OFFICIAL Columbus Blue Jackets Thread

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Blue Jackets notebook
Foote hopes to sign contract extension

Thursday, February 21, 2008 3:21 AM
By Aaron Portzline


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

OTTAWA -- Blue Jackets captain Adam Foote has made a decision: He wants to stay put.
After meeting with general manager Scott Howson in recent days, Foote has expressed his desire to sign a contract extension with the Blue Jackets rather than risk being traded at Tuesday's NHL trade deadline.
"I want to be here," Foote said. "That's been made clear to Scotty by both me and my agent (Rick Curran). To my understanding, Scott Howson wants me to be here, too. So there we go."

Continued......

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Blue Jackets
Shootout victory boosts spirits
Nash, Zherdev score; Leclaire makes two stops on East-leading Senators
Friday, February 22, 2008 3:07 AM
By Aaron Portzline


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
SEAN KILPATRICK | THE CANADIAN PRESS
Blue Jackets Gilbert Brule, top, and Nikolai Zherdev celebrate a goal by Sergei Fedorov.


OTTAWA -- On Wednesday, the Blue Jackets' coaching staff left the players to practice by themselves, hoping their absence -- if only for a few hours -- would change the dressing-room dynamic into that of a more resilient, tight-knit group.
"Yeah, it was risky," coach Ken Hitchcock said last night. "But I had to make the call. And I thought we had reached that point in our season."

Continued......

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Jackets notebook: Lightning's Richards emerges in trade talk

Friday, February 22, 2008 3:08 AM
By Aaron Portzline


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Sean Kilpatrick Associated Press
Anton Volchenkov of the Senators whacks Jiri Novotny of the Blue Jackets in the first period.



OTTAWA -- The Blue Jackets are among a handful of NHL clubs trying to trade for Tampa Bay Lightning center Brad Richards, sources told The Dispatch.
The Lightning's willingness to trade Richards, a high-scoring 27-year-old, was first reported Wednesday by Canadian cable network TSN. Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson would not comment on the team's interest in Richards, but two independent NHL sources confirmed it.

Continued.....

[CCI]

Originally Posted by OSUBasketballJunkie

Dispatch

the kick ass win over one of the NHL's best proved it. Way to go CBJ, lets make the road trip a winner.

[Bucky Katt]

I am officially giving up on trying to predict what this team will do. I'm at a loss.

[h0bb3s]

Good win by the Blue Jackets. It also helped my other hockey team the Pens so I was very happy. Good defensive effort as Ottawa has the best offense in the league.

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by h0bb3s

Good defensive effort as Ottawa has the best offense in the league.

ummmm right.....you have 7 more goals than Detroit and you play the majority of your games against really [censored]ty teams in the East......

But yes it was a good defensive effort by the Jackets. I'm with Mr. Katt, I can't figure these guys out either. In about 10 days, they've gone out and completely outplayed Detroit and Ottawa while losing to crappy teams like Toronto and Chicago and LA....

It's mind-boggling.....

[Brutus1]

Originally Posted by lvbuckeye

what are you talking about? they're tied for the 9 spot right now with Phoenix, and have the head to head tie-breaker against them... yeah, as of today they're a point out, but the entire southeast still has to play each other, and at least two of them will get knocked out. realistically, the Jackets are still looking at the 8 seed, and possibly the 7. given the fact that they collectively lost twice as many games as they won the first 6 seasons or whatever, i think that maybe we shouldn't be throwing in the towel so soon when they're still very much in the mix.

[censored], i hate the Ohio sports fan's loser's metality.

What am I talking about? It's called being realistic. Looking at NHL standings is not like other sports. It's not that simple. Sure, right now they're only 5 points from the 8 spot. But, the 5 teams ahead and 1 behind all have 2-3 games in hand. That's a killer.

I wasn't saying throw in the towel. I only said they should listen to offers for Foote(or Federov) that would make the team better in the long run. They should get decent deals for one or both of them. You get rid of 2 guys and pick up 4 or more guys that provide valuable depth for this year and the future. Sure, making the playoffs would be nice, but better to set the team up to be in the playoffs year in and out.

They already have one of the best left wingers and goalies in the NHL. If you can add depth with decent players without getting rid of young players, I say make that leap, even if it means missing out on the playoffs one last time.

[censored], I hate Nevada sports fans and their myopic mentality.

[ScriptOhio]

WTF: The Columbus Blue Jackets are one of the teams very interested in acquiring center Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sources tell TFP the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks are also interested in Richards, while TSN's Darren Dreger claims the Blue Jackets are considered the frontrunner for the 27-year-old.

Entire article: The Fourth Period :: Columbus Blue Jackets :: Blue Jackets pursuing Richards

Also: TSN : TSN?TALENT - Canada's Sports Leader

The Hockey News: Adam Proteau's Blog: THN.com Blog: Richards and Tortorella on the hot seat in Tampa

[h0bb3s]

Well Brad Richards is a good Center and would be a definite upgrade. I'm not sure what Tampa would want from Columbus. Team is kind of on the bubble right now, do they sell their players for next year....or try for the playoffs this year. They way they have played lately, I'm not sure either.

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by ScriptOhio

WTF: The Columbus Blue Jackets are one of the teams very interested in acquiring center Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sources tell TFP the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks are also interested in Richards, while TSN's Darren Dreger claims the Blue Jackets are considered the frontrunner for the 27-year-old.

