Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

7/23/06

NHL

Jackets’ new assistant coach paid his dues

With no NHL playing experience, Agnew traveled hard road

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Aaron Portzline
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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In 1987, Gary Agnew quit his job as a computer paper form salesman to get his master’s degree at the University of Ontario.
"I wanted to go after a dream," Agnew said. "The master’s was part of it, but I was able to hook on with the (hockey) coaching staff, too."
So began a 19-year career that included three seasons as an assistant coach at Ontario, 10 years as a head coach in the Ontario Hockey League and six years as coach of the Blue Jackets’ top minorleague affiliate the Syracuse Crunch.
On July 7, Agnew joined the Blue Jackets as an assistant coach. The dream was realized.
"That’s a 19-year apprenticeship," Agnew said. "That’s a pretty long time. What is it for plumbers, two years? "
The biggest hurdle Agnew had to clear is name recognition. His professional playing career amounted to one season (1982-83) with Milwaukee in the old International Hockey League.
"More doors are opened for you if you’re a former NHLer," Agnew said. "If you’re not a former NHLer, you really have to pay your dues. You have to prove yourself over and over again."
Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant, a highly respected former NHL player, has admired Agnew’s determination.
"He bit his tongue and he worked hard," Gallant said. "(Agnew) has done a great job for a long time. You like to see guys like that get rewarded."
Like his predecessor, Dean Blais, Agnew will be in charge of the Blue Jackets’ power play, as well as strategizing on the bench with Gallant during games. The power play is the biggie, though.
The Jackets, with a 14.1 percent power-play success rate, were 29 th in the NHL last season. But with point man Bryan Berard and winger Rick Nash healthy and with the addition of winger Fredrik Modin, the Jackets could make it into the top half of the league this season.
"My whole approach is to take what the penalty kill gives you," Agnew said. "Know who you’re playing.
"You’ve got the extra man. Somebody is going to be open, so take advantage of that. If they’re stacking down low, bring it up high and go to an umbrella. If they’re pressuring up high, bring it down low and get to the net.
"There’s always a plan. If ‘A’ happens, then we’ve got ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ we can go to. We’ve got the horses to be really good at it, too."
Agnew and his family — wife, Barbara, and two children: Brett, 16, and Lindsay, 11 — are planning on living in Dublin.
On the horizon

The Blue Jackets haven’t taken a serious look at replacing goaltending coach Rick Wamsley, who recently departed for a job with the St. Louis Blues. The naming of a replacement could still be a couple of weeks away.
The leading candidate appears to be Ron Tugnutt, the Jackets’ goaltender in their first-ever game and a fan favorite in Nationwide Arena. But keep two other names in mind: Clint Malarchuk and Sudarshan Maharaj.
For the Blue Jackets, it’s no small move. With Pascal Leclaire the No. 1 goalie and Ty Conklin and Fredrik Norenna battling it out for No. 2, the Blue Jackets will have the NHL’s most inexperienced group of goaltenders.
Malarchuk had an 11-year NHL career with Quebec, Washington and Buffalo. He’s best known, unfortunately, for nearly dying on the ice during the 1988-89 season when his jugular vein was slashed by an opposing player’s skate blade.
Recently, Malarchuk coached with the Florida Panthers, forging a very good relationship with former Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo, considered one of the NHL’s best. Malarchuk was let go last summer — much to Luongo’s disappointment — when new Panthers coach Jacques Martin wanted to bring in his own guy.
Maharaj, a native of Trinidad who moved to Toronto at age 6, has spent the past two seasons on the New York Islanders’ staff, and he also has done much work with Hockey Canada.
Slap shots

An agent for left winger Nikolai Zherdev made it clear that Zherdev is not seeking a "Rick Nash-like contract," as some have suggested. Zherdev, a restricted free agent, has signed a contract to play in Russia next season if he doesn’t reach a deal with the Blue Jackets. "Rick Nash is a superstar," the agent, Sasha Tyjnych, said. "Rick Nash is the franchise. Nikolai is not there yet, and he understands this. Maybe in a few years Nikolai will be a superstar. Not right now. Not yet." … Unless he has a horrible training camp, young defenseman Aaron Johnson is likely to make the Blue Jackets’ opening night roster. He would have to clear waivers to be sent back to the minor leagues, which is highly unlikely.
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

7/27/06

Air Fedorov

For a day, the Blue Jackets center was flying high with the Navy’s Blue Angels

Thursday, July 27, 2006


By Michael Arace THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>TY GREENLEES DAYTON DAILY NEWS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Fedorov tells the media that he would welcome another ride in a F/A-18 fighter jet after an adventurous 45-minute flight yesterday. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>

</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>TY GREENLEES DAYTON DAILY NEWS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Blue Jackets center Sergei Fedorov is all smiles as he talks with Lt. Kevin Davis after a flight aboard an F/A-18 fighter. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


