Thirty-Nine Days, and Counting

It’s been four long months since we last watched our beloved Blue Jackets suit up and take the ice, and while we’ve been able to witness our Ohio baseball teams stumble to the finish line, it just cannot compare to the thrills of hockey.

So far, the off-season has been brutal. Other than a couple days in late June and early July, things have been pretty quiet around the league. Significant news has been few and far between, and the same few rumors about Zubov, Kaberle, and Heatley all ran their course and and eventually fizzled.

It’s been a long four months, but fear not Jackets fans, hockey is on the way.

The turn from summer to autumn means two things in Columbus Ohio: college football, and Blue Jackets hockey. So as the first pre-season game nears, here is your update on all things CBJ.

It has been reported that Antoine Vermette is interested in re-upping with the Jackets and talks between the two sides have begun. The talented winger is coming off a year in which he tallied 13 points in only 17 games with the club. Negotiations are said to be in the primary stages.

Word from Russia is that rookie phenom Nikita Filatov has been training along side IIyl Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers and former Blue Jacket, now KHLer Nik Zherdev. Filatov is preparing to make his debut as a full time Blue Jacket in 2009 after a productive few games in ‘08. The human highlight reel will be fighting for a spot along one of the top lines once training camp begins in a couple weeks.

Rick Nash practiced along side Sidney Crosby and Jerome Iginla on the first line for Team Canada on Monday. The other four lines looked like this:

Brenden Morrow-Mike Richards-Dany Heatley


Eric Staal-Joe Thornton-Corey Perry

Milan Lucic-Vincent Lecavalier-Jeff Carter


Simon Gagne-Jonathan Toews-Martin St. Louis

Steve Mason is one of five goalies invited to Team Canada’s training camp in Calgary looking to earn one of three spots on the final roster. However, the 21 year old is up against some steep competition in veterans Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur, Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Ward.

Mason led Team Canada to a gold medal at the world junior championships in 2008.

Jacket’s coach Ken Hitchkock is also in Calgary as an assistant coach under head coach Mike Babcock.

R.J. Umberger is also still in the mix for a spot on an Olympic roster. After being snubbed off the original list of 34 orientation camp invitees, Umberger, along with 40 others, is under consideration for a roster spot on Team USA pending an Olympic sanctioned drug test. A player's performance in the first three months of the season will weigh heavily in the selection process said Team USA General Manager Brian Burke.

On Tuesday the Blue Jackets confirmed their new ECHL affiliate, the Gwinnett Gladiators. "We are very excited to add Gwinnett as our ECHL partner for this upcoming season," Blue Jackets Assistant General Manager Chris MacFarland said in a release on Tuesday.

The Gladiators, located in Duluth Georgia, are also affiliated with the Atlanta Thrashers, which is common at this level. Columbus affiliated with the Dayton Bombers from 2000-2007, but are now with their forth team in four years since ‘07 after switching to the Elmira Jackals in 2007-08 and the Johnstown Chiefs last season.

The Columbus Chamber has commissioned a study of how to make the Blue Jackets economically viable after the team announced it had lost $80 million over the past seven years, reported the Columbus Dispatch.

The study will be conducted by former Ohio State professor of finance Steven Buser, and could be completed by early fall.

The intent of the study is to list other practical options to help the team make it back into the black.

Single game tickets go on sale Thursday September 3^rd at 10pm.

It’s been a long summer, but hang in there Jackets fans, because training camp is only 17 days away.

Jackets, Indians Team Up

In an effort to reach a larger fan base, The Columbus Blue Jackets have teamed up with the Cleveland Indians, the Jackets announced via the website on Tuesday.The Ohio based franchises unveiled a plan in which they

would share advertising and promote special ticket offers at each team’s events. The deal makes sense with Cleveland’s AAA affiliate Columbus Clippers right next door to Nationwide Arena.

To kick off the partnership, Blue Jackets Hockey to Go will visit Progressive Field this Sunday, August 23, prior to the Indians 1:05 game against the Seattle Mariners. The exhibit will include an inflatable slap shot cage, team ticket and promotional information and special giveaways reported the Blue Jackets official website.

Also, on Sunday September 6, Blue Jackets goaltender and Calder Memorial Trophy winner Steve Mason will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Tribe’s game with the Minnesota Twins. Mason will also be on hand to sign autographs before the game.

