Les Jackson

The Dispatch announced today that the Blue Jackets have been granted permission to interview Les Jackson the Assistant General Manager for the Dallas Stars. And, once again I know nothing about him...so here's what I found,

Bio Link

Time will only tell how these interviews go, I'm assuming a major draw to Columbus for Jackson is Hitch...I am sure Hitch has been on the phone with him. Best of luck to both of these guys. And, for the record I'm not as mad at Murray as I was the other day.

Les Jackson enters the sixth season of his second stint with the Stars after spending the previous two years as the assistant general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers. Jackson manages and oversees the Stars' amateur and professional scouting program, and assists in the evaluation of players as it relates to movement within the organization including the entry draft, trades and free agent signings.

Prior to joining the Thrashers in September of 1998, Jackson, 53, spent 13 years with the Stars' organization, serving in a variety of roles, including assistant general manager from 1993-98. Jackson was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1972 and played two seasons in the minors, then began his career as a hockey executive. His minor pro coaching career included stints in Billings, Mont.; Tucson, Ariz.; New Westminster, B.C.; Revelstoke, B.C.; and Great Falls, Mont. He also spent five seasons as assistant coach and general manager of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings.

A native of Manning, Alberta, Jackson resides in Coppell and has three sons, Brock, Drake and Reid.

Games for tonight

Well I am stuck at work and probably will be until about 8:30 or so. Here's a list of the games for tonight.

Atlanta at Rangers
Ottawa at Pittsburgh (and if I hear one more thing about Crosby I will pull my hair up there are other people in this series too ya know)
Vancouver at Dallas
Anaheim at Wild **if the Ducks win tonight they will complete the series sweep of this team...best of luck tonight**
Detroit at Calgary Calgary better win they will be at home and they better step it up...and do it in a strong way. HG will be pissed if they don't.

Teams in bold is who I am rooting for...if you take issue to it...I don't care.

I'm grumpy and at work so leave me love.

Also, if anyone knows of anyone who is going to liveblog any of these games let me know. I don't think I have it in me to do any of em...

Back to bloggin!

So I took the day off to get some things in my life back together and will be posting my blog about my with the press...and tonight I will be liveblogging the San Jose vs. Nashville game tonight...and if I get distracted I will liveblog that draws me in. And, I'm hoping it won't be the Dallas vs. Vancouver game...it kept me up too late the other night haha. Alright....and sorry HG I was cheering for the Flames :(
Congrats to the Rangers, Sabres, Wings, and NEW JERSEY!! I heart Martin Brodeur!

Liveblogging FROM THE GAME!!!

Yeah check for updates!! I am at the game all up in the press box!
7:01 here they come...
Stu Barnes scored for the Dallas Stars. Jackets are having a bit of trouble keeping it out of our zone. Svitov took a penalty for holding. Good times. The Stars are out shooting us 7-1. I feel bad for Norrena on nights like this. At the end of the first period we are down 1-0 and they out shot us 5-8…I guess we still have 2 more periods to go.
Alright, so I am in the press box and it's hard to keep focused. We keep getting these updates and stuff...quite exciting. I feel special.

I heart my team....

I suppose playoff time is here and I have to decide whether or not I am going to cheer for anyone. So here is the solution that I have come up with. I refuse to cheer for four teams. The first one being of course the Nashville Predators…because as a divisional rival I don’t like them…and my hatred runs deep. The second one is the Dallas Stars. This is a new one for me, with everything that has happened in the past little bit with the organization I have decided that they are a classless organization and that they don’t deserve to win the Stanley Cup and they certainly don’t deserve me to cheer for them. And, besides that Marty Turco seems to be a bit of a joke in the playoffs. Then there is the Pittsburgh Penguins…I know what you’re thinking…they have some of the biggest stars in the game right now why wouldn’t you want them to win. Well it’s simple…I hate Sidney Crosby. And, the last one is none other than the Buffalo Sabres. I don’t like them. So now that I have who, I won’t be cheering for I guess it comes down to whether or not I am going to hop on a bandwagon. Well, no. I refuse, I will cheer for whoever is doing good and who isn’t one of the aforementioned teams. So there ya go…I am hopelessly devoted to my team and will stay that way. Anyway, I wouldn’t mind the Sens winning…I heart Dany Heatley.

I hate the Dallas Stars.

Alright I hate to keep bringing up his name and as much as I can't stand him as a player...I feel like I need to stick up for him. I found this. It breaks down the hit that Jordin Tootoo laid on Modano and then Robidas. You know what Dallas is quickly becoming my least favorite team. I'm getting all kinds of worked up about this organization.