VANDALIA, Ohio — Sergei Fedorov went from Blue Jacket to Blue Angel yesterday. The transition was swift.
Strapped into the back seat of an F/A-18 fighter jet, Fedorov put his breakfast in the hands of Navy Lt. Kevin Davis, who taxied the aircraft to a runway at Dayton International Airport, turned into the wind, hit the afterburners and jerked the stick back when he hit around 350 mph.
Up went Blue Angel No. 7 — straight up, as in vertical, at 500 feet per second. It leveled off and disappeared into the distance. It was the start of a 45-minute joy ride, if "joy" is the appropriate term for having blood squeezed from the brain. Its speed approached Mach 1, the speed of sound, which can vary depending on atmospheric conditions, but is in the neighborhood of 761 mph.
What was Fedorov doing threatening the windows of greater Dayton?
Earlier this year, Dan Alspach, who works as a commercial pilot for Worthington Industries, asked company chief John P. McConnell whether a Blue Jacket might be interested in flying with a Blue Angel in advance of the Dayton Air Show. Alspach is the show’s air boss; he handles the traffic, more or less. McConnell is part owner of the Blue Jackets. He thought of Fedorov, his first-line center.
A number of such flights are arranged to spur interest in the worldfamous show, which takes place this weekend, and in the Blue Angels, the Navy’s elite flight-demonstration team and this year’s show headliners.
"J.P. called me and I asked Sergei if he wanted to do it," said Todd Sharrock, the team’s vice president for communications. "Sergei didn’t hesitate. He agreed instantly. He said, ‘Anytime, anywhere.’ "
What was Fedorov thinking?
"It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing," he said. "I did it for myself. And I did it for the organization, to bring attention to hockey back in Columbus. I think we have a good, young team. This is good publicity."
Fedorov said this after he was back on terra firma. He rubbed his neck. He found out what it was like to hang a quick right at 500 mph. He received the ultimate lesson in gravitational force, the force of gravity that pulls one toward Earth. It’s measured in g’s.
When Fedorov was in the middle of an Immelmann — an evasive maneuver that dates to World War I — he was pulling around 7.6 g’swhich meant his 206-pound body felt like it weighed 1,565 pounds. His head felt like 80 pounds. More than a couple of seconds of this kind of pressure drains the blood from the head to the feet. Gravityinduced blackouts are not uncommon under such conditions.
"I don’t think he was prepared for that," Davis said. "His head got pinned down a little, and he fought it. He might have strained his neck doing it. But like any great athlete, he wanted to keep playing along."
Fedorov is in the midst of a most interesting summer. He played in a charity soccer game — a huge deal at Manchester United’s stadium — and traded headers with Diego Maradona, among others. He was a passenger on a military aircraft that gave him a taste of taking off from, and landing on, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in Florida. Yesterday, he was a Blue Angel.
"Quite a few times, I didn’t feel so hot," Fedorov said. "It was interesting, especially flying upside down — my legs were somewhere, I don’t know where."
Fedorov lifted the pants leg of his blue flight suit and showed an abrasion and a bruise on his shin.
"We went just below Mach 1," Fedorov said. "I asked him why we didn’t go faster, and he said, ‘I don’t have that much money to replace all those windows for these folks down there.’ It was a physical challenge. (Near loss of consciousness) is like a tunnel that’s all black on the outside, and the black closes in. Then it’s over and the tunnel opens up. The hard part is trying to figure out if you’re upside down, or turning, or what."
Davis said, "He did great. As long as he had fun, I’m happy. I’m a hockey fan, and my brothers would love to be in my shoes today."
Fedorov needed a little help climbing down from the plane. But he smiled. He didn’t black out during the flight, which is a badge of honor.
He wants another crack at the Hornet. He wants to better prepare for the flight and anticipate the maneuvers. But that’s for later.
"Right now," he said, "I just want to get ready for the season. Hockey season."
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

7/30/06

BLUE JACKETS

Zherdev negotiations apparently hit a snag

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>NEAL C . LAURON DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Nikolai Zherdev is looking for a long-term contract, his agents say. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


