Three games into the pre-season, the Blue Jackets have been affected in equal portions by bad luck, bad play and bad behavior. Alarmists are already gasping for air, so perhaps it is time to take a detached look at the early pre-season. The Good Unlike past years, there are some talented players fighting for roster [...]
September 21st, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | 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.
VERMETTE SIGNS EXTENSION—WHAT’S NEXT??
Taking another giant step in his effort to wrap up the team’s young stars for the foreseeable future, GM Scott Howson has reached agreement with center Antoine Vermette to a five-year contract extension, worth a reported $18.75 million. Vermette, acquired at the trade deadline last year in a trade that sent goalie Pascal LeClair and [...]
September 15th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 2 comments | Continued
Sharks Nab Heatley In Three Team Deal??? Reports abound, but denials rage
According to a report on NHL Fanhouse (here), and later by ESPN, Ottawa has finally consummated a deal for troubled winger Dany Heatley, shipping him to the San Jose Sharks in a three team deal that has the Sharks sending former captain Patrick Marleau to the Los Angeles Kings, and the Kings packaging forward Alexander Frolov [...]
September 11th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Join The Jackets Podcast On Fire The Cannon — Umberger and Agnew Appearing
Eric Smith of Fire The Cannon and Hockey Buzz will be hosting a CBJ Preview Podcast tomorrow night, Wednesday 9/8 @ 7:00 PM. I will be participating, along with other folks dedicated to covering the CBJ. R.J. Umberger and Gary Agnew will be appearing and responding to questions from the panel. To join the call, [...]
September 8th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Anton Babchuk In The Mix???? — Jiri Novotny to KHL??
Interesting tidbit appeared in The Sporting News, and is quickly making its way around the hockey online community: During a conversation with Carolina GM Jim Rutherford about the Canes, the conversation shifted to the future of defenseman Anton Babchuk. Babchuk is coming off a 16-goal season but the restricted free agent rejected Carolina’s one-year offer. [...]
September 8th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Jacket Youngsters Edge Blues
The CBJ prospects rebounded from a 2 – 1 loss to Minnesota yesterday, posting a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Traverse City. Matt Calvert netted a hat trick for the young Jackets, with two of the goals unassisted. A 5th Round pick in the 2008 Entry Draft, Calvert now has 4 points [...]
September 8th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Moore Blogging From Michigan
NHL.com is carrying a blog authored by Jacket’s first round pick, John Moore. His first installment can be found here. Great that the CBJ and Moore are getting some national exposure. Now, John, next blog can we hear a bit more about the game? Go Jackets!!
September 7th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Brassard, Finances, Bettman and Other Musings
I have been quiet over the past week, for a variety of reasons. First, the normal pressures of work and such have been intruding on my writing time, and secondly, I wanted to be a more passive observer of some of the developments and let the thoughts percolate a bit. For better or worse, here [...]
September 4th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 7 comments | Continued
Great Filatov Interview!!!
Puck Daddy has a great interview with Nikita Filatov, which you can find here. The young man displays a lot of moxy in responding to some pretty pointed questions from countryman Dmitry Chesnokov about his decision to go to the NHL, despite having offers from the KHL for “…lots more. Times more”, to quote Nikita. [...]
August 25th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Check out this terrific piece by Ryan Kennedy at THN. Not only does he have some great things to say about Nash, his comments about the organization as a whole, its direction, and the young talent are dead on, and something that has historically been lacking from the hockey media world. Just another sign that [...]
August 24th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
Attracting Free Agents — Promote A Stress Free Environment
Most of you are looking at the heading and wondering “What the hell is he talking about now?” If you will pause just a moment, I will enlighten and explain. Forbes just released its list of the Most Stressful Cities in which to live in the U.S., ranking the top 40 metropolitan areas in the [...]
August 21st, 2009 | Jeff Little | 1 comment | Continued
THN: Jackets #8 in West
The Hockey News predicts the Jackets will finish 8th in the West this season, as the latest installment in their countdown of teams was released today. Here is their synopsis: The Blue Jackets made their first-ever playoff appearance last season and will need to battle just as hard to return to the post-season dance this [...]
August 13th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 2 comments | Continued
Zherdev Gone
TSN.ca is reporting that Nikolai Zherdev has signed a deal with Salavatovo Yuleav Ufa of the KHL, apparently ending his brief American courtship. The word comes just 2 hours before our little local poll closed here on the site, where the overwhelming majority (66%) of readers accurately predicted the KHL jump. I wonder. . .do [...]
August 11th, 2009 | Jeff Little | 0 comments | Continued
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