1 Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips Apr. 5, 2019 Columbus Blue
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Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips Apr. 5, 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: One more win, and they're in the playoffs PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets: Alexandre Texier to make NHL debut against Rangers PAGE 06: Columbus Dispatch: Michael Arace: Blue Jackets broadcaster Bill Davidge heads into retirement with a smile PAGE 08: The Athletic: With biggest games of season looming, Blue Jackets call up top prospect Alexandre Texier to make his debut Cleveland Monsters/Prospects NHL/Websites PAGE 11: The Athletic: Down Goes Brown: When playoff matchups nobody is all that excited about turn out to be great PAGE 16: Sportsnet.ca: Why Glen Sather will go down in history as one of NHL's most unique winners PAGE 18: Sportsnet.ca: Ranking nine candidates in wide open Jack Adams Award race PAGE 23: TSN.CA: Conspiracy, negligence charges reinstated against OHL in minimum-wage lawsuit 1 Blue Jackets | One more win, and they're in the playoffs By Bill Rabinowitz, Columbus Dispatch – April 4, 2019 The Blue Jackets took to the ice Thursday morning for less than an hour. Could it have been their last practice of the season? They hope not, and they need only to take care of business to assure that it wasn’t. But after Black Tuesday — an ugly 6-2 loss in their home finale to Boston and wins by Carolina and Montreal — the Blue Jackets’ playoff chances went from highly likely to precarious. Sitting at 94 points, the Jackets can clinch a postseason spot if they win either of their final two games, Friday at the New York Rangers and Saturday at the Ottawa Senators. They are three points behind Carolina, which holds the first wild-card-spot, and are tied with Montreal but have the tie-breaker advantage over the Canadiens thanks to more regulation and overtime wins. The Jackets spent Thursday night scoreboard-watching. The Hurricanes clinched a playoff spot with a with a 3-1 win over New Jersey, and the Canadiens lost 2-1 to Washington. To close their seasons Saturday, Montreal plays visiting Toronto and Carolina plays at Philadelphia. That an 82-game season comes down to the final weekend seems fitting to Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella. “The ups and downs and Jekyll and Hyde that we’ve had this year, it doesn’t surprise me at all,” he said. Instead of looking at Tuesday’s loss as a momentum-stopper, Tortorella is viewing his team’s situation with a glass-half-full mentality. “This is a great opportunity for us, not only for what we’re talking about this season, trying to get in, but just to play in these kind of games as we build our team with some youth on it,” he said. “We shouldn’t be feeling the weight, and I don’t think we do. We’ve really played well. “We lost a game. We won five prior to that. We just have to bounce back and enjoy the moment and take it as an opportunity.” On paper, the schedule looks favorable to the Jackets. They have been better on the road this season than at Nationwide Arena, and they’re playing opponents who’ve long been out of the playoff chase. But such teams sometimes play well because they don’t have the burden of pressure. The 2014-15 Blue Jackets won 15 of their last 17 games after they’d long been eliminated from the playoff picture. “They’re always dangerous teams,” Tortorella said of playing noncontenders. “They’ll try a lot of different things. No matter if they’re in or out, every game is a tough game in the National Hockey League. This is the Rangers’ last home game. They’re going to want to put on a show there. It’s one of the hardest-working teams in the league.” Oliver Bjorkstrand, who has scored at least one goal in six consecutive games, said it didn’t enter his mind on the ice that Thursday could have been the last time the Blue Jackets practiced this season. 2 “We’re at this point now,” he said. “We have to have fun with it. We’re not out, but we’re not in yet. We’re still fighting to get into the playoffs. We still believe in our group. Now we just have to get the job done. That’s our mindset. We don’t want this to be our last practice.” 