Blue Jackets winger Nikolai Zherdev has averaged .68 points through his first 130 games, but it’s not getting him far in contract negotiations, at least not to this point.
Note this: Rick Nash averaged .62 points through his first 154 games. When it was time for Nash to re-up, the Blue Jackets presented him with a five-year deal worth $27 million.
The point isn’t to directly compare Zherdev and Nash, who has led the league in goals and is clearly the Blue Jackets’ most marketable star. Nash might have a couple more Rocket Richard trophies by the time he negotiates his third contract, or leaves via free agency. He’ll be worth telephone numbers if he becomes a twoway force.
But something’s not quite right about the Zherdev negotiations. Team president and general manager Doug MacLean and Rolland Hedges, Zherdev’s lead agent, have stressed that talks are amicable. Both sides are putting forth an unworried front. But the lack of progress is strange given Zherdev’s production, his promise and his importance to the team. And don’t crack on his defense. He’s better in his own end than Nash.
Recently, intrepid Blue Jackets fans with a facility for language translated a fresh Zherdev interview, one conducted and printed in Russian. The translation appears on a fan message board devoted to the Jackets (at hfboards.com). Zherdev hit all the right notes. He likes Columbus. He loves playing with Sergei Fedorov, and with Nash. He is vexed by the slow start he had last season (what isn’t mentioned is some family issues he was dealing with at the time) and it’s his ardent desire to inflate those numbers next season, and for many more. He has high hopes that the Jackets will climb the conference ladder.
Zherdev, according to his agents, is looking for a longterm deal, preferably three or four years. Although we are not privy to negotiations, we can say that Zherdev is asking for a more-than-reasonable salary. He’s not demanding Nash money. The Blue Jackets might be expected to jump at such a deal.
Judging by some of the arbitration awards handed out last week — Kyle Calder got $2.95 million, Mike York got $2.85 million and never mind Daniel Briere, who got $5 million — the Jackets have a chance to lock up Zherdev at a swell price. Why not just backload another contract, along the lines of Pascal Leclaire, Ron Hainsey, Jason Chimera and Manny Malhotra? Those deals got done quickly enough.
The Blue Jackets have made their position clear: They don’t want to give Zherdev three or four years.
The reasoning, as MacLean said recently, is "He has lots to prove yet, on and off the ice." What is inferred is that Zherdev has been slow to learn English, and to dedicate himself to conditioning, and make appearances at Giant Eagle. What is implied is that he is not the team player that, say, Nash is.
So, Zherdev is going to get his chops busted over a new contract.
Zherdev has made great strides with help from Fedorov, who, by the way, produced 44 points in 67 games and made $6 million last season.
The Blue Jackets, by MacLean’s calculation, might be $10 million under the $44 million salary cap at the start of next season. They seem unbothered by the prospect of going without Zherdev, who is playing with Khimik Voskresensk in the Russian Elite League.
Fredrik Modin, acquired from Tampa Bay in the Marc Denis trade, is a terrific addition to the top six forwards. But his presence will be greatly mitigated if Zherdev, a point-per-game player over the second half of last season, is absent from the group.
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/2/06

Jackets hope new assistant can bring out best in goalies

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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The Blue Jackets’ coaching staff reached full complement with the addition of Clint Malarchuk, hired yesterday to be goaltending coach.
Malarchuk, 45, most recently worked with the Florida Panthers and Roberto Luongo, regarded by many as the NHL’s next great goaltender. Luongo was traded to the Vancouver Canucks last month.
It is Malarchuk’s hope that he can have an impact on Pascal Leclaire, 22, the Blue Jackets’ young No. 1.
"He kind of reminds me of where Luongo was when I started with him four years ago," Malarchuk said. "He’s one of the best young goalies in the league. Now, it’s time to take it to the next level, and be the best. He has those kind of skills."
Malarchuk worked for the Panthers from 2002-04 and was an assistant coach for the team’s American Hockey League affiliate during the lockout season. He was let go when coach Jacques Martin was hired last year. Martin brought along his own goaltending coach.
For the past year, Malarchuk has conducted goaltending camps and plied his other trade, as a horse dentist. He owns a small ranch in Nevada.
"This is a guy with experience," Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "He has been a good goaltending coach, and he played under good goaltending coaches, and picked up a lot. He’s a quality guy and that’s what we need, good people who have a lot of fun."
Malarchuk played 10 NHL seasons with the Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres. He has a career record of 141-130-45. He is most widely remembered as the victim in one of the most gruesome accidents in NHL history. On March 22, 1989, Malarchuk’s jugular vein was cut by a skate in a freakish collision in the crease. Although he bled profusely, quick action by a trainer might have saved his life. He was back playing in a week’s time.
Malarchuk finished his career in the old International Hockey League with the Las Vegas Thunder, whose general manager, Bob Strumm, is the Blue Jackets’ chief of professional scouting. Malarchuk also coached and managed in the IHL and in the Canadian junior leagues.
"What you want out of a goaltender is consistency," he said. "A lot of guys come up and they can’t be a No. 1 in the NHL, or they’re back and forth to the minors. And that’s just because consistency, or lack of it — and that’s mostly mental. To build consistency, you have to condition the mind as well as the body. And I think I can help."
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/6/06

