Tag Archives: NHL

Dear NHLPA…

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I’m a huge fan of the National Hockey League.  More specifically, I cheer for the Columbus Blue Jackets.  My wife and I go to up to ten games a season through a team ticket package.  We also drive three hours to get to Nationwide Arena.

I cannot tell you how much CBJ apparel we own.  From little things like a pen with the Jackets’ insignia to multiple jerseys.  In fact, we planned on buying a couple new jerseys this season as well since a certain Rick Nash no longer plays for the team (that would just be awkward).

On our trips to the Arena District, we pay to park.  We also frequent the establishments in the area for food and beverage prior to game time.  Inside we cheer loud, buy a drink to keep our throat wet and then cheer some more.  We may stop for food on the way home as well.

For the other 72 games we subscribe to DirecTV’s NHL Center Ice.  On top of that, the All-Star Game is in Columbus this season and we already have tickets to see it…those weren’t cheap.

When the lockout hit, I was floored.  I kind of assumed you’d reach a deal relatively quickly since you’ve already had a full season lockout just eight years ago.  I mean you’d have to be completely stupid to do it again, right?  RIGHT?

I stopped wearing anything with an NHL or CBJ logo, making my attire a bit more limited.  When my ticket agent called to offer 4% interest on my Blue Jackets account if I kept the money with the team, I said no and I want a refund.

A preseason game and opening night, two games we had tickets for, came and went.  I shrugged it off almost knowing I’d never see a game this season.

The NHLPA and the NHL owners were essentially refusing to talk to each other as if they were children.

Then, on October 16, the National Hockey League came out with a proposal.  It was a proposal that I never thought I’d see from the owners.  A 50/50 revenue sharing split.  This was significantly less than anything I thought the owners would ask for.  When terms of the deal were announced, it said that even current contracts would go untouched.  In other words, a majority of players would keep their full salary for this season and future seasons to come.

Donald Fehr said he wasn’t sure if this was a real effort by the NHL or not.  David Backes made an asinine statement that basically said it is like a person who makes $50,000 a year  getting dropping to $40,000 a year, even though their company is doing great.  Backes makes millions while the people that pay that salary, make nowhere near that.

The current face of stupidity when it comes to the NHL Players Association.  

So, NHLPA, here are some questions for you:

- What will it be like when you make next to nothing this season?
- How long until you get that money back?
- What feelings will you have knowing you are collectively destroying a great sport in the United States?
- Remember when everyone was saying you “just want to play”?  Why aren’t you playing?
- My life will go on just fine without the NHL, but what about the merchandiser who sold me the clothes and jerseys?   What about the employees of the restaurants in the Arena District who rely on the 41+ nights a year for big crowds?  What about the parking attendants who will work fewer events?  The arena employees, the vendors, the ticket sellers?  Do you ever think of anyone but yourselves?
- To those playing in other professional leagues, how do you feel about taking the job of someone who is barely getting by playing hockey?
- How much money is enough money when you have millions in the bank?

The time has come to show you aren’t a bunch of money hungry athletes.  The time has come to prove to the fans that you want to play hockey.  Are you man enough to take a small cut in pay while still being of the top paid professions by a long shot?

Man up and sign this deal because you are lucky the NHL is offering this much to you.  When you saw this, any reaction other than high-fiving one another is an insult to NHL fans.

Sincerely,

Your fan base that is decreasing daily.

NHL 13 Setting Sports Game Standard

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As I’ve mentioned in a previous article, gaming online cooperatively in a franchise mode is something I’ve longed for years ago.  While I’ve been slow to blog about it, my excitement piqued when information was released that NHL 13 would have this very feature in their game.  Being incorporated into a series I play far more than any other is a huge cherry on top of a giant sundae.

EA Sports is calling the mode GM Connected.  The premise is the same as Be a GM mode, where you control every aspect of a franchise over the course of multiple seasons.  The difference here is that GM Connected is an online mode.  That means up to 30 teams can be controlled by different people and play each other online.  Even better, there appears to be a plethora of options to play how you wish.  For instance, you can play “versus” style with one person controlling the whole team, or “online team play” style where up to 6 players are on the same team….or anything in between.

