Welcome to December! For many of you, this is the first time you’ve seen your upper lip in three weeks. Remember to compliment it on the weight it’s lost and how happy it’s looking this holiday season.
Big news late last night out of Anaheim: Randy Carlyle delivered a win over the Montreal Canadiens at home and was handed his walking papers shortly after he left the bench. Bruce Boudreau will take over as the Ducks new head coach, leaving many people wondering if Columbus GM Scott Howson missed the boat…or if he might consider Carlyle as an option. The guys at Puck Daddy havetheir reaction, while PHT wonders if that puts the end to the Bobby Ryan trade speculation.
Catching up with a few distant friends, Blue Jackets Country thinks Everyone’s A Critic, while Carry The Flag talks about taking confidence from the goaltender.
If you’re keeping an eye on the NHL’s next round of CBA talks, it looks like there are concerns about rising values and associated costs that could affect negotiations when they start early in 2012.
Over at Bluejackets.com, Rob sees the road trip as a chance to build further, while Jeff over at TMM discusses Effort vs. Results.
Over at Backhand Shelf, Bourne has a little rant about the so called “professionalism” of lying to the media, three teams are exceeding expectations, Jo talks about jaw fractures, some goals of the week, and the problems with some scorers not scoring.
Over at the Dispatch, a look at shots without goals, the latest CBJ Chat, and an update from Snowy Calgary.
Add Victor Hedman to the list of young players who just got paid.
A new blog talks Movember and the Jackets, while Dannie takes some time to look at the Russell/Nikitin deal.
At PHT, it looks like the Red Wings want to host the next Winter Classic, the Flyers are getting healthy, and Jim Rutherford offered some nastygrams for Tomas Kaberle.
Finally, a shoutout to Derek MacKenzie, honored as one of Puck Daddy’s best Mo’s for November.