HOCKEY NHL NOTEBOOK

Russian players find way out of contracts

They’re free to leave for NHL after giving two weeks’ notice

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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There was interesting news emanating last week from Pittsburgh, where the Penguins will soon lock Evgeni Malkin into a three-year, entry-level contract.
Malkin has been at the center of a controversy between the NHL and Russian hockey federation. It’s reminiscent of the spat involving Blue Jackets winger Nikolai Zherdev nearly three years ago.
Zherdev had to sneak out of Moscow to join the Blue Jackets in November 2003. Neither his CSKA team nor the Russian federation wanted to let him go, probably because they wanted to extract (extort?) more money, on top of a transfer fee, from the Jackets.
The federation made an international case of it, arguing that Zherdev was enlisted in the army and was hence a deserter. The Russians’ case died in an appeal to the International Ice Hockey Federation because documentation couldn’t be produced to back their claims.
With the Zherdev case still fresh, the Russians refused to join in a new transfer agreement, worked out between the NHL and the IIHF last year.
There were strong indications at the draft in June that the new Russian federation chief, wellrespected Vladislav Tretiak, had convinced his compatriots of the imperative of joining. Indeed, Tretiak had even delivered an agreement in principle. But there were Russian factions who backed away from the table and refused to sign. The reason? Word is, they thought they could extract (extort?) more money for talented Evgeny Malkin, who plays for ex-Blue Jackets’ coach Dave King’s team in Magnitogorsk.
Last week, a deadline passed without the Russians signing on to the transfer agreement. Then came a curious twist. The NHL, via deputy commissioner Bill Daly, and Malkin, through his powerful Toronto agent, Don Meehan, made it known that Malkin was free to negotiate with the Penguins. How was this? Was not Malkin, the biggest star in the Russian Super League, under contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk through 2008?
Daly told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review that Russian players are free to come to the NHL if they negotiate their own release or if they leave "pursuant to applicable Russian law."
Surprise, surprise: There is an "applicable Russian law." It states that anyone can leave any job if he or she provides two weeks’ written notice. Apparently, it doesn’t matter whether there’s a contract involved.
Evgeni, the back door is thataway.
Malkin has given his notice. He hasn’t reported to training camp in Magnitogorsk and one might presume he’s packing his bags. His Penguins contract won’t be hard to hammer out because details for entry-level deals are covered in the collective bargaining agreement.
Malkin was the second overall pick in the 2004 draft. Fellow Russian Alexander Ovechkin went No. 1, and rightly so – but then, as now, the word on Malkin is he’s nearly Ovechkin’s equal. Malkin will sign for the rookie-cap max and settle in behind Sidney Crosby as the Penguins’ second-line center.
If the Russians had signed the transfer agreement, Magnitogorsk would have gotten a $200,000 fee for its loss of Malkin. Would that have been fair for a player of Malkin’s ilk? Probably not. But it’s better than nothing, which, it seems, is what Magnitogorsk is now due.
What’s worse for the Russian federation is that the NHL has discovered an "applicable Russian law" that’ll open a back door for any kid who wants to skip town for North America.
In defense of management

Last week in this space, a case was made to say that the Blue Jackets are resolutely squeezing Zherdev, nickel-and-diming him in contract negotiations, for no other reason other than they can.
In ensuing days, during the normal course of phone gabbing with hockey types, there arose an interesting defender of Blue Jackets management.
"I know I’m an agent and I shouldn’t be saying anything like this, but I can understand where the team is coming from," the defender said. "When we, as agents, have leverage, they know (darn) well we’re going to use it. And when (management) has leverage, well, they’re going to try to use it, too. That’s the business. Why should they pay a guy when they don’t have to? "
Good point.
There are a number of counterpoints — the Blue Jackets have tended to shovel money, in the form of back-loaded contracts, at a succession of players this summer, so why not Zherdev? — but the agent’s words still ring true.
Zherdev wants a long-term (three- or four-year) deal. He’s not yet eligible for arbitration, and he’s still a few years from unrestricted free agency.
The Jackets don’t have to break the bank for him, so they won’t.
What happens down the road? Here’s one possibility:
Zherdev capitulates and takes what the Blue Jackets are offering for one year (his qualifying-offer price of $941,850). Just as soon as Zherdev is arbitration-eligible — and there’s some question whether that will be 2007 or ’08 — he’ll take the Jackets to the cleaners. If J.P. Dumont is worth nearly $3 million after scoring 40 points, Zherdev is going to make a killing once he gets to arbitration.
[email protected]

 

[tsteele316]

Doug McClain was on 1460 this afternoon to discuss the Zherdev negotiations.

In essence, he sort of laid the hammer down on the whole thing.
He basically said:

1. trying to say that CBJ is nickle and diming Zherdev by using arbitration contract numbers is assinine and pointless.
2. CBJ offered Zherdev more money that the #1 and #2, or #3 (i didn't catch which) picks recently signed for (Zherdev was picked #4).
3. That he is basically throwing the bullshit card on any report stating that a Russian team has offered him more.
4. That CBJ paid $400k out of pocket to get him out of Russia to begin with, and that if he was going to sign with a Russian team for more $$$, to go ahead.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/9/06

NHL

Jackets busy in signing season

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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The summer signing season is on the wane for the Blue Jackets, who have but two restricted free agents, Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche, in need of new contracts.
Assistant general manager Jim Clark, before departing for Europe on a scouting assignment this week, said he expected to run into one of Zherdev’s agents in the Czech Republic and forge ahead in negotiations.
The Blue Jackets appear reticent to give Zherdev a long-term deal. However, Clark said, the team has made a substantial two-year offer that would pay Zherdev nearly $1 million in the first year and $2 million in year two.
Zherdev’s qualifying offer, a one-year contract worth $941,850, is also on the table.
"We believe Nathan Horton is a comparable (contract) we can work off of," Clark said.
Both Horton and Zherdev are 21-year old wingers.
Horton was selected third overall by the Florida Panthers in the 2003 draft. He has 42 goals and 27 assists for 69 points in 126 career games. Earlier this summer, he signed a contract that will pay him $1.1 million next season.
Zherdev was the fourth overall pick in 2003. He is 40-48—88 in 130 games. If he signs, he probably will play on a scoring line with Sergei Fedorov and Fredrik Modin. If he does not sign, he can play the season for Khimik Voskresensk in Russia.
Fritsche, 21, a secondround pick in 2003, has a qualifying offer worth around $500,000 or so on the table. He has seven goals and 14 points in 78 career games.
His agent, Tom Laidlaw, said recently that there is still "a substantial gap" between what Fritsche is seeking and the Blue Jackets are offering. However, Laidlaw said, he has had regular discussions with the Blue Jackets and expects a deal to be done before training camp next month. The first day of on-ice practice is Sept. 15.
Like many other teams, the Blue Jackets were bent toward short-term contracts coming out of the lockout and the scuttled 2004-05 season. They wanted to see how the new collective-bargaining agreement worked. A year later, there was much to be done in the way of extensions.
Defenseman Rostislav Klesla (four years, $6.6 million) and forwards David Vyborny (two, $4.8 million), Manny Malhotra (three, $3.6 million) and Jody Shelley (two, $1.25 million) were restricted free agents who had new contracts by the end of June.
Goaltender Pascal Leclaire (two, $2.1 million), defenseman Ron Hainsey ($1.475 million) and forward Jason Chimera (two, $1.75 million) were done in July.
That’s more than $21 million in payroll over the next three years. About $9 million is committed to the aforementioned seven players in 2007-08.
Unrestricted free agents Jan Hrdina, a center; Trevor Letowski, a winger; Radoslav Suchy, a defenseman, were loosed on the market. Letowski landed in Carolina. Hrdina and Suchy are still looking for a team. Presumably, each has options in Europe, as well.
The Blue Jackets signed defenseman Anders Eriksson and goaltender Ty Conklin, most notably, to free-agent contracts. Modin was acquired in a trade that sent Marc Denis to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/10/06