What I, and a couple of friends I regularly game with, plan on doing is taking over a single team and rolling against the AI.  We’ll of course use appropriate sliders and adjust the difficulty so it isn’t a cake walk.  I’d also like to keep a record of games and possibly even post highlights and stats.  There are so many great possibilities here and the excitement has me eagerly awaiting September 11, 2012, the release date of NHL 13.

Before I go any further, read this fantastic article from Game Informer that goes into great detail about the upcoming mode.  It should also be noted that much more information is expected to be released very soon concerning GM Connected.

A couple issues that bother me.

-  It was noted that the commissioner can advance the game in “three-day, one-week, or two-week periods.”  I truly hope this  is not interpreted as playing one game every three days.  If there is no flexibility here, this mode because useless since we will likely play several games a night.

-  There was no mention of customized sliders being used.  I have to think we will be able to adjust the period length, difficulty and all sliders you can change offline.

The article in question is close to two months old now, but is still by far the best information available.  My hope here however is that more games follow suit when it comes to the online co-op format that NHL is utilizing.

More to come on GM Connected.

 

E3: Microsoft’s Press Conference

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Here’s a quick rundown of Microsoft’s press conference from today’s first full day of E3….and here is a link to the Press Conference video.

The press conference opened with a trailer for a visually stunning Halo 4.  Master Chief returns to the franchise and sees a covenant ship above him.  That is followed by a giant ball with an internal orange glow.  It leads to showing a brand new species of enemy.  They crawl fast and feature what appears to be teleportation, invisibility and new weapons.  Hopefully this is MUCH less annoying than the flood from previous iterations of the game.

During the trailer, we got a look at actual game play. It featured the new species causing Master Chief to lose his weapons for a brief time.  We got to see him punch the enemy with his armor covered hand.

A “Light rifle” was left by this species and the game play showcased the player using it.  It ended with Master Chief using infrared vision to see over 20 enemies crawling around.

Cortana will play a major role in the story it appears as well.

Halo 4 releases on November 6, 2012.

Up next was the 6th installment to the Splinter Cell series called Blacklist.  The trailer shows actual game play with Sam Fisher on the Iran/Iraq boarder.  We see what appears to be queued up attacks where multiple enemies are highlighted and a slow motion cinematic shows Sam killing them in order.

The game will feature Kinect voice overs.  An example used was Sam hanging off the side of a building below an enemy and the gamer saying “hey you”, essentially causing the enemy to be distracted.  It also featured the player calling for an airstrike audibly.

The Ubisoft representatives said game modes will include single player, co-op, and the return of one of the best game modes in history…Spy v. Mercs.

Spy v. Mercs was last featured in Double Agent and was unfortunately poorly implemented.  Back when it was in Pandora Tomorrow and Choas Theory, it was an unprecedented experience with perfectly balanced game play and 2 on 2 action.

Next up, Andrew Wilson, the head of EA Sports took the stage to talk about Madden 13 and Fifa 13.  It was exclusively to discuss the additions for Kinect.

Fifa was shown first and the demonstrations involved voice commands for substitutions, formation changes, and simple commands such as through passes.  The game could also hear disappointment in your voice if you were mad at the virtual referee.  This could lead to potential yellow cards I suppose.  It didn’t seem like anything ground breaking, but a nice touch.

For Madden, Joe Montana came out to demonstrate Kinect.  We already know legends are in this game and his likeness was prominently displayed on the screen.  Montana showed examples of using your voice to call an audible, hurry up offense, and individual players on the offense.  You can even have them snap the ball audibly.  This was executed poorly in my opinion as there was a massive delay in the “hike” call and the actual snap of the ball.  By the way, this is one of my biggest gripes with Kinect.  Something that takes THAT long to register isn’t an effective gaming tool.

Madden releases on August 28th.

So now we get Kinect shoved down our throats even more with a trailer featuring a player going all Ryu/Ken from Street Fighter II on the screen with a fireball.  The game is for Fable:  The Journey.  Not only does this game probably going to be a massive disappointment like every other game in the series has been, but Kinect integration does nothing for me here either.

