Hello to all of my fellow CBJ nuts! I hope this off season has been as exciting for all of you as it has been for me. In this time of change it is important to not forget the past. I am sure that ALL of you were as touched during the 2008-2009 season with the story of Ryan Salmons. His couragous fight was watched by all CBJ fans that were AMAZED by the way the team and organization as a whole came to his side so he was never alone during this battle. The way that the players, especially Jason Chimera and Manny Malhotra, became friends with this young man and gave Ryan the strength that he needed to fight for his life was something special to watch from afar.
I had the GREAT pleasure to meet Ryan the night of April 23rd 2009, during the CBJ's last playoff game. My wife and I had purchased a special "playoff" puck for our 9 year old son. My wife spotted Ryan sitting on the other side of the arena and we felt that we MUST go and meet him and tell him how much we admired him. When we got to the area where Ryan was sitting I approached him slowly. He barely had the strength to stand to shake my hand when I told him that I just wanted to thank him for being so strong and that he was an inspiration to us all. I then asked him to sign the playoff puck for my son. "No, I can't do that" Ryan said, "It would RUIN this puck". I told him that it would mean more to my son if he signed it than WITHOUT his signature. This kid was so humble that it was scary! "Are you SURE?",he asked. "Yes" was all I could get out of my mouth without breaking down in front of him. He took the sharpie from me and tried his best to make his "autograph" not so sloppy. He was so weak by this time that his hand would not stop shaking enough to let him write it neatly. My wife and I shook his hand and thanked him one LAST time. As we were walking away, we stopped and shook his father's (Brad's) hand. I really couldn't look him in the eye because I knew that I would break down like a little girl and I really didn't want to do THAT at a hockey game. As we walked back to our seats, neither of us said a word. We had NO words to describe how we felt at this time. We sat in our seats to start the 3rd period and the game all of a sudden didn't seem so important. As the game ended and and debris fell from the upper decks of Nationwide Arena we were sad that the BlueJackets had lost and been swept by the dreaded Detroit Red Wings. We were more sad because I think that we both knew that it would probably be the last time that we got to see Ryan Salmons alive. It kind of brought a lose in a hockey game or playoff series into perspctive. Maybe it wasn't so bad to lose A game when a young man was about lose THE biggest game of all.
Shortly after the series finished and the Red Wings were in the middle of their second round of playoffs, Ryan Salmons passed away. It was May 1st 2009. My wife received an email from Ryans Fight giving her the bad news. She sent me a text message to let me know the news before I read it on the internet or saw the TV news that night. I knew that the day was coming but it still brought a tear to my eye. For that last year (plus) we have kind of kept that story to ourselves. It was our own little piece of a VERY special hockey season (our first as season ticket holders).
Fast forward to today....why am I writing a blog for all of the world to see this story? I have wanted to do SOMETHING to honor Ryan's memory for a while and just didn't know how to do it. I have figured it out. With the blessing and support of Brad Salmons, I am running the St. Judes Childrens Hospital Half Marathon this fall in Ryan's memory. I am NOT a lifelong runner. I have just started in the past couple of years. I had no desire to run 13.1 miles, but now feel like I have to. I not only have to run it, but I have to run it in under 2 hrs. Why two hours, because it seemed impossible at the time. Not only am I running for Ryan, I am raising money for St. Judes in his name. This is the main reason for telling my story on CBJ Extra. I am trying to raise $6,ooo in Ryans name to really make a splash in Memphis and let them see how the people of Central Ohio can get behind a cause. I just finalized things with Brad Salmons yesterday, getting his blessing. He may even travel to Memphis to cheer me on and support me.
