Think there's any chance that Colton Gillies and/or even Todd Richards himself put a little Money On The Board for tonight's game? While a game in February for a team so far out of even 14th place may not mean much overall, for these two it will hold some extra meaning for sure. Richards was, of course, fired by the Wild as head coach last summer, and Gillies was put on waivers by Minnesota earlier in January.

Both were mum, per The Dispatch's reporting, but you have to assume they're both going to be a little extra juiced for tonight's game.

As for the nuts and bolts, it will be Curtis Sanford vs. Niklas Backstrom in net, and Mikko Koivu is again sitting out for the Wild (his eighth straight game missed). On paper, this should be a low-scoring affair, with the 28th (Columbus) and 29th (Minnesota) ranked offenses in hockey taking the ice. If only games were ever played on paper...

Richards and Sanford both spoke today about playing hard and giving the fans their money's worth. Talk of playing for the #1 pick was squashed. What if, however, the fans would still like you to sew up that #1 pick?

At any rate, the Jackets should be able to compete tonight. They just have to back up all the talk of not mailing the rest of the season in and actually show it on the ice.

Minnesota Wild at Columbus Blue Jackets

February 7, 2012 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WWCD FM 102.5 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Hockey Wilderness
Get Tickets

It has been almost three weeks since the Union Blue has skated on home ice, what with the six-game road trip on either side of a week for the All Star Break.

It's a different sort of homecoming for coach Todd Richards and winger Colton Gillies, who are facing their former team for the first time in their new capacities. Columbus is coming off a rousing overtime win in Anaheim on Friday, with Derick Brassard carrying the torch with two goals including the OT winner. Friday also saw the return of Jeff Carter. As to whether he's "back" versus "auditioning for trade partners," who can say definitively?

The Jackets are hoping to get healthier in the near future, with James Wisniewski, Nikita Nikitin, and Mark Letestu all nearing operational status. In the meantime, Todd Richards is hinting that the lineup will stay the same as it was from Anahiem, minus Brett Lebda (thumb). Ryan Johansen appears to be sitting for his third straight game.

With Lebda out, it reshuffles the D pairs yet again. Lost in the injury melee is that John Moore stepped up and logged his career-high in minutes on Friday night. As he gets more and more responsibilities, it's hard not to feel the urge to check his development as one of the few bright spots of this otherwise horrid season.

The Wild have leveled off over the last six weeks or so, having slipped from near the top of the conference to the last playoff spot currently. Since starting out 20-7-3 through December 10, the Wild have won just five times in 22 games (5-12-5). They are, as usual, struggling to score goals, currently sitting next to last in the league on offense. This is the third and final game of a road trip for the Wild, though they've been off since Saturday. In injury news, the Wild may still be without center Mikko Koivu, who has missed seven straight with a shoulder injury.

Can the Jackets string more than one win together? It's called a winning streak. It's happened before.

Continue reading this post »

Game day! Nice to have hockey back in town for a bit - five of the next six games, in fact, are at home...

At The Score, they've decided to recast Stand By Me with a Blue Jackets twist...what you feel about it will be highly dependent on your level of 80s nostalgia.

Meanwhile, Carry The Flag has their weekly prospect report and it appears the Jackets should be getting a few guys back in the next week.

Over at Backhand Shelf, they've got an in-depth look at college hockey players in the NHL and a history lesson.

Icethetics has their first 2012 Jersey Watch, and DBJ takes a hard look at Todd Richards as part of his new Glass Bangers.

At Puck Daddy, Lambert thinks the NHL could learn from the super bowl (and he has some fair points, but I also think the reverse is true), the former owner of the Hartford Whalers isn't impressed with the health of other NHL markets, Ray Emery getting a shot in Chicago, Brian Boyle talking a post-superbowl walk of shame, Jordan Leopold in a nasty collision with Lindy Ruff, and wondering if Ryan Nugent-Hopkins may no longer be a sure thing for the Calder Trophy (especially since he was hurt in last night's game vs. Toronto).

At the Dispatch, Todd Richards is still calling for the team to focus on pride, and Ryan Russell is making himself a home through hard work.

Finally, it's not hockey related, but there is a cat on the pitch. This is not innuendo. It is not some strange code phrase. There is a cat on the pitch at Anfield. A cat. On the pitch.

Tomorrow, we get live hockey again. Fantastic!

Unfortunately, that news does not hold true for Brett Lebda, who is out indefinently after requiring thumb surgery. The d-man was hurt early in the Anaheim game, and will be out until his thumb has healed.

On the plus side, it looks like James Wisniewski is skating, so he could be back in the next week or two, and with luck we'll get Nikita Nikitin back in the near future as well.

Plus, there's been the silver lining of John Moore being surprisingly good.

Meanwhile, Scott Gomez hasn't scored in a year (though he ALMOST managed a deflection yesterday afternoon), Ms. Conduct talks about being a newbie goalie well into middle age, and a wealthy businessman wants to build an NHL caliber arena in Seattle, so of course we're speculating that they, too, could be the new home of the Phoenix Coyotes...

Oh, and I hear there was a football game last night. (Was it me, or were the commercials kinda underwhelming this year?)

After a tough night on Saturday, the Falcons returned to The Nest on Sunday afternoon for the second of a two game set with the Norfolk Admirals. Playing a much more disciplined game than on Saturday, the Falcons used three third period goals to take a big 4-2 victory over the Admirals.

The Falcons didn't give up the first goal this time. Instead, it was Matt Calvert who picked up his tenth of the campaign on assists from Cam Atkinson and Brent Regner on the power play.

Perhaps a carryover from Saturday, the play remained punishing, with five minors called in the period.