Basic game play was featured and we know it will get a holiday 2012 release.

This was immediately followed up with a more than brief trailer that essentially announced Gears of War: Judgement, the 4th of the series set for a late 2013 release.

Forza: Horizon followed at we got a very visually appealing look at the popular racer.  Much of the game was shown transitioning from day to night.  It looks fantastic though this is far from my genre.  Release date is October 23.

Up next we got a 10 minute display of Xbox Kinect featuring voice commands and the new and easier way to search for content.  I gotta tell you, this bored me to tears.  A good portion of the search features that were executed could be done via controller at the same or even faster pace.  As before, I’m not sold on Kinect, and this certainly didn’t help.  This was by far the low point of the press conference.
35 new apps will be added to the market place soon, four of them were announced here.  Nickelodeon, Paramount, Machinima (which got an awesome crowd reaction) and Univision will be added.

More sports channels are coming and NBA Game Time and NHL Game Center are leading the charge.  The subscription based services are a nice addition, but it’s nothing I can’t access through my TV with a much better quality.  NHL Center Ice on DirecTV is an annual purchase for me to see Blue Jackets games and this will not change my mind.

Watch ESPN is coming soon to grant Xbox Live users full access to the entire family of ESPN networks.

Finally, Xbox Music, a new way to listen to music and integrate it through other devices showed us nothing of note and certainly nothing impressive.

A trailer for Nike + Kinect Training was also featured.  I’m torn on this because I think it could potentially work well, but then I remember that Kinect kind of sucks.  The idea is that Kinect can tell whether you are doing the work out properly and tell you how much of a workout you’ve done.  You can also go on Xbox Live and workout with friends and see your Nike + score, kind of a fitness score.  This could be a fantastic fitness program, but I can’t imagine it will be implemented to the point of replacing a real workout.

Xbox SmartGlass is a feature that was demonstrated that involves turning your television into a “smart TV”.  The idea is to utilize your smart phone and/or tablet with the TV.  A couple demonstrations showed Game of Thrones being played on the Xbox.  On the tablet was a map showing exactly where the characters on the TV show were.

Another example utilized Madden 13 having the player create his own play on a tablet and then executing that play within the game.

It was also announced under the Xbox SmartGlass section that Internet Explorer is coming to the console.  Yes, apparently there are people who still use that browser.  The example shown was using your cell phone as the mouse to surf the internet with a feel that is ridiculously better than what Wii or PS3 allow.

If you’ve paid attention, you know that Tomb Raider is getting a complete makeover for the upcoming game.  Lara Croft looks completely different and the game will be much more advanced.  Today we got some pretty sick looking game play footage.

Lara’s cross bow and shotgun were shown off as well as the ability to hit surrounding object to cause damage.  For example, sending fire arrows into gasoline, or shooting a building support to crash into a stack of barrels.  This looks like a huge step forward for the Tomb Raider series.  It was also announced that the first set of DLC will come out on Xbox first.

Three quick trailers were up back to back…Ascend: New Gods….looks like it went out of it’s way to showcase blood.  2013 release.

LocoCycle...No clue.  It shows a bike and a voice over talking about a girl doing a mile in 20 seconds.  2013 release.

Matter for Kinect.  Looks like Marble Madness….2013 release.

Capcom then presented Resident Evil 6.  Unfortunately, there was nothing visually impressive here.  It felt like a generic zombie killer type game.  The only thing I came away intrigued with is the on screen button timing.  An example is shooting past a hostage where a quick meter came on the screen and you had to time the trigger pull to hit the gunman.

Wreckateer, an XBLA game for Kinect.  Looks like a 3rd person rip off of Angry Birds.  Using a catapult or giant sling shot, you try to take out castles.  Available this summer.  I cringed at the way it ripped off Angry Birds.

South Park: The Stick of Truth…”Featuring YOU”. March 5th 2013.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone come out explain the game.  The game LOOKS like South Park. I mean it looks like you are playing the cartoon.  They explain the map of South Park, and how you are attempting to become the 5th boy in the group.  I have high hopes for this game.

