Cannon Blasts: MLK Day News and Notes

If your team made the Super Bowl last night, congrats! If your team is in first place in the NHL/NBA right now, congrats! If your baseball team either has or is currently pursuing a big-name free agent this offseason, congrats!

If none of those things apply, well, here’s whats happening around sports.

Columbus Blue Jackets News

• The Blue Jackets fell on Saturday against Minnesota. Oddly enough, our MrSwift13 noted the Jackets are 0-2 since Brandon Dubinsky returned to the lineup.
• Columbus, despite their two-game skid, may just be...fun?...again. William Chase explored that.
• Riley Nash hasn’t lived up to the hype, according to our Ryan Real.
• How are the Cleveland Monsters fairing into mid-January? Elaine Shircliff breaks down individual performances. For full Monsters coverage, be sure you have our Monsters Hub handy.
• In the aftermath of yet another loss in Tampa, our fearless leader, Pale Dragon, took a look at the options the front office has for improving the team to turn a good one into a great one.
• The Athletic’s Tom Reed dove into what makes the CBJ so damn good in 3-on-3 overtimes.
• Also at The Athletic, stat-guru Alison Lukan took a look at which Jackets’ line combinations are most valuable via WAR.
• We know the Jackets’ power play is, uh, not great (although, it has been better since the turn of the calendar). But, 1st Ohio Battery’s Chris Pennington says Columbus’ special teams are actually hindering them far more than we realize.
• Union and Blue’s William Espy takes a look at some trade deadline targets from around the Atlantic Division.
• Espy also posits the following; has Korpi solidified the starting job?

Hockey News

• It happened a couple of weeks ago, but former Blue Jackets great Rick Nash announced his retirement.
• CBJ-tangential, but our MrSwif13 spoke with On The Forecheck three years after the Ryan Johansen-Seth Jones trade.
• The Hurricanes and Wild swapped Victor Rask for Nino Niederreiter. Canes Country breaks down Niederreiter while Hockey Wilderness isn’t too happy with the trade.
• In a weird, wordy, PR-friendly statement, the NHL and NHLPA basically said “2020 would be great, but it wont work for the next Hockey World Cup.” Which...fine? Look, just put the NHL back in the Olympics and call it a day.
• TSN takes a look at if Toronto needs to make a change ahead of the deadline.
• Like all All-Star games, the future of the league was a hot topic. However, this one was the CWHL All-Star Game.
• CBJ super-fan Greg Wyshinski breaks down his Top 10 potential Stanley Cup matchups. Spoiler - the Jackets aren’t on the list.

Sports News

• The Super Bowl is set after two of the best conference championship games I can remember. The Rams outlasted the Saints (lol, screw ‘em) in New Orleans while the Patriots escaped a comeback effort from the Chiefs, both in overtime. It’s LA/NE in Atlanta in two weeks.
• I don’t know how many of you know just how petty and fifth-grade hate-fueled the Falcons/Saints rivalry is, but it’s definitely a thing. Here’s a great example.
• I had seen it on the internet before but, as someone who doesn’t watch a ton of CBS games, I had never experienced it first hand. Until last night, when Tony Romo was literally calling the Patriots’ plays before they ran them.