.
   
5. Adam Foote - Foote was a top defenseman for the 1996 cup winning Colorado team. MacLean saw firsthand what Foote was capable of as his team stole the cup in game 7 4 (Thanks Truth) from the Panthers.
6. Ken Hitchcock - He was hired by the Dallas Stars in the middle of the 1995-1996 season. Even though they finished 15-23-5 that year, Hitch's Stars made the playoffs the next 5 consecutive seasons and included 2 finals appearances and one Stanley Cup victory.
7. Gerard Gallant - GG finished his last season as a player in 1996 and joined the Blue Jackets as an assistant in 2001 - his first NHL gig.
8. Doug's iPod has been known to contain tracks by Los Del Rio, the Quad City DJ's and The Tony Rich Project.

So there it is. Doug MacLean is spending too much time playing NHL '96 on his Sega Genesis. Maybe we should send him an up to date copy and a PS3. I don't like my team's GM to be living in an era where Michael Jordan is starring in Space Jam and Tupac Shakur is still alive.

This is a real website now!

This morning I registered the domain www.jackettimes.com through Yahoo. I found a great deal where I could get the first year for $1.99. Done.

If you use 'www.jackettimes.com' it'll do a masked redirect to the same site. All of your old bookmarks, rss feeds, links and whatever else you have attached to this site will still work, so there's no need to change anything. I just couldn't pass up a good deal.

While I do intend on making a few site changes during the offseason, I'll be sure to put up a post or two about them before anything major changes.

Oh, and if you're a blogger and want to take advantage of the same deal, you can get the $1.99 price by clicking here. I don't know how long it'll last, so get it while the getting is good!

The End of the Road

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.

To Go or not To Go... that is the question.

I'm debating whether or not to attend tonight's FANtastic FANale VI at Nationwide. I'm really torn. The Jackets are hosting the Ducks in what is quite a meaningless affair. Anaheim is securely in the playoffs, and the Jackets are far, far from it. This game could quickly turn ugly, particularly if Teemu Selanne feels like rubbing it in again with a last second (literally) empty netter.

If I stay home, with my NHL Center Ice package, which is surprisingly free, I can watch whatever is going on in the whole league. Particularly, I'd like to tune into the Toronto - Montreal game. The winner goes to the playoffs, and the loser goes home. I'd also get a chance to see the Panthers play Carolina, which would let me view what I believe to be the last remaining teams that I haven't seen this season.

At Nationwide, the stands will be pretty packed and I'll likely have to scalp tickets to get seats. We would be present for yet another John McConnell "I'm sorry" speech, and we'd witness a handful of fans be rewarded with some game worn jerseys. It's be the last time for months that I'd get to see my team take the ice. But barring a very public firing of Doug MacLean, would I really be missing anything? I've poured more of my cash and time into this team this year than any prior, and I really haven't received much return on that investment.

It'll be a to-the-wire decision, no doubt. Check back tomorrow and we'll see what happens. Also coming this week will be the season in review, including our picks for Jackets MVP.

Is Time Warner Giving Me NHL Center Ice for Free?

I got the impression from this Deadspin post that Time Warner Cable would be giving its subscribers a free trial of MLB Extra Innings, the multi-channel pay service that provides access to virtually every major league baseball game. I tuned in this evening to see which out of market games I could pick up, but there was no baseball to be seen. Instead, the channels dedicated to MLB Extra Innings were occupied by hockey. In fact, I could watch any and every NHL game airing tonight.

If you're a central Ohio Time Warner subscriber, check out channels 621-630, plus the subsequent MLB channels, 641-650 for some out of town hockey. It's a great opportunity to see some out of market teams that we Jacket fans seldom get to see all season. I'm flipping between the Jackets-Stars game (on FSN) and the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game, mostly. But you can also see Toronto-Islanders, Edmonton-Minnesota, or even Montreal-Rangers. I haven't had the pleasure of watching most of these teams this season, except for the New York teams. Seems like they're always on Versus. Has anyone else noticed a heavy east coast/New England bias on Versus? Every time I tune in, they're always showing the New York teams, Philadelphia, Boston, or Buffalo. Sure, it's easier to air earlier starting east coast games, and yeah, a huge portion of the viewing audience lives on the east coast, but there's 30 teams in the NHL.

