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Columbus ends home season on
sour note
with 5-5 tie and a bad call.
By Dave Weissman, Columbus Wired (4/4/03)
The Blue Jackets ended their 2002-2003 home season with an
excruciatingly painful 5-5 tie against the defending champion
Detroit Red Wings. Columbus played an up and down game; up 3-0,
3-2, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4. It ended in controversy, as Columbus should
have had a 6-4 win but was left holding a 5-5 tie...more
story and exclusive photos
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Thrashers Again Torment
Jackets, 3-2
By
Steve Sirk,
Columbus Wired
(3/22/03)
If someone were to
put me on the spot and ask me to describe tonight’s Blue Jackets –
Thrashers game in one double-hyphenated word, I’d choose “Aye-yie-yie.”
I don’t know that someone would ask such a silly question, but
suffice it to say that there was a lot of aye-yie-yie’in to be
done at Nationwide Arena this evening, as the Jackets inexplicably
lost to the heavy-legged Thrashers by a 3-2 score. It was a
maddening game from the Sisyphean start to the bad-bounce finish.
Blecch...more
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| Wright Thinks Little On Way To Win
by Greg Dew, Columbus Wired
The Columbus Blue Jackets staked the “Original Six” Toronto
Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead Thursday night before storming back on
Tyler Wright’s hat trick to win the game 4-3 in the waning
seconds of overtime to put a damper in the Toronto’s first ever
visit to Nationwide Arena...more
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| Twenty Minutes Of Bliss:
Jackets Jump Wild, 5-0
By
Steve Sirk,
Columbus Wired
(3/15/03)
Tonight at Nationwide Arena, the
Columbus Blue Jackets finally discovered a sure-fire way to
overcome their debilitating habit of allowing the first goal:
Light the lamp before the other team ever even carries the puck
into the offensive zone. Buoyed by Andrew Cassels’ goal 16 seconds
into the game, the Jackets made quick work of the Minnesota Wild,
defeating their expansion siblings 5-0 on the strength the five
first period goals...more
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| Tale of two hockey cities
By Greg Dew, Columbus Wired (3/11/03)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, or so
it would seem as two expansion brethren faced off in Nationwide
Arena on Saturday night. The Minnesota Wild, who entered the
National Hockey League three seasons ago with the Columbus Blue
Jackets, are having a breakout year and closing in on their
first playoff appearance. The Blue Jackets are once again
battling to stay out of the basement of the Western Conference
standings...more
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| Death, Taxes, Avalanche: Colorado
Buries Jackets 5-1
By Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired (3/13/03)
Possessors of an appalling 0-10-1 all-time record against the
star-studded Colorado Avalanche entering tonight’s game, the
Columbus Blue Jackets were hoping that the 12th time would be
the charm. However, the fired-up Avs pummeled the Jackets early
en route to a 5-1 romp before 17,256 mortified fans...more
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Schedule, Stars Get the Best of the Blue Jackets
By Greg Dew,
Columbus Wired (3/11/03)
The NHL schedule maker was not out to do the
Columbus Blue Jackets any favors Tuesday night against the
Dallas Stars. The Jackets, coming off of a road loss to the
Carolina Hurricanes Monday night, four games in six nights
overall, were treated to a rude homecoming as they lost 2-0
to the Western Conference leading Stars...more
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| Flames Finally Finish Off Jackets,
3-2
By Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired (3/8/03)
Third year expansion teams rarely serve as an established
franchise’s bogey team, but when the Calgary Flames can’t sleep
at night, it’s due to nightmares about a radioactive green
insect. Columbus entered tonight’s game 7-3-0 all-time against
the Flames, including an unblemished record in five Ohio
matchups. But tonight, with 14th place in the Western Conference
on the line, the Flames exorcised their cowtown demons, beating
the Jackets 3-2 on Jarome Iginla’s goal with seven seconds to
play in overtime...more
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| Nash Continues Building Bridges
By Greg Dew,
Columbus Wired
(3/6/03)
The Blue Jackets tackled two
clichés in less then two minutes in earning their 5-4-overtime
victory over the Vancouver Canucks Thursday night at Nationwide
Arena. The clichés being if at first you don’t succeed try, try
again and the other being you must learn from your past
mistakes...more
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| Red Wings Frustrate Jackets Again,
3-2
By Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired (3/3/03)
It is only fitting that on a night dominated by the spectre
of Anna Kournikova, the Blue Jackets looked really good but
lost. Despite outshooting the heavily-armed Red Wings, having a
crack at eight power play chances, and even getting a goal from
the heretofore scoreless Rostislav Klesla, the Jackets lost
another frustrating game to the defending champs. A pair of
Brendan Shanahan goals, including the game-winner on a third
period power play, propelled Detroit to a 3-2 win before a
sellout crowd at Nationwide Arena...more
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| Good to be back home!
