Hockey Talk: End of the 2012 Season

The regulation-play season of the NHL has ended. For the 14 teams that did NOT play well enough to make the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it's time to go play in international games, to recuperate or refuel, or to play golf.

This year's Columbus Blue Jackets (CBJ) were stuck in the basement of the standings since November of last year. They ended their season with a total of 65 points. Conversely, the St. Louis Blues (STL), our division rivals, finished their season with a total of 109 points. Our overall record was 29-46-7 (wins, losses, overtime victories) compared to the STL record of 49-22-11. So....yeah, STL was basically twice as good as us.

There's been a lot written about the Year in Review, so I thought I would chime in with a few comments.

Jeff Carter was supposed to be our saviour, the All-Star Center who Captain Rick Nash had been waiting for. However, Carter never really clicked in Columbus and certainly the Nash-Carter team never gelled. When the CBJ management had a chance to trade Carter to LA for Jack Johnson, they jumped at it. The differences between Carter and Johnson were dramatic, right from the start. When Carter was traded from Philadelphia to Columbus, he pined away in seclusion for several days, moping; when Johnson was traded from LA to Columbus, he hopped on the first airplane out of there and played for us the next day! He is now one of the fan favorites and the talk is that he will be the next Captain. My money is still on RJ Umberger, but we'll see....

The Carter-Johnson trade is indicative of how stupid CBJ management really is. The wholesome trade of players who want to be here for players who don't is just stupid. Except for Jack Johnson (and, to a lesser degree Vinny Prospal), no "new" CBJ player has hit it off with the fans. We love the new kids, and then they are sent down to CBJ farm-team! Players like Grant Clitsome, Matt Calvert, Jan Hedja, Kris Russell, Rudy Klesla, Antoinne Vermette, and Jake Voracek may not be great players, but they were OUR great players. We the fans had emotional connections with these guys, and to replace them with "better" (so-called) players is an admirable goal, but these guys are gone and the CBJ still lost! Was it really these players' fault? Most of these guys wanted to stay in Columbus and work for us; who did we get for them?? Exactly.

My favorite game of the season was the March 23 victory over Carolina Hurricanes. It was my first "hat-trick" where I actually threw my hat onto the ice.

Is that my hat from RJ's hat-trick?
Looks like it!

My favorite moment of the season was my question being used in the March 28 program. It's not all that interesting a question, sure, but it's still cool that I had my name mentioned in an NHL program.

My favorite players are still Derek Dorsett and Jared Boll. Hopefully both of them will be back next year. And of course I still like the Russell Brothers (Kris now in STL, Ryan employed by CBJ but sent to the farm team in the AHL).

This year was the worst in CBJ history. Okay, fine. But other teams have had slumps, too. So let's re-arrange the team and re-commit and study those teams actually in the Playoffs and do better next year! If we are the Chicago Cubs or the Boston Red Sox of the NHL that's fine; it just means we have to try harder!

Sure, my enthusiasm for the CBJ has diminished some, but I still love hockey. I look forward to a better season next year. I look forward to the All Star Weekend coming in January 2013. I look better than 65 points! Come on, Blue Jackets, I know you can do it!

My predictions for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

Ottawa Senators in 6
Boston Bruins in 5
New Jersey Devils in 5
Philadelphia Flyers in 5

LA Kings in 6
STL Blues in 6
Phoenix Coyotes in 6
Detroit Red Wings in 5

Why I'm Angry With The CBJ

It's been more than a month since I wrote anything about the Columbus Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, during that time there really hasn't been anything to write about, if you know what I mean. The NHL trade deadline was last week and we moved a grand total of...four players? THIS is what CBJ management meant by "re-organizing" the team?

Last week Nationwide hosted an Open House for season ticket holders. My wife and I have a 20-game pack, so we were invited. I wasn't sure I wanted to go because of all the stupid things that have been happening lately, but my wife reminded me that this might be the last time we see some of these players (like Jeff Carter, who was strongly rumored to be on his way out). I looked at my CBJ pennant that I had bought at the beginning of the season and it only had four autographs on it. I figured this would be a good chance to get some more names, so I agreed to go. 

Well, I'm glad we did. We met several players (but not Rick Nash; his line was crazy long) and we both remembered just how fun hockey can be. No matter how badly the team may be doing, if they are doing the best they can, then we fans are satisfied. And everyone there (with a few exceptions, haha) seemed to want to be there.  Besides the several autograph tables set up there were slap shots on the ice with visually enthusiastic Derick Brassard and Derek Dorsett and also pee-wee "street hockey" in the lobby with Ryan Johansen and John Moore. There was some talk about the impending trade deadline but mostly it was a carnival atmosphere. 

