Fan Fest is today!

The Columbus Blue Jackets pre- preseason whips into a frenzy this afternoon at Nationwide Arena as the CBJ's (first?) preseason Fan Fest runs from 4-9PM.  

If you're a Blue Jackets fan, I will accept no excuses for missing this incredible opportunity to get up close and personal with players, coaches and team management.  By that I mean Q&A's, photos, autographs and more.

You literally will not be able to be in enough places at once at this jam-packed event, so take a few minutes to review the schedule carefully and plot your adventure out for maximum benefit.

Also, this is the first opportunity for those who were not able to partake in any of the countless "exclusive" presales to grab single-game CBJ tickets.  I've already picked mine up, but surely some of you need an extra game or two...right?

Hope to see you there!  I'll have the Dark Blue Toddler in tow, so you'll be more likely to find me ice skating with him or watching him stomp around the bounce house than standing in line for autographs or hanging on Scott Howson's every word.  You do whatcha gotta do...

An open letter to NHL Home Ice's Mick Kern

Mick Kern is, in my opinion, one of the best on-air voices at
XM's NHL Home Ice channel.  But what's his beef with
Columbus?

Dear Mr. Kern:

First, let me start on a very positive note.  I greatly enjoy your work on XM Satellite Radio's NHL Home Ice channel.  Your run on "The War Room" has made my mid-morning travels around Central Ohio much more entertaining, and I've learned a lot about the history and sport of hockey through your excitable (dare I say manic?  madcap?) approach to your show.  I'm still enjoying your work on "Hockey Today" but admit I prefer the fast-action stylings of your "War Room" work a little more.  Still, I always perk up when I hear you on the air.

It's come to my attention over the past couple of weeks that you've fired the proverbial cannon shot over the bow of my beloved Columbus Blue Jackets.  To paraphrase, you're suggesting that Columbus is a poor hockey market and that that team would be better off relocating to Cleveland.  I also understand that other Blue Jackets fans have done their part to excoriate you and your Habs-loving soul for these transgressions.  (I also note that you're supporting the movement of the CBJ to the Eastern Conference, a wise move if there ever was one.)

Promotional shilling

In case you didn't notice, the DBJ blog has built a couple strategic promotional partnerships with shop.nhl.com and SportsAuthority.com.  Doing so allows this blog to do a couple of things:

These folks recognize the value of sporting their NHL colors.  Except for
the guy on the left.  But he skipped town.  (And what in the world would
possess someone to buy that O-for-OOOgly Colorado third?

1. Provide you with access to the best and most thorough online collections of Columbus Blue Jackets gear that I can find.  Combine those two with the DBJ Shop from Amazon, and you've pretty much covered the landscape through one blog portal.  And by all means, do not overlook the SportsAuthority.com Fan Shop's CBJ section.  They have some great items that I've never seen anywhere else. And their overall sporting goods selection is mighty fine, too.
2. Give you access to special promotions of interest to you as NHL, CBJ and hockey fans. As I'm typing this, note the right-hand column has a little promotions section with a Labor Day sale at shop.nhl.com and a deep discount at SportsAuthority.com on inline skates - not to mention the overall shopping discount at SportsAuthority.com.  Note that these are short-term promotions, so get 'em while they're hot.

Part II: The Dark Blue Jacket's Definitive History of the CBJ

The MacLeanian Epoch - The Early Deludian Period

The Columbus Blue Jackets 'Stinger' logo

As we rejoin our Dark Blue Jacket History of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Doug MacLean has successfully sprouted an NHL franchise where none existed before.  There is no doubt that this is a significant accomplishment.  After an inaugural season with 26 sell outs, the fan base is excited, which results in the sell out of all the home games in the second season.  41 sellout games.  Take note Winnipeg!  Like the inexorable Greek tragedy, pride here goes before the fall.

An editorial side note here on the structure of this history.  From the structure of  the first post, one might assume I would go year by year citing the statistics, which would be tedious at best.  This post encompasses NHL years 2001-02 to 2003-04, in other words, this span of time goes from the second year of the franchise, to the Ice Age, aka the lockout.

The MacLeanian Epoch was not all doom and gloom.  Indeed, as always, the off season brought a new hope (he resists the urge to insert a Star Wars graphic).  Players were often 'going to take a step'  and fans often felt a personal affection for our few young players.  The draft was the only way to infuse talent into a talent challenged organization, and the fans often liked the 'upside' that young players would have.  In other words, it had not yet been proven that the young players were in over their heads.  The term 'player development' was unheard of, and the concept was foreign.

