Jared Boll reads the Probert news. Twice.

Not to beat this horse too hard, but Tom Reed's piece in today's Dispatch is the perfect postscript to yesterday's discussion of the Bob Probert/CTE bombshell.

Boll read the Globe And Mail story of how the late Bob Probert - one of the NHL's most celebrated tough guys - suffered from a degenerative disease that might be linked to years of absorbing head shots. 

Then, Boll sat down and read the story again. 

"It's scary to think about how it could affect you down the road," said Boll, 24. "You know, that's part of how I fight. I take a lot of punches, it's part of my strategy. I have been doing it for years now, and it's the risk you take playing."

It reads to me like Boll probably figured that risks like CTE were possible for some time, but the scientific confirmation of Probert's case made him take pause.  It would make me take pause, too.

The only way out of the enforcer's trap (fight or be cut) is to put another tool in the hockey toolbelt.  Boll once was a decent scorer in juniors, and he's displayed flashes of that skill over this season.  For his sake, I hope he starts burying the chances that he gets.

Games that matter, 3/4/11

YESTERDAY: As if the humiliating loss to Edmonton wasn't bad enough, the Columbus Blue Jackets had precious little help from the rest of the National Hockey League.

• Oilers over Blue Jackets
• Wild over Rangers
• Predators over Canucks
• Kings over Coyotes
• Capitals over Blues

All told, the CBJ's playoff chances dropped by 9.3% to 12.4% and the Blue Jackets lost ground by another point in the hunt for 8th place in the West.

Game 63/Edmonton: My Take

The Columbus Blue Jackets dropped to 0-2-1 in the first three games of their five-game western road trip tonight in losing, 4-2, to the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.

Yes, this is the same Blue Jackets team that took the best team in the league (the Vancouver Canucks) to the wire in overtime just two days ago.  And they now have lost, decisively, to the worst team in the league.

Probert brain study brings me back to fighting

As you may or may not have seen, the family of the late, legendary NHL fighter Bob Probert released the initial results of the Boston University study of his brain tissue.  Probert instructed his family to donate his brain to BU's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy upon his passing.

The results?  Probert was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).  What is CTE, you ask?  Here's the quick and dirty from Wikipedia:

[CTE] is a progressive degenerative disease found in individuals who have been subjected to multiple concussions and other forms of head injury. A variant of the condition, dementia pugilistica, is primarily associated with boxing. CTE has been most commonly found in professional athletes participating in gridiron football, ice hockey, professional wrestling and other contact sports, who have experienced head trauma, resulting in characteristic degeneration of brain tissue and the accumulation of tau protein. Individuals with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy may show symptoms of dementia such as memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression which may appear within months of the trauma or many decades later.

This is somewhat new and emerging science. CTE research is conducted using harvested brain samples (meaning that the subject needs to die first), so it will not be truly cutting-edge until a new means to detect and track the development of CTE is conjured up.  The early results of this research, however, are chilling.  

Games that matter, 3/3/11

Before we jump in, I thought I'd mention the latest addition to this daily series.  As we're down to the last to games and things are going to be razor-tight all the way down to the wire, I thought that a quick reference with critical information like 1) Games left, 2) The number of points behind 8th place in the West and 3) The distance between the Columbus Blue Jackets' current point total and my projected playoff qualifying target of 96 points might be useful.  So look for this every day until the end of the season.  

YESTERDAY:  Two outta three ain't bad...

• Islanders beat Wild
• Ducks beat Red Wings in overtime
• Blackhawks beat Flames

The Islanders have a little bit of moxie, eh?  Good for them.  Anyhoo, the Columbus Blue Jackets' playoff chances rose to 21.8% - less than a full percentage point, but not bad considering the CBJ weren't playing last night!

Game 62/Vancouver: My Take

The "West Coast" part of the Columbus Blue Jackets West Coast trip kicked off late last night and lasted really, really late with a 2-1 Vancouver Canucks shootout win over the visiting CBJ at Rogers Centre.

I've been writing game recaps for a couple of seasons now, and I have to say that it's games like this that drive me batty.  Do I stand up and applaud the valiant effort of the CBJ against (arguably) the best team in the NHL, taking them all the way to the shootout?  Or do I bemoan the fact that this game was the Blue Jackets' to win...and they couldn't seal the deal?

I'll try to do a little of both.

Games that matter, 3/2/11

YESTERDAY: The Blue Jackets missed out on a terrific opportunity to add eight percent to their playoff chances yet, in taking the Canucks to overtime, at least didn't lose ground in their playoff chase.  They also got some help from around the Western Conference, but all told, it just didn't amount to much.

• Canucks beat Blue Jackets in a shootout
• Flames beat Blues
• Oilers beat Predators in a shootout
• Stars beat Coyotes
• Sharks beat Avalanche in a shootout

Talk about treading water...even with a little help, the CBJ only added .4% to their playoff chances, rising to 20.8%.

Toronto War Room news clipping

This is all I received, but its effect on the relationship between the NHL War Room in Toronto and the Columbus Blue Jackets could be profound:

Games that matter, 3/1/11

YESTERDAY: Whaddya know, both games resulted in help for the Columbus Blue Jackets' playoff chances.

• Detroit beat Los Angeles
• Chicago beat Minnesota

The playoff chances percentage is now up to 20.5%.

Trade deadline - Hair of the dog edition

Just a few thoughts in the wake of the 2011 NHL trade deadline...

• If Upshall makes $2.25 million and Lepisto makes $800,000, and Klesla makes $2.975 million, do the Columbus Blue Jackets REALLY qualify as buyers at this trade deadline?
• Considering the lack of salary additions (the CBJ are still $6.9 million under the salary cap), was it a matter of deals not there to be had or was it handcuffs from an ownership/business office still smarting from losing all of those season ticket holders?
• Which Blue Jackets players do you really think were in play yesterday?
• How are Kristian Huselius, Jake Voracek and Nikita Filatov all under contract with the CBJ this morning?  
• How long do you think that the TSN guys were on air before they started to feel kinda foolish, considering that next to nothing was actually happening?
• Why have I never heard anything good about John Michael Liles, yet so many NHL/CBJ fans were clamoring to get him?
• Did Versus have an NHL trade deadline show?  Of any length?
• Which Blue Jacket(s) do you think were breathing the biggest sighs of relief at 3PM yesterday?
• How much do you think that the Anton Stralman knee injury (out 3-4 weeks) in Nashville messed with Scott Howson's trade deadline strategy?
• After a month of really interesting trades, where did that adventurous spirit go yesterday?  
• Was Michael Chaput really the center that Scott Howson was talking about when he said, "We'd like to try and get another center, espeically with Derick (Brassard) hurt. Centers that are available are few and far between in this league."  Really?  Or might it have been Brad Richards, the Dallas center about whom I gather Howson made more than one inquiring phone call yesterday?
• Klesla needs to pass a physical today to complete the trade.  Should we be concerned?
• Should I really be surprised that I was able to get a nap in between 1PM and 2PM yesterday...and nothing happened while I was out?