By Dave Weissman, Columbus Wired (2/27/03)
Ray Whitney scored the first hat
trick of his twelve-year career in leading the Jackets to a 3-1
victory over the playoff desperate LA Kings. The win
stopped a five-game losing streak by Columbus and extended their
home record this year...more
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| Blackhawks Bewilder Jackets, 7-1
By Steve
Sirk, Columbus Wired (2/15/03)
In their brief existence, the Columbus Blue Jackets
have acquired a certain knowledge about blowout hockey games.
Like all expansion teams, trial and error has taught them the
surefire signs of a blowout, be it sluggish legs, a lack of
fire, or simply being overmatched from a talent perspective. If
any team is well-versed in the ways of the 7-1 hockey game, it
is a third year club...more
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A Huge Comeback
By Dave Weissman, Columbus Wired (2/05/03)
This tie feels like a win. The Columbus Blue Jackets showed
grit and guts by overcoming a 4-1 deficit to tie the Vancouver
Canucks 4-4 with late game heroics, while extending their home
point streak and increasing their season point total to 48...more
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Jackets Win Ugly, 2-1, Over
Predators
By Steve
Sirk, Columbus Wired (1/30/03)
On the strength of goals by Tyler Wright and Espen Knutsen,
plus the usually superb goaltending of Marc Denis, the Columbus
Blue Jackets defeated the vile Nashville Predators 2-1 tonight at
Nationwide Arena...more
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| Blue Jackets Prove Capable
Against Avalanche
By Greg
Dew, Columbus Wired (1/28/03)
If you were to watch a toddler as they learn to walk, you will
notice every step seems to be a grandiose event. They lift their
leg high into the air like a giant sumo wrestler, pause for
dramatic effect then slam the digit down in front to begin a small
move forward. Tuesday night’s Columbus Blue Jacket game against
the Colorado Avalanche was much the same as they skated to a 2-2
tie…more
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| Jackets return home after
two road losses overpowering the Islanders 4-1
by Dave
Weissman, Columbus Wired (01/25/03)
Columbus scored two power play goals in the first period and one
in the third-period to lead the way to a 4-1 victory over the New
York Islanders. New York, which has never beaten the Jackets, has
been on a roll posting a 10-3-0-2 record in its last 15 games,
including the victory in Philadelphia...more
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| An Open Letter To Any
Man That Thinks Proposing At A Hockey Game Is A Good Idea
By Stephanie Morgan, Columbus Wired
Contributing Columnist
For the men that are surprised that asking
your girlfriend to marry you while your proposal is shown on the
JumboTron at Nationwide Arena during a Blue Jackets game, I tell
you, this is a bad idea. Present a mini “Moron’s Guide To
Proposing.”...more
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| Jackets Swarm Early In 5-1
Win Over Chicago
By Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired (1/13/03)
Given the
chance to eat Pixie Sticks in the comfort of their own homes, the
Jackets came out buzzing again tonight, dismantling the recently
invincible Chicago Blackhawks 5-1. The game was for all intents
and purposes over before the Zamboni made its first official
appearance, as the Jackets jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead
and never looked back. The defense was solid, the forecheck was
menacing, and the points came from seemingly everyone on the
roster...more
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| Odelein visit comes at a Crossroads
for Blue Jackets
By Greg Dew,
Columbus Wired (11/02/02)
A reminder of what happens when
you do have to wait until next year arrived with the Blackhawks
in the form of former Jacket, Lyle Odelein. The loss of the
former captain and fan favorite may have hurt, but the fruits of
the trade, the younger, more offensively talented defenseman
Jaroslav Spacek is a building block the Blue Jackets may be
leaning on for years to come...more
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| New Year’s Week In Sports: Hating
Pittsburgh, Watching Football, Then Combining the Two
By Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired (1/13/02)
New Year’s week promised to be a doozy.