The KHL plane crash

As most of you who read this already know, all but one member of the Kontinental Hockey League's Lokomotiv team perished today in a plan crash in Russia.

I really don't have any profound thoughts or analysis on this event, but it seems appropriate to offer something, anything, on this tragic day.

All I can do is express my profound sadness and sympathies for those left behind.  What a terrible tragedy.

The Johansen quandary (Part II)

In Part I, I established the issue at hand and did a little depth chart engineering to see where Ryan Johansen might fit into the Columbus Blue Jackets' lineup.  I'll try to wrap this matter up with some thoughts about what I think would be in Johansen's best professional development interests as an apparently elite young talent in the Columbus Blue Jackets system.

Ryan Johansen appears to be an amazing talent, but is playing
for the Columbus Blue Jackets right now in his best interests?

So let's establish some foundational points:

1. Ryan Johansen is 19 years old.  He plays center at an outstanding level for his age, as demonstrated by his 40 goals and 52 assists over 62 major junior hockey games last year for the Portland Winterhawks.
2. Ryan Johansen's professional rights are held by the Columbus Blue Jackets.  It is presumed that he will play for the Blue Jackets at some point in his professional career.
3. Ryan Johansen cannot play at the American Hockey League level in 2011-12, meaning that he can play in major juniors again or in the National Hockey League.  
4. I am writing from a position where I am trying to offer insights in Ryan Johansen's best interests.  Where that coincides with the Blue Jackets, all the better.  I believe that if Johansen is developed prudently, he will be a positive force for the Blue Jackets for years to come.  
5. If Johansen comes to camp and plays to a level where it is impossible to keep him out of the lineup, all bets are off.

That being said, let's dive in.

The Detroit Red Wings are descending into Hell

Why stop at "almost as prominently"?

Don't ask me why...ask one of their fan blogs:

The Red Wings have signed a contract with Amway, the Ada, Mich. based pyramid scheme, to let this company become the Red Wings’ “presenting sponsor”. That includes having Amway plastered all over every possible surface, right down to (in the words of the official team press release) “the Amway logo seen almost as prominently as the Winged Wheel in all team advertising, branding and marketing materials.” 

Cannonfest Note

The Columbus Blue Jackets have obligingly posted a real nice note about Cannonfest, along with Skraut's videos.  Check it out.

The Dark Blue Jacket's Definitive History of the CBJ

We here at the Dark Blue Jacket are eagerly awaiting the beginning of training camp, and of course, dying for content, just like everyone else.  When the words 'storied franchise' are spoken, the Columbus Blue Jackets is not the franchise that comes to mind.  But with the beginning of our second decade in the NHL, we have a history.  For better or worse.  So it seems appropriate at this time to review where we have been.  With that in mind, we bring you The Dark Blue Jackets Definitive History of the CBJ, a multi-part series designed to tide us over to the start of training camp.  Sure hope this works, the waiting is killing me.

The Inaugural Season - Our Lovable Bums

The Columbus Blue Jackets initial team logo

The first season of the Columbus Blue Jackets had arrived for the 2000-01 NHL season. The NHL has come to Columbus, Ohio!   You can still smell the new car smell in Nationwide arena.  The team ends the season with 28 wins - 39 Losses, and 9 ties and 6 overtime games for a total of 71 points.  It would be 2005-06 before we saw another CBJ team achieve that point total.  This was good for a tie for 4th in the Central Division, and 13th in the Western Conference.

Many Blue Jackets fans still think of this period with a sort of soft, fuzzy feeling.  The team rallied late in the season with an all out, team effort game in spite of their noticeable lack of talent.  Ron Tugnutt sets a record for most wins by an expansion franchise goalie.  This team won the admiration of their fans for their pluck, and their effort.  It was long before those good feelings wore off.  Doug MacLean, the President and General Manager had pulled off a significant accomplishment.  The launching of an NHL franchise in a place that had only seen minor league hockey in the past.

A good time was had by all!

DBJ's thoughts on recent, tragic NHL-related events

A year ago, it was Bob Probert.  This spring, it was Derek Boogaard.  This summer it was Rick Rypien.  Yesterday, it was Wade Belak.

Wade Belak - husband, father of two - passed away yesterday

All four were tough guys in the National Hockey League.  All four are no longer with us.

To try to draw any additional threads between the four deaths is likely an exercise in futility.  These gentlemen all had their own lives, experiences, influences and physical/mental conditions with which to deal.

So when people use these events as platforms from which to spout exclamatories of Undeniable Truth, I roll my eyes.

No one factor killed these men.  It's never that simple.  It was a combination of influences, each differing in the combinations and influences.