The last time Jeff Carter had to
wear a CBJ sweater? Signing my
daughter's flag 2-23-12

I will be brutally honest with you: the CBJ are in last place because they have not been playing good hockey. Is it General Manager Scott Howson's fault? Well, he isn't the one skating on the ice every game. Nor is the interim coach, Todd Richards, who replaced Scott Arniel back in January. So for sure a lot of the blame has to be placed on the shoulders of the players themselves. However, that being said, the job of motivating the players and helping them improve their game is squarely on the shoulders of the coach and management. And the job of keeping up the level of fan support? Also the coach and management. How many times are we the fans going to be given a player like Jeff Carter, who looked so great on paper but never ever performed until he was trying to increase his trade value? Or conversely, why are we losing players like Grant Clitsome, who seemed to be playing his heart out on most nights and whom the fans have come to love? Now we have another new face we have to get to know and love and/or hate? I think the thing that management is doing most badly (and there are several things!) is not appreciating how emotionally invested we fans are in the team. It MATTERS when we lose players like Clitsome. It MATTERS when passionate, dedicated, FUN players like Matt Calvert and David Savard are shipped back down to the minors. They are consistent point-getters; Calvert has a hat-trick from last season and yet still no permanent spot on the bench? It's crazy stupid.   



Ryan Russell, still my favorite player. ;-)



Okay, so we lost Clitsome, Antoine Vermette, Samuel Pahlsson, and Jeff Carter last week. Of those, the only one who was really playing with any passion was Clitsome. And I'm not saying this just because I had the honor to meet him in Nashville and talk to him last week at the Open House event; Pahlsson and Carter were there last week, too. And I have met Vermette at these Meet-and-Greet things before and he is a very nice guy. Carter was traded to Columbus from Philadelphia last summer and was supposed to be the Magic Pill to help our offense. However, he and Captain Rick Nash never gelled on the ice; in fact he never seemed to want to be here. So good luck to him in Los Angeles. The others? Same story, different details:  I'm sorry it didn't work out, good luck to you, etc. 



RJ Umberger, who I predict will be
the new captan next year



Except for Clitsome! I know that management has to get rid of players who they can trade (free agents, players with contracts expiring, etc) but really, shouldn't they be trying to get rid of players WHO DON'T PLAY WELL?!? Meanwhile we have half-hearted players like Steve Mason still here. We have RJ Umberger always going up the side and choking instead of taking shots. We have Rick Nash and Derick Brassard passing the puck over and over again trying to set up "the perfect shot" and then never taking one. 

Columbus Blue Jackets need players who are willing and able to play. AND we need players that the fans can support. Jack Johnson was traded to Columbus from LA for Jeff Carter, and one of the first things he ever said was, "I want to be here." In his first game, he played well! On the other hand, we can't have a team of all-new people or it won't "be" the Columbus Blue Jackets. A quick look to compare the current roster with last year's will show you that only 10 players out of 26 are carry-overs from last year. I watched the game last night against Phoenix and didn't know half the players' full names because I'm not used to them yet! 

Curtis Sanford, one of the bright
spots of this season



And still we don't have established rookies like Matt Calvert or David Savard in the line-up. (sigh)  Goalie extraordinaire Curtis Sanford still hasn't been given a long-term contract!?

We fans want to support the team. We really do. But when the coaches and management make asinine decisions like getting rid of good players along with the also-rans, it creates a culture where the Captain doesn't want to be here, and neither do the fans! 

So my suggestion? Get rid of players like Steve Mason, Fyedor Tutin, and, if he really doesn't want to be here, Rick Nash. It will be hard to lose Nasher, but if it is what he wants then we should honor his request. Keep the newer "faces" of the CBJ: Jared Boll, Vinny Prospal, James Wisniewski, Derek Dorsett, Curtis Sanford, Derick Brassard, and Jack Johnson. Continue to develop (ie don't keep sending them down to AHL) players like Matt Calvert, John Moore, Ryan Johansen, Colton Gillies, David Savard, and Ryan Russell. Let this team practice practice practice until they can anticipate what the other guy is going to do and then set them off and let the sparks fly.

And then maybe next year we won't just be The Spoilers when it comes to January. Here's hoping.   

The Worst Team In The NHL

Two guesses as to which team I am referring to in the title....! :-(

Okay, every year SOMEbody has to be at the bottom. That's just the way it is; for every winner, there must be a loser. But let's look at the facts for a second. This is the second year IN A ROW where the Columbus Blue Jackets had *such* an enthusiastic start to a season, only to end up nowhere near the Play Off table.

