Game Preview #82 - At Least The Arena Will Be Full...
...just half of the people will be wearing red and will be obnoxious.
Blue Jackets vs. Blackhawks - 7:00 PM
Game Faceoff
I wish this could end with a quiet nod. We could all look at each other, acknowledge what a complete shit-show it's been, and go our separate ways for the summer.
But we can't. Because there are going to be 7,000 pahlash sahhhsahhgge eatin' bastards in our barn tonight.
(I'm obviously being sarcastic. I have to type this because the last time I wrote something like this those same people complained in the comments. And who needs that?)
Let it be known that, no matter what happens tonight, this team went "hockey .500" since the 0-8-0 start; they're current 33-32-8 in their last 73 games. That doesn't count for much, but it's something. I guess.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Josh Anderson stayed in Buffalo in order to join the Monsters in Rochester. Dean Kukan and Joonas Korpisalo will no doubt be not far behind after this game. This will be the last time we see Rene Bourque in a Jackets swearer. Will it be the last time for others? Perhaps. Who knows. Just in case, say your goodbyes to Jared Boll, Scott Hartnell, Fedor Tyutin (who isn't playing), and Gregory Campbell. Because you never know.
Aw hell, just sixty more minutes to go, everyone. Grit your teeth, and we'll get through it. And then we can take this season out back and shoot it in the head, bury it behind the barn, and crack open a beer and forget the whole damned thing ever happened in the first place.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(33-40-8, 74 Points; 8th division, 15th conference)
| Matt Calvert | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Brandon Saad | Alexander Wennberg | Rene Bourque |
| Scott Hartnell | Boone Jenner | Nick Foligno |
| William Karlsson | Gregory Campbell | Jared Boll |
| Ryan Murray | Seth Jones |
| Justin Falk | David Savard |
| Dean Kukan | Dalton Prout |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
Chicago Blackhawks
(47-26-8, 102 Points - 3rd Division, 3rd Conference)
| Andrew Ladd | Jonathan Toews | Richard Panik |
| Artemi Panarin | Dennis Rasmussen | Patrick Kane |
| Bryan Bickell | Teuvo Teravainen | Dale Weise |
| Brandon Mashinter | Marcus Kruger | Tomas Fleischmann |
| Trevor van Riemsdyk | Niklas Hjalmarsson |
| Viktor Svedberg | Brent Seabrook |
| Erik Gustafsson | Michal Rozsival |
| Corey Crawford |
| Scott Darling |