Dance Central 3…oh boy.  Where to begin?  This genre of game is something I truly hate. I don’t know why, I just hate it.  Usher came out to demonstrate moves in the game.  Instead we got a 3 minute concert filled with dancing.  It wasn’t until the end when they actually showed the game on the big screen and Usher doing the same moves.   Except they weren’t even close to being in sync most of the time.  It really was a failure of a segment, but I suppose if you’re a fan of Usher it was pretty cool to see him.

Finally, the presser ended with another big game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.  The trailer showed some single player game play which took place in down town Los Angeles in 2025.  You are transporting the female President of the United States through the war zone that is L.A.  We see some sniping action on a destroyed freeway and some fire fights in a detailed shopping mall right next to Staples Center.  We also got a brief look at flying an aircraft over the city.

This game releases on November 13 of this year with Xbox getting first rights at DLC.

Overall, this was a mediocre press conference, namely because of the heavy focus on the gimmicky Kinect.  I think Kinect is massively overrated and developers are putting too much time and money into incorporating games for it.

High Points:  
+ Halo 4.  No bigger exclusive for Xbox and while I’m skeptical of Microsoft taking control of the franchise from Bungie, this trailer blew everything else out of the water.  The game play is solid and features a ton of subtle new game features.

+ Splinter Cell Multiplayer returns. Spies versus Mercenaries is one of the all time great multiplayer modes in gaming and with this being confirmed, I have high hopes this will be implemented properly for the 2nd game on Xbox with this mode.  Do it right Ubisoft.

+  Tomb Raider.  It’s not the same Lara Croft, but this game has me excited.  I see a lot of Uncharted in this game.

Low Points:
-  Anything with Kinect.  I have yet to see anything come close to changing my mind about Kinect…and yes, I’ve used Kinect before on multiple occasions.

-   Dance Central 3.  What the hell happened here?  This was a terrible segment that may not have been executed properly.

Missing in action:

-  Bioshock Infinite, where was this?  I was expecting a full blown trailer with new game play footage and a huge new announcement.

I’ll have my thoughts on other conferences throughout the week.

So, what did you think of what Xbox brought to the table?

Devils v. Rangers Game 1…LIVE BLOG!

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I’ll be live blogging game one of the NHL’s Eastern Conference Final between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers.  Check back at 8pm and join in.

More NHL Playoff Predictions

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Even after a single day of playoff games, every series has a story already.  I’m talking about Pittsburgh blowing a 3-0 lead, Shea Weber’s head smash and Vancouver’s discipline.

Tonight however, we progress to a new set of games.

#8 Ottawa vs. #1 New York Rangers

A mismatch on paper in nearly every single way.  This was unfortunately the worst opponent for the Rangers.  Among the possible first round matchups, the Senators are the one team who have had New York’s number.  They are 3-1 against the Blue Shirts this season.

Not many pucks get this view.

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist had a magnificent regular season.  He posted career bests in save percentage (.930) and goals against average (1.97).  He is a heavy Vezina trophy favorite and he led the team to the number one seed in the East.

The Senators meanwhile have a high potent offense.  They even have an offensive blue line led by defenseman Erik Karlsson who led the league at his position with 78 points.

This Rangers club is stacked with offense and goaltending, but can they stop the barrage of shots that the Senators will put on them?  This will be a wake up call for the NYR.  New York in 7.

#7 Washington vs. #2 Boston

The defending champion Bruins stumbled badly out of the gate this season, but nearly ran the table in November.  They’ve been one of the most inconsistent teams in the league.  They also have Tim Thomas who has stolen quite a few games this year.  However, there is something about this team that doesn’t seem right.

Washington meanwhile saw its star, Alexander Ovechkin have a downright dreadful year in comparison to his past.  The phrase “what have you done for me lately” comes into play here though.  10 goals in his final 13 games and a streaking Capitals team whose playoff hopes were nearly dashed 3 weeks ago.  They’ll also be going with an unproven netminder in rookie Braden Holtby.

It is impossible to ignore the playoff stigma that the Capitals have had in the Ovechkin era. Peaking at the right time though is huge in sports.  Going against the champs, a rookie in net, a history of failure…something’s gotta give…and it just might.  There hasn’t been a repeat champion since Detroit in 1998 and this year will be no different.  Washington in 6.