Last year was Columbus' Tenth Anniversary Season, with a new coach, and new things happening....or not. The big change in 2010-2011 was that Mike Commodore went away. Well, he must not have been the problem Coach Scott Arniel thought he was, eh? After a less than stellar season, (although toying near the PlayOff line once or twice just to tease the fans), CBJ management got rid of about half the team. They raised salaries of the players they brought in or decided to keep around. Jan Hedja, Mathew Garon, Jakob Voracek, Andrew Murray, Kyle Wilson, and Rudy Klesla, slackers all, were showed the door. Players that I don't particularly think were or are "all that" were allowed to stay (Steve Mason, Fyedor Tutin, and yes, Antoinne Vermette, I'm talking to you!!). Add in a few terrible injuries and voila, we have another half-baked season where we are in the basement. Current standings as of today (1-22-12) have the Blue Jackets at 32 points. The conference leader is Detroit at 65 points. They have won 32 games to our 13.

So what's to happen? Well...my opinion is to keep a core of consistently hard-working players, such as Derek Dorsett and Jared Boll, and build a new team around them! I wouldn't necessarily ditch Captain Rick Nash but I think I would demote him, since we have to assume some of these problems are because of his leadership abilities (or lack of same!). Anyone who has scored any goals at all are automatically in. We keep Vinny Prospal, even though he is a "free agent." I don't care about that; he can play, and has been doing great. Curtis Sanford should be made Lead Goalie. New kids like John Moore, Matt Calvert, Grant Clitsome, and David Savard should be added and kept. And of course, my new favorite, Ryan Russell, has a spot as long as he wants one. (He scored two goals within three games; that's a better average than the Captain right now...!) 

To sum up....I'm not necessarily abandoning my team. However, now that Coach Arniel has been relieved of his duties, it's time to make some more moves. Let's get rid of what (who) isn't working and strive to get better. Otherwise, really, what's the point?! 

CBJ Trades Russell.....so Russell Quits CBJ?!

This season has not gone the way anyone in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization or fan-base thought it would. We made all sorts of exciting and dramatic trades over the summer, with the expectation/hope that we would be a better team this year. I remember reading that all of the fans wanted another appearance in the playoffs, at the very least. (We've had one shot in ten years.) Anything less and people would be upset.

Well if you know anything about hockey at all you know that the Blue Jackets are currently the worst team in the league. We have won TWO games out of...wait for it....fifteen~! So our current record going in to our game tonight against the Winnipeg Jets is 2-12-1. We have a grand total of five points. The Jets aren't much better; they are at the bottom of their Eastern* division, yet they have thirteen points. (*they are in the East because they took Atlanta's berth; they'll be a league realignment next year.)

To add insult to injury, the coach of the Winnipeg Jets is the man Columbus didn't hire to be our new coach when we had the chance, Mr. Claude No'el. We passed him over in favor of our current coach, Mr. Scott Arniel. Not sure that was such a good idea, are we?!?

And to make matters even worse for me, yesterday the Blue Jackets traded my favorite player, Kris Russell! And where did he go, you ask? He is now playing for my former home-town team, the St. Louis Blues! (If he had gone to Colorado Avalanche he would have re-teamed with former CBJ Jan Hedja, my wife's favorite player, and our home would now be flying Avalanche colors.)

Yet we continue to play our terrible goalie, Steve Mason. Every game. (sigh)

So it's with a heavy heart that we are planning on going to the game tonight. When I picked this game in our half-season package back in August the hope was that we would celebrate Coach No'el's new position, welcome Winnipeg back into the NHL family, and then beat them in a winning streak on our way to the playoffs. Haha!

Now I'm thinking I may wear gray and white (Jets colors) instead of blue tonight. (sigh)



My new team logo!?



Maybe I'll switch allegiance to the St. Louis Blues. After all, they just hired the Blue Jackets' former coach, Ken Hitchcock, last week! When I go to St. Louis for Thanksgiving, maybe I'll pick up some RUSSELL t-shirts with the Blues logo on them to take the place of the CBJ crap stuff I currently have.

I told my wife I might buy up some RUSSELL CBJ sweaters and t-shirts and give them out to friends and family as gifts. Hell, they have my name on them, and they'll be cheap! Why not? If you're reading this and you want one, just let me know. ;-) 

CBJ vs Colorado (3-2 SO) (10-12-11)

We are currently zero for four.