You, my fellow CBJ fans, do not have to travel to Memphis in December to support me. You can simply go to my St. Judes fundraising website and make a small donation. Anything that you can afford is appreciated. I know money is tight right now, but just remember how you felt when you read about Ryan and his couragous fight. Is that worth $20? I know what it was worth to me and my family and I am willing to put in the time, effort and money to show him exactly what it meant to us. I know that Ryan is sititng in heaven right now looking down on me as I write this and thinking...."what's the big deal? Why me?" Why you Ryan? Because your strength and courage has given us the strength and courage to do things that we could not imagine doing before. I will be using that strength as I am coming down the final mile of the (13.1 miles) and can't seem to finish the race....I will think of Ryan, wanting to see his Blue Jackets in the playoffs and the pain in my legs and lungs will go away. If I can keep from crying in that last mile I will finish in under 2 hours. Why? Because, that is nothing compared to what Ryan did.
If you want to donate to Ryan's Race Fund you can go to www.stjudeheroes.org/Ryan3 (Ryan 3 because that was his #) or just go to St. Judes Heroes site and search for my name (Matt Starner) and it will put you right on my site. If this goes well and some other people want to join the cause, I will form a "team" for Ryan for next years race. This is not a scam, I'm just a guy trying to make a difference in this crazy world where children get cancer and die LONG before they should. If I can help one child live one day longer with this effort, it makes this all worthwhile. Most of you have read a message board post or a blog post from me before. You may not agree with all of my posts, but I am sure that we can ALL agree that this is a great cause in memory of a GREAT kid!
Thanks for taking the time to read this and god bless you all.
It's pretty cool mail day at Chief Powhatan's reservation. Received a letter from the Blue Jackets with one of those 'Exclusive Access' tickets to the Q & A next Wednesday with GM Scott Howson, head coach Scott Arniel, and President Mike Priest.
With all the buzz about Lebron James leaving Cleveland out of the way (in my mind at least) it's nice to look forward to hockey and this event at Nationwide.
Not sure if the Blue Jackets did this last season, but I'm going to try and make it unless I work some OT.
I think season ticket holders are going to want to know more about the current roster, and any additional FA's forthcoming, possibly the lease situation at the 'Wide, and what fans can expect from an entirely new coaching staff and training staff. I for one would really like to talk to Mr. Priest.
I believe the team will be improved, but whether that gets the Blue Jackets in the playoffs is another story. I hope so. Be nice to buy some playoff tickets.
At least I have a few days to come up with a good question, possibly two, but I figure they'll only let ya ask one. Anyone else making plans to attend? I don't know if it's first-come, first-question-answered or what?
My plan is to hit the Buca diBeppo first, enjoy fine Italian cuisine, then stagger on over to the arena.
Howsam not as bombastic but why should we feel any more confidence than with McLean? No cahnges to 4th worst record in league and if we play better we are still far from a top level team. scouting led by same person who has not provided much reason to be confident on picks . chciago was worse than CBJ a few years ago but you could see how they were getting better but where is a core that can move us upward?
Greetings Members! As our community has grown and become ever more active, it has really become a great place to talk about CBJ hockey, as well as the rest of the NHL action and even the 2010 olympic games! We have gotten a lot of great feedback about the site and the community, and we are really happy that the great conversation, fan media and member drawings are keeping everyone tapped in to CBJ as the off season drags on.
In order to keep things running smoothly and help us help you enjoy the site better, we have put together some community guidelines we can all refer to to make sure we're being good citizens and help one another enjoy ourselves. This is not intended to tamp down on any rampant bad behavior, as overall we have a great bunch of members and no big problems. We just want to lay down some basics we call all agree to and provide a reference we can point to when we do need to ask someone to cool it!
Please take a moment to read through the guidelines and feel free to drop me an email or a comment on this blog post if you have any feedback on them! A link to the guidelines is at the bottom of every Blue Zone page, next to the Terms of Service and the Help links.
In addition to the guidelines, we have rolled out one tweak to the site's flagging system. It will now take many more flags for a piece of content to be automatically removed. However, there is really no need to repeated flag content unless it is particularly offensive or off topic, because all flagged media will be reviewed by a site admin and violations of the guidelines will be enforced more strictly now that they have been codified. Also, please note that using the flag tool inappropriately is itself prohibited by the guidelines, so please use the content rating system and comments to give constructive feedback to content that is not a clear violation but which, in your opinion, could be better.
