Berry spent two years under Arniel in Manitoba from 2006-08 before leaving the team for family reasons.

Berry also spent time as a head coach as well as an assisant at the University of North Dakota where he played for three seasons. As a coach, Berry helped lead the Fighting Sioux to two WCHA Division titles, one WCHA playoff title in 2006 and three appearances in the Frozen Four.

Berry played for part of eight season in the NHL, collecting four goals and 28 assists. Berry and Arniel played as teammates as a part of the 1985-86 season with the Winnipeg Jets.

Arniel will name at least one other assistant coach in the coming days.

RO137807@ohio.edu – Twitter: @Rob_Ogden

The changes come one week after the Blue Jackets named Scott Arniel head coach. With the firings, Arniel is given the opportunity to bring in his own assistants.

It is likely that Arneil will have two assistants opposed to the three that former coach Ken Hitchcock had under him. One of those rumored to be on Arniel’s short list is Brad Berry, who coached as an assistant under Arniel in Manitoba before stepping down two years ago for family matters.

Berry played 241 NHL games with Winnipeg, Minnesota and Dallas and was a teammate of Arniel’s in Winnipeg.

Columbus has already hired Kevin Collins to replace Brennan as the strength and conditioning coach. Collins previously held the same position for the Portland Pirates of the AHL.

It is also rumored that Noel is candidate for the same Manitoba Moose head coaching job vacated by Arniel last week.

Stay tuned, more will be posted as it becomes clear who Arniel will choose for his staff.

Interim-coach Claude Noel will not have a second interview, however the report states that Noel is still in the running for the job.

It has also been confirmed that Detroit Red Wings assistant Paul MacLean is no longer in the running for the coaching position.

MacLean, who has been an assistant with Detroit since 2005, interviewed for the Columbus job last Tuesday and was told he would hear back from the club within a week.

The news of MacLean being ousted from the running comes as a surprise to some as many saw him as a strong candidate for the job.

Arniel was hired as Manitoba’s head coach in 2006, and won the AHL Coach of the Year award in only his third season at the helm, leading his team to the Calder Cup Finals.

According to the Winnipeg Sun, Arniel will also interview for the Atlanta Thrashers head coaching position.

Dineen, currently the coach of Portland Pirates of the AHL, played for the Blue Jackets from the team’s establishment in 2000 until he retired in 2002.

Dineen was named AHL Coach of the Year in 2006 after his first season with Portland.

Also still in the running for the job is Hamilton Bulldogs’ head man Guy Boucher.

In his only season with Hamilton, Boucher led the Bulldogs to a 52-17-11 record and like Dineen, won the AHL Coach of the Year award in only his first season.

Boucher’s team currently holds a 2-0 lead over the Texas Stars in the AHL Western Conference Finals. The Montreal Canadiens, Hamilton’s NHL affiliate, have said they will not stand in the way of Columbus speaking to Boucher.

Howson has indicated that the club is still a couple weeks away from making a hire, stating that it will most likely come in late May or early June.

Earlier this week, the Blue Jackets were granted permission by the Vancouver Canucks to interview minor-league coach Scott Arniel. Arniel, 47, has been the head coach of Vancouver’s AHL club the Manitoba Moose for the past four seasons.

In his time with Manitoba, Arniel has compiled a 181-106-33 record, taking his team to the AHL playoffs all four seasons. In 2009, Arniel led his club to the league’s best regular-season record en route to winning the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL coach of the year.

An interview with Arniel is likely to take place next week. After ousting the Los Angeles Kings, The Canucks play the Chicago Blackhawks in a second-round playoff series beginning later this week.

Other candidates Howson will likely be requesting to interview are former Blue Jacket Kevin Dineen and current associate coach of the Nashville Predators Brent Peterson.

Dineen is currently the head coach of the Portland Pirates, AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres, and because of his obvious ties to the Columbus organization has been mentioned as a possible replacement since Ken Hitchcock was let go.

