Interesting Info: Part XIV (All Jackets-related "tidbits" in here)

[pete goegan]

Got a season ticket owner email, today, to reserve playoff tickets!

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Got a season ticket owner email, today, to reserve playoff tickets!

Respond and say dont jinx it.

 

[Derby]

Horton donated a bunch of tickets to an upcoming game for "first responders" such as police and fire in Franklin county. Pretty cool. Went quickly.

 

[Sore Loser]

Horton donated a bunch of tickets to an upcoming game for "first responders" such as police and fire in Franklin county. Pretty cool. Went quickly.

Awesome.

How we got so lucky to get this guy - really not only to get him, but to have him want to be here - is beyond me.

 

[pete goegan]

Practice for the non-Olympians resumes tomorrow.

 

[eljefe72]

http://www.oyosportstoys.com/Hockey/Columbus-Blue-Jackets

Found this on the internet. I might have to get these for, um, my boys.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

This team still can't get away from having Rick Nash on a splash screen on the website.

 

[EspenK]

An interesting question which I thought of doing as a poll but quickly reconsidered, which would you rather have - the status quo or Jackets falling apart last year and picking Nathan MacKinnon?

I would prefer the MacKinnon scenario. Only thing that makes me not 100% sure that is the better option is that I don't know (think) Horton would have signed here if we hadn't made that late rush.

 

[Cash for Nash]

An interesting question which I thought of doing as a poll but quickly reconsidered, which would you rather have - the status quo or Jackets falling apart last year and picking Nathan MacKinnon?

I would prefer the MacKinnon scenario. Only thing that makes me not 100% sure that is the better option is that I don't know (think) Horton would have signed here if we hadn't made that late rush.

Well. I'd have just assumed we'd have fallen apart finished with the worst record AND LOST the draft lottery to Colorado.

So...the winning and experience/culture and all that jazz would > than picking one of Barkov/Drouin/Jones etc.

 

[Samkow]

An interesting question which I thought of doing as a poll but quickly reconsidered, which would you rather have - the status quo or Jackets falling apart last year and picking Nathan MacKinnon?

I would prefer the MacKinnon scenario. Only thing that makes me not 100% sure that is the better option is that I don't know (think) Horton would have signed here if we hadn't made that late rush.

Status Quo.

1. I think that even though we fell short, the excitement was essential to retain the fanbase. Attendance isn't that great now, but it'd be absolutely dreadful if we'd suffered through another ******* season following a summer that consisted of a lockout and selling off the team's best player.

2. I think the steps forward by some of the young guys this season is linked to what happened last year.

 

[Cash for Nash]

Status Quo.

1. I think that even though we fell short, the excitement was essential to retain the fanbase. Attendance isn't that great now, but it'd be absolutely dreadful if we'd suffered through another ******* season following a summer that consisted of a lockout and selling off the team's best player.2. I think the steps forward by some of the young guys this season is linked to what happened last year.

I think this has been the big surprise to me (re: attendance). The team is about where I though they'd be, but the lack of fan attendance has been a surprise. To think how good attendance was in the early years (sellouts) when the team was lousy the needle hasn't really moved yet. Seems that last season before the lockout and dumping the only identifiable player (Nash) was a near death knell.

Where did the people go lol?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

An interesting question which I thought of doing as a poll but quickly reconsidered, which would you rather have - the status quo or Jackets falling apart last year and picking Nathan MacKinnon?

I would prefer the MacKinnon scenario. Only thing that makes me not 100% sure that is the better option is that I don't know (think) Horton would have signed here if we hadn't made that late rush.

If we fell apart for MacKinnon last year, you would NOT have your answer in net. You would NOT get Horton (like you said), and you would have a completely overhauled team and coaching staff while getting pitched by JD and JK that rebuilding (sucking for 3+ years) is the best long term for the franchise. So really, more of the same as in sucking and selling and losing. Is that really what you want?

 

[EspenK]

If we fell apart for MacKinnon last year, you would NOT have your answer in net. You would NOT get Horton (like you said), and you would have a completely overhauled team and coaching staff while getting pitched by JD and JK that rebuilding (sucking for 3+ years) is the best long term for the franchise. So really, more of the same as in sucking and selling and losing. Is that really what you want?

I'm not sure I buy the whole we would suck this year because we sucked last year thing. I mean we sucked in 2011-12, halfway through last year and the beginning of this year. Bob would still be Bob and would still be the answer in goal-the only thing I think we might be missing is Horton. And since he has only played a handful of games he hasn't been that instrumental in this year's success (even though many will attribute his return to the lineup as the moment the season turned around).

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I'm not sure I buy the whole we would suck this year because we sucked last year thing. I mean we sucked in 2011-12, halfway through last year and the beginning of this year. Bob would still be Bob and would still be the answer in goal-the only thing I think we might be missing is Horton. And since he has only played a handful of games he hasn't been that instrumental in this year's success (even though many will attribute his return to the lineup as the moment the season turned around).

If we sucked last year, we would have sold the entire roster and went for a full rebuild. JD pretty much said this.