Thanks to the gift of NHL Center Ice, I'll get to see a few more teams before we head into the playoffs. However, I still have not managed to see the Panthers or Lightning, with the latter being a serious playoff contender. Maybe they'll play tomorrow or Saturday and I can catch them on Center Ice.

It's Legal to Drive the Zamboni Drunk in New Jersey

According to an ESPN report, a New Jersey Judge has overturned an earlier DWI conviction that occurred on a Zamboni. I’ll let ESPN do the explaining:

Zamboni operator John Peragallo had been charged with drunken driving in 2005 after a fellow employee at the Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown told police the machine was speeding and nearly crashed into the boards.

Police said Peragallo's blood alcohol level was 0.12 percent. A level of 0.08 is considered legally drunk in New Jersey.

After his conviction, ice resurfacer John Peragallo took his case to the court of appeals, where it was overturned on the premise that “Zambonis aren’t driveable on highways, and they don’t carry passengers.”

Good to know, just in case I’m ever in New Jersey and have tipped a few back at the rink. I doubt the same would fly here in Ohio, where its been rumored that you can get a DWI on a bike, if you’re over that .08 limit.

Interestingly, our New Jersey rink worker friend admitted to drinking Sambuca with his breakfast, then taking two Vicadin pills, but claimed to have not consumed his beer and vodka beverages until after resurfacing the ice. "Drunk" or not, a .12 BAC might leave his Zamboni looking like the picture above.

NHL Player Salaries - Available for Download

I found a list of NHL player salaries on WirtzSucks.com - A site dedicated to the Chicago Blackhawks and the loathing of their owner. Through some tricky copy & paste work, I prepared the following spreadsheet. It's sorted first by team, then by salary. Feel free to do what you will with the data in the file. Re-sort it, manipulate it, negotiate some new contracts... have at it.

To save you the trouble, Jaromir Jagr is the highest paid player at $8.36 million. Second is Brad Richards, second line centerman for the Tampa Bay Lightening at $7.8 mil. For the Jackets, the highest paid player is Fedorov at $6.5

Jody "two points" Shelley makes a cool $600,000- more than 23% of NHL players. His paycheck is bigger than Jordin Tootoo, Mathias Tjarnqvist and Mikko Lehtonen. It's also bigger than Dan Fritsche, OKT, and Ron Hainsey.

NHL Player Salaries in Excel Format (134kb)

Two Games Left with Nowhere to Go

We're down to two. After being dealt yet another shut out last night at the hands of the Red Wings, the Jackets have just two games left to put this season out of its misery.

Both remaining games are at home in Nationwide Arena, and both are against playoff teams. Dallas (Thursday) has clinched a spot and sits as the six-seed and Anaheim (Saturday)  is in second place in the Western Conference. The playoff seed positions are all pretty tight and a key win or two in this last week of the regular season could mean a home/away change or a different opponent in the opening round. Anaheim and Dallas will both be at their best these last games, making sure their squads are ready to enter Lord Stanley's Tournament.

Columbus players have probably already set up their tee-times for next week (pending weather, of course) and should be out taking advantage of early season golf club sales. Those not heading out to the links probably have plane tickets to the Czech Republic, Finland, or the Bahamas. As the commercial goes, maybe the Blue Jackets are due for a 'Bahamavention'.

In other news, there was a strange coaching change this week. New Jersey Devil's Coach Claude Julien was fired. Not that notale, until you recognize the fact that the Devils are in second place in the Eastern Conference. It's a whole different hockey game when you can fire coaches that have already made the playoffs. Here in Columbus, you have to keep your team below .500 for years to get the boot. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello will be behind the bench as they cruise into the post-season. I'll have a good laugh if they don't get past the first round.