Yes, we have played four games and lost all of them. :-( This is the worst start-up in franchise history (11 years for those of you who don't know). Also, last night's game was the lowest attendance ever, at less than 9,000 people in an arena built for twice that. (Our season opener was a sell-out at 18,000, though.)

All that being said, last night was probably the most fun I've had at a hockey game in a long while. Part of the reason was where we were sitting: we got special tickets and started sitting in row B in section 116. After the second period the people in front of us left and told us we could have their seats. So...yep, we were in THE FRONT ROW. Like up against the plexi-glass. Like we could reach out and touch the players...except for those 1/2 inch of plastic between us, of course. It changes the "feel" of the game when you are watching from that close. I don't think I would want to have these seats every time, but every once in a while....yes! See the photo below of Jan Hedja? This was taken FROM OUR SEATS. :-)

The other reason I enjoyed last night's game was because instead of just me and the wife, the daughter and a friend of mine joined us. We got four free tickets, so as soon as the daughter heard where the seats were, she re-arranged her work schedule to make the game. That left one more seat, so I asked my hockey loving buddy to join us.

During one of the times when the ice is being cleaned, one of the CBJ cheerleaders came down to our section to give away free t-shirts. I got up and was dancing to get his attention, then he gestured for me to keep at it, so I did for about 15 seconds or so and he tossed me a shirt! Then my buddy jumped at him as if to "check" him, and people thought that was funny, so he got a free t-shirt, too! Of course, they were smalls, so I gave mine to my wife. My buddy said he was going to wear his as a muscle-t, but I *think* he was joking. 

We also got free ice cream and popcorn, the latter making the $6.75 beers taste a little better. 

Lastly, we all had our favorite players to cheer on. Jan Hedja, who last year played for the Blue Jackets, now plays for The Avalanche. It was like old-home week to be able to cheer him on again. Kris Russell is my favorite player, and he was *right there* several times during the evening. And Derek Brassard is my daughter's favorite, and he got a penalty in the second period. Well the penalty box was one section over, so my daughter grabbed her camera and scooted over there to take about a dozen photos of him. Too funny.

Unfortunately, even though we had the lead up until the third period, we ended up losing in a Shoot Out. So we got ONE point, but no victory. The streak continues....! :-(

Next game is on Saturday in Dallas. Go Jackets!!

CBJ: vs Vancouver (3-2)

Now I *knew* before we went to the game last night that the Blue Jackets would lose to the Vancouver Canucks; after all, they went ONE game away from winning the Stanley Cup last year! (they lost to Boston) So a defeat was anticipated.

What I didn't expect, however, was that we not only led for a little while, we held our own for almost the whole game! This was not some fine thrashing from a venerable Pro Team to an Upstart Younger Brother team; no, this was a match!! Like I said in the Season Opener article, I would much rather see a great match that leads to a defeat than a boring rout over a bad opponent. And this was a heck of an exciting game! 

A few random thoughts....

Because the opponent was officially a Canadian team, our lead Anthem Singer Mr. Leo Walsh (LEO!!) sang both Oh, Canada and The Star-Spangled Banner. I think I like Oh, Canada. It's a pretty song.

I really like the Canucks' ORCA-leaping-out-of-the-ice "C" logo. It looks semi-Inuit or Eskimo and just is cool with a capital "C."

I really like our seats! The way our team has been playing, sitting under the cannon on the "attack twice" side is just SO exciting! Although my wife and I are *not* big fans of the big old guy who sits in front of us, other than him we like our new seats very, very much.

If we get our new team-mates used to each other we will have an awesome team. I couldn't count the number of times a player would pass a puck to somebody who either wasn't where he just had been or who didn't realized Player X was going to pass it and wasn't ready to play it. When these kinds of nuts-and-bolts things get worked out, we will be a very good team indeed. 

This is our third loss in a row, which is our worst starting record ever. Well, sure, I'd love a win, but I hold true to what I just said: we are working out our kinks and our weaknesses. By the time super-Defense Jim Wisniewski gets to play on Oct 25 I think we will be a force to be reckoned with. (At least, I hope we will be!) 

Tomorrow night we are sitting in special seats to witness the return of Jan Hedja as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. My wife and I are going with my daughter and my buddy so we are sure to have a good time. My buddy is an even more rabid hockey fan than I am, and my daughter will be our designated driver, so, win-win.....and hopefully we *will* win (sorry, Jan!)  

Go Jackets!!  