Expect to see the same type of promotions for the Indians at Nationwide Arena once the season begins.

The Jackets also recently announced that single game regular season tickets will go on sale beginning Thursday, September 3 at 10 am.

On Wednesday, the NHL released the list of nationally televised games for the upcoming 2009-2010 season. The Jackets are listed twice, both times appearing on Versus against Central Division foes.

Their first appearance will be on Tuesday, December 1 against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center, and then again on Monday, December 28 at home against Detroit.

This is good news for Jackets fans since these games were two of the seven total games not scheduled to air on FSN Ohio.

Filatov Looks to Make Impact in '09

After being selected sixth overall by the Blue Jackets at the 2008 entry draft and tallying four goals in only eight games for the Jackets last year, Nikita Filatov looks to make the big club for good in 2009.

Jackets fans have great expectations for the Russian wonder kid in 2009, after he awed them with his skillful play in limited minutes in ’08-’09, including his January 10 hat trick against the Minnesota Wild.

Many sites have tabbed Filatov as a potential Calder Trophy finalist as the league’s top rookie, as well the top remaining prospect out of the 2008 entry draft and a steal for the Jackets at number six.

In 39 games with AHL Syracuse, Filatov posted 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 total points. Also, as captain of Russia’s world junior team, Filatov scored 12 goals and 8 assists in 14 games at the World Junior Championships between 2008 and 2009.

Most expect Filatov to make the team this year, but the question is where the human highlight reel will line up.

The Jackets have a plethora of talent at left wing, Filatov’s natural position, making for a bit of a traffic jam. Going into camp, Huselius, Umberger, and either Torres or Chimera look to hold the top three left wing spots. Meaning, Filatov may be pushed back to the fourth line.

We can say almost with certainty that Filatov will not line up along the third line as it is your traditional checking line. So for Nikita to crack the top three lines, he would have to earn a position along one of the top two.

There a few ways this could happen: the most obvious of them being if he flat out earns it. We have seen rookies line up on the top two lines in the past, and if this kid is as good as they say, we may see him replace a struggling veteran at the top.

Another way would be through injury. If one of the guys ahead of him went down, Filatov could fill in nicely. Now although his natural position is at left wing, it is possible we could see him line up on the right side if need be.

A position change for a superstar like Filatov would not be unheard of in Columbus; captain Rick Nash currently resides on the right although his natural position is also on the left.

There is also the possibility of a trade making some room for Filatov along the top two lines. If the Jackets are going to make a move for a scoring defenseman, it is likely the trade bait would be from the pool of left-wingers.

Although it would likely be a winger, we can almost rule out Huselius and Umberger as trade material because of large contracts and team commitments.

So if Filatov makes the team, which we expect him to, he will most likely start out on the fourth line with the possibility of climbing up the ranks, as did Voracek and Brassard a year ago.

Fire The Cannon writers Eric Smith and Bart Logan discuss this issue and more in this week’s podcast available on iTunes and at FireTheCannon.com.

A Second Look

There was a great article in The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday regarding last summer’s Tyutin and Backman for Zherdev and Fritcshe trade. The article took a look at what those players have done since then, and which team got the better of the trade.

It got me thinking about some other noteworthy trades in Jackets history and how they turned out. Here, The Seventeenth Member takes a second look at five significant trades in Blue Jacket’s history and their results.

June 22, 2002: With the Columbus Blue Jackets poised to pick at number three in the 2002 entry draft, the Jackets traded up two spots to number one to acquire current all-star and captain Rick Nash. In exchange, Florida received the number three overall pick, and an option to swap picks in the 2003 draft.

With the third pick, the Panthers selected defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, currently of the Calgary Flames. Bouwmeester bounced around between the NHL club and minor league affiliate San Antonio during his first five years after being drafted, tallying a total of six goals and 30 assists in 143 games.

In the ’05-’06 season however, Bouwmeester put up bigger numbers, scoring five goal and posting 41 assists for a 46 point effort. Jay has 53 career goals, and 150 assist for 203 career points.

On the verge of becoming an unrestricted free agent, the two-time all-star Bouwmeester was traded to the Calgary Flames on June 27, 2009.

Rick Nash had an immediate impact on the Blue Jackets organization as he scored a goal in his first career NHL game on October 10, 2002. Since then, Nash has been a machine; improving his numbers nearly every year he has been in the league, culminating in a 79 point performance in ‘09.

