Three words better than coffee to wake you up: Hockey is back!
The Jackets drop the puck tonight at Nationwide, but we had a few games Thursday night to help us get in the mood.
An unsurprising hero from last night was Jaromir Jagr, who still looks strange in orange, but got his 1,600th NHL point in the Flyers 2-1 win (and yay for Jake getting the GWG), but Matt Cooke leading the Penguins to victory had to be a bit of a surprise. Dare I say it – he actually looked more like the former Vancouver playoff hero and clutch scorer last night than the thug we’ve all seen the past few years.
Over at Pucks and Stuff, we have the explanation of the Brassacek jersey. For the record, when that type of portmanteau was necessary, I preferred “VORASSARD!” because it sounded like a pokemon. An angry pokemon who had been trapped in that ball and was going to come out to mess you up. (Note: Comic links to Penny Arcade and uses adult language and implications of anti-spa treatment.)
Over at Puck Daddy, Optimus Reim was your first star of the night, Don Cherry opened the new season with a salvo, the Bruins may have committed a bit of a cup foul, Stanley Cup predictions, a list of the best “Feel Good stories” this offseason (No Cam Atkinson? Even with the perfect Rudy photoshop opportunity? Tsk.) and believe it or not, only one PD writer has the Jackets making the postseason, and it’s not the one you’d expect.
Our CBJ Blogger roundtable concludes today – part 5 will be over at Full Mental Jackets later this morning!
Over at Backhand Shelf, we’re yet again talking about Crosby vs. Ovechkin…in commercials, Stu Bickel had to fly from Sweden to Connecticut, and Bourne talks about the Sophomores in the league getting stronger, and how that will affect their games.
Your Dispatch roundup includes the final pre-season practice, talking about the new and improved team, Shawn Mitchell talks to Ian Clark and Steve Mason about using his size as an advantage, Bob Hunter repeats the (true, but obvious) opportunity for the Jackets to get a foothold in disaffected OSU fans, the the team potentially needing to get tough without Boll in the lineup. Here’s a radical idea – instead of talking about how the team needs to drop the gloves, let’s just drop five or six goals on them instead? Oh, and did we mention that Pekka Rinne has the flu? Such a shame.
PHT found out that Brooks Laich had some paycheck mishaps, True North is locking up the old Jets logos, looked at the Wild putting Eric Nystrom on waivers, and shared a video interview with Sidney Crosby about his rehab and his take on the changes to the rules this offseason.
The Fire The Cannon podcast returned to the air last night, featuring Blue Jackets play by play man George Matthews and Mike Kelly, the voice of the Springfield Falcons.
LTL unloaded some more broadsides, including a look at yesterday’s Dispatch, his predictions for the season, getting ready to hit the R-Bar, and calling out to Stand and Deliver!
Martini Hockey talks about CBJ 2.0 and how he thinks the Eastern and Western conferences will shake out.
Over at Straight Jackets, Kat takes her guesses, and DBJ just put some depth down the middle.
Happy Friday, all.
And for those coming up from Nashville on their “Section 303” road trip, I have a special message:
Happy Columbus Day.