Monday Miscellany

By: Jeff Little • November 24th, 2008

Dispatch Q1 Results Are In!

This morning’s ‘Patch has an unusually fair and upbeat assessment of the first quarter of the season. The local scribes seem to be getting good with the concept that you can’t turn over 50% of your roster and expect them to be playing as a seamless unit from Day 1. Kudos to Messrs. Portzline & staff for a nice review.

More Dispatch Ruminations . . .

I have never been shy about criticizing the local paper for its CBJ coverage, but maybe have been overly harsh on the writers themselves. If you read the Portzline and Reed contributions to Puck-Rakers, the contributions are far more flowing, upbeat and complete. Contrast this writing with what actually gets printed in the Dispatch. Granted, blogs are generally more free flowing, but the tone is distinctly different as well. I went back and re-read the 1st Quarter review of the Jackets referred to above, and even that reads like it was cut short. Could we have more of an editing issue than a writing issue here???

Be Thankful . . .

As you sit down to your Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, be extremely grateful that you are not in Tampa Bay. A knee-jerk coach firing, turmoil in the locker room, injuries and an apparently rudderless ship. A great object lesson in how not to handle an influx of new players. The Bolts are still suffering from the Modin/Norrena for Denis trade, and the rash of deals that followed the change in ownership. Might the new owners want to kiss and make up with Doug McLean???

Payback Time

The Coyotes come back to town on Wednesday, and Hitch and the gang will be primed to atone for the sloppy 5-2 loss on 11/11. Look for continuation of the stifling defense we showed in Atlanta. Mason back in the net.

Howson Busy??

Rumors have Scott Howson working the phones, more on the listening than talking side right now, trying to come up with some additional pieces for the power play and adding overall depth. Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Florida are likely partners, with Colorado also in the mix. Klesla, Tollefson, Novotny, Le Claire and Norrena most frequently mentioned in the rumor mills.




About

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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.

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