Let me get it out of my system: “LUUUUUUUUUUU”. Thank God tonight’s game is not expected to feature my *favorite* Canuck Roberto “Pedestrian-Save” Luongo who helped lead Canada to a gold medal on Sunday evening. I thought Detroit fans were annoying with the constant “Oz-zie Oz-zie” during last year’s playoffs, but man, Vancouver fans, and Canadians in general have reached a level of stupid-fanhood when it comes to the seemingly incessant cheers for Lu.
7:00pm EST, Fox Sports Ohio, High Definition
NHL play resumes in earnest tonight, and this should be the final goodbye for fans to many CBJ upcoming free agents, most notably Raffi Torres who will almost certainly be on his way out of Columbus sometimes in the next 24 hours.
Frankly, I don’t know what to expect out of either team tonight as both had a large portion of their rosters participating in Vancouver. Here are the morning lines from Tom Reed:
Huselius-Vermette-Nash
Torres-Brassard-Voracek
Modin-Pahlsson-Umberger
Clark-Dorsett-BollRussell-Clitsome
Tyutin-Stralman
Hejda-MethotMason
Nothing too exciting except for the debut of Grant Clitsome, owner of the greatest last name in history. Supposedly Jurcina is actually injured and will sit out tonight, and of course Mike Commodore is still nursing a bruised ego after his far-below-expectations performances this season. If Torres, Modin, and Jurcina are indeed all on the move in the next day, it will alleviate the glut of wingers and should allow guys like Alex Picard, Mike Blunden, and maybe even Tom Sestito to show what they’ve got for 15+ games.
Puck Previews from around the internet:
- NHL.com: Canucks’ Road Trip Resumes
- Yahoo! Sports
- The Dispatch
Finally:
Good news guys, we’re still not eliminated! If the Blue Jackets go on a run of 17-2-0 reaching 94 points, they have a 75% chance at assuring themselves a spot in the top 8! Don’t stop believing… I guess.
GO JACKETS!!!!
