The regular season is almost here! Training camp officially begins today with 63 players getting the invite to camp. You can find the full list of players here.
The unofficial start to training camp happened yesterday with press conferences by John Davidson, Jarmo Kekalainen and Todd Richards.
The big thing discussed with Jarmo and JD was the injuries. JD talked about how the team spent a lot of the off-season looking at the injuries and said he couldn’t find any correlation between them and training players did. Players were able to go outside the organization and get a second opinion on their injuries and they were told the same things as what the CBJ doctors were telling them. The key to staying healthy is going be better luck.
Jarmo talked quite a bit about improving every day. He thinks everyone can improve doesn’t matter if it’s a young guy or a veteran everyone can improve and get better. He said it’s great for the team having young guys come in and push the vets. He emphasized how great the facilities are at Nationwide and how the players have no excuse but to get better. The team has done everything they can to take every excuse away.
Jarmo talked about trying to get Clarkson back to where he was in New Jersey. He said 30 goals might be above Clarkson’s average and above his expectations. He discussed how hungry Clarkson was to try and improve and get back to that level of performance.
Todd Richards was asked about getting off to a better start this season. He said they have made subtle changes, noting that in camp they have gone from two groups in the past to three this year. That way guys can get more reps. He wants this team to be a four line team and said when looking at the best teams they can roll four lines. He doesn’t question the defence at all, saying he's 100% confident in this group. He really likes the young defenders like Murray, Savard, Connauton, Falk and Goloubef. He mentioned Connauton and Wennberg in particular as guys who look much bigger and expects them to take the next step this year.
*** Some news came out yesterday regarding Jack Johnson and his financial situation. Rick Westhead, Senior Correspondent with TSN wrote an article with some new developments surrounding Johnson and his bankruptcy case.
It was almost year ago when Johnson announced he had filed for bankruptcy. He was $10 million in debt and said his parents were responsible for his finances and were to blame for this.
RFF Family Partnerships, a California-based marketing company which is among Johnson’s largest creditors in his bankruptcy case, accuses the Columbus Blue Jacket of committing “false representation and/or actual fraud… during the year-old case.
RFF claims that Johnson knew what his parents were doing and even helped them secure these high interest loans.
I don’t know what’s going to come of this situation but I would highly recommend reading Westhead’s piece to get further information.
*** Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts is back for another season.
21. Not sure how many people expected to see Kerby Rychel in a Blue Jackets uniform this season, but the reviews were excellent at the Traverse City tournament won by Columbus. I’m still not certain what his long-term future is in Ohio, but GM Jarmo Kekalainen made it clear he’s not going to set a low bar in any trade. “Couldn’t be happier with his progress,… Kekalainen wrote via email. Rychel’s best option was to show up and make an impact. He’s taken a very good first step.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Rychel this season. He's got a real chance of making this team, but so too does Oliver Bjorkstrand. Rychel could be the odd man out again, like last year when Marko Dano and Alexander Wennberg passed him. If Columbus decides to make another big move like the Saad deal my guess would be Rychel would be the centerpiece going the other way.
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