The Columbus Blue Jackets will be making a road trip through California starting Thursday in which they will play 3 games in 4 days. This will be a tough stretch for the Jackets, as they will have to face the likes of San Jose, Anaheim, and the L.A. If things weren't bad enough for the Injury depleted Blue Jackets, they may have just gotten worse.
Back up Goalie Curtis McElhinney was placed on the IR after suffering a head/neck injury at Ottawa and is expected to miss at least a week. Enter Anton Forsberg; NHL experience: None, his minor league record this year is 1-2 with a 2.36 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in three starts this season. It is most likely he will get his feet wet in one of these games. My guess it will be against Anaheim which will be the second game of a B2B.
Its possible that Brobvoski could play in all three but according to head coach Todd Richards its not likely, “That’s three games in a short amount of time, so we’ll have to see,” . . . “But you have to trust your young players. Those are guys who are going to be part of this organization in the future, and this is the way it worked out."(The Columbus Dispatch).
The only positive for the Jackets is that they will have 4 days rest to get healthier as they have numerous players injured; Brandon Dubinsky (abdominal surgery), Boone Jenner (broken hand), Nathan Horton (back), Marko Dano (undisclosed) and defenseman Ryan Murray (knee). However, Even if some of these players do come back, there will be many factors to contend with such as cohesion, adjusting, timing, etc. Not to mention, which team will be the lesser of the three evils for a rookie goalie to get his first start? San Jose will be smelling blood, the Quacks will attack and the Kings will be waiting to crown them in LA...
Not hating on the Blue Jackets, I actually like this tough Blue collar team, when healthy they will be a playoff contender for sure. Alas they're hurt right now, but I definitely don't see any of these teams feeling sorry for them as they shouldn't. They will certainly have a tough road to hoe when they make their Cali swing..
Just wanted to share my thoughts, best of luck this up comming week looks like we all had a profitable one, lets keep it rolling gents.
Ziggy