Two of the three teams in the loser bracket faceoff this afternoon in Buffalo where the Columbus Blue Jackets do battle with the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins were eliminated by Florida on their way to their first ever Stanley Cup title. With that, the management made some bold moves to bolster the team.
Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, and Derek Forbort all moved to Vancouver in free agency while they grabbed Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadarov from the Canucks’ roster last season.
Veterans Pat Maroon, Milan Lucic, James van Riemsdyk, and Kevin Shattenkirk did not resign.
Rookie Rosters
Boston Bruins
FORWARDS 32 – John Farinacci 56 – Evan Vierling 61 – Trevor Kuntar 62 – Riley Duran 65 – Owen Pederson 72 – Brett Harrison 82 – Jaxon Nelson 83 – Connor Hvidston 89 – Adam MÄ›chura 92 – Carlin Dezainde 93 – Jake Sloan 94 – Lucas Romeo 97 – Markus Vidicek
DEFENDERS 41 – Jackson Edward 57 – Drew Bavaro 59 – Frédéric Brunet 76 – Tomas Cibulka 78 – Jack Brauti 81 – Parker Von Richter 84 – Felix Plamondon 86 – Loke Johansson 87 – Ryan Mast
GOALES 60 – Keegan Warren 85 – Ryan Bischel
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
Forwards
37 RW Cameron Butler; undrafted ELC 41 C Hunter McKown; undrafted ELC 45 RW Gavin Brindley; 2023 Draft 53 Luca Pinelli; 2023 Draft 65 Luca Del Bel Belluz; 2022 Draft 66 James Malatesta; 2021 Draft 76 Mael Lavigne 77 Jack Van Volson 88 Tyler Peddle; 2023 Draft 92 Pano Fimis 93 Max McCue; undrafted ELC 94 Sam Alfano 97 Nicolas Sima
Defense
5 Denton Mateychuk; 2022 Draft 50 Nick DeAngelis 54 Luca Marrelli; 2024 Draft 57 Charlie Elick; 2024 Draft 74 Corson Ceulemans; 2021 Draft 96 Conor Walton 98 Nolan Collins
Goalies
31 Nolan Lalonde; undrafted ELC 35 Evan Gardner; 2024 Draft 70 Jacob Oster
What to expect:
Boston has maybe the weakest pool here. Expect Columbus to shine but with less than 24 hours rest they may be fatigued.
Predicted Final Score
3-2 CBJ
Oubitraries
https://www.danjolell.com/obituary/john-michael-gaudreau/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYM9fikwQbNkPlcwmTBaP2udJZw1oMBCmyXjp-GyttBpDhIoWnqY8lxQSQ_aem_zW3gpaArqsSO7D5ZI-Pdog
https://www.danjolell.com/obituary/matthew-ryan-gaudreau/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZ33XNOJYMaSDfXxs3NcH7AY99EWfo9ObneKgMrpds4HwrC3U6Gkj0igr0_aem_qqWUcGWcBFf0sebC0an4RQ
Want to support the Gaudreau family? Here’s several ways how:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-madeline-and-baby-tripp-after-tragedy - Donate to Gaudreau Family Fund. At the time of writing it is at $691K
https://youtu.be/7ax8zyd8nk0?si=xoI63iohdyn2vVvD - View Johnny B Goode Tribute - personal touch. Loved this slowed down clip by the voice of Calgary. Skip to the 25 second mark.
https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/giving - Nationwide Children's Hospital (Johnny's widow, Meredith's workplace) support the children today.
https://foundation.ohiohealth.com/ - Ohio Health Foundation (where donations from a joint mental health charity drive from Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine went) Johnny joined the mission after Laine attended the NHLPA assistance club last season
https://www.childrenshospital.ab.ca/ways-to-help/donate/ - Alberta Children's Hospital for those in need and touched by the loss
https://kidsportcanada.ca/donate/ - Donate to the Youth Sporting Charity in Canada (Johnny Gaudreau donated for money each goal he scored to the Calgary chapter)
https://sniderhockey.org/support-snider/ - the Philadelphia Youth Hockey Charity (where Johnny and Matthew are from and started their youth hockey)
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