Moment of Stanley Cup Playoff Greatness, April 30 edition

Courtesy of the Washington Examiner...

Head Coach search underway

According to the Dispatch, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson will begin interviewing this weekend for a new, permanent (well, as permanent as the National Hockey League gets) head coach for the Boys in Union Blue.

Outside of what I've seen of Claude Noel - and he's a good enough coach to warrant serious consideration - I don't know anything about these folks.  So I assembled lists of names - confirmed (with the Dispatch) and rumored - and matched names, faces and biographical information from both Wikipedia and the teams' websites.  I'll find it interesting to check back in on this as we await the plume of white smoke from Nationwide Arena.  Hopefully, you will as well!

Moment of Stanley Cup Playoff Greatness, April 28, 2010

For one night at least, all hail the Habs.




And everything I said after the Blue Jackets played the Capitals...I stand behind every last word of it.  Here's a brief snippet:

So farewell, Capitals. Thanks to the many of your fans for joining us at Nationwide last night. Congrats on getting your 51st win - the most you've ever won in a season. And good luck in the playoffs...if what I saw last night was any indication, you're going to need a lot of luck if you're going to win the Stanley Cup. And ask the San Jose Sharks how satisfying that President's Trophy is.

(Hopefully R.J. Umberger stands behind what he said, too.)

Moment of Stanley Cup Playoff Greatness, April 27 edition

You tell me with a straight face that you would have expected this scene at the beginning of the season.  Think about it:

1. Moyes (old owner) files bankruptcy
2. Moyes tries selling the team to Balsillie, who wants to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario
3. NHL takes over the team
4. Bankruptcy court hearings to determine who can take possession of the team results in all offers getting thrown out
5. Ice Edge thinks they bought the team - and wants to play a handful of home games in Saskatoon (!)
6. Jerry Reinsdorf tries to buy the team
7. The City of Glendale plays tough with the arena lease
8. The Goldwater Institute raises hell over the whole process

And that's just the back office side.

Moment of Stanley Cup Playoff Greatness, April 26, 2010

I'm loving how these Moments pick themselves.  Take last night.  Can anyone REALLY say that the Montreal Canadiens' Jaraslav Halak's 53 saves in 54 shots in regulation was not just amazing?




On a non-Moment point, take a look at Alexander Ovechkin's box score: 25:34 TOI, 8 shots, plus/minus of -1 and no goals or assists.  Hear me now and believe me later: When the Capitals finally depart the playoffs, it will come out that Ovechkin was playing hurt.  (If it doesn't, I will really, REALLY question number 8's desire.)

Moment of Stanley Cup Playoff Greatness, April 24 edition (w/ Darren Pang!)

Pardon the non-game Moment, but I got a Tweet from Darren Pang!

Too cool.  I Tweeted about how it was wrong that Darren Pang, one of the best hockey broadcasters on Planet Earth, was not on NBC or Versus during this Stanley Cup Playoff season.

Panger actually Tweeted me back to tell me that all was good, that he was hanging with the TSN studio crew during the playoffs this year.  While it's good that Darren's in the mix, he 1) needs to be on TV in America and 2) should really be calling games, either from the analyst's chair or in-between the benches.

Regardless, I'm pretty elated that one of my favorite hockey announcers (Bill Clement and Gary Thorne being the others) deemed fit to Tweet the DBJ.  I guess you could say that I got my hockey fan(-boy) on.

Now, let's just get him to call Jackets games on Fox Sports Ohio!

The McConnell Video: My Take

If you consider yourself anything close to a fan of the Columbus Blue Jackets, you surely have taken a gander at CBJ majority owner John P. McConnell's video summarizing the state of his team, and his thoughts on both the team and the pesky arena situation going forward.

If you want to read a summary of the video (meaning excerpts of McConnell's comments), go check out Puck Rakers.  If you want some reasoned analysis, check out Rick Gethin at The Hockey Writers and Jeff Little at Ten Minute Misconduct.  If you want a little sandpaper in your analysis, Light The Lamp is the place for you.

Without diving into the details of the video, my general take follows after the jump...

Moment of Stanley Cup Playoff Greatness, April 22, 2010

Is there really any other selection today?

Former Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Pascal Leclaire, relegated to the bench after an injury-riddled season where he never seemed to find his stride, stops 56 of 59 shots and holds on for 3 20-minute overtimes to beat the Penguins. I usually try to find a play or two to post, but here's the whole highlight reel; Ottawa may still go down (I think Pittsburgh was the better team last night), but there's no denying that game 5 was epic.



My friends, that is a moment of greatness for Pazzy.

John P. McConnell offers a State of the CBJ

Posting now, commenting later...



Hat tip to Lee Auer for bringing this to my attention!

Moment of Stanley Cup Playoff Greatness, April 21 edition

No apologies for including ex-Columbus Blue Jackets forward Jason Chimera in today's Moment...




When he was in Columbus, he was a stand-up guy, a class act and a man who gave it his all on the ice. I sense all the above now in Washington. Much as I really don't care for the Capitals, I'll be thrilled if Jason Chimera hoists the Stanley Cup.