Peterson’s Predators were bounced from the playoffs earlier this week by Chicago, and Howson is likely waiting for the team to finish their end-of-season duties before requesting permission to speak to Peterson.

Interim head coach Cluade Noel is also a candidate for the permanent job. In his time with the interim tag, Noel went 10-8-6 behind the Columbus bench.

Other possible candidates Howson may look to interview are Detroit assistant coach Paul MacLean and Hamilton Bulldogs coach Guy Boucher.

MacLean is generally considered off-limits while the Red Wings remain alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Detroit defeated Phoenix last night in a game seven route to earn a spot in round two.

The Hamilton Bulldogs are the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens who face the top-seeded Washington Capitals tonight in a deciding game seven.

Howson has said he would like to wrap up the coaching search before the end of May.

Stay tuned.

RO137807@ohio.edu – Twitter: @Rob_Ogden

The origins of the playoff beard can be traced back to the 1980′s and the New York Islander dynasty. From 1980-1983 the Islanders won four straight Stanley Cup titles and did it while sporting some beards that would make Chuck Norris blush.

Islanders players like Ken Morrow, Butch Goring, John Tonelli, Clark Gillies, and Gord Lane all grew out the beard come playoff time, leading them to 19 straight playoff series wins.

After the fall the of the Islander dynasty the playoff beard went into a brief hiatus but is believed to have made it’s return to the NHL with the ’93 Montreal Canadiens and the ’95 New Jersey Devils on their way to the franchise’s first cup. The beard has been a staple in Lord Stanley’s Playoffs ever since.

Today, common practice is to not shave until you win the cup or your team is eliminated from postseason play. The beard is practiced by many around the league regardless of their innate beard-growing ability.

Some of the best beards in recent memory belong to Jean Sebastien Giguere, who during his 2003 run to the finals admitted that both he and his wife hated the beard, however he had to do it for the team, Bret Hedican, and Niedermayer brothers Rob and Scott after winning the cup with Anaheim in 2007.

Current Blue Jacket Mike Commodore (right) has taken the beard a step further and made it a ritual of letting his hair grow out as well.

Others however, are not quite as successful when it comes to growing out the facial hair. But Sidney Crosby is proof that quantity isn’t everything. The peach fuzz the Pittsburgh captain sported last season was enough the carry the Penguins to the cup.

Chicago’s Patrick Kane, who claims he cannot grow a beard, shows off a playoff mullet instead.

The beard has even led to charity events as some teams hold  beard-a-thons in order to raise donations for charitable organizations.

It has also become a way for fans to show support during the playoffs. Sportscenter hockey analysts Barry Melrose and Matthew Barnaby have also been known to sport the beard come playoff time.

The beard is not only common in the NHL, but many minor hockeys leagues across the North America and Europe as well. The beard has transcended hockey and is even practiced in other sports such as the NFL and the NBA.

So while it’s a long, tough road through the playoffs, losing the razor might be the key to the cup.

RO137807@ohio.edu – Twitter: @Rob_Ogden

The top five remained unchanged and will draft in the reverse order that they finished in the final standings: Edmonton, Boston (from Toronto), Florida, Columbus and the New York Islanders.

The rest of the first round looks like this: Tampa Bay, Carolina, Atlanta, Minnesota, New York Rangers, Dallas, Anaheim, Phoenix (from Calgary), rounded out by St. Louis at 14. The remaining draft positions will be determined at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With the number one selection, Edmonton will be forced to make the decision between Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, the two players widely regarded as the top NHL prospects.

With the fourth overall pick, The Blue Jackets will also have to pick between quality players. Some names to remember that could be taken at four overall are defensemen Cam Fowler, Erik Gudbranson and Brandon Gormley.

Fowler, the lone American on the list, is an assists machine. In 55 games this past season with OHL Windsor, Fowler tallied 55 points including 47 helpers.

