Union and Blue: The Rebuild

Mar 13, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) against the Edmonton Oilers at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets won 5-4 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

As you probably noticed this site pulled a Tiger Woods and withdrew from consideration for the past few months. That was until until this weekend when I was anointed new editor. I quickly tried to get some posts up as it was lottery day. A night that could have had a huge impact on the future of the Columbus Blue Jackets, with your Cbus crew having the 8th pick and a 6% chance of snagging Connor McDavid. The rest was a series of disturbing images that would have been too grotesque for a Saw film which was horrifyingly enough, broadcasted live on national television, scarring a future generation from believing that hard work results in greatness and great opportunity as the “Deserving” Edmonton Oilers won the lottery for the 4th time in 6 years. The agony is real here in our article from that day.

Those articles worked fine but do not reflect the amount of work and in-depth research the vision for this site requires. The due diligence and knowledge from this site have the bar set high and the articles and mixed media to come will articulate that mission statement. This, much like any new objective, won’t be perfected immediately. It will take some time and definitely the hours in the “film room” with effort to boot (we have Canadian readers right?).

Myself and the rest of the team, that will be rounded out here soon, are excited to strive and achieve that high standard to bring you the best possible Blue Jackets coverage available. Ok maybe 2nd best available….is it really feasible to be better than the team run site? We’ll find out. It won’t be a carbon copy of the content you get elsewhere. That would become monotonous, repetitive and honestly we don’t have the resources to dabble in the way NHL.com, The Columbus Dispatch or the Blue Jackets site themselves can.

Due to those constraints we have to be more creative in the ideas we can feed to you. Yes, we’ll obviously discuss the games but it will be from a different prospective and explore more in depth possibilities. Their objectivity sometimes leads to a weakness for them, something we’re ready to pounce upon. Be prepared to come to the site with an open mind and we’ll do our best to reward that. (Did I mention we have an interview coming up with the Zamboni itself! Just wait till you hear it go off on one of it’s historic rants about the visuals and actions its endured.).

This is only the beginning. We can’t wait to start showcasing all the exciting new innovative (and interactive) experiences we’ll be bringing to the site, along with the standard staples you expect from a team coverage website. We’ll have weekly recaps (a preview version of the Ice Cap is available here for this past weekend), Mock Draft and game discussions (like this one from yesterday), player profiles, a Brian Gibbons watch (a man so unique Wikipedia had to list him as Brian Gibbons – hockey player AND born 1988!), roundtable discussions (who should be our Team Ambassador?) and much more. With content coming at you this week that includes; Rear Mirror Glance: 3 Years and a Franchise Altering Trade, positional exploration, Mock Draft coverage, A View from the Cheap Seats: CBJ Playoff Takeaways from Couch Viewing … maybe even some fun with Stinger. Be prepared to engage in the conversation via twitter, fantasy leagues, mock drafts, mailbags, podcasts, events, and (possibly ticket?) giveaways.  This site is for you, made by writers like you (are we going to get sued for basically ripping off PBS there?).

Welcome to the new voice of the Columbus Blue Jackets. We’re so elated to be here and hope you hop on to ride this incredible journey with us. If nothing else it will be an entertaining thrill that hopefully completes your Blue Jackets coverage while honestly and thoroughly representing you as the voice of the fan. So honored to have you on board.