#7 San Jose vs. #2 St. Louis

What can you say about the St. Louis Blues?  They’ve been simply amazing since hiring Ken Hitchcock as their head coach.  It seems like nearly every time you see the nightly scores, the Blues had won.  Quite often, they’d win via shutout.  In fact, the Blues shutout the Sharks twice this season…and swept the 4 game series.

There’s no doubt the goaltending of the Blues has been a huge part of their success.   Between Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott, the team never has an issue sending out the wrong goaltender.  This could easily be the best duo of all time.  Halak, who took the Montreal Canadiens deep into the playoff a couple years ago, will start game 1.

For the Sharks, this season was nearly a massive disappointment.  A team who you can pencil into home ice advantage in the first round, barely made the playoffs.  The fact is, they are getting old.  But with age, comes experience.  Don’t overlook players like Dan Boyle, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Thornton.

I gotta say if San Jose wins this series, it would be the biggest upset in round one no matter what happens with everyone else.  The goaltending is too much and the Sharks simply don’t execute the way they used to.  If they get lucky and catch Halak on a bad night, they’ll simply have to deal with Elliott.  St. Louis in 5.

#6 Chicago vs. #3 Phoenix

Well someone had to win the Pacific division and get the 3 seed in the West.  The Coyotes edged out fellow division foes Los Angeles and San Jose.

This is how you do a proper “white out”

The big story with the Blackhawks is Jonathan Toews.  He’s been out with concussion symptoms since mid-February but hopes to return tonight for game 1.  This would be a huge boost to the high powered Hawks offense.

The Coyotes haven’t won a division since the team was in Winnipeg.  They’ve also never won a playoff series.  Home ice advantage means one of my favorite playoff traditions for the WPG/PHX franchise, and that is the White Out.  I’ve always found it to be quite awesome that the tradition carried over when the team moved to the desert.

Mike Smith, goaltender for Phoenix, could mean the difference.  He’s had an up and down season but has been as good as ever down the stretch.  He boasted 3 consecutive shutouts, including a 57 save performance against Columbus.  Playoffs are about goaltenders and if he can play up to that level, the Coyotes can go far.

Unfortunately, the Chicago offense may be too much to handle over a 7 game series.  The Hawks are the better team who played in a much better division, and that will show as the series unfolds.   Chicago in 6.

NHL Playoff Time

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Well after being completely shattered and disappointed by the results of the NHL draft lottery, we proceed to the Stanley Cup Playoffs which begin tonight.  Remember that for the first time in what seems like forever, all playoff games will be broadcast to a national audience on NBC, NBC Sports Network, CNBC, and NHL Network.

I’ll give my predictions on the first three series to get underway tonight.

#5 Philadelphia vs. #4 Pittsburgh

Has there been more anticipation for a series than this?  Here is a quick look at the brawl from the regular season.

Not only have these games been hard hitting and intense, but they’ve been up tempo and high scoring as well.   This series has the makings of a classic.  The Flyers also have a ridiculously good record AT Consol Energy Center.  Philly also won 4 of the 6 contests this year.  Jaromir Jagr will be hungry in his first playoffs in 5 years…especially against a team where he shined for a majority of his career.

On the flip side, there is a healthy 50 goal scorer in Evgeni Malkin for Pittsburgh.  Of course a healthy Sidney Crosby adds a deadly combination to the offense.

Will offensive threats Daniel Briere and James van Riemsdyk be able to play?  This could swing the series.

I expect an all out effort from both clubs in a series that hopefully will live up to the hype.  Philadelphia in 7.

#5 Detroit vs. #4 Nashville

The matchup of these two Central division opponents was inevitable weeks ago.  The question was who would get home ice advantage.  17 regulation losses combined for these teams at home is how good these teams are in front of their own fans.  Detroit broke the NHL record for consecutive home wins while the Predators were fantastic with the combination of Rinne and Music City fans.

The season series is identical, each team 3-3.  They are 2-1 on home ice.

