Friday, May 25, 2012

Glass Bangers: Memorial Day Weekend

Derek Dorsett - Practicing Hard and Earning a New Contract
Rangers and the Devil Wrenches (Mrs. Gallos nickname for the Devils) square off tonight in Game 6.  Should be compelling hockey.  Its been a somewhat active week in Columbus Blue Jackets land.  But first ...

The Dark Blue Jacket wants to take this moment to acknowledge the sacrifice of American Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen as well as their families in their never ending task of protecting our country.  We salute you!

Spc. Levi Hoover, please know I always keep you in my head and my heart.  Your Dad says the fishing is good where you are.  I pray it is so.

So anyway, I'm at work the other day, sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake (I have cool work!) and I get a text from my buddy Paul.  It says, Methot and Second to Edmonton for the First.  And I am thinking holy frijole!  I'm in the middle of a lake, and Howson makes a move!  So I quickly text him to see if it is speculation, or actually happened.  Whew!  It turns out he was bouncing it off me to see what I thought.  I love this kind of stuff in the off season.

My thoughts on that?  (Pauses for a moment to think of a way to say this that is acceptable in case grandma reads the blog) Pull vacuum on an unspecified, but implied to be derogatory, object Edmonton!!  That's your problem!

And here's why ...

Here's how I see this.  And it kinda convoluted.  So you are a GM wanting to make a move.  Who would you rather have?  Nail Yakupov (consensus number 1 pick) or Rick Nash (stud left winger)?  How different is the price?  Edmonton is going to want to overcharge for the first pick.  Yakupov is the best of a weak draft class (by weak I mean in terms of NHL ready 18 year olds, there will be plenty of fine NHL players emerge from this class with time).  Edmonton doesn't need another winger, they need a defenseman.  

Yakupov is a good player, but no Ovechkin.  Its not worth trading anything up to get him.  The problem for the CBJ is that if we had the first pick, Yakupov was not going to be good enough to elevate this team to where it needs to be.  So in the end, in spite of my initial disappointment over not having the number 1 pick, we're probably better off, because expectations for Yakupov over what he would ultimately be able bring are likely to lead to disappointment. Not to mention the threat of flight to the KHL.

So we let Edmonton make their choice.  Personally, I'd vote for Forsberg at number 2, because talent assessment for forwards is much more clear cut.  Murray will make a fine NHL defenseman, and will likely have a nice long career.  But he won't necessarily be a game changer.  So if I'm the Jackets, I sit pat on the number 2 pick, and let Edmonton do what they want.  It puts us in an advantageous position, and I think Lowe recognized that the minute he saw he had the number 1 pick.  See the Cannon for good write ups on all the potential picks.

Bangs glass!! .....

Derek Dorsett was signed this week to a new 3 year contract.  Double D!!!  This means my third jersey is good for a couple more years.  Dorsett earned the extension by bringing consistent effort in a lost year.  Good for him.  This team ever gets to the playoffs (I'm an optimist, but it looks pretty darn far off now) and his value will skyrocket.  Against the Redwings in '08-'09 he was one of the players who did not look out of place.  Osgood made some good saves on him, but DD is not where he was then.  The looks he got, he scores on next year.

Bangs glass!!  ...

RyRuss (Ryan Russell) gets a two way contract.  This is a good contract for both sides.  RyRuss brought solid effort, and hopes to stick with the big club next year.  It should be interesting.

Bangs glass!!  Rattles glass!!!  Bangs glass!!!!

Cannonfest!  Cannonfest!  Cannonfest!!  Mark the date folks.  August 19.  Just when it seems that hockey will never happen, in the deepest, darkest doldrums of summer, a fan based hockey celebration.  Woo hoo!

There's a lot of work by a lot of people who make this happen.  Here's this hockey fan's deep thanks to the organizers for going forward for the third year.  You know my number.

GO JACKETS!!!!

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