The two best goalies in the NHL faced off in Nationwide Arena tonight, and this was right in the league of Palmer vs. Nicklaus and Borg vs. McEnroe. For every stop Thomas made, Mason did one better. Two + periods of standoff until one tiny little crack in the upper far corner of the Boston [...]
March 11th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 1 comment | ContinuedArchive for Jeff Little
A native of the SF Bay Area, my first exposure to hockey was the SF/Oakland/California Golden Seals, including Charlie Finley and the white skates. Fast forward to the late 1980's when Gretzky and the Kings came up to the Bay Area for an exhibition game at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, for which we had glass seats. I was at the first San Jose Sharks game in the Cow Palace, and followed them for their first few pathetic years, before moving to Columbus in 1994. I attended the first pro-NHL rally downtown, and have been a season ticket holder since Day 1, wife & I are active in the Jacket Backers, and son is an avid fan as well. I cover the Jackets for Inside Hockey, and contribute regularly to a variety of hockey sites. I maintain contact with the Jackets organization, and like to dig into stories, bringing a fresh, and sometimes irreverent perspective to hockey.
Playoff Update
Here is the most recent playoff update, through the games of yesterday. This is based on every team playing at their overall pace for the remainder of the year, so that this takes ups and downs along the way into account. Division winners get top 3 seeds. 1. San Jose 120 points2. Detroit 117 points3. [...]
March 9th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 2 comments | Continued
Detroit Retrospective
With all of the wonderful stuff happening in Detroit yesterday, and the volumes already written on the game, decided to forego the usual game review for a retrospective on the whole experience. Detroit Traffic System — OK, first I need to get a rant out of the way. I have always thought that the Columbus [...]
March 9th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 2 comments | Continued
Nash Applauds Traveling Fans!!!
Not sure how many of the others who attended last night’s game experienced the Drive From Hell today on the way home, but kudos to all who attended. We made our presence known, and, for the most part, were well received by the Detroit fans.In answer to the question of whether the players notice a [...]
March 9th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 1 comment | Continued
Heading North
We will be on the road shortly, heading for Detroit and The Joe! No game preview here today, but I think we all know what needs to be done — stay out of the box, fire pucks on Osgood, and play Hitch Hockey from the goal out. I will provide periodic updates via Twitter on [...]
March 7th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Sanity Check
Our young guys got a taste last night of what happens if you play tentatively. Good lesson, and time to move on. Due to work commitments, I came in toward the end of the second period. Climbed in the car just as they announced Williams’ goal, and got home to see Nash’s goal and the [...]
March 6th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 2 comments | Continued
Trade Deadline Retrospective
Just a few thoughts about Trade Deadline Day before moving on to the business at hand — the stretch run to the playoffs. Howson Gets An A — Some are questioning the Leclaire/Vermette deal, but here is why it was the perfect deal at the perfect time: Whether or not he is “THE” center we [...]
March 5th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Trade Musings
With the LeClaire – Vermette deal now in the books, the following post just about 45 minutes before the trade in Puck Daddy proved to be correct:Columbus Blue Jackets: They won a game last night against the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4, that was a total playoff atmosphere. They’re sixth in the conference, they’ve hit the [...]
March 4th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 1 comment | Continued
It's Vermette!!!
TSN.ca is reporting that the Jackets have traded Leclaire and a 2nd round pick to Ottawa for Vermette! Confirmed by Puck-Rakers and THN. This is Vermette’s fourth full year in the league, after being a 2nd round pick by Ottawa in the 2000 draft. He posted 19-20-39 in the 2005-06 season, 21-12-33 in 2006-2007 and [...]
March 4th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Returning The Favor
Sometimes fairness is a beautiful thing to watch. In the second period last night, Steve Mason experienced what could have been the worst three minutes in his hockey life to date. I’ll even concede the first goal, which was a blast to the glove side through a partial screen. However, the Bill Buckner move on [...]
March 4th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Kings Preview/Random Notes
With all of the speculation and anticipation surrounding the trade deadline in 23 hours, folks have almost lost sight of the fact that the CBJ have a hockey game to play tonight. Before turning to that, for trade junkies, here are the latest updates: 1. Sean Avery claimed by New York Rangers off waivers — [...]
March 3rd, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Monday Miscellany
Off day for the Jackets, 1 snoozer game on tonight (Avalanche vs. Islanders), so offer the following for your reading entertainment:War Room Anomaly– I was reading the Dispatch piece on the Toronto War Room this weekend, and was a little disappointed that there was not a bit more detail or revelation there. Almost everything there [...]
March 2nd, 2009 | Jeff Little | 4 comments | Continued
Beaten At Our Own Game
The Jackets came out of the gate last night, acting as though they expected a game very similar to Edmonton — sort of a feeling out process in the first, followed by a ramped up style of play. They were half right. The Vancouver game was similar to the Edmonton game, in the sense that [...]
March 2nd, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
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