Midway through the middle stanza, it looked like the Falcons opened up a two goal lead when Tomas Kubalik converted an unbelievable one handed, diving pass from Matt Calvert. To many's amazement, including an irate coach Rob Riley, the goal was waved off due to goalie interference. This was a flat out bad call. No other way to put it.

The momentum shifted with 5:20 remaining and the Admirals tied it up on a goal by Pierre-Cedric Labrie. Labrie had his way with the Falcons on Saturday night, and the goal was his eighth of the season. Michel Ouellet connected for his tenth goal on the power play at 18:44 to give the Admirals a 2-1 lead. Another late period goal that could have been a backbreaker.

A well skated third period was scoreless through the first half. Finally at 11:29, Patrick Cullity cut in from the blue line. He was only about 15 feet from the cage, went down to one knee and finished off a Matt Calvert pass for the tying goal. The secondary assist went to Greg Amadio. This was a big goal at a big time for the Birds.

Thirty seconds later, after an Andrew Joudrey scoring bid, the puck momentarily lay flat after a Dustin Tokarski save. Maksim Mayorov was Johnny-on-the-spot (Maks-on-the-spot?) and banged home the loose biscuit for his fifth of the season, giving the Falcons the lead at 3-2. Setting up the play in addition to Joudrey was Brent Regner.

I thought I was going to jump out of my skin later in the period when Alexandre Giroux carried the puck into the offensive zone. Giroux carried and held and held and held...moving closer to the cage. Finally he was on the verge of the blue paint when both Admirals defenders finally committed and Giroux found Martin St. Pierre unmarked on the left wing. MSP took the pass and blew one past Tokarski, extending the Falcons lead to two goals. An amazing play by the two veterans!

Paul Dainton stood tall over the final four and a half minutes, making a couple of game saving stops. This one finished up 4-2 Falcons, a huge character win for Springfield.

Today's Three Stars
1. Matt Calvert
2. Patrick Cullity
3. Brent Regner

Three Stars that were well earned. After Saturday's blowout, I can't stress enough what an enormous win this was for the Falcons. The Falcons return to action Friday night at 7:30 when the Connecticut Whale come to The Nest.

Two Hall of Famers: Eddie "Ted" Shore, Jr. and Jim Anderson

Also honored was AHL Hall of Famer, Jimmy Anderson. By the time I had attended my first game, Anderson's career was winding down. In his prime though, the NHL only had six teams, while the AHL sported eight. Anderson was legitimately one of the greatest wingers of all time. Trouble was, he was playing at a time when there were only 120 jobs available in the six team senior circuit. By the time he got a taste of the NHL, he was a fading 37 year old who still managed to put up one goal and two assists in seven games on the expansion Los Angeles Kings of 1967-68. It seems a shame, but those were his only seven games on an NHL stage.

Continue reading this post »

The Falcons returned home after a five game road trip, dug themselves a deep hole from which they never recovered, falling to the Norfolk Admirals 6-1 on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center.

Things started out badly and only got worse. For the second consecutive night, the opponents scored on their first shot on goal. Friday night in Providence, it took 1:21. Saturday night it took but 37 seconds, and the flood gates opened.

Manny Legace, playing his first game since January 22nd (and celebrating his 39th birthday), was beaten early and often, surrendering four goals on Norfolk's first nine shots. Manny was pulled after the fourth marker in favor of Paul Dainton.

After the fifth Admiral tally, an ugly scrum took place in front of the Falcons net. The Falcons were on a 5 on 3 PK when Mark Barberio connected for his sixth goal of the season. In front of the Falcons cage, Theo Ruth was covering Norfolk All-Star Cory Conacher. After the goal, the exchange continued with Conacher doing a bit of chirping when Ruth blatantly cross-checked Conacher in the head. With Springfield being two men down, the dance wasn't quite even, so Captain Dane Byers grabbed hold of two Admirals, giving them some simultaneous whatfor. After things settled down and the players were going to the box, Byers circled away and engaged Norfolk captain Mike Angelidis at center ice. One can only imagine what Byzee said to Angelidis as he went SlapShot crazy trying to get at Byers. Finally the linesmen literally escorted both into their respective benches and down the tunnels to their locker rooms.

Falcons broadcaster Mike Kelly aptly summed it up this way:

Out of hand indeed. The visitors added one more before a much quieter third period, leaving the score at 6-1.

The Falcons lone score was netted by Matt Calvert, his 9th, assisted by Cam Atkinson.

The teams will have a rematch this afternoon at 3PM at The Nest. With the sometimes unpredictable nature of AHL games, anything can happen. If you're in Springfield, tickets this afternoon are just $8.

Happy Sunday!

In case you tuned out the NHL last night, Olli Jokinen had a big mac attack, Sam Gagner is still in beast mode, Ryan Miller broke a franchise record, Martin St. Louis got a hat trick in his 900th game, Ilya Kovalchuk got a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, and Teemu Selanne won a pig.

In matters Columbus, Carry The Flag recaps the road trip, Crimespree Hockey takes a look at who is likely to go at the trade deadline, and it's been confirmed that Jeff Carter does not have an NTC this season.

At SBNation, Bruce wonders if Zach Parise might be feeling Minnesota, and a Blues fan pretty much made the best Chris Hansen joke. Too bad Pekka Rinne was, well, Pekka Rinne.

At the Dispatch, Portzline sees an "experience gap", Derick Brassard is beefing up his game, and Michael Arace pens a column about Carter's much discussed exit, which Dannie decided to eviscerate.

Sports Illustrated says putting the Islanders in Brooklyn is a terrible idea, Backhand Shelf can't explain many things, and Cam Charron wonders if Bruce Boudreau could be a Jack Adams trophy candidate?