The Hockey News Sunday Recap: Columbus Blue Jackets

NEWS & NOTES

Injured Reserve & Other Injuries

The Columbus Blue Jackets aren't just winning faceoffs, they're dominating.  

Through four games, the CBJ have gone 136-232 at the faceoff circle, for a winning % of 58.6%. That's good enough for #1 in the league by 4%. The difference between 2nd and 17th in the league is 4.4%. The Boston Bruins posted a 56.39% win % in 2012-13, the NHL record. 

Former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Adam Boqvist is heading overseas after spending over three months as an unrestricted free agent. 

Boqvist has signed a two-year contract with Geneve-Servette of Switzerland's National League, as announced by the club. 

Most fans chalked this up to a moment of frustration for Olivier. The Jackets were being beaten at that point in the game, mostly by Brady Tkachuk, and his frustration boiled over. I honestly think he was just upset with Balinski, who was being a tad too physical with Olivier at that moment. 

With his two assists, though, he has moved into the top-10 all-time in CBJ history for assists by a defenseman. He now has 65 assists as a Blue Jacket, passing Ron Hainsey, who had 64. 

Ivan Provorov sits 9th with 75 assists, and if he keeps racking up points, he could catch Provorov before he comes back from injury. 

"You gotta believe that performance will embarrass them enough to stop this, right?" Bowness said. "Because if they're not embarrassed by that, we don't want them on the team. It's as simple as that."

"I go into the rink, and there's a kid walking out of the rink with a hockey bag on his shoulder, Lukáš Sedlák. Im like, "Sedsy, where you going?' He's like, "Can't play for Torts anymore!' Im going home to Czech (Republic). I quit.'   

Yeah, I think we have a lot of guys in there that really care. It's the consistency we have to get better at. We're not getting enough from a lot of guys, myself included. Him challenging us is not a bad thing. I feel like guys are going to come out ready to go this weekend. He (Bowness) should be watching; guys should feel like they have something to prove, because we haven't proved anything yet as a team." 

Kevin Connauton will make his professional debut tonight as a referee when he takes the ice to officiate an ECHL game between the New Mexico Goatheads and the Idaho Steelheads in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. 

"Voronkov has not lived up to the promise he showed as a power forward with a combative style and soft hands. The Blue Jackets have grumbled for years about his lack of conditioning."

Through seven games, Werenski is averaging a whopping 29:22. That's more than Owen Power, who's sitting at 26:45. Is that too much? He's even had two games where he played over 30 minutes, with only one of those being an OT game. 

Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets are back home on Tuesday to welcome back Kirill Marchenko and the Toronto Maple Leafs.   

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