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Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

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3074326 said:
Jackets claimed G Spencer Martin from the Canucks. A lot of teams wanted this player. He has excellent numbers in the AHL at every stop and has had some success in the NHL. Ended last year pretty rough, but this might be a solid pickup.
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I saw somewhere that the only G with worse numbers last year was Elvis…..so improvement?
 
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Fungo Squiggly said:
I saw somewhere that the only G with worse numbers last year was Elvis…..so improvement?
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Vancouver was a fucking disaster. Hard to really gain any value from his stats with them. All I know is that a lot of people wanted this dude, and the general consensus seems to be that he was "thrown to the wolves" in Vancouver.

He will probably suck. It's not like he's going to Tampa.

I really wish they'd do something with Elvis.. he has stated publicly that the cannon gives him PTSD from when his best friend died. Trade the dude or stop using the cannon when he plays. Something. It's no wonder he turned to dogshit. Dude has to deal with mental trauma whenever his team scores, and he's also the goalie.
 
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Well the Blue Jackets (aka Turds) won at Washington tonight 4-2 which concluded their preseason. The relevancy here is that since they scored 2 or more goals I can get a Hawaiian Pizza at Jets for 50% off (if I order online and code CBJ50). FWIW, they finished the preseason at 4-3-1. Their first real game is Thursday, 12 Oct 2023 at Nationwide.

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Celebrate the CBJ season at the Opening Night Plaza Party | Columbus Blue Jackets

Fans can cheer on the players as they walk the blue carpet into Nationwide Arena
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Celebrate the CBJ season at the Opening Night Plaza Party​

The Columbus Blue Jackets invite fans to kick off the club’s 2023-24 season by visiting the Opening Night Plaza Party, presented by Nationwide, on Thursday, October 12 before the Jackets host the Philadelphia Flyers at 7 p.m. The party on the Front Street Plaza starts at 3:30 p.m. and game tickets are not required to attend.

A central attraction of the plaza party is the Nationwide “blue carpet” arrival of the Blue Jackets. Fans are invited to line up and welcome the players as they proceed across the plaza and into the front doors of Nationwide Arena. Arriving in Lexus vehicles, most players are expected between 4-5 p.m.

Bally Sports Ohio will broadcast from the Front Street Plaza an expanded edition of the Blue Jackets Live pre-game show hosted by Brian Giesenschlag and Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre starting at 6 p.m.

BrewDog, Columbus Brewing Co., mike’s Hard Lemonade and more will be onsite for fans aged 21 and over. Activities and entertainment will be onsite for all ages including face painters, balloon artists and live music by Columbus’ own North to Nashville from 5-6 p.m. Attendees can also stop by the 97.1 The Fan Van and partner booths including G&J Pepsi, Bread Financial, Nationwide, Wild Turkey and Fanatics.

All fans are welcome to join the Union Blue March to Nationwide Arena starting at 6 p.m. at the corner of Front and Vine Streets.

Once inside Nationwide Arena, fans will receive a 2023-24 schedule magnet and car magnet courtesy of Nationwide. Arena doors open early at 5:30 p.m. and fans are encouraged to take their seats by 7 p.m. for the Opening Night ceremony featuring individual player introductions, a special puck drop and more.
 
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3074326 said:
Vancouver was a fucking disaster. Hard to really gain any value from his stats with them. All I know is that a lot of people wanted this dude, and the general consensus seems to be that he was "thrown to the wolves" in Vancouver.

He will probably suck. It's not like he's going to Tampa.

I really wish they'd do something with Elvis.. he has stated publicly that the cannon gives him PTSD from when his best friend died. Trade the dude or stop using the cannon when he plays. Something. It's no wonder he turned to dogshit. Dude has to deal with mental trauma whenever his team scores, and he's also the goalie.
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That's rough about the cannon. But good luck trying to trade him. An .876 Sv% and a $5.4M cap hit through 2027. Yikes. Don't think many teams would jump on that unless someone thinks they can rehab him. Some of that was the CBJ's atrocious defense, but he's let in a lot of soft serve the last two seasons.
 
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NFBuck said:
That's rough about the cannon. But good luck trying to trade him. An .876 Sv% and a $5.4M cap hit through 2027. Yikes. Don't think many teams would jump on that unless someone thinks they can rehab him. Some of that was the CBJ's atrocious defense, but he's let in a lot of soft serve the last two seasons.
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Yeah, here's the source for it. I feel for the guy. I also agree that it's gonna be tough to move that contract...
 
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Blue Jackets 2023-24 season preview | Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus enters the campaign with confidence thanks to new additions and some impressive young talents
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Blue Jackets 2023-24 season preview​

There’s no sugarcoating it – last season was a miserable experience for the Blue Jackets.

Coming off a surprising 2021-22 season in which a young squad stayed on the fringes of the playoff race into the spring, Columbus got off to a tough start last year and never recovered on the way to the second worst season by points percentage in team history. It felt like anything that could go wrong did go wrong, as injuries, frustration and losses piled up, and at the end of the season, head coach Brad Larsen was relieved of his duties.

“It was hell,” said Pascal Vincent, the associate head coach on last year’s squad. “The NHL will humble you in no time.”

Now, with the 23rd season of Blue Jackets hockey set to begin in three days, Vincent is the man in charge and has eyes on a turnaround. Elevated to the head coaching job just before training camp, the 52-year-old Montreal native has gotten to work in an effort to try to put together an organized, united hockey club.