If Columbus is looking to add someone other than a defenseman, Brett Connolly and Nino Niederreiter are two forwards that are expected to be early lottery picks.

This is the fourth time in five years that the team with the worst record has retained the first overall pick.

This is also the fourth time Columbus has owned the fourth overall pick. They drafted defenseman Rostislav Klesla in 2000, Nikolai Zherdev in ’03 and traded down in ’04.

Although the Columbus Blue Jackets have played their final game of the 2010 season, there are still some important games remaining for the club.

Currently the Jackets sit six places from the bottom of the NHL standings and in sixth place in terms of the NHL draft lottery to take place on Tuesday. However, wins from the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning could move the CBJ as high (or low) as third place in the lottery standings.

Columbus finished the season with 79 points, the Islanders, Panthers, and Lightning have 78, 76 and 76 points respectively and have each played 80 of 82 games.

Depending on what these three teams do in their final two games, there are multiple scenarios that could play out.

The best scenario for the Jackets, the one that would move them into third, would require New York to earn one point in their final two games against New Jersey and Pittsburgh and for both Florida and Tampa Bay to earn three points.

Since Florida and Tampa play each other tonight and Sunday, the only way they could each earn three more points is if both tonight’s and Sunday’s game go into overtime with each team winning one game.

If New York picks up one more point and only one of Florida and Tampa Bay gain three more points, Columbus would finish fourth from last.

Worst case scenario, New York loses both of their final two games in regulation, the Panthers and Lightning split the series with both games ending in regulation and the Blue Jackets remain in sixth place.

The 14 teams that do not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs are all entered into the lottery with the winner becoming eligible to move up four places from where they finish in the final standings. Therefore, only teams one through five are eligible to receive the first overall pick.

The team with the worst record has a 25 percent chance of winning the lottery and retaining the first pick. Teams two through five’s chances are 18.8%, 14.2%, 10.7% and 8.1% respectively.

The percentage break down for the remaining nine teams looks like this: 6.2%, 4.7%, 3.6%, 2.7%, 2.1%, 1.5%, 1.1%, 0.8% and 0.5%.

Since only teams one through five can receive the top pick, the last place team has a 48.2 percent chance of picking first.

So although there will be no more rooting for the Jackets until next October, you can do your duty as a fan by rooting for the Islanders, Panthers and Lightning this weekend.

RO137807@ohio.edu – Twitter: @Rob_Ogden

If there was one good thing that came from the loss for Columbus, it is that the Blue Jackets gained (or lost) a point on New York, whom they will be jockeying with for position with June’s amateur draft.

If the draft were today, Columbus would likely hold the 7^th overall pick, however, a few more losses to teams like the Islanders and Blue Jackets General Manager Scott Howson could be one of the first three to the podium.

Mathieu Garon was given the start in goal, and kept his unbeaten streak in regulation at Nationwide Arena in tact. He made 24 saves in the loss.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, Columbus struck back with three unanswered goals culminating in Grant Clitsome’s first NHL goal.

Columbus went the entire game without committing a penalty, and took advantage of one of their four power play opportunities with R.J. Umberger’s second period goal.

The Blue Jackets out shot New York 37-28.

For New York, the win was only their second on the road since Jan. 18, a stretch in which they went 2-10-1 away from home.

Columbus will face Chicago tonight in a game where the Blackhawks will be looking to make amends from the 8-3 beating that Columbus put on them last week.

RO137807@ohio.edu

Twitter: @Rob_Ogden

Whether Nikita Filatov will return to Columbus for the 2010-2011 season is still unknown. However, General Manager Scott Howson said he expects Filatov to attend training camp prior to the start of the season.

In his time with CSKA Moscow, Filatov scored nine goals and added 12 assists in 26 games of play.

In the meantime, the Blue Jackets 2009 first round draft pick John Moore has been a machine when it comes to setting up goals for his teammates. In 61 games with the OHL Kitchener Rangers, the Defenseman tallied 37 assists and 10 goals.

