Columbus Blue Jackets Cheesin’ to Participate in Kraft Hockeyville

Sorry Columbus Blue Jackets fans, I had no choice but to write that title. It’s going to get worse.

Joonas Korpisalo and Jean-Francois Berube are hoping to not look like Swiss cheese as the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Buffalo Sabres in the annual Kraft Hockeyville preseason game. The Jackets have been curdled in three of their first four games in September and look to get back on track in Central New York.

The team will look to go top cheddar with a group of NHL level forwards. The Jackets, despite some solid talent on the last three teams that suited up, have been held to just four goals in those games. The offense will look to Munster up goals by an offense led by Artemi Panarin and Alexander Wennberg.

Along with Panarin and Wennberg, the Jackets will roll out Brandon Dubinsky, Liam Foudy, Jonathan Davidsson, Boone Jenner, Lukas Sedlak, Eric Robinson, Kevin Stenlund, Sam Vigneault, Josh Anderson and Anthony Duclair.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The team will look to Pepper Jack Eichel with hard hits and shut down the Sabres top line that also has former Carolina Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner. The Jackets defense hasn’t exactly looked Brie-lliant this preseason. The d-corps, led by Seth Jones will look to turn that around.

Joining Jones will be Dean Kukan and Gabriel Carlsson. The two, along with Scott Harrington, are gunning for the final defensive slot. Adam Clendening, David Savard, and Michael Prapevessis will round out the blue liners.

The organization has grated down the roster to only 32 players and Prapevessis remaining on the team has been one of the biggest surprises of training camp. I’d like to insert a joke about aging well but the kid is only 22 so its not like he’s developed a rind or anything.

Preseason Spectacle

All cheese jokes aside, it is a truly a fantastic event that the Jackets get to participate in. Clinton, New York won the nationwide competition and on top of hosting an NHL preseason game, the rink received $150,000 in upgrades.

The small town in Central New York has a population of just 2,000 but has a rich hockey history. The arena is on the National Register of Historic Places and portions of the movie Slapshot were filmed at the rink.

This fantastic celebration of small town hockey on top of a Columbus Blue Jackets game is a great way to spend a Tuesday night.  The game will be broadcast on national television starting at 7pm on NBCSN.