Ice Cap: Your Weekend Blue Jackets Coverage

Apr 8, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nationwide Arena. The Jackets won 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Other News

The Edmonton Oilers won the draft lottery (again…). Our views are well documented here. The Blue Jackets won’t move from their prior pre-lottery pick at 8. The big losers are the Phoenix Coyotes, who while they weren’t going to get star prize Connor McDavid, would be getting the other agreed upon franchise generational talent, Jack Eichel, prior to the lottery. Now that the Oilers have moved up to 1st, the Buffalo Sabers to 2nd (not great but Eichel isn’t a sad consolation prize), Arizona falls out of the once a decade type players realm. That said the mocks are starting to come out and the debate on what the Jackets should do has already begun.

Sportsnet’s Damien Cook’s mock has the Jackets taking the best available with RW Mikko Rantanen from Finland stating, “A left handed shot who prefers to play his off-wing, Rantanen played to favourable reviews at the world junior championships. Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen will have all the necessary background info.” Would have hoped for a little better reasoning than this, especially letting us know that our GM will have all the necessary background info, something I would have assumed would go without saying as this hardly gets me excited when that’s the best words you can use to describe a player.

One from Draftsite and one from Bleacher Report both have your Union and Blue addressing need taking D Ivan Provorov from the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. Neither have any commentary on the pick so let’s go back to Damien Cook for a redemption. He has Provorov going to the Philadelphia Flyers with the 7th pick and has this to say, “A sloppy back end requires help, and many scouts believe Provorov has the tools to step right into the NHL next season. Not as big as Hanifan, but strong and savvy with the puck.” Much better Damien. I’m not a big fan of drafting need over best available but in the case of Provorov there wouldn’t be an argument. He has flashed a solid all around game showcasing the instincts, size and speed to make a successful transition to the big leagues. We’ll profile him more as we get more in depth with the prospects and closer to the draft.

Today marks the one year anniversary of the Blue Jackets winning their first playoff game. I’ll let the video do the rest of the talking.

One last thing before we preview the week. Our twitter reporter Stephen Strohminger pointed out last night that former Blue Jacket D James Wisniewski has been a healthy scratch in both of the Anaheim Ducks‘ playoff games so far. Wisniewski was traded to the Ducks near the deadline for a 1 round move up (Jackets gets Ducks’ 2nd rounder and Ducks get Jackets’ 3rd), RW veteran Rene Bourque, who had 4 goals in 8 games for the Jackets (including a game winner against the Calgary Flames) and 22 year old wing prospect William Karlsson, who had 2 points (a goal and an assist) in 3 games of action for the Jackets. Wisniewski was brought on board to help solidify the blueline for the Ducks’ Cup push but so far hasn’t seen any ice. Come join our conversation here and maybe you can be a twitter reporter in an upcoming article.

On the docket for next week (or beyond):

An intro piece about myself, the new team, and plans for the site moving forward.
A look at some of the prospects that could be heading to Cbus.
A nightly recap of takeways the Blue Jackets should be paying attention to in the playoffs.
Has it been 3 Years? A look back at the Rick Nash deal, and so much more.

Your Sunday Funday:

I asked on Twitter, what everyone’s thoughts on Nash were (after he scored a meaningless goal for the New York Rangers). Most seemed indifferent or were able to put their hatred for Nash below their hatred for the Pittsburgh Penguins, until this one. “Nash is garbage and I hope he never wins anything. And while I’m at it, St Louis is a crybaby who also betrayed his team.”

Always ending on a high note.