Free Tootoo!!

Alright I want to make it clear what I am not. I am not a Dallas Stars fan. I am not a Nashville Predators fan. I am not a Jordin Tootoo fan by any stretch of the imagination. And, I am not a Mike Modano fan. Now, that that’s out of the way, Mike Modano is now the American with the most goals in the NHL. He accomplished this at the Nashville Arena where they lost to the Predators 3-2. (He had both of the goals) For those of you who have never been to a game in Nashville let me fill you in on some things. Their fans are absolutely brutal. I have gone in there in Red Wings attire and have been brought to tears. At the Red Wings game they called Chris Chelios a sissy, they told me it’d be a good idea to take off my Red Wings attire, and they screamed MacDonald (the goalie at the time) you suck. Now, that’s just the tip of the ice burg with these fans. There is so much more going on there than that…but you get an idea of what their fans are like. And, like any NHL team they have their fan favorites. They love their goalies, and they adore Jordin Tootoo.

Now, let me tell you what happened that night. Jordin Tootoo like he always does had big hits. Hits on everybody. He doesn’t play favorites. Tootoo hit Modano rather hard and quickly turned around because he knows you don’t hit Modano and not have a guy going after you. So Stephane Robidas charged Jordin Tootoo and he looked in the video like he was about to rip Tootoo’s head off, when bam Jordin Tootoo hit Robidas and knocked him out. Now after this Jordin Tootoo looks down and then gets a slash to the back courtesy of Mike Modano. Now, hockey is a violent sport. Everyone knows that but in lieu of recent events with Chris Simon using his hockey stick like a baseball bat…everyone knows you don’t use your stick as a weapon. What Modano did with his stick was wrong. He could have seriously injured Jordin Tootoo…and he got nothing. I am sick of the NHL punishing the NHL “bad boys” and the “golden boys” get nothing. Now, do I agree with the Tootoo suspension? No. I think he was defending himself and doing what Jordin Tootoo does. But, if he got suspended for protecting himself, then Mike Modano should have gotten something for hitting him with his stick.

Ok so let me tell you what happened after this incident. Mike Modano became the American with the most goals….and he got booed. Everyone in the arena saw what he did to Tootoo and they didn’t appreciate it. Then you have the President of the Dallas Stars complaining to the media that it wasn’t announced that Modano broke the record. Well let me be honest here, the fans in Nashville don’t care about Modano. They care about their team and they care about their team winning. Had it been announced about Modano he would have received more boo’s than he had already heard. I am not trying to take away anything from Modano because it was quite the accomplishment. However, after what he did to Tootoo I don’t think that the fans cared about anything that was going on with him.

Holy crap!

Go Jackets GO!!! Well at least we beat the Ducks...in our little California road trip we managed a shootout win over the league leading Anaheim Ducks, and shutout with the San Jose Sharks, and a 5-3 loss to the LA Kings which was a pretty ridiculous game which I really don't care too much about except for the fact that all of our guys were going down like flies! We had Klesla get driven into the boards by Dustin Brown then when Svitov went after him he got 19 minutes of penalties. Then we had Rick Nash get hit in the face with a puck, and then we had Gilbert Brule get hit with a puck. It was quite tragic. Then with the game in San Jose I don't particularly want to talk about it was our 16th time getting shut out in the season and we set a record. It was so horrible we played harder than them and we worked hard but they got the lucky bounces...I just can't believe it. As far as the game with the Ducks well we have basically rocked them every game we have played them so far this season. It was an amazing way to start our road trip but it all went to crap. Anyway, we are meeting the Chicago Blackhawks for the battle of who's going to end up being worse in the Central Division....I really can't wait til next season...it's our year. Alright I gotta run! Goodnight all.


AND.....with all that's going on in the world of Jordin Tootoo the man that I hate the most in the National Hockey League I am going to stand up for him...if he does get suspended then Mike Modano should also...I do agree that Tootoo shouldn't have hit that guy...but Modano with the stick I do believe that Chris Simon just got 25 games for using his stick as a weapon and that is exactly what Modano did....but will the NHL punish the golden boy...I doubt it....Colin Campbell is a JOKE!!!!!!

I try so hard...

