No pranks or April Fools jokes from me (we can leave that to…AprilFools – the member here, if he/she so chooses). We all know the Jackets were eliminated last year from the playoffs, but there is still a lot going on with the organization. Feel free to use this as your April Fools Open Thread!
- Nick Foligno and John Davidson sound excited for next year already in this piece by ESPN. “It’s interesting to note that Columbus is the club that is cited most often when other coaches, scouts and executives around the NHL are asked which non-playoff team this season has the best shot at going back to the dance next year.”
- Puck Daddy is losing hope for the CBJ Tank.
- Speaking of, check out the dropping chances of landing McEichel.
- BS Hockey’s Matt Souva discusses injuries. He links to a tweet from @LW3H who I have RT’d myself. Follow him for your weekly updates to MGL and CHIP.
- A couple of quick hits on Mike Reilly. The first from CBS Sports. The second from Hockey Buzz. That should hopefully give you a better picture of what’s going on from a CBA standpoint. Things right now don’t look good for the Jackets, though this could all play out again next spring if he returns to Minnesota for his senior year.
- Missed this last week – James Wisniewski was a healthy scratch./
And now to the OT, but still related to Columbus portion of the Blasts today:
- Recently announced – Columbus Commons will be finished with construction of a 17-story high rise. The building will be done in 2017 or 2018 and will wrap up a redevelopment project on the old City Center site.
- Similarly, the final piece of the Arena District was announced a couple months ago – more condos are going in west of McFerson Park (it’s currently a flat lot). Could eventually see some CBJ players living there much like some have/do at North Bank./
The streak marches on tomorrow night.