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Dispatch

8/10/06

BLUE JACKETS NOTEBOOK
All but one game will be on television
Six telecasts to be on national networks, 75 on Fox Sports Net
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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Between national and local telecasts, all but one of the Blue Jackets’ 82 games will be on television in the 2006-07 season. The exception is a game on Friday, March 9, against the Dallas Stars in Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets will make six appearances on U.S. network telecasts, according to the national broadcast schedules released by the league yesterday. Of note are:

• Three NBC regional broadcasts of Blue Jackets games, each from Nationwide Arena (Feb. 11 vs. Chicago, March 25 vs. St. Louis and April 1 vs. Detroit).

• Three appearances on Versus, the network formerly known as OLN (Dec. 18 vs. Detroit, Dec. 26 vs. Boston and Jan. 16 in Chicago).

• One appearance on the Canadian sports network, TSN. (Dec. 20 in Detroit).
The league said it is gearing U.S. telecasts toward U.S. teams and weighting Canadian telecasts with more Canadian teams. The Blue Jackets will not appear on the CBC’s legendary Hockey Night in Canada.
The Blue Jackets’ local television schedule was unveiled. Fox Sports Net Ohio will air 75 games, as it did last season.
Novak signs

The Blue Jackets signed minor-league defenseman Filip Novak, 24, who likely will play in Syracuse next season.
Novak, a native of the Czech Republic, has three years of professional experience with Binghamton and San Antonio, and is a two-time American Hockey League All-Star. In 192 games in the league, he has 19-73—92 with 221 penalty minutes. Last season, he had eight goals and 52 points with Binghamton and also played four games with the parent club, the Ottawa Senators.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/15/06

COMMENTARY

Driving home a point takes different twist

Tuesday, August 15, 2006


MICHAEL ARACE

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Some 10 years ago, when Kevin Dineen was playing for the Hartford Whalers, he started collecting stories about young people who were killed or maimed in horrific car accidents. At the time, he and wife Anne had two daughters, a toddler and an infant, and he was chilled by a story of four high school students from Avon, an affluent Hartford suburb marked by leafy streets and rolling green hills.
"It was just four young kids, tooling around on those back roads, and in a moment they’re gone," Dineen said. "I cut out the article and stuck it away. Unfortunately, the next thing I know, it’s not hard to collect these things."
During the Dineens’ five-year stay in Columbus, they added a son to their family. When each child came of driving age, the intent was to sit down for a quiet talk about what it means to get behind the wheel, and pull the folder.
"And it just goes on and on and on," Dineen said. "Sometimes there’s drinking or substance abuse is involved, sometimes it’s just kids on a joy ride. It happens everywhere. It happens in Avon, Connecticut, and in Manchester, New Hampshire. It happens in Licking County. It happens in Upper Arlington."
It happened in Raleigh, N.C., on May 3, 1999, only hours after Dineen and the Carolina Hurricanes were eliminated from the playoffs. Canes defenseman Steve Chiasson, legally drunk, was killed when his truck swerved off a rural road and flipped.
Chiasson had just left a small gathering of veteran players at a teammate’s house. Dineen was there, and he was trying to arrange a ride for Chiasson. But Chiasson slipped out and opted to drive himself the five miles to his house.
Dineen was called to the crash scene, identified Chiasson’s body and, with two other players, delivered the news to Chiasson’s wife. Dineen gave the eulogy at the funeral.
"You would think," Dineen said, "after what I’ve been through, that I’d be a guy who should know better."
Dineen was arrested June 2 and charged with driving under the influence.
He was arrested just a couple of days after the team he coaches, the Portland Pirates, top affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, was beaten in the semifinals of the AHL playoffs.
The team bused home from Hershey, Pa., after it was eliminated. The next two days, Dineen conducted exit interviews with his players. He lectured them on responsibility and consequence of their actions. After that business was done, Dineen accepted an invitation to an informal gathering, despite having had little or no sleep for four days. His coaches and a few of his players met him at a restaurant. He was pulled over after the party, in the wee hours of the morning, in Portland.
"There can be no excuses," he said.
Dineen, 42, is due in court sometime in September, when he’ll find out whether his license will be revoked and, if so, for how long. Ducks general manager Brian Burke has stood behind his minor-league coach, with the obvious provision that Dineen acknowledge his mistake (done) and make atonements, legally and otherwise (ongoing).
The story was front-page news, for days, in the Portland Press-Herald. It will be again when Dineen goes to court.
"I never thought I’d end up in my own folder," Dineen said.
Dineen doesn’t talk of being "lucky" for not hurting himself, or killing someone else. He will not acknowledge a silver lining given the embarrassment he has brought on himself, his family and his employer. He has only a burning regret, one that will intensify when his oldest child turns 16, and she sits down for a quiet talk about what it means to get behind the wheel, and the folder opens.

