Reflecting on World Cup of Hockey 2016

These guys got eaten up by Brad Marchand too.

Ok, I had a hard time stomaching the loss last night.  But as I grappled with it, I realized some things that I had not considered.  I am very afraid of 0-8.  Almost all of the hockey I watched last year was meaningless.  These games still count, and it is really important to win some games that actually count towards keeping the CBJ in the race.  And we get the Stanley Cup runner-ups next, so the sledding isn't getting easier.

So when I looked at Boston, I saw a team that didn't make the playoffs, and thought they might be our only chance for an early win (not to say they are a bad team, they just didn't make the playoffs).  A huge flaw in my analysis is that I did not consider just how hot Brad Marchand has been lately.  He scored the winning goal in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 final, and finished second to Crosby in scoring.  The guy just went through the world like a hot knife through butter, so it's hard to imagine that our young (or veteran) Blue Jackets were going to contain this guy.  No one else has done it in recent history.  I'm not sure it would have relieved my angst last night if I would have considered that, but it might have been a little easier to stay more balanced.  Throw in notorious Jacket killer Backes, a move I had forgotten Boston made, and it makes sense that our guys couldn't contain them.  So, meh.

Next up are the 'life style beards' of Joe Thornton and Brent Burns in a very, very good San Jose Sharks squad.  The Jackets will have their work cut out for them tomorrow night.  The prospects for a win don't look that great, but I guess that's why you play the game.

In one thing we are really fortunate this year, is that Tom Reed has returned from Cleveland to re-join Aaron Portzline and Mike Arace in Blue Jackets coverage for the Columbus Dispatch.  Tom is a gifted hockey writer, and he is a real addition to their already very good coverage.  Not everyone agrees, I get it, that's part of the gig.  But this is a really good article that Tom just wrote.  I recommend you give it a read.

So, sigh.  Shaking off the hit from last night, and going after it again.  My understanding is that the R-Bar has the diced shark pizza at half price on Saturday.  I'm pretty sure anyway.

And congratulations to the Cleveland Monsters for raising the banner for the 2015-16 Calder Cup Championship won by the Lake Erie Monsters.  A cool moment I am sure.

GO JACKETS!!
GO MONSTERS!!