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Submitted by Brian on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 14:45
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Welcome Jacket Backers,
First, I would like to congratulate the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings for an amazing and competitive Stanley Cup finals. You have to respect both teams for leaving every ounce of effort they had on the ice with the Penguins capturing their third Stanley Cup in the team’s history.
Second, congratulations to Steve Mason for being awarded the NHL’s Rookie of the Year for the 2008/2009 season. Steve is one of the main reasons we made the playoffs for the first time in our history. Steve outshined his competition by being named the Rookie of the Month twice this season, winning 33 games with a save percentage of .916, a 2.29 goals against average and achieving 10 shutouts in 61 games played.
Third, congratulations to Rick Nash for receiving the NHL Foundation Award. The Foundation Award was awarded to Rick for his outstanding charitable work. This award proves once again that our Captain is the leader of the Blue Jackets on and off the ice.
As promised, here are my top 10 Blue Jacket games this past season. If you have a list or would like to share your thoughts, feel free to forward your comments to membership@jacketbackers.org.
10 - Game 1 at Dallas – 10/10/2008 – The boys are back and with a vengeance. We pushed back hard and won our first game. Our rookies Jakub Voracek and Derick Brassard each scored a goal, and Rick Nash scored the game winner in overtime as Pascal LeClair gets his first win of the season. It’s the start of good things to come.
9 – Game 35 vs Philadelphia – 12/27/2008 – It took 8 seasons but we finally beat every team in the NHL at least once. More importantly, this game stopped a 3 game losing streak where the Jackets were shutout twice. It also sent the Jackets on their longest road trip of the year where they won 4 out of 6 games.
8 – Game 42 vs Minnesota – 1/10/2009 – Nikita Filatov returns to Nationwide Arena and scores his first hat trick of his NHL career.
7 – Game 13 vs Edmonton – 11/05/2008 – The Jackets battled back from a 4 -2 deficit to win 5 – 4 giving Steve Mason his first win as a Blue Jacket. He went on to win his first 3 games.
6 – Game 24 vs Vancouver – 12/01/2008 – Steve Mason shines in goal as the Jackets beat the Canucks 3 -2. The final 1:56 seconds remains memorable as the Jackets were called for a penalty and the Canucks pulled their goaltender for a 6-4 man advantage. With bodies flying everywhere, Mason stayed composed and stopped every shot.
5 – Game 74 vs Calgary – 03/26/2009 – A potential playoff matchup where the Jackets make a statement and spank the Flames 5 - 0, giving Steve Mason his 10th shutout of the season.
4 – Playoff game 4 vs Detroit – 04/23/2009 – No matter what Detroit tried to do, they could not put the game away. Having a two goal lead twice, the Jackets never quit and tied the game at 5 going into the third period. A late penalty gave the Red Wings the advantage to finally win the game with just over 46 seconds left in regulation.
3 – Game 68 vs Pittsburgh – 03/12/2009 – What a game!!! We built a 3 goal lead only to watch it evaporate in 3 minutes and 25 seconds. Steve Mason stones both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in the shootout to preserve Kristian Huselius’s shootout winner.
2 – Game 67 vs Boston – 03/10/2009 – One of our best efforts as a team. Solid defense, awesome goaltending, along with a timely goal by Raffi Torres and an insurance empty-net goal by Rick Nash, gave the Jackets a victory against the best team in the Eastern Conference.
1 – Game 66 at Detroit – 03/07/2009 – We beat Detroit in Detroit 8 - 2. Rick Nash gets his second hat trick this season – an unassisted hat trick – to lead us to victory. What makes this win even sweeter is the Jacket Backers attended the game and I got to see it with my own two eyes.
Elections for new officers will be held this Saturday, June 27th. Lunch is at noon and elections starting at 1 pm. Check the website for location and any other details. We’re providing a free lunch before the election and now is the last reminder to RSVP if you’d like to be included in the head count for the meal planning. RSVP should go to Julie at president@jacketbackers.org. You are still welcome to join us last-minute after lunch for the elections if you’re not quite sure yet you can make it – the more the merrier. Also, we will be collecting canned and non perishable food items at the election meeting, if you’d like to participate in our ongoing food drive efforts. A business trip to Boston will keep me from attending, so keep me in mind when voting for the membership chair.
Our next activity will be the Crew game in July. Please RSVP Jessica at activities@jacketbackers.org
Here’s to playing hockey in June 2010
Dave Yatsco and the Jacket Backers