CBJ: 2011 Game Two vs Minnesota (4-2)

I suppose I should *first* say that I went to school in St. Paul, Minnesota oh-so-many-years ago and I always liked the Minnesota Northstars. When I came back to the US in 2001 and found out that Minnesota had actually LOST their original team and had to create a new one, this "Wild" team of which we are about to speak, I have to say I was disappointed with my Minnesota brethren. HOW could you have lost the Northstars?! Then I looked into the situation a bit and found that, shock of shocks, it was a business decision by the owners. Of course it was. So now I absolutely *hate* the Dallas (North) Stars because their owner moved them from their home in Minnesota for the oil-rich pastures of Texas, and I cheer on the Minnesota Wild whenever they play anyone except the Blue Jackets.

And boy, did we get played last night.

If we had quite a few great moments and possibilities on Opening Night, we were flat-out BAD last night. My wife places most of the blame on Goalie Steve Mason; she has never seen the "potential" that everybody keeps saying he has or had. I see a team of rookies and newbies who haven't gelled and simply can't play together well yet. How many losses do we have to sit through before the team gells, you ask? That is the $64,000 question. For now, the pain continues. Personally, I can't wait for RW Jared Boll (one of my favorites) and Defense James Wiesnewski (sp?) to get back from Injured Reserve and Penalty, respectively.

Jeff Carter looked good out there last night. I can't wait to see him play against his old team, the Philadelphia Flyers! Derek Dorsett and Matt Calvert also looked good, although Matt was injured when one of the Wild high-sticked him in the mouth. Ouch!!  

Monday night we play the Vancouver Canucks. They nearly won the Stanley Cup last year, so we have our work cut out for us. (sigh)

CBJ: 2011 Season Opener vs Nashville (3-2)

It's been a hell of a week, so I apologize for not having anything to post. I got behind in my prep work and then I lost the will to live, let alone the will to post, haha. That all changed last night, as Columbus Blue Jackets opened their 2011-12 season against the Nashville (Sexual) Predators!!

So we actually lost, 3-2, but the game was EXCITING! If you are an NHL fan, you have to admit that the first thing you want to see at a hockey game is excitement. The (close) second thing you want to see is a win for your team. Am I wrong?

 I would rather watch a nail-biter thrill-a-second loss than a stomp, but maybe that's just me. Anyway, we did a lot of things right last night. We were in it until the very end. Sure, we lost, but only by one point and if we manage to improve some of the sloppiness out there (missed passes being number one) I think we will end up doing very, very well. I am still optomistic!

Also, sitting behind the goal on the side of the cannon (Attack Twice) is waaay different than sitting on the other side (last year's seats). Gone hopefully for good are the people talking about work or dating or what-have-you....we were surrounded by serious hockey fans last night! (Maybe it was because it was the opener...haha!)

The next game is tonight against my old college era team, Minnesota. Hopefully we'll get a win there. Then we're back home on Monday and Wednesday. Yuko and I are going to both of those games. :-)

The other fun thing from last night is we went shopping at the CBJ store. I was promised a new t-shirt for my birthday. I wanted a new RUSSELL 10 shirt because now that Kris Russell signed my first one I don't want to over-wash it etc. I *almost* got a CALVERT 11 or an UMBERGER 18 but in the end I picked RUSSELL. How could I not, right? ;-)

When we headed to the check-out Yuko pointed out some car stickers and the wall emblem shown below...so we ended up getting both. Pretty cool, huh? Thanks, honey!! Now it's on the wall in our dining area, with the signed photo of Jan Hedja on the other side of the tapestry. 

Our Last Game of the PreSeason Vs. Buffalo Sabres

 Well I don't know what it was, but tonight's crowd seemed more energetic than last week's against Washington. There were fewer Sabres fans than there were Capital fans, too. And there were more shots at and IN goal! We beat The Sabres decisively, 4-1!

Although I don't think the Nash-Carter combo has gelled yet, they did seam better than last year. And the team as a whole definitely played better. We had several Power Plays and we managed to get a score on one (when we were actually on a 5-on-3). More importantly, we killed off the Buffalo Power Plays *very* nicely. The one point that was allowed was when they had a 5-on-3 advantage over us, at the end of the third period. Steve Mason in goal was very very good. He was chosen as one of the Three Stars Of The Game afterwards, and the announcer said he had made 17 saves. So that sounds pretty top-notch to me.

I think my favorite part of the night was seeing both Russell twins (Kris and Ryan) on ice at the same time. I'm not sure if this was the first time ever, but it was the first time *I* had ever seen them. I like these guys!!! :-)

Next week there are three more pre-season games, but we don't have tickets to any of them. So this is our "last" pre-season game. Coming next for us: Opening Night on October 7th. I can hardly wait. It's against one of our arch-rivals, the Nashville (Sexual) Predators. I'll tell the story of our visit to Nashville then. Basically, we hate them (I think we have never won a game on their home ice...if we have, it's been a several years dry run). Our other arch-rival is *my* old team, the St. Louis Blues. (sigh) And I'll write about that when the time comes, too.