Entire article: The Fourth Period :: Columbus Blue Jackets :: Blue Jackets pursuing Richards

Also: TSN : TSN?TALENT - Canada's Sports Leader

The Hockey News: Adam Proteau's Blog: THN.com Blog: Richards and Tortorella on the hot seat in Tampa

I'm not surprised. Richards is the guy who centered the Richards, LeCavlier, St. Louis line which was essentially unstoppable the year they won the Cup down there.

He's only 27 and could be a long term player for the CBJ. I would want him on the Wings, but they have cap issues as it is.....

Originally Posted by h0bb3s

Well Brad Richards is a good Center and would be a definite upgrade. I'm not sure what Tampa would want from Columbus. Team is kind of on the bubble right now, do they sell their players for next year....or try for the playoffs this year. They way they have played lately, I'm not sure either.

If they can get a guy like Brad Richards and team him with Rick Nash and also sign him to a long term deal, you do it. He's only 27. If they can lock him for for 4 or 5 years it's absolutely worth it. Add to that he's another scorer on a team in desperate need of another scorer and shooter on the power play.

[Bucky Katt]

$7M+ for a guy with a -25 this season? -19 last season? I'm not sure I want this guy at that price. He'd obviously be a help on the power play, but he only has 23 even strength points in 61 games this season. An upgrade over the existing center situation, no doubt, but at what price?

No, I don't think I would like this move, almost regardless of what they'd be trading.


I'd gladly have the CBJ take Vincent Lecavalier off their hands, though.

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by Bucky Katt

$7M+ for a guy with a -25 this season? -19 last season? I'm not sure I want this guy at that price. He'd obviously be a help on the power play, but he only has 23 even strength points in 61 games this season. An upgrade over the existing center situation, no doubt, but at what price?

No, I don't think I would like this move, almost regardless of what they'd be trading.


I'd gladly have the CBJ take Vincent Lecavalier off their hands, though.

And he also hasn't had anyone near the talent of Martin St. Louis on his line most of the year.

Tampa sucks - I mean they best goalie this year has a .892 save percentage. Think of the CBJ in the 2001 season or so. The -25 isn't a worry as much as if he was missing a ton of games (he hasn't) or if he was the only one with such a huge deficit (there are a couple negative teens on the team as well). That just means he's out on the ice quite a bit when their crappy goal tending has hurt them.

Again I'd do this deal in a heartbeat especially if the CBJ can lock him up long term and do it without giving Tampa their very best prospects. Put him on a line with Nash and watch them go.

I don't think there will be another center of this talent level out on the FA market this year and anyone at Syracuse is at least a year away if not 2 or more....

Just saying, the CBJ need to do SOMETHING. Eventually they need to take a chance or they'll continue to wallow in 9th - 12th place in the West.

[Bucky Katt]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeMike80

And he also hasn't had anyone near the talent of Martin St. Louis on his line most of the year.

Tampa sucks - I mean they best goalie this year has a .892 save percentage. Think of the CBJ in the 2001 season or so. The -25 isn't a worry as much as if he was missing a ton of games (he hasn't) or if he was the only one with such a huge deficit (there are a couple negative teens on the team as well). That just means he's out on the ice quite a bit when their crappy goal tending has hurt them.

Again I'd do this deal in a heartbeat especially if the CBJ can lock him up long term and do it without giving Tampa their very best prospects. Put him on a line with Nash and watch them go.

I don't think there will be another center of this talent level out on the FA market this year and anyone at Syracuse is at least a year away if not 2 or more....

Just saying, the CBJ need to do SOMETHING. Eventually they need to take a chance or they'll continue to wallow in 9th - 12th place in the West.

I very well could be wrong about Richards. I haven't seen Tampa play recently. But $7.8M is a lot of money to this organization. And I believe he's already locked up through 2010-11, which means 3 more years with that contract.

I dunno. I'm hesitant about free agents and trades after seeing the results of some of Maclean's moves. So many guys have come in here and done nothing.

And I'm just not completely sold on the numbers. Obviously +/- doesn't tell the whole story, but he's had just two seasons on the plus side. One being 03-04 when he was +14, the 2nd best being a +3 in 02-03. He was also even for 05-06. -19 last year and -25 this season.

Still better than any other center they have, but I guess I'd rather see 2 $4M players rather than one $8M player.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see, eh?

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by Bucky Katt

I very well could be wrong about Richards. I haven't seen Tampa play recently. But $7.8M is a lot of money to this organization. And I believe he's already locked up through 2010-11, which means 3 more years with that contract.

I dunno. I'm hesitant about free agents and trades after seeing the results of some of Maclean's moves. So many guys have come in here and done nothing.

And I'm just not completely sold on the numbers. Obviously +/- doesn't tell the whole story, but he's had just two seasons on the plus side. One being 03-04 when he was +14, the 2nd best being a +3 in 02-03. He was also even for 05-06. -19 last year and -25 this season.

Still better than any other center they have, but I guess I'd rather see 2 $4M players rather than one $8M player.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see, eh?

I can understand being gun-shy. MaClean should have been fired at least two years before he was but that's just my opinion. The contract is a killer but Fedorov is making over $6 million right now for 28 total points. Richards has more assists than that total.

Just saying, it can be done. That and I don't see Fedorov coming back after this year anyway, so the cap room will be mostly freed up.