Starting goalie, captaincy some issues Columbus Blue Jackets must resolve before season starts -NHL
The Columbus Blue Jackets faced probably the biggest change in franchise history when captain, Rick Nash, of nine years decided that he had enough of not being able to take the team to any significant level as a leader.
For many fans, it was certainly disappointing but some have even termed it to be a good sign for Blue Jackets as they can try new things and forget about the past in which they made the postseason just once (2008-2009) in the past decade.
It is a fresh start for Columbus as they acquired players like Brandon Dubinsky from New York Rangers, Nick Foligno from Ottawa Senators and hot goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky from Philadelphia Flyers.
"I'm really excited about what the new guys can bring," Columbus general manager, Scott Howson, told Blue Jackets TV. "We took 30 goals out of the lineup (with Nash), but we brought in with Foligno and Dubinsky and Anisimov and maybe a full year from Cam
Atkinson. I think there's a lot of potential there."
For the upcoming 2012-2013 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, there are a number of questions being faced by Columbus Blue Jackets. The first one is obviously who will take over the captaincy left open by Rick Nash. To start off, Jared Boll in
the longest playing Columbus player at the moment on the team as he made his debut with the team back in 2007.
Unfortunately, it is hard seeing him get that position as R.J. Umberger has the assistant captain spot and will most likely be taking over looking at his 20 goals scored last season.
What Columbus needs the other players to do is score goals, since it is something which they are definitely lacking on. Special teams will also be important and testing them out during the preseason training will be crucial in regards to many factors next
season.
Next on the list is Sergei Bobrovsky and Steve Mason fighting for the top goaltending spot and Columbus wants competition and the former can certainly give that to them.
Next season is set to be exciting for all teams and Columbus Blue Jackets can definitely look forward to a great season.
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