In the meantime, as promised, here are two photos taken from our new half-season seats. As you can see, they are not too shabby. You may notice the netting over the glass, which impedes the view of the ice at around the Blue Line, but we are used to it and can see "through" it. (Unhappy story: the nets are there

because several years ago a player for the Columbus Blue Jackets hit a puck out of the arena and hit a teen-aged girl in the head; she died the next day. So now all NHL arenas have these nets.) We are at the "Attack Twice" end of the ice, so it definitely is a different vibe than we had last year at the other end.

Here's another photo taken standing up when we gave the team a standing ovation for winning (note the final score, hooray!).  Also note that the top of the net intersects with the screen on the billboard, which was something we did *not* anticipate. So if we had picked a row higher or lower we would have gotten a better view of the screen!! Oh, well...live and learn. :-)  

GO JACKETS!!

Our First Game of the (Pre) Season CBJ vs. Washington Capitals

Tonight is the night!!! We've been saying for the past six months that we couldn't wait for the hockey season to start, and now..we're *almost* there! Tonight is our first NHL game since last April.

 

This week there are two pre-season games, one against Winnipeg Jets yesterday and one tonight against the Washington Capitals. When we bought our half-season plan back in July we got to pick two pre-season games. I wanted to see the Winnipeg Jets in Columbus, but we chose their actual official season game on Nov 12 instead of yesterday's exhibition game. This way we'll be able to cheer on former CBJ Coach Noel (no-'el, like Christmas) because he didn't actually come to town last night. (They split the teams and played simultaneously here and there). So anyway, choosing the Washington Capitals made a better choice this time, even though it means we had to wait another day before we could watch hockey! :-(

Here's a photo of us in our seats, taken back in July at the Draft Party. If you are familiar with Nationwide you'll see that the cannon will be located directly behind us on our left. And if you are NOT familar with Nationwide Arena...yes, the cannon. Every time we score they blow up the cannon. It is awesome!

Here's the view *from* our seats. Obviously, we'll have a somewhat different view tonight. I'll be sure to take a photo "for real" and post it in the next few days. Still, the goal should be right around the place that kid is, so...it should be exciting!!

GO JACKETS!!

Fan Fest 9-9-11

I am SO ready for hockey season to start!! This morning the wife and I went down to Nationwide to watch Training Camp 2011. We were going to get up early and get downtown for the beginning of it (9 AM) but because I've been so busy lately I overslept and we didn't get to Nationwide until about 9:45. We saw the end of the first team and then stayed for most of the second team. It only made me want the season to start all that much sooner! It also reminded me that I never got to write up "Fan Fest"! It happened on Friday, Sept 9 but then I went off to Detroit on business and didn't get a chance to finish this report. So here it is, a week late...sorry! 

On Sept 9, 2011 my family and I went down to Nationwide Arena to attend the Columbus Blue Jackets "Fan Fest." It was billed as an open house for CBJ fans to come down and meet "More than 20 CBJ Players" and to, by the way, purchase flex packs or half-season or full season tickets. We have already purchased our half-season tickets (with every intention of going to additional games when we can or when they give away cool stuff that we want) so we didn't have to bother with the "business" side of the evening. No, we went down to meet the players, and in my daughter's case, one player in particular.  

The event started at 5 pm with various Autograph Sessions starting at that time. We were going to try to get Rick Nash's autograph, because even though we've been to these types of things before we've never met The Captain. Well, we still haven't! There was a *huge* line for him and all the "guaranteed" tickets had been given out by the time we got there. (An aide hands out 250 tickets to the people in the line and if you have one, you are guaranteed to get an autograph.) So we quickly split up: the daughter and wife got in line to wait for Derick Brassard and Kris Russell and I went to try my luck with Derek Dorsett and Antoine Vermette. There wasn't quite the line for them as there had been for Rick Nash, so I got my brand-new pennant signed by these two guys first (that's Derek on the right and Antoine on the left). While I was waiting in line, I struck up a conversation with the women behind me. It turns out that the daughter and son-in-law live in the same apartment complex as many of the single players, so they are friends! It was so fun to hear stories about them as I waited to meet them.... and the woman heard that my daughter was in line to meet Derick, she asked if she could go with me to meet up with him, too. So as soon as we said Hello to one Derek we headed over to say hello to another! He hadn't arrived yet, so we ended up having plenty of time.