Thank you everyone for producing all the great content you do and for making this site so great. All of the members who have spent time reviewing the content and put effort into making the site the best it can be have done a great job and are appreciated. These guidelines and our commitment to enforce them should help everyone continue to enjoy the site.
I was in Chicago Before game 5 to game 6. The town feeling was something. The paper had a "The Cup" section every day. It was something like the Sat special section during football season. Every goal of the prior game was diagramed out. All kinds of stores had Blackhawk stuff. You could get "T" shirts for $10, so everyone could get something without costing an arm and a leg. There were lotsa fans that had never seen a hockey game before the playoffs. I certainly hope that Columbus can get into the action of backing the CBJ on a city wide bases in the next coupla years [I know it means winning a playoff round or 2]
Just wondering- Has anyone made/sold CBJ towels or small flags to wave at games?
After holding his first press conference as the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Scott Arniel provided some much needed encouragement for the weary fan base. He certainly sounded eager to have the job. His desire to adapt to the needs of this team is refreshing.
Near the beginning of the conference, Scott Howson mentioned that Scott Arniel continued playing minor league hockey long after his NHL playing career was over. A passion to play the game was missing from much of the 09-10 squad. Hopefully his eagerness and passion will become the new spirit of the team.
It is important to us all that the community point system reward our members for posting great content and doing the things that make The Blue Zone the best place to talk Blue Jackets and NHL Hockey it can be! To make sure it is, I've adjusted how points will be awarded to ensure that members are getting the most points possible for taking part in the site, without too much padding.
We've gotten a lot of feedback that too many great posts are being uploaded as blog posts. It's a little harder for people to engage with these posts than message board posts, and sometimes they are repeating items found on the boards. To address this, the point value of blog posts has been adjusted down a bit, and the value of message board posts has been raised a bit, so that there is no longer a points-incentive to choose one over the other.
Members are still free to use whichever medium they prefer, and to further reward folks who post great content, the value of 4 and 5 star ratings has been increased as well!
For full details, have a look at the updated Points Page.
I know hockey doesn't get much airtime on ESPN, but I do like to hear what their hockey analysts Barry Melrose and Matthew Barnaby have to say about the games/series.
I appreciate Melrose's humor, but his predictions aren't much better than what I've read among the Blue Jackets Xtra folks. Barnaby doesn't laugh much, but then, when he played no one laughed when they were smashed into the boards by him.
Gotta say tho', Melrose can really pick the suits. Always reminds me of a gangster look (not gangsta lol) and it's too bad his latest coaching gig in Tampa Bay never worked out.
Should we start a countdown until the NHL's TV contract with Versus runs out at the end of the 2010-11 season?
To commemorate the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation's 10th season of giving and its support of the fight against pediatric cancer, former Blue Jackets player and current development coach Tyler Wright announced today that he will compete in the 2010 Subaru Ironman Canada in Penticton, British Columbia on Sunday, August 29 to raise money for the Blue Jackets Foundation's Hats For Heroes program.
Vist the website for more information, to donate, to follow Tyler's blog and photo album or to send him a message.
As I see the Stanley Cup Playoff excitement build with Game 7's and the second round, I can't help but wonder what it might/will be like if/when the Jackets reach that level. Will Columbus go Jacket-crazy, or is that reserved for OSU football? There was definitely some increased fan interest during the playoff appearance last spring, so I think there are fans ready to jump on the bandwagon. And while those of us in this community have been behind the Jackets through varying lengths of tough times, I'll still gladly welcome those bandwagon-jumpers!
The only potential drawback to the bandwagon-jumpers would be what the backlash would be like when the Jackets faltered? If you read the Sunday Dispatch Sports section's "Mailbox" Column, some Columbus fans can be pretty critical, no matter the level of team success.
Still, it would be better to have that problem than the continuing "not-quite-there" status of the Jackets. They have shown improvement, and appear to have a solid future. And if they could draw the bandwagon fans, it should build support for settling the lease issue and cementing the future of the team in Columbus.