I try really hard to be supportive of my boys and ya know what...it's time to call them out. The past 2 games Norrena has stood on his head for these guys. And, well we just haven't gotten the offense. The goalies job is to give the other players a chance to win. There is no reason why we can't score 3 or 4 goals in a night. People need to stand up and it's like Hitch always says "Our best players need to be our best players" and quite frankly they haven't done it. Vyborny, Nash, Modin, and Fedorov need to step it up. I don't have such a problem with Fedorov because to be honest he is playing really well. Last night against Dallas he was hitting, getting rough with guys, and was taking some hits. Then tonight against Nashville he was playing on the blue line...and he did an amazing job. But, Nash, and Vyborny need to step it up. Modin...from what the announcers have told us has been injured and playing on a hurt food or ankle or something. Anyway, I'm just really disappointed in my team...but I still love them. And, just to be clear...I am in NO WAY talking smack about the goalie, Fredrik Norrena!

And, some idiot wore a Leafs jersey to the game...a Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets game...way to be skill.

AND, look at this video...there is a quote that Tootoo says he's not a dirty player...what a joke.

Hey all!

I was going to do a blog last night...but the hotel didn't have good internet...well any internet really...it was weird...anyway I'm going to blog about the game last night against Dallas and then the game tonight against Nashville...I would live blog but it's a little too intense. Alright!
***AND, to all the Preds fans...who go (insert goalie name here) you suck....I hate you***

WE WIN IN A SHOOTOUT!!!

So I decided since I just got my Center Ice thing that I would live blog the Columbus game…like I normally do but I wanted to watch it with the Dallas point of view. I am curious to see what is different. Also, if you are thinking about getting Center Ice but don’t know if you should or not…I have had it for a day and I LOVE it!!! You get every game out there. Me, living where I do, am really thankful for it. Is it bad that I’m already annoyed with the Stars coverage? Man I hope the Jackets crush them. What an obnoxious team with obnoxious colors. I wanna know which goalie is starting and I am anxious to see if they play Smith in the playoffs, because as we know Turco is a bit of a choke artist in the playoffs. Alright I changed my mind, I have on my Columbus guys. I just can’t stand to not hear the usual guys callin the game. Oh man, Foote just took a weird hit…and he is going to the dressing room. It’s Mike Modano’s fault!!! Grrr. I hate seeing Adam like that. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is back…that helps a little bit. Oh man Glencross, Konopka, and Shelley are all in the line up tonight. That’s a scary line…a hard-hitting line also. Why is it that I love hard hitters? I don’t know why. Oh well. Columbus took the first penalty Nash took it…darn him. We were able to kill it off…thank goodness. Since Leclaire is out for the season (WHY CAN’T HE GO AWAY?!) Norrena who will be out number one goalie whom I love so dearly is in…and backing him up is Brian Boucher. So Adam Foote is having his foot x-rayed. I am sad. If Foote isn’t in for the game that I’m at next week I will be so sad. He is my mom’s favorite. Heck yeah, Manny Malhotra just scored the first goal of the game. When we score first we are 17-2-4 I think is what they said. So, that’s a good sign. Malhotra was tripped up and no penalty was called. I am really shocked at how quiet the Stars arena is. I watched the Kings vs Ducks game last night and it was loud in there. Where are the Stars fans at?! There may not be a lot of Jackets fans but we are at least vocal…or maybe I am bias. The Jackets outshot the Stars 10-7. And, the score is 1-0 Jackets. To be honest, I wasn’t going to watch this game because I’m going to the game on the 9th and I didn’t really want to see what it was going to look like…but I figure why not. May as well. Why is the NHL sponsoring this movie 300? It kinda scares me and I think it’s so weird.
GOAL: Malhotra (CBJ)
ASSISTS: Chimera, Brule
SCORE: Columbus – 1
Dallas - 0
Sergei Fedorov just scored. I wasn’t really paying much attention. I get so distracted with youtube. Tollefsen roughed up somebody after the whistle…I’m not really sure who. But man I love Tollefsen. The way he plays. He plays with a ton of heart and is very very entertaining. Columbus is going to take a penalty. Vyborny took it for hooking. Norrena is playing excellent tonight. But, with a 2-0 lead…they always say is the most dangerous lead in the league. Which I was right…with Dallas on the powerplay they scored. And, now right after that Mike Modano scored to make it 2-2. Man I hate that. Hopefully Hitch gets the boys together…he called a time out. Why is Modano not the captain of the Stars? That doesn’t make sense to me. He seems to be the leader. The Jackets tend to get all out of sorts when the team they are playing score like that. This is starting to becoming quite the game. It just keeps going back and fourth which I love especially when both teams are playing so hard. Dallas because they want to catch up to Anaheim and Columbus because we have our young guys up…they are trying to prove themselves and not doing too bad of a job. The future of the Jackets I think is looking quite bright. Next year is our year…I know I keep saying that but it’s the truth!! HAHA they just showed Turco mic’d up from the All Star game. That was hilarious. ‘Can you guys go celebrate somewhere else?’ Classic. Turco seems to have quite the personality. Foote has a high ankle sprain they just said. I am sad. Hopefully, he will be back soon. It seems like Columbus is the place for injuries. These refs aren’t very good. I have seen quite a few very obvious penalties and they just aren’t seeing them.
GOAL: Fedorov (CBJ)
ASSISTS: Methot, Modin
GOAL: Sydor (DAL)
ASSISTS: Ribeiro, Robidas
GOAL: Modano (DAL)
ASSISTS: Jokinen, Sydor
SCORE: Columbus – 2
Dallas - 2
Ya know trying to avoid a hockey game score when you’re watching a hockey game is hard as hell. I’m trying to avoid the Jersey game because I am recording it. Now I am watching an interview in Laraque. I like him. I like his style. He is a tough guy. How much do I love center ice? I love it…I keep flippin through all the games in the NHL…quite exciting. These Stars keep knocking down Nash. It’s starting to piss me off. The refs are clearly blind or mentally retarded…and know nothing. We can’t get a power play to save our life! We just took another one. I hate these refs! And, YES, I am being bitter. I know that we did have those penalties but it’s like the refs are choosing not to see the penalties that the Stars are doing. Stars should have had another penalty. Again we were able to kill off that penalty and limit them to only 2 shots on goal. Alright finally we are getting on the power play…hopefully we can make it effective. The last few minutes of this 3rd period is pretty aggressive. These refs are killing me…there have been at least 2 hits from behind this period and both of them were not called. That does not thrill me. That could hurt our boys…and we already have enough guys injured. It’s looking like this game is going to go into over time. It always makes me nervous when we go to over time…because that means that we have a chance of going into a shootout.
SCORE: Columbus – 2
Dallas - 2
Alright, here we go time for 5 minutes of 4 on 4 hockey. Nothing really has happened so far…but there is still 3:30 left. Modano just took a shot and Norrena made a great save. Zherdev had a breakaway and it went just wide of the net. 2 minutes left in OT…no other real scoring chances. Haha my mom just said, “Come on guys just score so you don’t have to go to the shoot out…you never win in the shoot out.” Maybe she’s not as clueless about hockey as I thought haha. This is just getting brutal…I want to win this game so bad. I get so emotion in over time games. I don’t know why. AHH!! It’s going into a shootout…and I hate it.
SCORE: Columbus – 2
Dallas - 2
SHOOTOUT!!!! Let’s see who is gonna come out.
Chimera - SCORE HOLLA!! Zubov - STICK SAVE!!
Konopka - MISSED THE NET!! Modano – WENT WIDE!! Klesla - Didn’t get to shoot… Jokinen - SAVE!!
SCORE COLUMBUS – 3
Dallas - 2