First up was my favorite guy, Kris Russell. Not sure why I like him....I just do, haha! Well the woman in line with us had a son and she asked Kris to hold him while she took their picture. I figured I'd take a shot, too, to commemorate the experience. Take a good look at Kris Russell's face...more about that later. Then we were there, right in front of him: Derick Brassard, my daughter's favorite player. She had written him a note and after handing it off to him she got him to sign her CBJ flag. Then his neighbor, who I was still standing with, said, "Derick, you're her favorite player. I heard all about it. She loves you!" To which I said,  since I was now standing in front of him asking him to sign my pennant, "It's true. She loves you. I just like you a lot." We both laughed.

With that, it was just a matter of killing time before we had to get in line to get our "official" Player Photo Station picture taken with Derick. His time was set at 7:30 (after Antoine, Jeff Carter, and Steve Mason). So we decided to get in line to get our photo taken with Antoine because I was the only one had met him. So we had to go to the other side of the arena and get in line to go on the ice and stand with the player as a professional photographer took our picture. The line actually moved pretty quickly and it was all done very well. That's Antoine on the right. :-)

Like I said, the daughter was just waiting for Derick to be available again, so we decided to do what I wanted to do and got in line to get autographs from Kris Russell's twin brother, Ryan, and relative newcomer Matt Calvert. Look again at that photo above of Kris Russell. Now look at this photo below of his brother, Ryan. Kris. Ryan. Twins alright. I 've already talked about Ryan Russell joining the CBJ this year, but I haven't told the story about meeting (yes, actually meeting) Matt Calvert. Last season he was on fire as LW. He played some game and actually scored a Hat Trick (three goals in one game). It was awesome, and my wife and I happened to be at Nationwide when it happened. The next day all three of us drove to Nashville to watch the CBJ play the Predators. We joked that it would be funny if we happend to see any players in downtown Nashville the night before the game (we drove down on Saturday; game was Sunday afternoon). Well you can probably guess...we were walking down the streets of Nashville and who isn't crossing the street but Matt Calvert and Grant Clitsome! We did a double-take and then I, being the shy type that I am, shouted at them, "Matt Calvert! and...Grant Clitsome! You guys are awesome! Good luck tomorrow!!" They looked at us, kind of nodded, and kept walking. We, of course, were ecstatic! Well....at Fan Fest when I handed him my pennant to sign we said, "We were the people who met you in Nashville." And he said, "That was YOU!?"

as if he would never forget that experience. (We joked that it was probably the first time he had ever been recognized outside of Columbus.) So that was nice.

By that time it was time to get in line for Derick again. We got to the tail-end of the Jeff Carter line and let several people go on ahead who wanted his photo. Now, a few words about Jeff Carter. He was evidently a star for the Philadelphia Flyers whom I had never heard of. Now what I think sucks about his situation was that when he heard rumors that we wanted him and that he was going to be traded, he went into Philly management and asked them directly about it; they told him a bald-faced lie that they weren't going to trade him. They, of course, then turned around and gave him to us for Jacob Voracek and some other bodies. Now I *know* that Sports is a Business, but I still think this sucks.
For a few days there were stories about whether Carter would fight the trade or be angry at us for the trade or what have you. It turns out that he was rightly sore at Philadelphia! Unfortunately, the Flyers don't come here to Columbus this season, but on Nov 5 you better believe we're going to be watching that Philly game on TV! May I predict that we will win that game? ;-)

Anyway, we got in line to get our photo taken with Derick. First, of course, the daughter got her picture with him by herself first. Then we all joined him. He was as nice as could be. He put his arms around us and acted like we were his good friends. I guess this is one of the reasons I like supporting the Blue Jackets....the players who I have been lucky enough to meet have all been genuinely friendly and nice. They certainly don't come off as "divas" or a$$holes or whatever the term for jocks is. Maybe because in Columbus they have to play second fiddle to the Ohio State Buckeyes football team; I don't know. But it's fun to cheer these guys on and meeting them at things like this just makes it easier for me to do it.

After this photo op there was an additional exhibition On-Ice Skills Competition that we stayed for, but for the half hour before it started all the daughter did was try to take candid photos of her favorite. I'll leave you with one of the better ones.

GO JACKETS!!

Looking forward to HOCKEY....!!!

Okay, the first official NHL game for Columbus is scheduled for October 7. That's more than a month away!

HOWEVER, the first pre-season game is on September 21 (against Winnepeg) and we are definitely going! This week is Labor Day four-day week, next week I have a business trip to Detroit, and then the week after that is HOCKEY~!! I'm totally psyched.