Of course there would be the usual fanfare surrounding The
Annual Dropping of the Ball...the drunken hotel parties, the
besotted street mobs, the fumbling physical interludes between
people so polluted with distilled toxins that conventional
dating strata could be temporarily chucked aside, without the
burden of sentience, as long as the was some gettin’ some to be
got by the some-getter and some-gettee...more
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Blue Jackets Fire Head Coach Dave King, GM Doug MacLean To Assume
Duties
Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach Dave King has been
relieved of his coaching duties and will be replaced on an interim
basis for the remainder of the 2002-03 season by club President
and General Manager Doug MacLean, the Blue Jackets announced
today. Associate Coach Newell Brown and Assistant Coaches Gerard
Gallant and Gord Murphy will remain on the staff...more
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Deja Blues: St. Louis Routs Columbus For the Second Time This Year
By Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired (12/28/02)
The Columbus Blue Jackets have been a competitive bunch in
season number three. Long gone are the days of the 8-0 Bruins
game, the 10-2 Sharks game, or the annual 7-1 drubbing by the
Kings. No, this year, the Jackets have competed night in and night
out. Even if they’ve ended up on the wrong end of the score,
they’ve always kept the scoreboard looking respectable. But
tonight at Nationwide Arena, a sellout crowd was experiencing deja
Blues all over again as St. Louis thwacked the listless Jackets by
a 6-1 score...more
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| Club Seats Undercover: A Nobody
Hangs With the Somebodies at Nationwide Arena
December 21, 2002
Columnist Steve Sirk goes
undercover to witness the highs and lows of sitting in the
swanky club seats at Nationwide Arena during the Blue Jackets
game against the Calgary Flames...more
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Blue
Jackets Rick Nash named NHL rookie of the month.
The 18-year-old forward registered four goals, nine
points in 15 games during the month of November...more
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Jackets
Chase The Blues Away In 3-2 Win
By
Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired (11/20/02)
When the PA booms this one-minute warning, you know it’s
time to cue up some of that late-game magic. Unfortunately for the
Blue Jackets this year, more often than not that magic seems to
come in the form of some evil voodoo curse. But the good
guys worked a little magic of their own, as the Blue Jackets got a
goal with 47.7 seconds remaining to defeat the first-place St.
Louis Blues...more
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Lucky Ducks Bounce Jackets 3-2
In Final Minutes
By
Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired (11/14/02)
In a darkened Nationwide Arena, with the crowd buzzing in
anticipation as time was winding down on the scoreboard clock,
Columbus Blue Jackets mascot Stinger fell flat on his butt during
his pre-game skate. That freakishly-green uniramian arthropod
planting his abdominal exoskeleton on the ice with little time
showing on the clock is a classic example of what is known as
“foreshadowing.” Two-plus hours later, it was the team itself
replicating the feat against the Mighty Ducks...more
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| Jackets fail to capitalize on
opportunity and fall to Caps
By Greg Dew,
Columbus Wired (11/05/02)
It is November in Columbus, a dreary
time of year. A chill returns to the air, clouds dominate the
skies and even so called morning people have trouble getting out
of bed when the sun rises. Could this phenomenon be
affecting the Blue Jackets as they leave their cozy locker rooms
prior to the first period?...more
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Jackets
show character overcoming early deficit
By Greg Dew,
Columbus Wired (11/03/02)
If first impressions were the only
way to gauge people, or hockey teams for that matter, the
3-2 victory for the Columbus Blue Jackets last night over
the Buffalo Sabres could come as quite a shock to Jackets
fans...more
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Wright tops off
victory with a hat trick
by Greg Dew, Columbus Wired (10/27/02)
The Columbus Blue Jackets faced a team in the Los
Angeles Kings with superior skills and dubbed one of the
elite teams in the league by head coach Dave King. But, the
Jackets turned to mastering the face-offs to set the tone
early for their 5-1 victory...more
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Lightning Strikes
Back To Tie Jackets 2-2
By
Steve Sirk,
Columbus Wired (10/23/02)
Fast starts aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be.
