The National Hockey League opening night is tomorrow night, and with that is the return of the 2023-2024 Mood Mondays that I usually do to preview the week that it is coming up.
The Union Blue is concluding their opening night rosters after the last preseason games with the Washington Capitals, managing the injury board, and dealing with the waiver wire.
CBJ P8 @ Washington Capitals - Final Win
The Columbus Blue Jackets hold on to defeat the Washington Capitals in the Capital One Arena, by the final score of 4-2.
Captain Boone Jenner opened the scoring with his second of the preseason.
John Carlsson evened the game at one a piece with his third of the preseason.
Alexander Ovechkin got the go ahead goal for his only preseason goal.
Cole Sillinger got the Columbus game tying goal for his second of the preseason.
Adam Fantilli got blown up by TJ Oshie, and then responded with the game winning goal for his second of the preseason.
Patrik Laine concludes the scoring with his second of the preseason.
Elvis Merzlikins
Darcy Kuemper
CBJ Three Stars of the Game
1. Adam Fantilli
2. Cole Sillinger
3. Boone Jenner
Opening Night Roster Unveiled
The opening rosters and waiver claims have come through around the hockey world, and clubs are unveiling who will be on the team for game one.
Some teams begin as soon as tomorrow, while others start later in the week. Here is our roster.
Numerical Order by Position
Forwards
Cole Sillinger
Sean Kuraly
Adam Fantilli
Johnny Gaudreau
Justin Danforth
Liam Foudy
Mathieu Olivier (injured)
Patrik Laine
Boone Jenner
Alexandre Texier
Eric Robinson
Emil Bemstrom
Yegor Chinakov (injured)
Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson
Jack Roslovic
Defensemen
Andrew Peeke
Zach Werenski
Ivan Provorov
Jake Bean
Adam Boqvist
Erik Gudbranson
Tim Berni (unsigned RFA)
Damon Severson
Goaltenders
Spencer Martin
Danil Tarasov (injured)
Elvis Merzlikins
The big money guys stay, and the logjam has sadly burned David Jiricek, James Malatesta, and Jordan Dumais, who had some of the stronger preseasons.
The depth got a bit stronger this summer, and especially on the defensive end.
Opening Week Schedule
The Columbus Blue Jackets have their first two home games of the season this week with two Metropolitan Division opponents.
Thursday, they get John Tortorella and the Philadelphia Flyers as game number one. Saturday, they get bald Artemi Panarin and the New York Rangers on Saturday.
More to come…