Happy Saturday!
Kudos to the Jackets for another great fan outreach effort with their “Front Street Fridays.” Reports from the inaugural event by Fire That Cannon and The Union Blue both make it sound like a great debut, and how about R.J. Umberger dropping into the open skate at the Ice Haus afterwards?
He’s Umby, dammit, and he’s a mensch.
Elsewhere, the LA Kings are rolling, but their local TV coverage is having some issues. At least they used the right logo this time.
Closer to home, the Jackets have signed 2010 draft pick Austin Madaisky, but informed picks Petr Straka and Brandon Archibald that they will not be tendered offers, and can return to the draft. The last player still on the fence is goalie Mathieu Corbeil, who is being scouted at the Memorial Cup. His tournament starts tonight vs. the London Knights, and I would expect a lot of eyes on how he handles the pressure.
(Speaking of the Memorial Cup, Jackets’ prospect Michael Chaput had two goals and went 16/27 in the faceoff circle in Shawinigan’s 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings.)
Over at #CBJ.com, the latest community spotlight is…um, me, actually. So there’s that.
The Avalanche have decided to re-sign Milan Hejduk to a one year, $2 million deal that will see him play his 1,000th game in the NHL next season – and all of them in a Colorado sweater. Even though he’s not the scoring machine he used to be, that’s still a classy move to keep a core player in the organization.
The precise opposite of a classy move came from Edmonton, where coach Tom Renney was finally told he will not return as head coach after being left to dangle for the past month and a half. Admittedly, Renney didn’t succeed in Edmonton, but he wasn’t given much defensively to work with. I wouldn’t be shocked if he finds his way back to coaching quickly – perhaps even as an assistant here in Columbus.
Over at DBJ, Tom runs through some of the big questions from the Todd Richards’ press conference, more than a few of which were echoed in this week’s Dispatch chat.
Upstairs at the mothership, Travis doesn’t think you should be worried about a lockout just yet, Icethetics looks at the new logo for the CHL’s Denver Cutthroats, and NHL 13 is looking pretty sweet.
(Dear EA: I would happily take a review copy. Xbox 360. Just sayin’.)
Tons of interesting stuff over at Puck Daddy, including the Coyotes Heel-turn, Patrick Warburton’s potential metaphysical crisis, a bevy of jersey fouls, Mike Green’s uncertain future, a look at penalties in the stanley cup playoffs, and Jamaica’s entry into the IIHF.
Last but not least, make sure to tune into the Blue Jackets‘ “Sunday Morning Skate” tomorrow at 10am on 97.1 The Fan, where Coach Richards will be holding a Twitter “Q&A” with fans for most of the show. Get your questions ready to send out to @CBJRadio!