Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Worst Shall Be First



I came up with this plan right after the lockout. I decided that once I subscribed to Center Ice package, I would watch every team at least once each month. A critical part of this plan would be to load the schedule with terrible teams early on, just to get an idea of what might be out there when teams start to trade the help, fire the coaches or talk about franchise relocation.

Around December, I give myself a break and stop scheduling so many dog teams for viewing in the Lounge. But by February, I am back to watching the bad teams in bulk, looking for trade prospects, free agent prospects and the like.

Which brings me back to Columbus. The dog team of this century. Sure, you might say I have ignored the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets, but that franchise hit the reset button with the move. And while the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers all have a seat at the table, the featured distraction of this pity party are the Blue Jackets. And I will be watching them several times through the next six weeks or so.

Tonight they may show up against the Red Wings. I'm betting they just might. But even if they don't, there will still be plenty to watch. So the Lounge is going with the Red Wings at Blue Jackets on the big screen. The Lightning-Sabres game will go on the medium screen and the Sharks-Predators will be on the smartphone. The Penguins-Islanders game will be on the old CRT (not a digital TV, for those of you who do not know what a cathode ray tube is) set just because I can employ one of these every now and then for a local team.

Radio whip-arounds for the best of the Senators-Hurricanes, Ducks-Blackhawks and Canucks-Oilers. Around 10 or so, when the schedule begins to get less congested, the Devils-Kings go on the big screen, Stars-Coyotes go on the smartphone and the Ducks-Blackhawks and Canucks-Oilers will toggle on the medium screen.

Back to the Blue Jackets. The Hockey Prospectus website and season guide seem to think Steve Mason may be more of a Jim Carey then a Georges Vézina. And this team really doesn't have a lot to hope for beyond Jeff Carter and Rick Nash. It's that bad. (OK, so the EA Sports video is not quite fair to Mr. Mason, but it does illustrate my point, right?)

So, I suspect you should give a watch and spot the spare parts your team might want to claim. The trade deadline is well down the road. The shoulder should be littered with said spare parts by then.

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