Michael Arace is a sports re porter for The Dispatch .

[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/19/06

BLUE JACKETS
Zherdev deadline could be nearing
Agent says Russian will stay home if deal not done next week

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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The Blue Jackets and restricted free agent Nikolai Zherdev remain entrenched in their negotiating positions and, unless one side budges, Zherdev will play next season in Russia. What’s new is that a decision might be coming sooner rather than later.
"If we don’t have a deal by next week, he’s playing in Russia," Zherdev’s agent, Rolland Hedges, said yesterday.
So there’s a deadline?
"Our deadline is Oct. 5," Hedges said, "but we’ve been told (by the Blue Jackets) that we need to get a deal done within the next week. To me, that’s a deadline. In fairness to the team, they want to know where things stand so they can prepare. I can understand that."
Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug Mac-Lean yesterday was traveling from his summer home in Prince Edward Island to Columbus and could not be reached.
Assistant GM Jim Clark, the team’s point man in the negotiations, said there is "no hard deadline" but, because of immigration paperwork that needs to be renewed, it would behoove everyone concerned to have a contract done sooner rather than later.
"The goal is to have the player in training camp," which opens Sept. 15, Clark said. "If we sign him on Oct. 4 or 5, it might be another month before he can get here because of the immigration issues — which is what I’m most concerned about right now."
Zherdev is seeking a one-year deal or a long-term contract. The Blue Jackets have made a one-year offer in the range of $1 million and a two-year offer worth more than $3 million. MacLean recently took to the radio to tout the team’s side.
Zherdev appears ready to sign for one year if the pot is sweetened. He is not interested in a two-year contract. His preference is for a three- or four-year deal, and he’s not looking for Nash-like numbers.
Rick Nash last year signed a contract that paid him $3.5 million in 2005-06 and will pay him $4.5 million next season, $5.5 million in 2007-08, $6.5 million in 2008-09 and $7 million in 2009-10. The total worth is $27 million over five years.
To this point, the Blue Jackets have been reticent to discuss a long-term contract with Zherdev.
The Blue Jackets have been using Nathan Horton’s contract as comparable. Horton, picked just ahead of Zherdev in the first round of the 2003 draft, in July signed a one-year, $1.1 million deal with the Florida Panthers.
Obviously, the rub is that Zherdev’s side doesn’t believe that Horton, a power forward coming off two shoulder surgeries, is comparable.
Thus far, negotiations have been verbal; no paper has been exchanged, Clark said. Zherdev is under contract with a Russian team, Khimik Voskresenk, which is in the midst of preseason preparations.
Besides Zherdev, the Blue Jackets have just one other restricted free agent, forward Dan Fritsche, in need of a contract. Fritsche’s agent, Tom Laidlaw, said yesterday that he expects an agreement. "I see no major problems," Laidlaw said. "I think something will get done next week." [email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/20/06