Well everyone…we went against the odds and WON!! That’s right we won in a shootout. Due in part to Ken Hitchcock’s wonderful idea of having a shootout competition yesterday. I LOVE HITCH!!! I am pumped!
My three stars of the game:
1. Fredrik Norrena WOOO!!! Atta boy
2. Jason Chimera
3. Sergei Fedorov

Liveblogging is fun!!

Yeah I will be liveblogging the game against Dallas tonight so I will keep you up to date!

Oh and GO JACKETS!!

If the playoffs started today...

If they playofffs started today for the Eastern Conference you would have:

1. Buffalo
2. New Jersey
3. Tampa Bay
4. Pittsburgh
5. Ottawa
6. Atlanta
7. Carolina
8. Toronto *yeah the Leafs....weird*

And, for the Western Conference:

1. Detroit
2. Anaheim
3. Vancouver
4. Nashville
5. San Jose
6. Dallas
7. Minnesota
8. Calgary

Ok so I don't really know what to write about but I figure I will just talk about the teams in my opinion what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are. So that should be fun eh?!

Buffalo...strengths...well I believe they are very good offensively and with the start they got this season they have themselves in a very good position being number 1 in the East. I think their weakness is their goalie situation. I know Ryan Miller was an all star (which doesn't mean anything) but I just don't think he's that good.