I normally do not pay much attention to teams or games that do not have a direct impact on the Jackets. My son turned on Game 7 last night between the Caps and Habs and I was captivated. The colors, the crowd, the play of Halak....what an incredible scene. To see the Hab defensemen lay themselves out for blocked shots over and over, putting their well being on the line was awsome! (I think I saw 33 blocked shots?) At the same time, the diving effort by Backstrom to keep the empty net, in fact empty, reminded me of what is good about sports! Laying it all out on the ice, leaving no doubt about effort for the fans to discuss. I don't know what else a fan could ask for. This is a game, that if it was on ESPN, would turn a lot of people onto hockey that really don't "get it". Gary Bettman better kiss whoever's A-S at ESPN that he has to, to get a deal done so more people will watch and the sport will grow. If the NHL can start to get some younger kids watching (they love all of the action compared to baseball or football even) this sport could explode!
I hope that the second round can find the same magic that a few series in the first round found. I hope that more people can "find" versus and drive up ratings and help ESPN see that if they have it, people will watch.
I am really looking forward to the day that I can sit in Nationwide Arena and cheer the Jackets to VICTORY in a playoff series. I am excited already! Time to get it done Scott! Until then I guess I will just have to sit back and watch and dream of the great things to come.
Have to admit I enjoyed the NFL draft analysis of the guru, Mel Kiper, on the prospects and who/what the teams needed, but does the NHL have anything close to him?
I read all these draft projections on the NHL webpage, but I'd really like to listen to what the best available analyst says about whom the Blue Jackets should/will pick.
Was it a little crazy this past season with that condensed NHL schedule?
I know there's many reasons from all the readers for the Blue Jackets' collapse in the middle of the season, but do any of you other Xtra groupies believe we didn't have the experience to handle it?
The younger players were so banged up there was no time to heal up. I think the players will be relieved to see a few extra days between games next season.
I'm sure I won't miss the Olympics either. Canada did win Gold, didn't they? To be honest, with the games on MSNBC and those other ying-yang networks most of the time, I didn't watch more than 3 games.
So, in conclusion (sounds good for a blog doesn't it?), I'm excited to have re-upped for season tickets and can't wait to pick out even better seats for '10-11.
Throw in your 2 cents if you have any ideas on next year.
Reading today's Dispatch and saw that the BJ's want Brassard to play next year at 193...he currently weighs 188...is that the weight he maintained during the season or is it what he weighs after a week off and a couple of Big Macs?...I'm not a physical fitness guru but I wouldn't think 5 lbs will allow him to out muscle Ryan Getzlaff...the article also alluded that Hitch kinda recognized that Brassard's build wasn't suited to be a monster center so that raises a question as to why did they pick him?...because they were looking at his speed and his scoring and playmaking abilities?...if so maybe they should figure out out to get him to display those talents and not worry so much about him being a candidate for the Arnold...I was curious so I did a quick lookup on some smallish centers-Marc Savard, Scott Gomez, Daniel Briere,Thomas Pleckanec, Joe Sackic and Steve Yzerman-they all are either 5-10 or 5-11 so Brass at 6'1" is a couple of inches taller and their listed weight was between 179 (Briere) and 200 (Gomez) so except for Briere he is the lightest and the tallest...so it looks like he does need to fill out a bit in order to have a prototypical center's build
Ok, I think Howson is screwing Noel. He's been an assistant here for a couple of years. He was the head coach who turned the ship at least partially around over the last 24 games. The young guys seem to respond to him and he was missing guys who are supposedly are best defensemen. So what's his reward?
Being a serious candidate. Seriously? How does he get the job? Only if all the other candidates either flunk the interview or turn it down? I mean what more can he do to convince Howson he's the one?
Now I'm not saying he should be named the coach nor am I saying he shouldn't. Just saying that if Howson isn't convinced as of yet, the only way Noel gets it is as a second choice.
Wednesdays at noon during the Blue Jackets’ season, Dispatch beat writers Aaron Portzline and Tom Reed answer readers’ questions about the Jackets and NHL. Join us for our next Blue Jackets online chat.
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