Those few days without Blue Jackets hockey were some of the longest days of the season, luckily we are here to catch you up on what you may have missed. We also have a few story lines that you should watch out for in the days and weeks ahead.
-Vitaly Abramov, a 3rd round pick for the Blue Jackets this past year recently signed his entry level contract. Abramov was listed as a potential first rounder on multiple mock drafts before falling due to size concerns. He is actually on track to finish with fewer points this year compared to last. His team last year made the playoffs and this year is one of the bottom dwellers, thus the small decline. His continued production shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as Abramov has a nose for the net. The Jackets may have themselves another good prospect that was picked off of the mid-round pile.
-The Blue Jackets went from an empty house to a couple of straight sell outs. They have also become a hard ticket to get in town. Anecdotally, multiple people I have spoken with have had some real trouble getting tickets on the cheap or through other avenues. The Blue Jackets student rush program (one of the team’s better ideas) has been selling single tickets shortly after their release at noon. The city is beginning to really rally around the team.
Even more impressive? On the resale market, the cheapest Jackets ticket I could find was on Stubhub for $78, while the cheapest ticket for the Fiesta Bowl with Ohio State and Clemson was $48. Now you would have to travel and stay out in Glendale, Arizona for that game which is a completely different expense, it is just fascinating to compare it to the other team in town.
– The Jackets have been tearing through most of their competition this year, save for two teams, the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks. The Jackets are done facing the Sharks for the year but they face off against the Bruins tonight. The Bruins beat the Jackets soundly both times they played this year. David Pastranak was a factor in both games, he is blossoming into a superstar before our very eyes and he is feasting on the Jackets along the way. In six games against the Jackets, he has 7 points, the most against any team in his short career. He’ll be lined up with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand tonight, one of the best first lines in the league for my money.
-Another odd bit of news today as Cleveland Monster’s forward Aaron Palushaj sent out an oddly cryptic tweet today signaling he was going to the KHL to play for Dinamo Minsk. No statement has been made by the Jackets or Monsters as of this article being published. He was sixth on the team in points with twelve and was signed out of training camp to an AHL only deal. The Monsters are currently on an eight game point streak, now with one of their leading scorers on the team gone, how will this effect the team?
Very excited to meet my new team @hc_dinamominsk in Davos!
— Aaron Palushaj (@AaronPalushaj) December 27, 2016
Let us know how you feel about the round up. Is this something the site should do moving forward?
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