Consider Wile E. Coyote in his quixotic pursuit of the
roadrunner. Tonight at Nationwide Arena, it was the Columbus
Blue Jackets that strapped on the ACME Rocket-Propelled
Skates, zoomed off to a fast two-goal start…..and then
zoomed right on over the cliff. (Long whistling
sound)….(poof!) Tampa 2, Columbus 2. The Lightning remain
undefeated with another comeback. Beep! Beep!...more
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Jackets Special
Teams Fluster Florida In 4-1 Win
By
Steve Sirk,
Columbus Wired (10/19/02)
The Blue Jackets continue to be a team that lives or dies by
its special teams. After suffering a brutally horrific death
in St. Louis on Thursday, the Jackets’ reanimated special
teams were living large with a pair of power play goals and
a perfect night of penalty kills in a 4-1 win over the
Panthers...more
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Blue Jackets Put Up
A Fight, But Lose To Phoenix 4-1
By Greg
Dew, Columbus Wired
For the first period of last night’s game versus the Phoenix
Coyotes, it seemed as if the Blue Jackets had changed their
slogan from “Ignite the Night” to “Float Like a Butterfly,
Sting Like a Bee”. Make that “Sting Like a Blue Jacket.” It
is a shame it wasn’t a boxing match actually as the Jackets
would have rather won than fall 4-2...more
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Blackhawks
Downed 2-1 In Jackets
Home Opener
by
Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired
The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Chicago Blackhawks
2-1 tonight at Nationwide Arena on the strength of Marc Denis’
goaltending, the two-way play of Mike Sillinger, and special teams
that were indeed special when they needed to be. Oh, and the Nash
kid gave the sellout crowd of 18,136 a thing or two to cheer about
along the way...more
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Jackets Again
Empowered In Rout Of Rangers
by Steve Sirk, Columbus Wired
For the second straight home game in the 2002 preseason,
the local citizenry was abuzz over the prospect of free grub
thanks to another game-opening onslaught from the suddenly
lethal Jackets power play. First period power play goals by
Mike Sillinger and Grant Marshall, along with a monster game
from Rick Nash, paved the way for the Jackets’ 4-1 cakewalk
past the New York Rangers...more
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Let Me Entertain
You: The Blue Jackets Ignite The Crowd
By Stephanie Morgan, Columbus Wired
Contributing Columnist
It goes without saying that Opening Night is always
something special for hockey fans. It is a night of
unparalleled optimisms for the home fans, it is a night that
guarantees at least one or two team firsts, and it is a
night where everyone is ready to have a great time watching
their game. October 10th proved no different for our own
Blue Jackets. Between the first home-opener win, our
scrub-faced rookie Rick Nash’s first goal and the chance to
say “we’re tied for first place in the Western Conference!,”
there was plenty of payoff for the opening night attitude...more
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Message to NHL Fans
- Enjoy the Game
By Greg
Dew, Columbus Wired Columnist
With the dawn of another NHL season upon us,
it is time to take a look at what changes will be mean for
our Blue Jackets and the league in general. The league is
trumpeting two ideas aimed to improve the game for the
fans...more
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Columbus Downed by
Detroit
09/25/02
The Blue Jackets went into
tonight’s game 2-1-0-0 in its first three preseason games.
What once held hope of a preseason victory against the
defending Stanley Cup Champions quickly turned into a tale
of lost momentum and missed chances...more
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2002-2003 Pre-Season Opener
at Nationwide.
Columbus is downed by Nashville in their pre-season opener
at Nationwide Arena. Rookie Rick Nash nets second goal
of his NHL career...more
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| The
man behind the brawl
Columbus Wired goes toe-to-toe
with
Blue Jacket tough-guy Jody
Shelley.
He is a very intelligent hockey player with two years of college under his belt. He studies his opponents and listen openly to advice from established veterans.
Learn more about Blue Jacket forward Jody Shelley...more |
