The Jacketsblog: An Unofficial Columbus Blue Jackets Blog

If you thought it was all a dream up to this point, this might help it feel more real:

Not bad for the first attempt marketing department.

That logo came out today as the Blue Jackets announced the sale policies for the playoffs:

COLUMBUS, OHIO — In the event the Columbus Blue Jackets qualify for the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, individual game tickets for all first round home playoff games at Nationwide Arena will go on sale Saturday, April 11 at 9 a.m., the club announced March 25. Game dates will be announced the evening of April 12 with Stanley Cup Playoff games scheduled to begin on Wednesday, April 15.

Fortunately my flag carrying friend has locked up our tickets by becoming season ticket holders for next season (woo!). Those who are not so fortunate will apprecaite this:

The club also announced that 250 Huntington Green Seats and a minimum of 200 Rush CBJ presented by Raising Cane’s student tickets will be available for all playoff rounds. Huntington Green Seats will be priced at $20 for first round games and $30 for the second round, while Rush CBJ student tickets will be priced at $30 in the first round and $35 in the second round. Prices in subsequent rounds and complete on-sale details for both programs will be announced at a later date.

BlueJackets.com

Puck-rakers had some interesting info from practice today:

Speaking of staying in the lineup don’t look for a change in goal any time soon. Hitch says he has no plans to rest Steve Mason this weekend despite the back-to-back games with St.Louis.

Mase won’t be getting any rest until a playoff spot is assured, or maybe not even until the season is over…

Hitchcock spoke about the team’s need to stay positive on the power play, which ranks last at 12.4 percent. He says when it fails early — a frequent occurrence — the team loses energy with the man advantage. He addressed the team on the very topic today. “The good ones stay with it longer.”

This of course referring to the greatest power play known to man… haha. You can’t disagree with the man, as soon as the Jackets are awarded the power play, there is the initial excitement, but then everyone, including the team, remembers how bad the power play is. Here’s hoping for some improvement and some overall confidence.

Puck-rakers on The Dispatch.com

The management of the Lightning has turned their team into a bigger joke than the Jackets may have ever been. I don’t get how you go from Stanley Cup Champion to Lottery Contender in a few years… maybe that whole ‘work stoppage’ or maybe a part of pro sports I don’t completely understand.

The Jackets look to finish their 18-game Eastern Conference slate with the 2nd worst team in the East. The Blue Jacket have DOMINATED the East this season posting the best inter-conference record of all Western Teams (13-3-1) with an even more impressive 5-0-0 against the Southeast Division; Minnesota is the only other team to dominate the Southeast like the Jackets have, they posted a 6-0-0 record that the CBJ will try to match tonight.

A big reason for the outstanding record is the defensive play of the team and goaltending. Steve Mason has posted 3 of his 9 shutouts against the Southeast and has only allowed 1 goal in the two other victories… if that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is.

This is definitely a trap game for the Jackets as they tend to play down to their opponents level and the Bolts trail the Jackets in Goals For, Goals Against, and Penalty Killing; but surprise surprise their power play is better, and significantly: ranked 18th at 18.6% (that’s more than 6% better than the Jackets)

The Lightning come in having lost 3 in a row (2 in a shootout) so they aren’t getting blown out in games, but like I already mentioned, this is an East vs. West game, and a pretty dominating Western team at that… feels kinda weird to say that.

CARRY THE FLAG

What can we say? It was not more than a few seconds after I was discussing how Vokun would be the NHL’s #1 Star of the night with a 30+ save shutout of the Blue Jackets that Raffi Torres happened.

I wanted to post the game highlights video from NHL.com but embedding somehow doesn’t work between the NHL.com video player and WordPress… if anyone has any idea how to get that to work, I’d really appreciate your assistance.

The Jackets owned the game for the first 15 minutes then suddenly gave up momentum to the Panthers, allowing 6 straight shots and giving up the first goal of the game making it 1-0 Florida.

The 2nd period wore on, and on, and on, and as the 3rd period seemed to be going nowhere Raffi Torres struck twice to change the Jackets fortunes.

Raffi, Raffi, sweet like taffy

This win came completely out of nowhere as it seemed like the CBJ were ready to be quietly put down in a listless effort. But showing this level of resiliency was HUGE for the Jackets playoff hopes.

Speaking of that…

The Jackets are now within 3 points of 4th/5th place and have 2 games remaining with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Canucks began their 6 game road trip, previously mentioned, that really could be make or break when it comes to playoff seating.

Not a good way to start a road trip…

More importantly the Jackets are ever so close to ‘realistically’ clinching a spot in the playoffs. The St. Louis Blues are now 7 points behind the CBJ with 10 games remaining. If the Jackets finish the season 5-5, St. Louis would have to go 9-1 to pass the Jackets and take over a playoff spot. While nothing is guaranteed at this point. Its pretty nice to know we have a coach and team in place that is finally going to deliver, barring a New York Mets-like meltdown.

So in summation, 8 more points all but guarantees a playoff spot, but preferably 92 points which will indeed lock up a spot in the post season for the first time in the Jackets history.

News broke Thursday evening that C Derick Brassard could potentially return to the CBJ line-up if the Jackets not only make the playoffs but, make it through to the second round.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves here,” Howson said. “But if we were able to make it into the playoffs and get into the second round, yes, there’s a chance Derick could be a player for us.

“But he’s not going to play before May. There’s no way he plays before May.”

-Puck-rakers Blog on The Dispatch.com

Not completely sure how I feel about this. We’ve seen how long it has taken some older more injured members of the team to get back into the swing of things upon return. I don’t like throwing something this young with this bright of a future back into the line-up, possibly disrupting chemistry, in the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, the talent infusion would allow for even more “competitive depth” and possibly make the Jackets actually contend for the Western Conference title….

As for the remaining schedule, the Jackets got by one of their toughest remaining home games on Wednesday and go on the road to Florida followed by Tampa Bay. Playing the Panthers could be a tougher game than expected, but if the CBJ continues it’s success against the Southeast Division (4-0), and the East in general (12-3-1), the Jackets could be sitting pretty in less than one week’s time.

After checking those stats versus the Eastern Conference, the Jackets are tied for the most wins versus the East (12) out of the entire Western Conference (San Jose has 12)

There is going to an “Over 18″ night in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL will have a “feast for the eyes” (both male and female) and an open bar at their March 24th game:

On Tuesday night, March 24, the Wranglers will have their “Over 18″ Night when they host the Alaska Aces. The face-off (9:05 p.m. locally) is 90 minutes later than usual, with an open bar for $20 starting at 7:30 p.m. and two-for-one drinks for fans 21-and-older throughout the game. San Francisco video artist Mike Relm, who recently toured with Blue Man Group and provided remixes for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, will provide live music.

-Puck Daddy