 

[Samkow]

I'm not sure I buy the whole we would suck this year because we sucked last year thing. I mean we sucked in 2011-12, halfway through last year and the beginning of this year. Bob would still be Bob and would still be the answer in goal-the only thing I think we might be missing is Horton. And since he has only played a handful of games he hasn't been that instrumental in this year's success (even though many will attribute his return to the lineup as the moment the season turned around).

Do you see pre-October Ryan Johansen becoming the Ryan Johansen of now if we suffer through another terrible season? I mean, short of Nash, have the Jackets ever had a 1st round pick who lived up to expectations as a Jacket?

I think "character" is one of the most overrated concepts in hockey but I think the locker room change helped Johansen (and others) not pick up the terrible habits that Brassard/Voracek/etc. picked up in Columbus.

 

[EspenK]

Do you see pre-October Ryan Johansen becoming the Ryan Johansen of now if we suffer through another terrible season? I mean, short of Nash, have the Jackets ever had a 1st round pick who lived up to expectations as a Jacket?

I think "character" is one of the most overrated concepts in hockey but I think the locker room change helped Johansen (and others) not pick up the terrible habits that Brassard/Voracek/etc. picked up in Columbus.

Perhaps we are not suffering through another terrible season because Johansen is breaking out and he is not breaking out because we are not suffering another terrible season?.

I think the team could be at the very same spot it is now regardless of how last season played out. The only two variables are we may not have Horton and would have MacKinnon rather than Wennberg.

I think the culture change that has occurred has come about from a variety of things, including last year's finish. But without that, we still had Vinnie and Johnson,added Dubi, brought in Jarmo & JD, added Foligno, etc. Success has definitely helped but to say it is the only reason is not correct in my opinion. Maturity, experience, chemistry,the move to the East(?), are all things to consider.

 

[NotWendell]

Surround a kid with winners, he learns how to win. Surround a kid with losers, he learns how to lose. That's how the Detroit Red Wings can develop players and why the Cleveland Browns can't.

 

[Sore Loser]

I'd say status quo ... it's not about being the most talented anymore, it's about being the hardest working. Winning cultures are built over many years ... right now, we have a winning attitude in our locker room, and it shows on the ice.

I don't think Nathan MacKinnon is worth having a lackluster culture over. And I'm a HUGE MacKinnon fan.

 

[SuperGenius]

Wiz's 30th Birthday Party

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Who says Columbus isn't a hockey town?

http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com...2/aaa-blue-jackets-advance-to-title-game.html

Great job by the coaches and everyone who helps support them and youth hockey in Columbus!

 

[Mayor Bee]

Surround a kid with winners, he learns how to win. Surround a kid with losers, he learns how to lose. That's how the Detroit Red Wings can develop players and why the Cleveland Browns can't.

What's funny is that for years, Detroit was the ultimate team full of heartless losers who came up short in crucial situations.

In 1991-92, they won the Norris with the NHL's 4th-ranked offense and 6th-ranked defense. They were swept in the second round by Chicago. In 1992-93, they had 103 points, led the league in scoring, and had the 7th-ranked defense; they lost in the first round to Toronto (16th/24 in goals for). In 1993-94, they won the Central and had the league's top offense, then lost in the first round to a San Jose team that was below .500 and had finished the previous year 60 games under .500. In 1994-95, they won the Central again with the league's 3rd-ranked offense and 2nd-ranked defense and actually made it the Cup Final, only to be swept by New Jersey in a series that seemed to personify Detroit's inability to rise up against adversity. In 1995-96, they had 62 wins (NHL record) and 131 points (one off the all-time record); they needed seven games to get past a sub-.500 St. Louis team that was backstopped by Jon Casey, then lost in six to a Colorado team that had been derided for years in Quebec for being a mirror image: a highly-skilled team that would fold under pressure.

In those six years, Detroit changed quite literally everything with the exception of a small handful of players: Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Lidstrom, Vladimir Konstantinov, and Keith Primeau. Coaches were changed, assistant coaches were changed, the front office was changed, and goalies suddenly hopped on a roulette wheel. No matter what, the Detroit Red Wings could not win; they lacked something, led feebly by their captain who had the same reputation then that Joe Thornton does now. If Scotty Bowman couldn't win with this group, there clearly was no hope.

So what changed?

 

[Mayor Bee]

Wiz's 30th Birthday Party

I hope that's a camera distortion, or otherwise Boll has gone full-blown Byfuglien.

 

[major major]

That's a great photo. Must have had some pros come in to help them with the clothes. Great group of guys. Who's missing? Just our Russians off to the Olympics, and who else? I can identify everyone except for the face in between Boll and Mackenzie.

 

[Jaxs]

That's a great photo. Must have had some pros come in to help them with the clothes. Great group of guys. Who's missing? Just our Russians off to the Olympics, and who else? I can identify everyone except for the face in between Boll and Mackenzie.

Tropp between Boll and DMac?

 

[Jaxs]

Who says Columbus isn't a hockey town?

http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com...2/aaa-blue-jackets-advance-to-title-game.html

Great job by the coaches and everyone who helps support them and youth hockey in Columbus!

Thanks for posting this. Very good to see youth hockey flourish in central Ohio. As a kid playing CAHA travel, the closest travel team to Columbus were Centerville and Dayton teams. The closest high school team was Cincinnati Moeller. It has taken off here in Columbus since the arrival of the NHL.