Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips Oct. 9, 2018 Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Brandon Dubinsky's injury puts brakes on hot start PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Brandon Dubinsky out for four to six weeks PAGE 05: Columbus Dispatch: Ticket-tax foes target Nationwide Arena, though others would also benefit - News - The Columbus Dispatch PAGE 07: The Athletic: Brandon Dubinsky will miss at least a month, thrusting Riley Nash into prominent role with Blue Jackets Cleveland Monsters/Prospects PAGE 10: The Morning Journal: Monsters remain unbeaten with victory over Toronto Marlies NHL/Websites PAGE 11: The Athletic: Down Goes Brown weekend power rankings: The way-too-early edition 1 Brandon Dubinsky's injury puts brakes on hot start By Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch – October 8, 2018 Two games is a small sample size from which to draw conclusions. So while the start of the season hasn’t been a referendum on the revival of Brandon Dubinsky’s career, the early returns certainly were encouraging. So much so that the physicality and grit Dubinsky has brought with physically imposing linemates Boone Jenner and Josh Anderson convinced coach John Tortorella that they were the Blue Jackets’ top- performing trio in games against Detroit and Carolina. It’s a line they will have to do without for a while, starting with Tuesday night’s game against Colorado. After skating off the ice in apparent pain during practice on Sunday, Dubinsky is expected to be out for four to six weeks with a strained oblique muscle. He was placed on injured reserve, was absent from Monday’s practice and not present for interviews. “It’s a tough break for him and for the team,” Tortorella said after Monday’s practice. “Arguably just two games into it, that line and him specifically, probably our top forwards.” Dubinsky’s absence means veteran Riley Nash, signed during the offseason with an eye on having him compete with Dubinsky to center the Jackets’ third line, will now assume his place. It’s not an unfamiliar situation for him: After being elevated to a top-six role with Boston last year when Patrice Bergeron went down with an injury, Nash had five goals, eight assists and a plus-6 rating in 13 games as the Bruins went 9-2-2. Now in his eighth season, Nash has the pedigree of a checking-line center. Being tasked with replacing Dubinsky, who has seemingly mixed it up with an opponent after every whistle so far this season, won’t make him play differently, he said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fill that role quite to Dubi’s ability, but I think as a group it’s a good mentality to have ... getting into that blue paint and establishing a presence in front of our goal and then in front of theirs, as well,” he said. ″(Anderson and Jenner) are two big, strong bodies, so let them use that to their advantage. It’s less about playmaking, more about chipping it and letting those guys use their attributes to the best of their ability.” His elevation means Lukas Sedlak, who has been a healthy scratch for the first two games, will slot in as the fourth-line center. He has 11 goals and 10 assists in 115 games across the last two seasons for the Jackets. “Obviously it’s more fun when you get to play games, right?” Sedlak said. “I’m looking forward to it. I will have some fun (Tuesday). Hopefully I will help the team.” 2 Before the game against the Hurricanes, Tortorella dismissed any thoughts of splitting up the third line of Jenner, Dubinsky and Anderson because it had been playing so well together. With Nash now in the middle, he said the two wingers would remain together — at least for now. “I can’t say what’s going to happen in my mind as we go through a game,” Tortorella said. “There are a number of people that I’m looking at trying to see what their game is like. If we have to make adjustments we will, but going into the game, no, I want to try to keep the lines together. But I also need better play from other people.” 3 Brandon Dubinsky out for four to six weeks By Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch – October 8, 2018 Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky is expected to miss four to six weeks because of a strained oblique muscle suffered during practice Sunday, the team announced Monday. The Blue Jackets placed Dubinsky on injured reserve, and he’ll likely miss from 12 to 18 games. Dubinsky posted points in each of the Jackets’ first two games with a goal and an assist while winning 68.8 percent of his faceoffs and averaging 14:27 of ice time. >>Join our Columbus Blue Jackets Fans Facebook group for the latest news, updates and to join in on the conversation. After finishing with a career-low six goals and 16 points last season, playing only 62 games because of a broken eye socket, the 32-year old center vowed to spend the offseason getting into the kind of shape that made him an effective player for much of his career. A disciplined work regimen, a stricter diet and an awareness of what it might take to get back to form helped a new-look Dubinsky regain his spot in the lineup. Now, he’ll have to get over an injury and recommit himself in rehabilitation. The sting of the injury to Dubinsky and the team was not lost on coach John Tortorella. “I look at (Dubinsky) right now and Dubi’s done a lot of work this summer, not only physically but mentally, and he’s dead-on his game,” Tortorella said. “Now in practice he hurts himself. The guys you pull for are those types of guys. Easy to pull for. You want to see them follow through.” Tortorella said Riley Nash will slide into the center spot on the third line between Boone Jenner and Josh Anderson and that Lukas Sedlak will go into the lineup to take over for Nash on the fourth line. Dubinsky’s loss will test the rest of the team, Tortorella said. “We just have to figure out how we’re going to play, with or without him,” Tortorella said. “I don’t want to paint a bleak picture; I just want us to get off on the right start in building our identity as a team. A fairly skilled team, but also with some grind to it. We’re going to keep on working at it.” 4 Ticket-tax foes target Nationwide Arena, though others would also benefit - News - The Columbus Dispatch By Rick Rouan, Columbus Dispatch – October 8, 2018 Fans who flood Nationwide Arena to support the Columbus Blue Jackets soon could be paying a higher price to stave off a leaky roof, install new scoreboards and upgrade suites. Opponents of a proposed 7 percent tax on tickets for some sports and cultural events in Columbus say that isn’t a problem. But taxing tickets for events at competing venues to benefit the publicly owned arena is a problem, they say. “There has to be a better way for (the arena) to create its own revenue than to tax competing venues,” said Bret Adams, a Columbus sports and entertainment lawyer who owns The Bluestone, a music venue at 583 E. Broad St. “It’s taxing competing venues for the benefit of the general public.” But proponents of the tax say that money collected from tickets to arena events would amount to more than the arena would receive, making it a net donor to other venues in the city. The arena managers and arts groups that devised the proposal say they are natural partners. A backlog of maintenance and renovation projects has put the cash-strapped, 19-year-old arena in danger of falling into disrepair. The Greater Columbus Arts Council has been studying the idea of a ticket tax to support arts groups for years, and the arena represents about a third of the ticket revenue in the city. “We really see this as a solution for the community as a whole. We’re partners in this because we’re part of the same ecosystem that helps draw business, tourism and conventions,” said Jami Goldstein, the arts council’s vice president for marketing. The Columbus City Council is expected to take up the proposal this week. A public hearing is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall. Council members will consider the proposal and any changes they want to make before holding a likely vote later this year. But they will do so with the backdrop of the arena’s public purchase, which sparked vocal opposition in 2012. The arts council and the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority want the city to adopt the 7 percent tax on sports, arts and cultural events. After exemptions for small venues, they estimate the tax would generate $12 million a year, including about $4.2 million from tickets for arena concerts and Blue Jackets games; $3.6 million of that would go back to the arena. The authority says it anticipates about $4 million a year in arena capital needs for the next 10 years. Proceeds from the ticket tax would be used to address those needs. “The arena is 19 years old. We’d like to make it last for at least another 19 to 20 years. In order to do that, we can expect there will be capital repairs and improvements every year as long as the arena is in operation,” said Don Brown, the authority’s executive director.