All eyes in this series should be on Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard.  While I think he is completely overrated and nearly any goalie could have been in his skates this year and be successful, the playoffs are a different animal.  Howard has never been successful in the playoffs as a professional, even in Grand Rapids.

Obviously the premiere goaltender in this series is Nashville’s Pekka Rinne.  Rinne won a league high 43 games and could very well be a Vezina trophy finalist this year.  The team is built around defensive hockey and if they jump on the board early, they could give the Wings fits.

Detroit has defeated Nashville in the playoffs in both of their previous meetings.  This is a vastly improved Predator club and they won’t go down without a fight.  Nashville in 6.

#8 Los Angeles vs. #1 Vancouver

Vancouver has been on a tear lately, going 8-1-1 down the stretch to obtain the best regular season record by a game.  Home ice throughout the playoffs is always something to be excited about.

The regular season saw only 15 goals scored (excluding shootout winners) and the Canucks winning by a narrow 2-1-1 margin.  The playoffs generally translate into lower scoring games so I’d expect to see at least one 1-0 game between the teams.

Roberto Luongo was one win away last year.

Los Angeles has thrived this year thanks to a defensive game and goaltender Jonathan Quick.  Leading the NHL in shutouts (10), Quick will be a favorite to take home the Vezina.

Vancouver meanwhile has Roberto Luongo who has a stigma of less than stellar play in the playoffs.  This despite the fact that the Canucks took the champion Boston Bruins to game 7 in the finals last year.  With Cory Schneider sitting on the bench, Luongo will have to be no less than awesome to avoid having the best backup in the league take his place.

The Canucks have too much fire power and so much playoff experience on the team and Daniel Sedin is expected to return for game 1.  The Kings were 29th in the league in goal scoring.  Unless Quick plays even better than he did in the regular season, they’ll be exiting very quickly soon.  Vancouver in 4.

 

 

Random Thoughts: 3-29-12

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Excuse me for my absence from JK Gaming and Sports this week.  Wife is out of town, I’m shuttling kids to school and my Little League team began practicing this week.

-  In the minimal free time I’ve had recently, I sat down to try out the Tiger Woods ’13 demo.  In short, I mostly enjoyed it.  The difficulty has been improved tremendously and it feels like you actually earn every shot you succeed at, something that wasn’t true of any previous iteration.

-  I’ll no longer be PS3-less next week.

-  I can’t possibly be the only one who didn’t know that MLB played regular season games in Tokyo right?  I’m super thrilled for all the great opening games next week, but it seems like no one told me that Seattle and Oakland were playing a pair.  Then again, it is Seattle and Oakland….so….

-  The NHL playoffs are less than 2 weeks away and I cannot wait to break down all of the match ups, stay tuned.

-  The NFL made minor rule changes but the most significant is that regular season overtimes will now use the 2 year old playoff overtime rule.  No longer can you kick a field goal on the first possession of OT and win.  Now if we can just eliminate ties in the NFL.  It’s funny that the NHL, a league that was notorious for having ties, eliminated them but the NFL still has them on occasion.

-  Finally, it is Final Four weekend.  Enough said.

Jackets Hang Onto Nash…For Now

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UPDATED:  4:50 PM:

97.1 FM out of Columbus is reporting that Rick Nash asked that management be changed.  When he was told no, he asked for a trade.  Majority owner J.P. McConnell, clearly isn’t a hockey savvy guy given the fact that management really hasn’t changed recently.  However, given Scott Howson’s recent comments (see below), I have to imagine something will be changing sooner rather than later.

There is more to this team than having a terrible General Manager.  The President, Mike Priest, seems to have little to no hockey knowledge either.  It’s up to Priest and McConnell to get a competent GM in place for a team.  How do these guys expect to make any money in the future with the way today’s events have transpired?

More updates as they come in, but it is starting to get ridiculous.

================================

 

UPDATED:  4:35 PM:  

According to General Manager Scott Howson, Rick Nash asked for a trade in early January.  This means there are conflicting statements from Nash and Howson.  Nash previously stated he never asked for a trade but would waive his no trade clause if he was sent to certain teams.  In one way, this makes Howson look like he’s throwing Nash under the bus.  In another way, Nash is made out to be a complete liar.