BLUE JACKETS
Team hopes season goes as well as ticket sales
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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David Paitson is the Blue Jackets’ fourth director of ticket operations in seven years. He will be its first sales genius if the team makes the playoffs.
Paitson laughed at that little joke. He has been with the Jackets, in various marketing capacities, since the beginning, and he has an inkling the team is rounding a corner.
"When I joined the Indiana Pacers (in public relations in 1982), we had an awfully low attendance base and had to build it back," Paitson said. "Once they got the team put together, they started winning, and they really haven’t stopped since. And the building filled up.
"In so many ways, (the Blue Jackets) remind me of that. We’ve got a similar market, respected local ownership, the team has been built piece by piece over time — and I’m looking forward to great success on the ice."
Granted, Paitson is paid to be optimistic, but his point has some marketing merit. The Blue Jackets are still selling promise, but now the promise appears closer to fulfillment. Will they make the playoffs? You’ve gotta believe — if you visit their Web site, where impressive statistics fade in and out as a means of promoting ticket sales:
Fade in.
"The Blue Jackets went 16-7-0 in their past 23 games in Nationwide Arena, including 6-1-0 in their past seven games in front of hockey’s best fans …
"In their fifth NHL season, the Blue Jackets set franchise marks for wins, home wins, road wins and points in 2005-06 …
"Columbus went 23-16-2 during the second half of the season. Only seven NHL teams won more games during that time … "
Fade out.
Single-game tickets go on sale Sept. 9. As far as season tickets go, Paitson said the Blue Jackets are in the midst of a strong summer. The renewal rate, he said, has hovered at around 93 percent for more than a month.
Renewal rates can be misleading — numbers can be crunched, teams can say they had a 100 percent renewal rate for last week if they hit a magic number they’ve targeted — but if the Jackets get their seasonticket base back to the 12,000 or so they had last year, they’ll be happy. And they appear to be on track.
"Right now, we’re projecting to be right in the neighborhood of where we were last year, plus or minus a percentage point or two," Paitson said.
Like many NHL teams, the Blue Jackets last year cut some ticket prices after the lockout scuttled the 2004-05 season. And, like many NHL teams, the Jackets have restored prelockout prices for the upcoming season.
And, once again, the Jackets have identified a number of "premium" games — seven of them — that carry an extra $10 cost to nearly every seat in the house.
Paitson said the Blue Jackets are "middle of the pack" in the 30-team league in terms of pricing.
Even with a strong seasonticket base, it remains to be seen how well the Blue Jackets will draw in Nationwide Arena, capacity 18,136, in their seventh season. There have been signs that fan patience is thinning.
The Blue Jackets have seen attendance decline the past three seasons. They had approximately 600 fewer fans per game in 2005-06 than in 2003-04. The majority of NHL teams experienced a rise in attendance last season.
The Blue Jackets drew an average of 16,778, 17 th in the NHL. For the first time, they dipped into the bottom half of the league. Management attributed the decline to a lack of success early in the season and a swoon in interest brought about by a 17-day Olympic break.
There’s not a great deal of genius involved in all of this. Ticket sales are supply-anddemand, pure and simple. The demand will escalate, or decline, with the victory count.
[email protected]

Sunday, August 20, 2006

</IMG>

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/23/06

BLUE JACKETS
MacLean adds Boguniecki as insurance policy if two don’t sign

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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Nikolai Zherdev is being painted as an ungrateful lad and Dan Fritsche’s negotiations have suddenly stalled. There is some question whether either of these young forwards, alleged to be important pieces of the Blue Jackets’ future, will be in training camp.
Yesterday, Eric Boguniecki parachuted into the background and signed a free-agent contract.
"He will take no prisoners at training camp to earn a roster spot," said Boguniecki’s agent, Matt Keator. "He’s one very feisty hombre."
Boguniecki, a 31-year-old right winger, is an obvious hedge against Zherdev and/or Fritsche. He also might be the best new player the Blue Jackets have signed this summer.
"He’s a goal scorer with a nasty side," said Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant, who in the mid-1990s coached Boguniecki in the old IHL (Fort Wayne) and the AHL (Louisville).
"He reminds me of David Ling, only quicker, and with a better shot, but without the fighting," Gallant said. "He can really shoot and, for a little guy, he hits a ton. He’s the kind of guy who can come in and make the team."
Boguniecki, 5 feet 8 and 195 pounds, has scored at every level. He had 22 goals and 49 points — and was a noted Blue Jackets killer — during his most fruitful season with the St. Louis Blues, in 2002-03. Next training camp, he hurt his shoulder and the injury went misdiagnosed for two years.
He struggled until he switched doctors and had arthroscopic surgery in May 2005. It was another year until he was 100 percent. By then, he’d been traded to Pittsburgh. Subsequently, he was cast into the free-agent market. He signed a two-way contract with the Blue Jackets.
"I’ve had a one-way contract for four years, and to sign that was hard to do," Boguniecki said. "I understand the situation, after what happened to me the last couple of years. I’m upset, but I can’t worry about that. I’ve got to get back and prove I’m healthy and ready to play."
Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug Mac-Lean, who last weekend returned from his summer home, has not returned phone calls from The Dispatch.
Monday, MacLean told the Canadian Press that a deadline to sign Zherdev "is looming" because Zherdev needs to complete some immigration paperwork if he is to make it to the opening of training camp Sept. 15.
Zherdev, a restricted free agent, wants a one-year deal or something of longer term. The Blue Jackets have offered a one-year contract in the range of $1.1 million and a two-year contract worth around $3.5 million. If Zherdev doesn’t sign, he’ll play in Russia.
"I guess I’m a little taken aback that it cost us in excess of $600,000 to get him out of Russia (two years ago)," MacLean told the CP. "Now, he’s saying he wants to go back? That catches me a little off guard. What we went through to get him out of there and now there’s a threat to stay there? Good grief, it’s unbelievable."
Sergei Fedorov, whose 1990 defection from the Soviet Union was orchestrated by the Red Wings, was ultimately vilified in Detroit when he departed for Anaheim in 2003. Fedorov is consistently booed in Joe Louis Arena for being ungrateful to his liberators. There’s a ring of such disdain in MacLean’s comments regarding Zherdev.
As for Fritsche, his agent was confident a deal would be done this week. The agent, Tom Laidlaw, didn’t sound as confident yesterday.
"I’d say we had a step backwards," Laidlaw said. "I believe Dan Fritsche has a great deal of potential. Who knows where that potential will lead him? But now, I’m getting the feeling that the team doesn’t have the same level of confidence in him that I do."
[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

