End scene - and a preview of the second act

I was going to use some heroic shot of Rusty, but this
just tickled my fancy. (Photo from buylisthomes.com)

Act 1, Scene 10

Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson officially closed the door on the first act of the Columbus Blue Jackets franchise in the midst of its 10th Anniversary season in trading "The Original Blue Jacket," defenseman Rusty Klesla, to the Phoenix Coyotes.

With that, Klesla's name and image now can finally retire to the glass cases around Nationwide Arena that celebrate past players like Odelein, Sanderson, Knutsen and Dineen (We can't forget Dineen!); team ownership and historic events in franchise history.  While he was a serviceable defenseman, he had ongoing injury issues in recent seasons that made his reliability questionable and greatly impacted his productivity.

Sestito returns to Springfield

Gone but not forgotten - Tommy Sestito left his mark...
literally...on the NHL in his nine games with Columbus.

The Columbus Blue Jackets gave the AHL Springfield Falcons a huge (literally) Christmas present in the person of 6'5", 228-pound forward Tommy Sestito, who apparently was the odd man out in a roster squeeze that resulted from the imminent return of Derek MacKenzie from injured reserve.

In nine games with the Blue Jackets, Sestito tallied 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points.  Looking at the perspective of the scoring-anemic CBJ, those four points are nothing to sneeze at.  Sestito not only used his size to barrel his way through the defense, but he also appeared to be the "missing link" in the power play, setting up shop in the crease with such force that even the vaunted Roberto Luongo started complaining.  One of the long-envied aspects of the Detroit Red Wings' game is the ability of Tomas Holmstrom to control the crease and make goalies' lives miserable.  For nine games, it looked like we might have our own such player.

Game 30/Vancouver: My Take

In a strange scheduling move that had the Columbus Blue Jackets leaving Alberta (Calgary) to play in Vancouver only to return to Alberta (Edmonton) the following night, the Columbus Blue Jackets played an overall solid game against one of the top teams in the National Hockey League's Western Conference before falling to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 in overtime at The Arena That Likely Will Be Renamed Within Six Months.

Regretfully, the game being played in Vancouver meant a 10PM Eastern start - and I was out of caffeinated products (No, I was not going to brew a pot of coffee for the CBJ.  A man's gotta set limits.).  I struggled mightily yet still fell asleep after the hard-fought first period and awoke with about 4:30 left in regulation.  Hence, my recap is incomplete.

I was able to watch the game on NHL's GameCenter Live service (Thank you, CBJ, for lifting the local blackout as Fox Sports Ohio inexplicably chose not to broadcast the game.  82 in 10, baby!), so I "rewound" the game to check out the Sestito and Brassard goals.  Both were solid and deserve mention.