After months of waiting and preparing, the NHL has finally congregated in Toronto and Edmonton to resume playing hockey this week. This includes the Columbus Blue Jackets, who arrived in Toronto yesterday after spending a final off day with their families on Saturday.
As they departed, the final 31 player roster was announced:
Forwards(17)- 10 Alexander Wennberg, 11 Kevin Stenlund, 13 Cam Atkinson, 14 Gus Nyquist, 18 Pierre-Luc Dubois, 19 Liam Foudy, 20 Riley Nash, 23 Stefan Matteau, 24 Nathan Gerbe, 28 Oliver Bjorkstrand, 38 Boone Jenner, 42 Alexandre Texier, 50 Eric Robinson, 52 Emil Bemstrom, 71 Nick Foligno, 74 Devin Shore and 77 Josh Anderson;
Defense(11)- 2 Andrew Peeke, 3 Seth Jones, 4 Scott Harrington, 6 Adam Clendening, 8 Zach Werenski, 27 Ryan Murray, 44 Vladislav Gavrikov, 46 Dean Kukan, 53 Gabriel Carlsson, 58 David Savard, 65 Markus Nutivaara;
Goaltenders(3) – 70 Joonas Korpisalo, 80 Matiss Kivlenieks and 90 Elvis Merzlikins.
Forwards Ryan MacInnis and Kole Sherwood and goalie Veini Vehvilainen were also part of the Phase 3 summer camp, but missed the cut to enter the NHL’s bubble. Adam Clendening is the only player on the roster to have not appeared in a game for Columbus this season. Josh Anderson is the only one currently considered unable to play in the qualifying series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Deck
Ah, how I’ve missed being able to include this section…
Thursday: vs. Boston (exhibition)
Sunday: Game 1 vs. Toronto
We will have previews, game threads, and recaps for all postseason action including Thursday’s exhibition. All of those games will be broadcast locally on Fox Sports Ohio.
Also coming up this week on the site, we will be previewing all of the position match-ups, and checking in with our friends at Pension Plan Puppets for a Q&A. Here is PPP’s write-up about their own 30-man bubble roster.
The week that was
Are you a new fan, or have you just been tuned out for awhile? Don’t worry, because MrSwift has a guide for everything a bandwagon fan needs to know. Welcome aboard!
Elaine wonders whether the NHL is doing enough to take care of players’ mental health when they’re isolated in the bubble.
We had a special guest on The Cannon Cast, Fox Sports Ohio’s Dave Maetzold!
It’s been really fun having guests on the podcast over the last year and a half. Will compiled some of the best quotes from those episodes, so check it out in case you missed any of those interviews the first time around.
Around the League
Here’s a sneak peak at what the venues will look like:
The stages are set #StanleyCup
➡ Scotiabank Arena in Toronto
⬅ Rogers Place in Edmonton pic.twitter.com/7eE4peXBW6— NHL (@NHL) July 26, 2020
NHL’s upcoming franchise in Seattle finally revealed their name, logo, and sweaters. To my great delight they will be the Seattle Kraken and their logo kicks ass. The sweaters are a bit plain, in my opinion. And yes, I already ordered a “Release the Kraken” t-shirt.
What went in to creating the #SeaKraken? 20 months of hard work and plenty of important milestones.
We laid it out for you to explore here → https://t.co/OKD9y0EX6J pic.twitter.com/PdBoGtpIam
— Seattle Kraken (@NHLSeattle_) July 24, 2020
🔥🔥🔥
can’t wait until these officially drop @adidashockey! pic.twitter.com/HA6tp8USE0
— Seattle Kraken (@NHLSeattle_) July 23, 2020
Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka quit the team on the eve of their first postseason since 2012. It’s very weird.