Columbus Blue Jackets head coach signs and extension, Vegas takes on the Stanley Cup Champs, playoff beards in July and much more in this morning’s CBJ ICYMI.
The head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets is staying at least one more year after his current deal is done with. John Tortorella was given a contract extension through the 2018-2019 season.
Torts will head into his third season in Columbus with high expectations and a team that is poised to make a playoff run, but he still only a one-year extension. This could be because the front office feels that they do not have a big enough sample size of Torts with the CBJ to warrant a huge deal. Also, Torts has been known to wear out his welcome quickly in cities, so giving it more time before committing to Tortorella is probably the smart move here.
Related Story: Torts Gets One-Year Extension
Top 17 Jackets Series
Our top 17 Columbus Blue Jackets series continued as we near the Jackets’ 17th season in the NHL. Making the list at #11 is the earliest Jacket to make the list. Geoff Sanderson was the leader of the franchise as it came into the world and owns many of the CBJ’s firsts.
The forward scored the first hat trick in franchise history, as well as the first overtime goal. Sanderson is the first best Blue Jacket and he will live on in CBJ history for his scoring ability in the first years of the franchise.
Related Story: CBJ Greatest Players #11 - Geoff Sanderson
Playoff Beards in Columbus
It’s never to early to start dreaming of growing out your playoff beard. What a wonderful feeling to grow out, or attempt to grow, a manly face scarf as your Jackets enter the post season.
Ohio State football head coach Urban Meyer may feel the same way as he’s getting a head start on the competition already. The Ohio State Buckeyes are heavy favorites to make their third playoff and Urban is feeling confident, evident by his goatee and stubble at his first press conference of training camp today.
A goateed Urban Meyer spoke with media Monday evening as Ohio State rolls into preseason camp. https://t.co/CljdIlRHgo pic.twitter.com/q8oDJ8SUoc
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 1, 2017
Since the internet is awesome, @darth went on to Photoshop Urban in full lumberjack mode. This man looks like he has played pond hockey since he was three years old and can still deke you out of your jock.
Let’s hope Urban is rolling into game one of an Eastern Conference Finals at Nationwide Arena rocking this beautiful beard.
More Columbus Blue Jackets Links
- Our friends at The Cannon is running for a fun tournament, pitting fans’ favorites against each other to determine the true CBJ fan favorite. The first few games included some of the CBJ’s best mid-2000s players. You can read about all of the fun HERE.
- The Athletic is expanding more and more into CBJ content, and yesterday they released an article talking about the draft selection of Alexander Wennberg a few years ago. You can read about it HERE.
- What is going on with the NHL scheduling “Rivalry Night” games, that aren’t rivalry games? SB Nation’s Buffalo Sabres site, Die by the Blade, has more on the absurd Columbus vs. Buffalo rivalry matchup set for primetime.
- Adam Gretz at FanRag decided to talk about this big contract year that Boone Jenner faces this coming season. Will he succeed and get his payday or not? Read about it HERE.
- Finally, the Vegas Golden Knights‘ social media team just announced their presence. Pittsburgh talked a big game (as usual), but they could not back it up. VGK Twitter smacked them down. Check this beaut out for yourself.