Any chance of Nash remaining with Columbus next season has probably just be decimated.  There is no way any kind of positive relationship can exist between Nash and management after this fiasco.

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As I predicted a few days ago, Rick Nash remains a Columbus Blue Jacket.  I’ll admit, I was extremely nervous with TSN’s TradeCentre on the TV and Twitter constantly updating on my computer with the CBJ hashtag running.

Because of the high demands of Nash, many felt the trade deadline was made rather boring.  It was indeed a minor deadline compared to the 30+ deals that occurred just 2 years ago.

So where does that leave the Blue Jackets?  They lose Jeff Carter, Sami Pahlsson, and Antoine Vermette in the past week.  They are already in last place and show no signs of improvement outside of the absurd amount of draft picks they’ll be using in June.  With these picks however, the Jackets are almost assured of picking #1 or #2 after the draft lottery.

Don't get too excited, Nash will be moved before next year.

The obvious top choice is Nail Yakupov who has the makings of a franchise guy like Sydney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin.   Columbus fans better be praying that they win the lottery because losing out on Yakupov would be nearly as detrimental as Nash being traded away for next to nothing.

CBJ fans were rejoicing on twitter that their current franchise player remains with the club. The fact of the matter is that he will most certainly be dealt in the off-season, close to or at the draft.  This gives the Jackets the best chance at acquiring what they desperately need, starting goaltending.  The Rick Nash watch has basically been suspended until after the Stanley Cup has been hoisted.

As for teams complaining about General Manager Scott Howson demanding too much for Nash….really?  He’s under no obligation to move him.  He may not be worth what was being demanded from the Sharks or Rangers, but as I just mentioned, he can simply deal Nash in the offseason for a bigger return.   Howson is simply dangling him to the buyers in the hopes of someone overpaying for him.  If you really thought the Jackets would settle and give in to these teams, you are crazy.

Nash now has 20 games to prove his worth.  The farewell tour begins tomorrow against the Detroit Red Wings.

Rick Nash Staying Put

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I’m not one to bust out massive predictions on anything.  I usually sit by and watch events unfold.  I will say this however:  Rick Nash will be a Columbus Blue Jacket after the trade deadline has passed.

The more and more time that passes, I find it more difficult to wrap my head around the possibility that the Jackets would be willing to unload their franchise player.  Nash has a huge fan base.  He puts butts in the seats at Nationwide Arena and he is the most recognizable professional athlete in the city.  Anyone who thinks of the Blue Jackets immediately think Rick Nash (or losers but that’s for another time).

I’ve also been outspoken in trading him.  He’s been with the club for 8 seasons now. Unfortunately, he has little to show for it.  One playoff appearance in his time with the Jackets is hardly anything to get excited about.  In fact, it was a 4 game sweep at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings.  He’s given his all for this club…..

…except something changed last season.   Suddenly after a long skid after Thanksgiving, and after the team was near the top of the Western Conference, Nash stopped playing.  He got lazy and he seemed to be coasting.  He was regularly the last one into the defensive zone.  He began trying to pass much more frequently when everyone in the building knew he was the best scorer on the ice.  It looked like someone had crushed his spirits.  Granted there are games where his greatness pops out, but it is becoming more and more rare.

What team will Nash be a part of next week?

This is where I am torn.  I’ve been attending Blue Jackets games since season one.  I’ve followed the team closely. I buy the NHL Center Ice package every year to be able to see them.  I was in attendance for Nash’s first career game where I saw him score the game winning goal in a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks (I also have an autographed picture showing his first goal).   We have 2 Nash jerseys, both autographed.

Losing Nash would be like losing a family member.  I would have no clue how to react.  I honestly can’t envision him in another jersey.  I hated rooting against Canada in the Olympics in 2010.  I can’t imagine the difficult decision General Manager Scott Howson has to make.  It seems like a lose-lose situation.

The fans as a whole seem to want to keep this team as together as possible.  There was a massive outcry after it was announced that Antoine Vermette was traded to Phoenix for two draft picks.  I normally hate certain teams because their fans are less than intelligent (I’m looking at you Toronto).  However, the outrage from Jackets fans over the Vermette trade was mind-boggling.  It seems like no one wants any changes to occur.  Need I remind fans that the Jackets are currently in dead last place in the conference by 9 points?

