Good morning! Hope you’re enjoying this beautiful Saturday with a cool beverage.
Every time I think “things are starting to slow down”, I’m proven wrong, but let’s start with some of the simpler things in life – the story of a simple, unsigned, rather beaten up practice puck..and what it means to one family.
Over in New York, there’s the shocking news that the Islanders, in their quest to hit the cap floor, might actually look at bringing back Alexei Yashin, who they bought out several years ago prior to his departure for the KHL. My first reaction? “Someone has been drinking, and it hasn’t been me.” On the other hand, the guys at Lighthouse Hockey aren’t terribly concerned. In another part of the puzzle for the Islanders, they may be right back to a goalie logjam, as Evgeni Nabokov plans to report for training camp after last season’s waiver debacle.
The Jackets have posted a nice photo gallery of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski taking publicity photos – you’ll probably see the filled in and photoshopped versions around town as we get closer to October. PHT also had a bit more coverage of Carter’s arrival in Columbus, and possible adjustments to his game due to playing alongside of Rick Nash.
Puck Daddy had an interesting chat with Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals, discussing Salary Cap Circumvention, the 2014 Olympics, and his role in opening up the press coverage of his team to bloggers.
Over at CBJ Blog, Andy is starting a series called “The Arniel Files” about some of the coaches’ moves last season, and he starts with looking at what happened with Mike Commodore.
We mentioned that the Blues are in need of a new owner – and now it would seem that Dave Checketts is expecting the team to be signed, sealed, and delivered by the start of the season.
TSN featured Scott Howson on their “That’s Hockey” segment yesterday, mostly discussing the possibility of the Jackets moving to the Eastern Conference. Interesting that Columbus is actively putting together a realignment proposal to present to the Board of Governors, isn’t it?
More footage of Tomas Kaberle and David Krejci‘s day with the cup has arrived at PHT, while Zdeno Chara will be taking Lord Stanley for a spin today in Slovakia.
The Blue Jackets have announced a renewal of their partnership with Ohio Health, including Ohio Health receiving naming rights to the Chiller rinks and the Ice Haus. (There appeared to be some confusion on Twitter yesterday about if the Ice Haus was going to be renamed to a Chiller – that doesn’t appear to be the case. It’s constantly referred to as “The Ice Haus” throughout the release.) If you’re a jersey wonk, the most notable part of this announcement is the news that the Jackets will add an Ohio Health patch to their practice jerseys – something that more and more NHL teams have been doing over the last few seasons. My personal opinion is that as long as we stick to JUST the practice jerseys? I’m OK with that. What I don’t want is for the “proper” NHL jerseys to go all “Nascar-ified” like European pro jerseys.
The biggest news around the NHL came late on Friday, following a leak that apparently forced the Winnipeg Jets‘ hand, as they unveiled their new logos and colors. We’ll be waiting a bit longer on the uniforms (last I heard, I believe the plan is to officially unveil them at their training camp in September), but it’s a big piece of the puzzle. Honestly, I’m torn. I think the general look is solid – I do like the primary logo, but the wordmark is kind of ‘meh’, but I keep thinking the colors look awfully familiar…maybe the jersey will change my mind, but it looks an awful lot like they “borrowed” Columbus’ color palette. There’s also reactions from icethetics (who isn’t thrilled), and Puck Daddy (who seem pretty positive).
There’s another prospect profiles video up at Bluejackets.com, this time talking to Boone Jenner.
Finally…well, there’s no good way to say it: Adam Savage is Batman. Somehow, I always knew that “Bruce Wayne” thing was a cover up.
Have a great weekend!