Hello Hockeybuzzards! Apologies for the extended absence away from my usual blogging. Family events and a personal tragedy occurred.
The last couple weeks to close out the summer, my mother and girlfriend both had birthdays; my best friend had his bachelor party in Pittsburgh; and another close friend had his wedding in 24 hours of my return home. That night, our place was flooded and we were both displaced. At this point, we are in a situated enough place where I am back to writing. Apologies for the delays. Lots to discuss to close out September and look ahead to with the regular season on the horizon.
Rookie Tournament - 2-1-0
The Columbus Blue Jackets came out of the 2024 Prospects Challenge with a winning record over the Atlantic Division teams.
Tournament G1 v Buffalo
Buffalo: 3 (Nadeau, Kulich(2))
Ratzlaff W, 20 saves on 21 shots
Columbus: 1 (Brindley)
Lalonde L, 38 saves on 41 shots
Tournament G2 v Boston
Columbus: 4 (Fimis, Pinelli, Del Bel Belluz, Mateychuk)
Gardner W 33 saves on 36 shots
Boston: 3 (Harrison, Romeo, Vierling)
Tournament G3 v Ottawa
Columbus: 4 (Lavigne, Brindley, Fimis (2))
Oster W 15 saves on 16 shots
Ottawa: 1 (Yakemchuk)
Egorov L 23 saves on 27 shots
Preseason
G1: Sept 23 - @ Buffalo (L)
BUF: 6 (Power, Benson, Krebs, Cozens, Samuelsson, Aube-Kuebel)
Levi W 25 saves on 26 shots 0.962 SV%
CBJ: 1 (Olivier)
Greaves L 12 saves on 15 shots 0.800 SV%
Gardner L 11 saves on 14 shots 0.786 SV%
G2: Sept 25 - v St. Louis (W)
CBJ: 3 (Mateychuk, Marchenko, Fantilli)
Merzlikins/Sawchenko shutout 31/31 shots
STL: 0
Hofer: L 28 saves on 30 shots 0.933 SV%
Ellis: 10 saves on 10 shots
G3: Sept 27 - v Buffalo (W)
CBJ: 6 (JvR, Monahan (2), Christainsen, Sillinger, Fantilli)
Merzlikins W, 28 saves on 31 shots, 0.903 SV%
BUF: 3 (Dunne, Metsa, Jobst)
Sandstrom L 17 saves on 22 shots 0.773 SV%
Ratzlaff 20 saves on 20 shots in relief
G4: Sept 29 - v Washington (L)
WSH: 3 (Dowd, Wilson, Dubois)
Thompson W, 24 saves on 26 shots 0.923 SV%
CBJ: 2 (Mateychuk, Del Bel Belluz)
Tarasov L, 23 saves on 26 shots 0.885 SV%
G5: October 1 - @ St Louis (W)
CBJ: 3 (Chinakov, Brindley, Olivier)
Graves W 23 saves on 24 shots 0.958 SV%
STL: 1 (Faulk)
Hofer L 32 saves on 34 shots 0.941 SV%
Two games remain, a home and home with Pittsburgh.
Changes
Elvis has added a bowl of plain pasta and the number 13 to honor Johnny Gaudreau on the front of his goalie mask.
Adam Fantilli will now wear number 19 instead of number 11.
Roster Cuts
Blue Jackets now at 32, including demotions to Luca Del Bel Belluz, James Malatesta, Jake Gaudet, and Trey Fix-Wolansky (waivers); defensemen Cole Clayton and Stanislav Svozil as well as goaltender Zach Sawchenko to the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League.
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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