3 Blue Jackets | Alexandre Texier to make NHL debut against Rangers By Bill Rabinowitz, The Columbus Dispatch – April 4, 2019 Alexandre Texier will make his NHL debut Friday night against the New York Rangers, The Dispatch has learned. Texier, the Blue Jackets’ second-round draft pick in 2017, has made such a strong impression in his short time with the Cleveland Monsters that he will be inserted into the lineup with the playoffs on the line. Texier, 19, scored five goals and had two assists in seven games with Cleveland, including two in the Monsters’ last game. The center joined the Monsters of the American Hockey League on March 16 after playing in Finland’s top professional league, where he had 14 goals and 27 assists in 55 games. Texier will become the 12th player from France to play in the NHL. He will wear No. 42. It is not clear who Texier will replace in the Blue Jackets’ lineup. The Blue Jackets also recalled defenseman Adam Clendening, who has played in four games this season. Elvis in the building Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins spoke to reporters on Thursday for the first time since his arrival in Columbus on Sunday. The Latvian signed with the Blue Jackets on March 20. Merzlikins has a reputation for flamboyance on and off the ice, and his personality was on display in a nearly 20-minute conversation. He is living with his girlfriend and already has made one friend in town, an Uber driver named Robert. Robert has driven him around the city, which Merzlikins called “really beautiful.” >> Video: Elvis Merzlikins speaks in Columbus Merzlikins is expected to compete for a starting job next season if Sergei Bobrovsky leaves, as expected, as a free agent. But with Bobrovsky, Joonas Korpisalo and Keith Kincaid on the roster, Merzlikins’ only practice time is with goaltending coach Manny Legace, not the full team. He faced shots from rookie Eric Robinson for an hour Thursday morning. Merzlikins attended Tuesday’s loss to Boston. “I really wanted to hear the cannon, and I heard it and it’s really loud,” he said. “I like that. That was the first thing I posted on my Instagram. It’s a really nice thing. I hope I hear it a lot more times.” Through his driver Robert, Merzlikins is learning about the support for the Blue Jackets. “Everybody here loves the Blue Jackets," Merzlikins said. “He explained to me that the Blue Jackets, the hockey team, it has the most following, that everybody is following it — except (for) the football team from Ohio.” He was referring to Ohio State. Robert drove him past Ohio Stadium on the way to Easton Town Center. “That’s another experience I want to see,” he said of a game at the Horseshoe. “It’s really huge.” 4 Playoff tickets Tickets for potential first-round playoff games will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at BlueJackets.com, Nationwide Arena, the Blue Line store at the Mall at Tuttle Crossing, and the three area Chiller locations. Sales will be restricted to Ohio residents until 10 a.m. Monday. Dispatch reporter Brian Hedger contributed to this notebook. 5 Michael Arace | Blue Jackets broadcaster Bill Davidge heads into retirement with a smile By Michael Arace, Columbus Dispatch – April 4, 2019 My favorite iteration of Bill Davidge, Blue Jackets analyst, was when he sat next to play-by-play man George Matthews in the radio booth. From 2000 to '09, the Jackets averaged 47 losses and Bantam George and Dapper Billy made those games sound like bungee jumps. Where’s the puck? Who cares? How thrilling! They were Columbus’ favorite uncles and it’s too bad they got to call only four playoff games together. Uncle George was unseated in 2013, when he returned home to Charlottesville, Prince Edward Island; he still calls QMJHL Islanders games. Uncle Billy stayed longer, much to the delight of thousands and thousands of fans. He did a few years as a television analyst before he moved into the studio to set up pregame, break it down on the telestrator and give the last word postgame. Davidge will retire as soon as he signs off Saturday night, the final day of the regular season. “Because I can,” said Davidge, 64. He was smiling. Of course, he was. This is a man who has lived a life and has more in him yet. A car accident took his first wife, Leann Grimes, in 1985, and he came to know what it is to be a single parent with an infant. His second marriage ended in divorce. His third marriage, to Jayna, has been a warm blessing. Between them, they have six children, two grandchildren and a place in Naples, Florida. They’re going to split time between Columbus and Florida, and they are going to stripe the ball down the middle of the fairway. Oh, and the cancer? Not even multiple myeloma can wipe the smile off Davidge’s face. To him, it’s just another excuse to engage with more good people, raise awareness for another cause and add another charity to his calling.