Detroit...strengths...very good defensively minded team. Also, a lot of the players on their team have playoff experience. This next thing I am going to say is a strength and a weakness...Hasek...yes he is an amazing goalie but at the same time you worry about his health. If he goes down I don't know that Osgood will be able to pull off a decent playoff run...but only time will tell.

New Jersey...strengths...Martin Brodeur and that crazy good defense they have...and they are amazing when it comes down to those 1 goal games. Weaknesses...sometimes their offense struggles...but then again...if they can get 1 or 2 goals Marty can do the rest.

Anaheim...strengths...talent...every single one of the guys on that team has talent oozing from them. They are a very complete team. Weaknesses I think sometimes they get too confident...and they lose sight of what they need to do.

Tampa Bay...strengths...offense...St. Louis...Lecavalier...Richards...but then their weakness is that's about all they have. Their goalie situation is far from ideal and their defense struggles.

Vancouver...strengths they are a great team with an amazing regular season goalie...but then a weakness pops up because you have no idea what Luongo is capable of doing in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh...strengths...Crosby and Malkin these kids are great talents to have on the ice and hard to catch. Weaknesses hardly any playoff experience.

Nashville...strengths 2 solid goal tenders...another very complete team. Weaknesses...again confidence and not a whole lot of playoff experience.

Ottawa...strengths...holy cow...Dany Heatley...Jason Spezza...have you seen these guys play?! Weaknesses Emery is a great goalie but I think he can get a little too confident sometimes...then there is Gerber...who I think has become a big flub.

San Jose...strengths...goalies...offense. Their goalies are amazing and their offense is wonderful...with a guy like Thornton on your team anything can happen. Weakness they seem to slump pretty easily. I don't know why...but confidence is not a problem for this team.

Atlanta...strengths offense...weakness...goalies. I honestly don't know much about this team so I just went with what I knew....so there ya have it haha.

Dallas...strengths...great regular season team...solid team. Weakness Turco is not a playoff goalie...but this Smith could could do it for them...he's great.

Carolina...strengths...well hell they won the Stanley Cup last year how's that for confidence? Weakness Cam Ward has proved this season that he is kind of a flop...I mean...he's good and he did win the Stanley Cup last year but was that a fluke?! I don't know I could be way off...they do have quite a bit of talent on this team though.

Minnesota...strengths great team very fun to watch...and they have an amazing coach. (Probably my favorite other than Hitch) Weakness...their goalie is injured right now...and well he has a knee injury so who knows how he is going to come back...although they did beat the Nashville Preds tonight.

Toronto...I don't even want to talk about this team...haven't won the cup in 40 years...probably won't for another 40...sorry for all you people who like the Leafs.

Calgary...strengths...great goalie in Kipper...great defense...hell great offense...aside from the San Jose Sharks probably one of the most complete teams out there. Weakness....Calgary has a weakness? Who knew...haha...I honestly can't think of anything...

IN OTHER NEWS!!!!!!!

Marty Brodeur got his 11th shutout of the season!!!! Atta boy Marty!!!!

Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche

Diving Mr. Hull?? Right now it's the intermission report and Brett Hull is talking about diving...kinda funny....I bet he saw this video of Mr. Avery...or one of Crosby's many dives from this season.

I think this is so weird they're just on the ice talking about different angles. I am liking the coverage that NBC is doing. Let's just hope it helps out American's watching hockey.
Anyway after the first period it's 3-1 Dallas. Dallas scored the first 3 on 13 shots. Avs are starting out the second period on the power play and weren't able to capitalize. And the Avs put in Theodore and the Stars put in Smith...this is crazy...with all the goal tending changes...it's becoming a bit of a score fest....now it's getting interesting. Alright, the final score was 7-5 Dallas. The third period was decent but Dallas was taking too many stupid penalties. So way to go Dallas.
And, the Jackets lost 5-4...sheesh...I try to be a good fan but sometimes they don't make it easy. I hate when we lose to Chicago. And, the Devils lost as well...ugh...how depressing. Anyway, that's about all I have to say. Write more tommorow!!

NHL On NBC

Well it has been nearly a week since I have seen any hockey games...and I'm quite excited to see the Avs take on the Stars tonight. It will be the first game I get to watch on NBC as well so I am very anxious to see how they cover it. I was hoping to see my Jackets take on Chicago but I will live. I will write more tonight with my opinion on it and probably go on about more stuff because I have a lot to say about recent trades and trade rumors. And another thing I really need to work on my site tonight so if you have any ideas please please tell me.