Columbus made two trades in order to draft Moore at 21 overall last June. Expect him to compete for a spot on the big club come next season.

A couple guys whose names could become much more familiar in the next couple years include defenseman Grant Clitsome, and winger Maksim Mayorov.

As a ninth round pick in the 2004 entry draft, few expected Clitsome to succeed. However, the defender has been making a name for himself with AHL Syracuse and has appeared in three games for the Blue Jackets this season, in which he recorded two assists.

In 64 games with Syracuse, Clitsome has totaled five goals and 15 assists.

Like Moore, he is also expected to compete for a spot among a depleted defensive core on the big league roster next fall.

Maksim Mayorov has appeared in seven NHL games in his career without tallying a point. However, that could all change next season if he makes the jump to Columbus for good.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2007 entry draft, Mayorov made his professional debut last year, and has been a consistent playmaker for the Crunch ever since.

In his two seasons with Syracuse, Mayorov has 54 points on 28 goals and 26 assists.

In addition, Mayorov was also impressive in preseason play prior to this season. In an opening game loss to Pittsburgh, the Russian forward tallied two goals.

If the Blue Jackets expect to return playoff contention in 2011, they are going to need help from some of these up-and-coming players.

Last Three:

Dallas

Anton Stralman’s goal stood as the game’s lone goal for more than two periods before R.J. Umberger added some soon-to-be-needed insurance on an empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining.

Dallas’ Brad Richards cut the deficit to one only 21 seconds later, but it was too little, too late as the Blue Jackets held on for the 2-1 victory.

The win was the first for interim head coach Claude Noel, who toke over after the Ken Hitchcock firing on Wednesday.

Steve Mason made 22 saves to grab the win.

Columbus captain Rick Nash played in his 500^th game, and assisted on Umberger’s goal.

Dallas did not commit any penalties, but was not able to capitalize on any of the three Columbus committed.

Buffalo

The Columbus Blue Jackets won by their largest goal differential of the season when they defeated the Buffalo Sabers 4-0 Saturday night.

Only minutes into the second period, Columbus opened the scoring with a fluke goal from Milan Jurcina that bounced off the back of Buffalo goaltender Patrick Lalime’s skate and into the net.

Things only got worse for Buffalo as Columbus proceeded to goals from Rick Nash, Anton Stralman, and Raffi Torres.

Steve Mason had 28 saves in the game. It was his third shutout of the year and the 13^th of his career.

San Jose

Steve Mason stood tall all night as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated Western Conference-leading San Jose 3-0 on the strength of Mason’s second straight shutout.

Mason stopped all 40 Shark shots, and has stopped 90 of the last 91 shots directed at the CBJ net.

Rick Nash opened the scoring for Columbus with a first-period goal on a nice feed from winger Kristian Huselius.

The Blue Jackets added to their lead when forward Jakub Voracek took a breakaway pass from Derick Brassard and scored his first goal since December.

Before the game, Voracek said this would be the night the 26-game streak would be broken.

Mason withstood a furious onslaught of San Jose shots in the third to maintain the shutout and the win.

Antoine Vermette added an empty netter, his fifth goal in the last nine games, with 23.5 seconds remaining to seal the win for Columbus.

With the win, interim head coach Claude Noel improved his record to 3-0 behind the Columbus bench.

It was only the second time this season the Sharks have been shutout.

Power Play Watch:

The Jackets were 0-0 on the PP against Dallas, 2-6 against Buffalo, and 0-4 against San Jose.

On the year, the Jackets are 45 for 225, or 20 percent with the man advantage.

The Kill:

Columbus was 3-3 on the kill against Dallas, 5-5 against Buffalo, and 3-3 against San Jose.

This brings Columbus to 198-240 on the season, a rate of 82.5 percent when down a man.

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets will continue the home stand with games against Vancouver and Chicago before the two-week Olympic break hiatus.

Twitter: Rob_Ogden