The CBJ Writer

The Columbus Blue Jackets would look to use their first game and loss of the season as motivation after a solid showing in Nashville. The Predators won by a one-goal margin, 2-1 being the final. Overall, the team played strongly, but was edged out by an impressive opposition and goalie by the name of Juuse Saros, who finished with a .974 save percentage. Enough said.  The Columbus Blue Jackets @ Minnesota Wild game would start a little late, as the Blue Jackets would witness a preview of their own home opener next week. Why? It's not just the Blue Jackets celebrating their 25th season, but the Wild as well. So, a huge happy birthday to them! After the festivities, the puck would drop, and just 2:29 into the game, the visiting Blue Jackets would add the first goal of the game to the scoreboard! To make the moment all the more exciting, it would be the first goal of Miles Wood's since he joined the Columbus Blue Jackets in March. There would be a single assist on this goal, and i...

Welcome to the quarter-century celebration, 5th Line!  Congratulations to Jet Greaves, who got to start in game one of an NHL season for the first time in his career. The team would take the ice in Nashville with energy, just as excited to start the 25th season of Columbus Blue Jackets hockey as the fans. Unfortunately, the opening goal would be in favor of the home team. Predators' Michael Bunting would sail the puck past the gloved hand of Jet Greaves. From the line of sight he had, Jet had no chance at stopping the Predators from going up 1-0 at 6:45. Even with a few minutes of good play toward the middle of the period for the Predators, the Blue Jackets would have excellent energy and control in the beginning and end of the opening period. The strength of play for the visiting Blue Jackets would come through at 16:01 with the first goal of the season for Dimitri Voronkov! Damon Severson and Denton Mateychuk would each get their first assists of the season on the goal from Jacke...

The Right Winger is coming home for his final NHL Contract. The former number 13 (before it was worn by Kent Johnson and the late Johnny Gaudreau) has agreed to terms on a single-day contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. After this, he will retire from the NHL.  Cam Atkinson spent ten years with us here in Columbus and quickly became a fan favorite with his energy and scoring ability. Over the span of 627 games, he had 213 goals, his most in a season beginning back in 2018-19 when he had 41. In addition, he had 189 assists. This all came to a grand total of 402 points in Columbus alone. He'd gone on to add 143 games over two seasons with the Flyers, accomplishing another 36 goals and 42 assists for a combined 78 points. Then, he played his final full NHL season in Tampa Bay with the Lightning. He'd add another 39 games to his total, with another 4 goals and 5 assists. When you add it all together, he had 12 seasons with 848 games played, 253 goals, 236 assists, for a total o...

The opening period of this game would be a standoff between goalies Logan Thompson of the Capitals and Elvis Merzlikins of the Blue Jackets. It would end as it began, 0-0. Period 2 would see the Blue Jackets take chances with good offense, but no goals would come of it. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the Capitals, who were held to minimal offense but cashed in on their few opportunities.  The Capitals would gain a 1-0 lead after Declan Chisholm would pop the puck past Elvis Merzlikins' visitor net. This would be his first goal of the preseason, and it would come just 2:38 into Period 2. Ivan Miroshnichenko would add his second assist this season with the primary, while Ryan Leonard would add his first this preseason with the secondary. The Capitals would then double up at home at 10:03 with some help from a former Blue Jacket. It would be Pierre-Luc Dubois' laser slapshot goal, his first this preseason, that gave his home team the 2-0 lead. Tom Wilson would ad...

With a loaded roster, the Columbus Blue Jackets would face off against the Washington Capitals in the last preseason game of 2025. Unfortunately, the Capitals would be the first on the board with a goal at 8:25 from Conner McMichael. David Gucciardi and Tome Wilson would come away with the first Capitals' assists of the evening. The Capitals would then double up with the final goal of the period at 17:25. This goal would be the first power play goal of the game as well, and the credit would go to Andrew Cristall. Conner McMichael would become the first player of the night with a multi-point night, scoring the primary assist on the second Capitals' goal. The secondary assist would go to Daclan Chisholm. The Blue Jackets would go into Period 2 without a goal, but that would quickly change.  For the first time this preseason, the cannon would go BOOM for Captain Boone Jenner! His goal would be the first power play goal of the evening for the Jackets, and he'd score it at 7:52....

What an emotional, memorable night in Pittsburgh, and what an honor for the Columbus Blue Jackets to be a part of it. It's an honor to write about Marc-Andre Fleury's final NHL game. The man is and will always be a legend of the game with his 575 wins in net and over 1,00 games both played and started. Tonight, after signing a PTO with the team 1st in 2023, Fleury, nicknamed Flower, would complete his career, and damn, it was emotional and the best exit from the NHL I've ever seen. That said, before I get ahead of myself, we have to recap two periods of rivalry hockey before Fleury took the ice, so let's go!  Period 1 would see Elvis Merzlikins in the net for the visiting Blue Jackets, while Sergei Murashov would hold the home net. Luca Del Bel Belluz would score at the end of period 1, giving the Jackets a 1-0 lead at 16:08. Yegor Chinakov would continue to impress with the primary assist on this goal, while Corson Ceulemans would come away with the secondary assist fo...