I don’t understand the rationale of fans sometimes.  It’s no question that the team needs a goalie.  There’s also no doubt change in the roster is a necessity.  So when a change occurs, the first thing fans on facebook and the rest of the internet do is complain.   They also fail to offer up any reasonable solution of their own.  They just keep saying “We need a goalie”.  Serious question idiots fans…Do you honestly think a legitimate starting goalie will just show up at the door asking to play for free?  My goodness, be realistic about what you are demanding.

But, can you imagine the outrage from fans if Nash were to be moved?  The fan base could be destroyed beyond repair.  Nationwide Arena in the early years was a booming atmosphere compared to the  3/5 filled building it is now.  If Nash gets moved, the organization will be thrilled with attendance hovering around 12,000 per game…forget ever seeing a sellout again.

It seems very unlikely that whoever is in goal for Columbus next season will be someone like Cory Schneider, Tuuka Rask, or Jonathan Bernier…that is, without trading Rick Nash.

Howson has made some big mistakes in his tenure with the organization, and there is no disputing that.  Going all in on Steve Mason has been nothing short of brutal on his part.   There have also been some less than desirable contracts (Nash’s massive cap hit, Mason’s $2.9m, Vermette’s $4m, R.J. Umberger’s $4m, James Wizniewski’s huge overpayment).

So over the next 5 days, you’ll see this team slowly transform into something you won’t recognize.  As a fan, you probably won’t like it.  It’s something that needs to be done though.

As for Nash, you’ll probably continue to see him with the Jackets for the rest of the year.  The only way Nash is dealt is if the return is almost too good to be true.  That means a #1 goalie coming to Columbus at the minimum.  Anything less would be completely foolish on Howson’s part.

Stay tuned, the drama is only going to be increased as we approach next week’s deadline.

Hawks End Massive Skid Dominating Rangers

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A ridiculous 9 game losing streak ended on Thursday night for the Chicago Blackhawks as they get an improbable victory over the New York Rangers by a 4-2 score.  Rangers goaltender Martin Biron gave up 3 goals on his first 3 shots and was down 4-0 after just 10 minutes of play.  Despite his poor play, Henrik Lundqvist remained on the bench.

Jonathan Toews scored on a penalty shot just a minute into the game after Rangers defenseman Dan Giardi covered the puck in the crease.  Nick Leddy scored a minute later and Patrick Sharp notched one at the 4:00 mark of the 1st.  For good measure, Marian Hossa got a breakaway goal at 9:38.

The Rangers answered early in the 2nd period however as Marc Staal powered a shot from the point past Corey Crawford 3 minutes in.  However, this would barely put a dent in the Hawks.

It was a mostly uneventful 3rd period though New York got a late goal from Carl Hagelin.  It certainly wasn’t enough to overcome the giant deficit.

This is the Blackhawks team that is built around offense.  While the defense has been middle of the pack this season, all it takes is a solid effort to succeed.  The scoring will always be there as they are one of the most feared teams up front.

The Hawks, despite going 1-8-1 over their last 10 games, remain in a prime playoff position.  Competing in the Central division makes this all the more impressive with frequent opponents like Detroit, St. Louis, and Nashville.

Goaltending has been the only question for the Blackhawks this year, and never was it more evident than over the past 3 weeks.  Rumors are flying about a potential deal with the Buffalo Sabres for Ryan Miller.  Who the Hawks would give up is questionable, but it certainly poses a question as to the direction the Sabres are going.

This was a huge victory for Chicago, not only to get some momentum going (they play at NHL worst Columbus on Saturday), but it shows they can play against one of the NHL’s best…and dominate.

For the Rangers, who are at the top of the East, this is not the type of loss you want to have.  The defense looked outmatched, the offense looked stagnant, and Martin Biron looked dreadful.  The good news, is that it was just one game.  No goaltender in my opinion is better on breakaways/penalty shots than Lundqvist and Biron faced two of those tonight.  Every losing team needs an excuse right?