The Puck Drops Here 11.18.15: What's Happened With The Blue Jackets? #CBJ

By @CLulovics

Well let's face it. The start to the 2015-2016 NHL season for the Columbus Blue Jackets did not start how anyone including national annalists envisioned it. After starting the season 0-8, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen to fire head coach Todd Richards and replace him with John Tortorella. Tortorella who previously coached for the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and most recently the Vancouver Canucks brings an overall head coaching record of 444-371 to go along with 8 playoff appearances and 1 Stanley Cup Championship.

Boone Jenner, Brandon Saad, Scott Hartnell and Brandon Dubinsky have been their usual selves providing the offense with the needed spark along with scoring points. Sergei Bobrovsky has not been his usual stellar self. Not all the blame can be put on Bobrovsky though. As national writers along with annalists said before the season even started, the Blue Jackets defense hasn't helped out their goalie. Some lapses along with miscues have spelled doom for both Bobrovsky and the blue line in the early stages of the young NHL season. But with Tortorella at the helm now it seems to be that those little yet huge mistakes seem to be disappearing and the Blue Jackets are playing a better overall game.

The Blue Jackets minor league affiliate the Lake Erie Monsters currently sit at 8-3-0-2 on their young season for 14 points and 3rd in the Central Division in the Western Conference as of this writing. Leading the Monsters in points is Kerby Rychel sitting at 4 goals 7 assists for 11 points while splitting time between the Monsters and the Blue Jackets. With a lot of young talent the Monsters will continue to be fun to watch downtown at Quicken Loans Arena and is a good event to take the family too.

While the Columbus Blue Jackets are currently 7-12, anything can happen in the NHL and they certainly are not out of it. But they have to pick up the pace soon otherwise their playoff hopes and dreams might fade quickly. This team has the talent to turn this whole thing around as long as they play their type of game which they didn't in the start of the season but seem to be coming back around too. Tortorella might just be the spark that this team needs especially with a lot of hockey left to be played.

As always CARRY THE FLAG, MARCH ON, WE ARE THE FIFTH LINE, ALL OF US and see you guys either at Nationwide Arena in Columbus or in downtown Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Puck Drops Here: Columbus Blue Jackets 2015-16 Season Preview #CBJ

By @CLulovics

HEALTHY: in good health. Not injured or sick. Those are the things that made last season for the Blue Jackets uneasy. With 502 man games lost due to injury, the Blue Jackets led the NHL in that department and setting a new club record as well. Not the type of record the team had in mind of breaking when the season started, the team in the last two months of the season went 16-4-1 and recorded a point in the last 13 games. Todd Richards will be at the helm for the group once again this year. Last season Richards became the Blue Jackets all time winning coach, surpassing former coach and current coach of the St. Louis Blues Ken Hitchcock. Going into this season the Jackets are healthy unlike last year at this previous time, so expectations are once again at an all time high.

The big acquisition for Columbus during the off season was trading for Brandon Saad who spent the previous couple years playing for the Chicago Blackhawks and winning two Stanley Cup Championships during that time.  Columbus gave up forwards Artem Anisimov, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp, Marko Dano, and a fourth found pick in the 2016 NHL Draft for Saad along with defenseman Michael Paliotta. Saad put up career highs last season with 23 goals 29 assists for 52 points in only his 4th professional season. To keep Saad with the Blue Jackets long term, the team inked him to a 6 year extension worth $36 million. Another big off season signing was defenseman David Savard agreeing to terms on a 5 year $21.25 million dollar extension which keeps the big, strong, well minded young fellow in town for years to come.

The 2013 Vezina trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky who last season signed a 4 year $29.7 million contract extension, is once again the main man in goal. After a couple of injuries last season (just like everyone else one the team), Sergei looks to stay healthy and prove once again why many feel that he is the best goalie in the NHL. Ryan Johansen one of the NHL'S young studs will look to build on his career best in assists and points from last season. With the projected first line of Johansen, Saad and new Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno, he should have plenty of opportunities to surpass those point totals.

That first line of those three players could provide the fans with an opportunity to see something special. Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky, David Clarkson, Cam Atkinson, Matt Calvert, Scott Hartnell, Kerby Rychel and Alexander Wennberg will look to provide fire power on offense. Jack Johnson, Fedor Tyutin, David Savard, Kevin Connauton, Dalton Prout, and a healthy Ryan Murray will provide strong help on the blue line in front of Bobrovsky.

The Blue Jackets will open up the 2015-2016 season at home on October 9th against Eastern Conference foe the New York Rangers. Beautiful Nationwide Arena is home to the Jackets. Opened in 2000, the arena seats 18,500 for hockey games. Surrounding the arena is another beautiful area called the Arena District which is home to many restaurants, bars, hotels and other outdoor places to sightsee. Across from the arena as well is the minor league stadium Huntington Park which is home to the Cleveland Indians AAA team the Columbus Clippers. So if you are ever in the Columbus area I strongly encourage you to catch a game, take in some food and drink, and spend a night at one of the many hotels which are in walking distance.

With the season fast approaching optimism, joyfulness and other emotions are high. This team has many others around the league talking about how good they can be. I feel that the Jackets will return to the playoffs this year and make a lot of noise.

As always CARRY THE FLAG, MARCH ON, WE ARE THE FIFTH LINE, ALL OF US.

The Puck Drops Here, 9.3.14

THE PUCK DROPS HERE
By Chris Lulovics (@CLulovics)

Hello everyone and welcome to the first edition of The Puck Drops Here. Believe it or not the NHL season is quickly approaching and with that I will share with you all probably the best kept secret in Ohio.

Ohio does indeed have an NHL team. The Columbus Blue Jackets play their home games in Nationwide Arena in the heart of downtown Columbus in the beautiful Arena District. If you ever have the chance to take a trip down to Columbus I urge you to catch a game.

Nationwide Arena opened in 2000 on the site of the former Ohio Penitentiary. It holds 18,144 for hockey and can be expanded for other events such as basketball, concerts, and wrestling events. A horrible tragic event took place in 2002 when a young fan was struck by a puck that deflected over the glass killing her a couple days later. After that happened the NHL came up with the rule that all hockey rinks place a protective netting behind the goals in effort that nothing like that happens again. The area around the arena called the "arena district" has numerous restaurants and bars for before and after all events taking place. There are numerous hotels surrounding the arena and district within walking distance for weekend trips. Right across the street from the arena is Huntington Park home of the Columbus Clippers AAA team of the Cleveland Indians.

The Blue Jackets are coming off the 2013-2014 season on a high note. They finished 4th in the Metropolitan Division and clinched the 7th seed as a wild card team. In only their 2nd playoff season they found success against the powerful Pittsburgh Penguins. Even though they lost the series 4-2 they did manage to win their first ever playoff games and Nationwide Arena was the loudest out of any arena during the playoffs according to many national reporters and broadcasters. With the second youngest team in the NHL Columbus has a very bright future.

The off season for the Blue Jackets have seen them add Scott Hartnell via trade which saw R.J. Umberger go to the Philadelphia Flyers. Brandon Dubinsky signed a contract extension at 6 years worth $35.1 million keeping him in Columbus until the 2020-2021 season. The Jackets still have young phenom Ryan Johansen without a contract as his rookie entry level contract just expired. Johansen lead the Jackets in goals 33 and points 63 and was a point per game player in the playoffs. The good thing about Johansen is that the Jackets hold the rights to him as he is under a UFA and they have reported as saying they will match any offer sheet for him.

In the next couple weeks I will be giving you a preview of the upcoming season for the Blue Jackets along with the rest of the NHL as training camps open up and the season gets closer.