8/25/06

BLUE JACKETS NOTEBOOK
Zherdev trade only a rumor, MacLean says

Friday, August 25, 2006

Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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This rumor popped up in Toronto yesterday: Restricted free-agent winger Nikolai Zherdev to the Maple Leafs for 22-year-old forward Matt Stajan and a draft pick.
Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean shot down the rumor.
"I’ve not had one conversation about trading Nikolai Zherdev," he said. "That (rumor) is totally, absolutely false. On my father’s grave, I would swear that."
The Blue Jackets and Zherdev remain stuck in negotiations. Asked whether he thought something might be done this week, MacLean said, "I would doubt it."
Zherdev is seeking a one-year contract or something of longer term. The Blue Jackets have made their most tempting offer a two-year deal, worth $3.5 million.
On a similar front, there has been no movement in negotiations between the Jackets and restricted freeagent forward Dan Fritsche. The two sides had nary a conversation over the past three days.
The big game

Can’t wait for training camp? You can scratch your itch for a game at 4 p.m. Sunday, when the annual Hats For Heroes Celebrity Hockey Challenge hits the ice at Nationwide Arena.
All proceeds benefit the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation’s signature charity, Hats for Heroes, which supports local pediatric cancer programs. Former Jackets Luke Richardson and Tyler Wright remain involved with the charity and helped put together the program.
Among the former Jackets scheduled to appear are Kevin Dineen, Andrew Cassels, Scott Lachance, Richardson and Wright. Jackets coach Gerard Gallant will also carry a stick out there. Among the current players scheduled to appear are Rick Nash, Pascal Leclaire, Jody Shelley, Jamie Pushor, Aaron Johnson and Fritsche.
Eric Lindros of the Dallas Stars and Adrian Aucoin of the Chicago Blackhawks also are on the roster.
"It’s a reflection of the community here that Tyler and I are still involved," said Richardson, who signed a free-agent contract with Tampa Bay earlier this summer. "Tyler might make this his home base. And this is the one place my wife and I could definitely live because it feels like home. This is a great event, and I’d do anything I can to help."
There also will be raffles, a silent auction and an autograph session.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Also available are VIP ticket packages ($150), which include a parking pass, reserved seating and a ticket to a postgame party.
Tickets can be purchased at the arena box office, at the Chillers or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, call 614-431-3600 or visit www.bluejackets.com.
[email protected]

 

[jimotis4heisman]

as of today i am officially nervous about z and his ongoings...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

BLUE JACKETS
Zherdev may have rejected best offer
Negotiations at standstill with free-agent forward
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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Nikolai Zherdev is a busy hockey player. At present, he’s training with Khimik Voskresenk, a team in the Russian Extra League. Later this week, he’ll audition for the national team and then toe-drag right into the Extra League season. At the moment, the Blue Jackets aren’t even in the picture.
To say that contract negotiations between Zherdev, a restricted free agent, and the Blue Jackets have ground to a halt would presume that the two sides have been negotiating. And they haven’t, said Zherdev’s Ottawa-based agent, Rolland Hedges.
"I’m not too optimistic anything’s going to get done, and that’s the result of no discussions," Hedges said yesterday.
If Zherdev doesn’t have a deal with the Blue Jackets before Oct. 6, his contract with Khimik Voskresenk kicks in for the season. Hedges and Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean appear to be resigned to that outcome.
"We haven’t even had a number from them lately," MacLean said. "I know my number, and it’s a fair offer."
MacLean has pulled off the table a one-year, $1.25 million offer. He has let stand another, for $3.8 million over two years.
"That was two years for $3.75 million, and we declined that many weeks ago," Hedges said. "It’s frustrating for everyone involved. We just thought there would have been more in the way of meaningful discussions by this point. ... It’s always, ‘This is what we’re prepared to do, take it or leave it.’ "
MacLean said he hadn’t spoken with Hedges in a week. He said whether Zherdev plays in Columbus this season "is up to him."
MacLean also said he has been monitoring the free-agent market and sending out feelers.
"But I’m not really in that market right now," he said. "We’ll see where the Zherdev thing goes over the next little while and go from there."
Discussions between the Blue Jackets and Dan Fritsche, another restricted free agent, have also hit a wall. The two sides aren’t that far apart — MacLean said he has extended a two-year offer worth $475,000 in the first year and $750,000 in the second — yet talks have ceased.
"I’ve left some messages for Tom Laidlaw (Fritsche’s agent), and I’ve also missed a couple of his calls," MacLean said. "I’m anxious to bring this to a head fairly quickly, one way or the other. This is a 14-point player we’re talking about, and I’ve had my fill of that one."
Laidlaw said his frustration is born of the manner in which Fritsche has been portrayed during the few scant conversations that have been managed.
"Our only goal is to make sure this young player has a chance to become the best player possible," Laidlaw said. "That’s all we’re trying to accomplish. We haven’t had that many lengthy discussions, and I guess that’s why it’s really frustrating for us."
Zherdev, 21, was a first-round draft pick (fourth overall) in 2003. He was second on the team in goals (27) and tied for second in points (54) last season. Fritsche, 21, was a secondround draft pick in 2003. He had seven goals and 14 points last season.
[email protected]