With two days until the NHL draft, we’re seeing all sorts of interesting news.
On the Jackets’ landscape, Scott Howson was a busy man yesterday – first releasing a video interview where he discussed the draft, trade possibilities, and free agency, then opening up his very own twitter account, attending the NHL’s Board of Governors meeting, and launching his own blog. Impressive work, really.
It’s also, oddly, another sign of the potential stresses between the Blue Jackets and the “traditional” media in the form of the Dispatch that has been pointed out more and more this season. While I doubt Howson will use the blog to provide breaking news (though many people have pointed out that it would be interesting if he should use the Twitter account to break a trade or free agent signing), it does provide a good bit of analysis and background information that had previously been the domain of the print media or columnists. The NHL has been a couple jumps ahead of the NFL and NBA in embracing “new media” (The MLB, to their credit, has been on the same plane or slightly ahead), and this is another sign of those changing times. It will be interesting to see how the two sides adjust.
As part of yesterday’s BOG meeting, in addition to approving the move to Winnipeg, the NHL has also accepted the suggestion to change Rules 41 (boarding) and 48 (hits to the head). Both moves will hopefully decrease long term injuries and concussions. Puck Daddy also has their take on what that will mean for player safety.
Fire The Cannon’s look at the Jackets’ draft history is now in the third round. Scott Howson has traded three of his four third round picks so far. Interesting to see if that continues.
Want a good look at trades from this past season? Check out this chart at Hockey Inside / Out.
In the same vein, the Dispatch discusses the potential for making a trade at the draft, and a look at draft day trades over the past few years.
Your daily dose of “Awwww….” is a tumblr dedicated to hockey players as little kids. Is there a picture of Rick Nash? Of course there is.
A chat with Ryan Johansen? A chat with Ryan Johansen.
Speaking of the now official Winnipeg _________, they’ve got an….impressively generic website.
Former Jacket Andrew Cassels will join the Cincinnati Cyclones as an assistant coach.
Good news! Icethetics has a jersey unveiling! Bad news! It’s for a WHL team. Worse news! The Jersey is kind of crap.
An piece on Bluejackets.com about R.J. Umberger’s graduation from Ohio State.
So what did that $150,000 Bruins bar tab look like? It looks like this.
Lori Schmidt pointed out on twitter that the Capitals are holding a preseason game in Baltimore, and asking if the Jackets should consider a game in Cinci or Cleveland. I think it’s a great idea to grow the game throughout Ohio, and not just Columbus – and there’s certainly a fanbase in both cities.
The Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes are going to play an outdoor…preseason game? Speaking of the preseason, no official schedule from the CBJ yet, but we do know they’ll have home and home sets with the Capitals and Wild. I’d expect to hear about four more games to fill things out.
Finally, in “Oh, here we go” news, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos is reporting that the Flyers and Ilya Bryzgalov have come to an agreement but it may not be announced until July 1. We’ll see what happens next…