Nash has 194 career goals, and 161 assists for a total of 355 career points in 441 games. Nash is also a four-time NHL All-Star, Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy winner as the leagues top goal scorer and 2009 NHL Foundation Player of the Year.

Nov. 15, 2005: The Blue Jackets acquire six-time All-Star Sergei Fedorov and a fifth round pick in the 2006 entry draft from Anaheim in exchange for Tyler Wright, Francois Beauchemin.

In 25 games with Anaheim, Wright scored two goals and two assists for a total of four points. He did not play another season in the NHL and currently works as a development coach for the Blue Jackets.

Beauchemin on the other hand, was a lot more productive. In 234 games with the Ducks, Beauchemin recorded 23 goals and 67 assists and was a big piece in the Ducks Stanley Cup Championship in 2007. Beauchemin signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 6, 2009 as a free agent.

In three seasons with the Blue Jackets, Fedorov tallied 39 goals and 74 assists for a total of 113 points. On February 26, 2008, the Jackets dealt Fedorov to Washington for draft pick Ted Ruth.

With the fifth round pick in the ’06 draft, the Jackets selected Defenseman and Dereck Brassard’s Drummondville Voltigeur teammate Maxime Frechette, currently with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL.

June 30, 2006: The Blue Jackets acquire a pair of Fredriks in forward Fredrik Modin and goaltender Fredrik Norrena from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for goaltender Marc Denis.

In 50 games played with the Lightning, Denis compiled an 18-23-2 record with a 3.62 goals against average and a .871 save percentage. Denis was released by the Lightning on June 24, 2008 and currently resides with Montreal’s AHL affiliate the Hamilton Bulldogs.

In three seasons with the Blue Jackets, Fredrik Modin has appeared in 163 games, recording 37 goals and 42 assists. Lately, his production has been on the decline due to injuries, but as alternate captain, Modin still remains an important part of the club.

When Pascal Leclaire went down with injuries during the ’06-’07 season, Fredrik Norrena stepped into the starting goaltender position. In 55 games that year, Norrena tallied a 24-23-3 record with a .904 save percentage and a 2.78 goals against. The next year, he played the role of backup, appearing in 37 games, but with the emergence of Steve Mason in 2008, Norrena was waived by the Jackets and eventually signed with Linköpings HC of the Swedish Elite League.

June 20, 2008: In a trade that brought the first ever former Ohio State Buckeye to the Blue Jackets, the CBJ acquired center R.J. Umberger and a fourth round pick at the 2008 entry draft from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for first and third round picks in 2008.

With that first round, 19^th overall pick, the Flyers selected Luca Sbisa of Italy. He appeared in 39 games with the Flyers this past season, scoring no goals but tallying seven assists. At the ’09 entry draft, Sbisa was traded along with Joffrey Lupul and Philadelphia’s 2009 and 2010 first round picks to Anaheim for Chris Pronger and Ryan Dingle.

With the third round selection, the Flyers picked Marc-Andre Bourdon from the Rouyn-Noranda Huslies of the QMJHL. Bourdon has yet to appear in an NHL game.

In one full year with the Blue Jackets, Umberger recorded his best NHL season yet, scoring 26 goals and adding 20 assists for a total of 46 points. He also added three playoff goals in four games, scoring the franchise’s first ever playoff goal in a 4-1 loss at Detroit.

With the fourth round pick, the Jackets selected high school senior Drew Olson.

In one year with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, Olson scored two goals and added six assists for eight total points in 39 games.

July 1, 2008: The Blue Jackets acquire Raffi Torres from Edmonton in exchange for former first round pick Gilbert Brulé.

With just nine points in 61 games played during the ’07-’08 season, the former first rounder seemed expendable. During the ’08-’09 season, Brulé appeared in 11 games with the Oilers after being called up from AHL affiliate Springfield. With the big club, Brulé chalked up two goals and one assist. In the remaining 39 games with Springfield, he scored 13 and helped on 11 for 24 total points.

In 51 games in ’08-’09, Raffi Torres was productive for the Jackets. Although he scored only 12 goals and tallied eight assists, it was the timing and significance of the goals that made him valuable. Six of Raffi’s 12 goals were game winners, and a Torres goal almost always lead to a Blue Jackets victory.

So who came out on top in each of these trades? That’s for you to decide.

-T17M