In sports, hope is the absolute worst.
Trust me. I’m a Browns fan. It sucks.
Just when you think your team is ready to not stomp all over your soul and make you believe they’re good when they don't actually stink…a new season begins and you feel differently. You feel like this year might be different than the last 15. But you’re dead wrong.
The Blue Jackets are starting to make good on many years of hope that got the mailer-daemon treatment. For almost a decade, hope was a curse word. Missed draft picks, squandered opportunities, bad coaching and suspect player personnel decisions (sound like the Browns?) led to one of the more disarrayed states of being I can remember. Five years ago, everything seemed to go wrong for the Blue Jackets.
Where do we start?
- A group of fans held a rally outside the front door of the arena, demanding that their top executives be fired.
- They were on the verge of trading the best player to ever wear their sweater.
- They had finished near the bottom. Again.
- There was a lockout coming, and it cost the franchise its first-ever chance to host the NHL All-Star Game.
If you can remember back that far, you can remember one thing: it was brutal.
But as the new season sits now five days away, there’s a different feeling. The organization, from the top down, has its collective shit together. They have a head coach driving the team in the right direction, a man who will stop at nothing to see his players reach levels they didn’t know they had.
The Blue Jackets are out of their comfort zone after years of operating in it. And they're thriving.
Their fans no longer have to hope for success. They can now expect it. What they should hope for, though, is that what they saw last year is only the beginning of a new era in the franchise’s young existence.
Farewell, Friend
Tim Magnuson was born to be a friend.
He had a presence and an ability to make you feel like you’d known each other for years. In simpler terms, he cared about people.
Losing Tim to a vile and relentless disease this past week was a punch to the gut. Those who knew him well had known for a while that he was up against something fierce, but knowing he has lost the battle is hard to take. I spent parts of six years working with the Blue Jackets (as a part-timer, then a full-timer) and came to know Timmy as a friend. I looked forward to seeing him every night and I looked forward to giving him that fist-bump after wins. I looked forward to commiserating after losses.
If he met you once, he remembered your name forever.
He wasn’t from here, but Columbus became home for Timmy. Nationwide Arena was his extended home and the Blue Jackets were his extended family. We all loved him and admired the enthusiasm with which he approached his life, and even more so when he was faced with this great challenge and met it head-on: the only way he knew.
It brought me such joy and comfort to see how the Blue Jackets embraced Timmy. They gave him an experience he would never forget with the people he loved to watch every single night. I hope they give him an incredible tribute on Friday night. I’ll think of him every time I walk through those doors.
Seeing Tim fight ALS was emotional, but inspiring. It’s a testament to a life that while short, was well-lived, and that even in dire circumstances in the face of unthinkable adversity, Tim marched on.
I’ll miss you, my friend. God speed.
Uncertainty Reigns
Hands up if you thought Nick Foligno would be playing center to open the season.
Is it a good thing? For the time being, but long term? The Blue Jackets need to address this.
I know, they lost William Karlsson in the expansion draft. That’s a tough one. Karlsson wasn’t an offensive weapon but he chewed up important minutes and gave the Blue Jackets depth down the middle. They no longer have that and haven’t been able to close a deal with Colorado for Matt Duchene, so Foligno (who has limited experience at center) is going to center one of the team’s top three lines.
Josh Anderson is still unsigned. Both sides are dug in. The agent isn’t doing his client any favors and murmurs of a trade request haven’t made the court of public opinion any kinder to the player. The Blue Jackets are known for being tough but fair negotiatiors — in this situation, they technically have all the leverage — and they have history on their side after getting a team-friendly deal with Ryan Johansen three years ago.
But is this situation one in which both sides should wiggle a bit and get it done?
Darren Ferris has said the Blue Jackets are trying to "embarrass" his client. Sorry, Darren, but I call bullshit.
The Blue Jackets traded a first-round pick (a big deal for a small-market, budget team) to the Vegas Golden Knights just to keep your client in their possession. A first-round pick to tell George McPhee to lay off. Seems they think quite highly of the player, right? Doesn’t make any sense for them to “embarrass” someone they like an awful lot.
They are well within their right to send a message to the agent, an agent that has another problematic situation on his hands with the Detroit Red Wings and Andreas Athanasiou. It’s almost like there’s a pattern developing. Weird.
There will be plenty of new faces in the Blue Jackets’ opening night lineup, and some of have earned it. Sonny Milano has looked great. Pierre-Luc Dubois is well on his way, even if he starts the year on left wing. He’ll be a center down the road, but he can help the Blue Jackets at wing. No worries.
Oliver Bjorkstrand looks to be more confident. So there’s reason to believe the Blue Jackets can make it through their first month with a decent record and hang in the race, but man…this screams “Duchene.” They need more offense.
One player they don't need to worry about? This guy.
Sergei Bobrovsky? Good. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/K8TGMsTbUU
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 1, 2017
Setting the Stage
This is a big week in hockey and a big week at 1st Ohio Battery.
We've added a new teammate in Kyle Morrison. Kyle and I worked together at the Blue Jackets and he has experience in the NFL and NHL. He will be a great addition to an already-strong team here and I'm pumped to have him here.
In addition, here's some Monday morning reading material:
- Brandon Dubinsky looks like he's ready to go. Good news.
- Sergei Bobrovsky closed out the preseason in style.
- The Blue Jackets are "very much in it" when it comes to Duchene.
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