Cannon Blasts: On Blue Jackets Goalie Situation, Bob For Vezina?

This morning I was all ready to piggy back off Aaron Portzline's article on who should be the backup goalie to Sergei Bobrovsky from a couple of days ago, comparing the pros and cons of Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo to lay out a strong case for either option, but ultimately, come to a clear decision that one should stay over the other.

And then, yesterday afternoon, the Columbus Blue Jackets made that decision for me, making this morning's mini-column a lot easier, as the Jackets sent Forsberg back to Cleveland and in the process recalling Markus Hannikainen from the Monsters.

I both like and dislike the move. I believe Korpisalo is the backup goalie of the future - and who knows, maybe even the HBIC of the future one day - and so his NHL time will serve him well, but I also want Korp to be in a situation where he'll be playing a bit more regularly, as it appears Forsberg will be now in Cleveland (for what its worth, Forsberg has posted a 12-6-1 record with a 2.16 GAA in 21 games, while Korpisalo is 5-5-1 with a 2.99 GAA).

But, with a back-to-back this weekend, and the halfway point of the season forthcoming (plus, Bob is an All-Star after all), and a record-setting win streak is no longer in play (at least for now), maybe we'll begin seeing more of a split between the two CBJ netminders, whoever they may be.

Columbus Blue Jackets News

• Here's the official press release from the Jackets on the Forsberg/Hannikainen roster move.
• The Jackets took the ice yesterday in Tampa to prep for this weekend's back-to-back, and they've been experimenting with some new-look lines. What do you think?
• Sports Illustrated has jumped aboard the Blue Jackets train, as Alex Prewitt gives a lot of words to the Union Blue.
• Tonight, Tampa will be celebrating and retiring Martin St. Louis' sweater. Why? Because Torts is gonna be in the building.
• In yesterday's Cannon Blasts, I touched a bit on how the Jack Adams race is over and Torts should be crowned right now. Well, NHL.com foresees another postseason award for the Jackets, as they have Bob edging out Devin Dubnyk by one voting point for the Vezina Trophy in their midseason award voting.

Cleveland Monsters News

• The Monsters have signed Shawn Szydlowski to a professional contract. But beware - he's a Michigan Man. (Well, at least, he's from Michigan.) He also used to play for my hometown Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL. So that's neat.
  
• Our Elaine Shircliff broke down the Szydlowski signing last night, including a breakdown of his ECHL/AHL stats./

National Hockey League News

• Tonight's opponent for the Jackets is not making their general manager very happy. Supposedly, anyone is available on the trading block right now.
• Our buddies at Stanley Cup of Chowder did an interesting look at how the Bruins and Jackets are at the forefront of changing the way the fourth line is beginning to change NHL thinking. But no news on how the league officially feels about the Fifth Line, yet.
• Apparently Canada doesn't know about some kid name Zach Werenski, so they're arguing over whether Auston Matthews or Patrik Laine is the better player and who will win Rookie of the Year. But, as Arctic Ice Hockey's Scott Matla said, *whispers* it doesn't really matter, just love your guy.
• Y'all tired of the UNSUSTAINABLE narrative yet? So is Hockey Wilderness, but they claim a collapse is not imminent.

Sports News

• The San Diego Chargers are now the Los Angeles Chargers, and there's nothing good about their new logo.
• Actually, I lied. This is the only good thing about their new logo - is it's no longer their logo and apparently it was never going to be.
• This is for all the fellow baseball fans out there - an alternative to Tommy John surgery?/