Not to mention one that won’t be lacking motivation.

“It’s important to remember how you felt last year,” Vincent said. “You don’t want to go back to a place where by Christmastime you know you’re not going to make the playoffs – or maybe even before. Yes, the injuries were something I haven’t seen my whole life. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen again. But we need to remember how we felt. Because it sucked – big time.”

One area Vincent remains encouraged is the fact the Blue Jackets, despite all the adversity and challenges a season ago, did not splinter. While it was no fun to go through one of the most difficult seasons in team history, the Blue Jackets got through it together – and remain that way.

“What I’ve learned is the room is solid,” Vincent said. “We have good people in the room, and that’s step one. We can have the 23 best players in the world, but if they’re not good people, you’re not going to win. In pro sports, you need a core group that is constructed of solid people first before the athlete, and we have that. We have a good leadership group.”

On the ice, the biggest adjustment for the Blue Jackets under Vincent through training camp has been clear communication on the team’s objectives, and the biggest one of those is shoring up a defense that gave up the most goals in franchise history a season ago.

Vincent said the team would attack it through personnel additions, using analytics to identify key markers of winning teams, and then focusing on teaching points in practice. For a veteran like Sean Kuraly, structure is key, and the Blue Jackets have embraced that in camp.

“It will be really clear,” Kuraly said. “Players, we love a clear objective. We love a clear message. And we want to win games, so when we’re watching tape and you can tell me, ‘I did this wrong, I have to do this different the next time,’ and I do it the next time and it works out better for us, we’re all happy.”

NHL observers remain unconvinced, though, after Columbus finished 31st of 32 teams in the league a season ago. While there has been praise for the squad’s long-term hopes, with a number of observers ranking the team’s prospect pool among the best in the league, most prognosticators have the Blue Jackets remaining out of contention for the playoff hunt for the fourth year in a row.

Time will tell, but the Blue Jackets go into the season with confidence.

“As camp has gone along here, I think we’ve put in a lot of good work, a lot of good battles,” captain Boone Jenner said. “We’ve been working on our game quite a bit. We’ve been working on the systems every day. It seems to get better every day, and we’re going to keep ramping it up.”

What’s New For 2023​

Columbus enters the campaign with confidence thanks to new additions and some impressive young talents

This list starts at the top with Vincent, who is already drawing strong reviews from his players after taking over last month.

The team’s associate head coach the past two seasons, he has extensive experience, including 12 years as a head coach in the QMJHL and five as a head coach in the AHL. He knows success, too, including winning coach of the year awards in 2008 with Cape Breton in the Q and 2018 with Manitoba of the AHL.

In his time with the Blue Jackets, Vincent has developed a reputation as a sharp hockey mind, a clear communicator and a man of high character.

“He’s ready for it,” Jenner said. “Anyone that knows Pazzy knows that we are going to be prepared. He’s the kind of guy that’s been prepared, puts the work in. He had a plan for us from day one. We’ve seen that. Obviously his role has changed – on the bench, he’s the head coach, he’s not the associate coach anymore, but we all know him from the past couple of years. He has a very smart hockey mind and is a hard worker. I think it’s been great so far.”

On the ice, the Blue Jackets have added a number of players who could be major contributors, starting on the back end with the acquisitions of Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson. The veteran blueliners bring dependability, experience and skill to the table; Provorov posted a 6-21-27 line while playing all 82 games a season ago with Philadelphia, while Severson had a 7-26-33 mark while skating in 81 contests with New Jersey.

Up front, the biggest addition is Adam Fantilli, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 draft who appears set to make the roster. A center who will turn 19 years of age on opening night, Fantilli dominated college hockey a year ago, becoming just the third freshman ever to win the Hobey Baker Award while posting a 30-35-65 line in 36 games. He’s already shown some skill and figures to adjust to the NHL level throughout the season.

Columbus also welcomes back Alexandre Texier, a solid two-way player who was coming into his own two seasons ago before spending last season in Europe. 2019 draft pick Dmitri Voronkov comes over from Russia and adds some major size to the equation as well.

There could also be some help throughout the season from that highly rated prospect pool, as the Blue Jackets’ solid drafting the past few years has the organization filled at the seams with young talent.

“We have added quality players to our team, and we have built a deep and talented group of prospects,” president of hockey operations John Davidson said. “We are excited about this team and where we are headed.”
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3 Important Players​

  1. Laine: The Finnish forward is one of the top goal-scoring threats in the league and has shown the ability to fill up the net on the wing, but he hasn’t shied away from the fact he wants to play center at the top level. You can see how he might excel there based on how well it went during the preseason, but the true proof will be in the pudding as the season goes by.
  2. Adam Boqvist: The Swedish blueliner has shown he can be a major offensive producer, as his point production at 5-on-5 and on the power play the past two years has been impressive. But his ability to stay healthy and also excel in the defensive zone remain question marks; if he can prove to be a consistent impact player on the right side of the defense, it puts a lot of things into place for this team.
  3. Merzlikins: Coming off the toughest season of his career, Merzlikins might just be the key to the season. He has talent and has posted some impressive days in CBJ colors, and the good news is there’s not necessarily carryover from one year to the next at the goaltending position; a bounceback year would go a long way when it comes to pushing the Blue Jackets into contention.
 
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