Not only that but we are going to the following on this coming Friday:

Yep, an Open House with more than 20 players signing autographs, posing for pictures, playing hockey....and of course, chances to buy more tickets, haha! We already have our half-season tickets, but we might buy some more games (like against Colorado, the team who hired Jan Hedja away from us). The wife and I went to the Blue Line store at Tuttle Crossing yesterday to buy something that we could get signed for FANFEST. At the last open house event we went to at Nationwide somebody had this beautiful wall panel/plaque thing. When I asked him where he got it he said that he had gotten it at Tuttle, so we went hoping to find something similar...Of course they didn't have any of these, so we ended up getting a big pennant. Players can sign it in blue or silver ink. Anna of course already has her cannon flag she will be bringing. I'm looking forward to getting *most* of the team. However, I am thinking of trying to get players from last year that I didn't have on my last year's cap, like Rick Nash. Maybe I'll bring my cap and my wife will bring the pennant, so we can get both...! We'll have to wait and see how it goes....My guess is that my daughter will follow Derick Brassard around all night, from Autograph Station to Videogame Time to Photo Session....I'm looking forward to it!

If you're from Ohio and you like hockey, you should come down! Click on the picture to check the link. I'll be wearing a BOLL 40 t-shirt if you happen to go....:-)

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Quick! What is that line from!?

I'm not sure myself....I want to say Arnold in Terminator 2 but that doesn't sound right. The Gremlins? I want to think it was something hokey....

Anyway, my computer DIED last week right after I had uploaded photos of the "Select A Seat Night" at Nationwide Arena. I have spent the last week trying to revive it and then, when that failed, transferring photos and documents over to a new computer and installing new software. I love The Robot from Lost in Space but I *don't* like computers!!

Needless to say, I never got around to writing about our experiences at the Open House. I did bring my cap with most of last year's team members' signatures with me...

and got the additional signatures of Jared Boll, RJ Umberger, and Derek Dorsett. Now the only team members I would really like to have are Captain Rick Nash and Asst Captain Antoinne Vermette. I basically have everybody else from last year...! NOW I have to think about what to get signed by the current team, with newcomers Jeff Carter and the-guy-whose-name-I-can't-remember-let-alone-spell. :-)

The evening was mostly just a long line of waiting to get up to chat with the three players...there were kids playing hockey on one side, and tables set up on the other near a make-shift hot dog stand. There was a jump house or whatever they're called where the littler kids can jump around like a trampoline....Here's a photo I took from the seats we reserved for the new season. My wife and I had picked these seats at the open house back on the Draft Day (was that mid June?) but the daughter hadn't seen them, so we went up to them on Friday and I took this picture from there:

You can see that they didn't have any ice down on the open house night...! The Blue Jacket goal is right around where that boy is standing in the center of the picture. The Cannon that fires every time we get a goal will be directly above and behind us. Without the safety (puck) netting up it's hard to tell if these are really good seats or not, but we scouted them out at the end of last season so we're thinking they're pretty good. We are all excited for the season to start...exhibition games the last week of September, and then first home game Friday, Oct 7! :-) (The line of people on the far right are the people still waiting to get the autograph of Derek Dorsett.)

And this is me and Jared Boll, about to get him to sign my hat and one for my buddy. After living in Japan for 14 years, an experience I often compare to living in a fish bowl because I was *literally* the only foreigner in a town of 7,000, I feel like I have a better feel for what celebrities go through. I try to treat all the "famous" people I've ever met like they are normal, everyday people. So at things like this I don't usually gush or act nervous (although I did get tongue-tied when I tried to talk to one of the players back at June's Draft Party). I went up to all three of these guys and asked, "Are you looking forward to the new season?" and had a quick chat. It was cool. And I showed Jared Boll my t-shirt and told him, "You're one of my favorites!" He said Thanks.

Technical Difficulties

My computer crashed the other night and although I'm on my way to re-installing or re-opening most of my stuff (and I didn't lose any scanned pages or photos) it's taking me waaaay longer than I hoped. So for the next few days I'll probably be down.
Rest assured, however, that I WILL be back.

In the meantime, here's a picture of one of my favorite Columbus Blue Jackets players. This is RJ Umberger, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As someone with family connections to Pennsylvania, I'd be inclined to like him anyway, BUT he also went to Ohio State to get a degree in business AND he's a heck of a nice guy.

We met him last night at the Autograph session, and I'd like to be writing about that but I can't access my photos yet. So this will have to do until maybe Sunday or Monday night.

Hope everybody has a good weekend!