TRH Gameday 67/68 – Columbus Blue Jackets & Detroit Red Wings: Blue Backplate Special
THURSDAY
Game #67
LA KINGS
31-23-12
74 pts, 9th in Western Conference
vs
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
21-38-7
49 pts, 15th in Western Conference
4:00pm, Nationwide Arena
Columbus, OH
Fox Prime Ticket
BEST PLAYER TO WEAR BOTH COLORS THAT WERE TRADED FOR EACH OTHER:
BEST OPPOSITION BLOGS:
Dark Blue Jacket
Light the Lamp
The Cannon
FRIDAY
Game #68
LA KINGS
31-23-12
74 pts, 9th in Western Conference
(a/o Thursday)
vs
DETROIT RED WINGS
43-21-3
89 pts, 4th in Western Conference
(a/o Thursday)
Detroit Leads Season Series 2–0
Friday, 4:30pm, Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, MI
KCOP-13
BEST NHL HALL OF FAMER THAT I SKATED WITH
AT KINGS FANTASY CAMP TO WEAR BOTH COLORS:
BEST OPPOSITION BLOGS:
Abel to Yzerman
Winging It In Motown
Nightmare on Helm Street
ARE THE LA KINGS IN THE PLAYOFFS?
NO.
Is there a lot of animosity towards current LA Kings forward Jeff Carter from his former team in Columbus?
Yeah… I’d say there was a little bit of animosity.
Honestly, the Blue Jackets Twitter Feed is the best in the NHL.
Except when the Calgary Flames Twitter Feed is sending Direct Messages.
So since the Columbus Blue Jackets are making it easy to swap out Carter for Johnson… I thought I’d check in with our Blue Jackets Blog Buddy, Dark Blue Jacket, to see what he thinks about having swapped Jeff Carter for Jack Johnson in Columbus for 6 more seasons:
Color me amused at the rock star treatment of Jack Johnson since his trade to Columbus. I mean, he was playing on Los Angeles’ second blue line pairing when he came to us and was thrashed about pretty well in the halls of hockey criticism. As best I could tell, his biggest redeeming quality was that he could smile and say how happy he was to be in Columbus (which, considering the team’s two biggest stars entering the season wanted out, is saying something around these parts). Yet the Twitterverse was gushing over JMFJ’s on-ice play…something I just wasn’t seeing on television. So I took my first opportunity to watch Johnson play in person to see what this fuss was all about.
Here’s my take: The Columbus Blue Jackets and their fanbase have been so demoralized this season by sub-AHL blue line play that any injection of NHL-level competence into the lineup is a revelation. Enter Jack Johnson. He had a goal and an assist on the night in over 27 minutes of time on ice. He pushed the puck up the ice. He made passes that largely moved from tape to tape. He moved laterally with ease. He has a degree of size that keeps him from becoming a slalom ski pole for fast-moving forwards. Overall, he’s pretty good.
Is he the second coming of Jesus? Is he Columbus’ All-Star next season? (Remember, we really do need one considering we’re hosting the darned game in 2013!) With improvement, perhaps (not sure about the Jesus part, granted), but I’d take James Wisniewski right now.
I don’t know if I’ll ever stop giggling each time I see Jack Johnson in a Blue Jackets uniform.
To hear more from Dark Blue Jacket, as well as hear the latest in LA Kings talk from myself, Podcaster General Jesse Cohen, Matt from Life in Hockeywood and special guest, Keith from Kingscast… check out the latest episode of All The Kings Men Podcast. You can check it out here, subscribe to it on iTunes or you can listen below. It’s so engaging that it will make you forget that after playing Columbus Thursday night… the Kings play the Red Wings and Blackhawks. Ugh.
