Bethany's Hockey Rants

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Brassard Finished for the Season

by Bethany on 12/21/08 at 06:36 PM ET
Comments (10)

Brassard’s season is over. He suffered a dislocated shoulder in his fight against Neal in Dallas. He is facing surgery that will take 4-6 months to recover.

This is a huge blow for the Jackets, who are going to be forced to make some sort of move, as we have lost the only productive center. Sorry RJ.

So, what are the Jackets going to do?

Your guess is as good as mine.

We have to make a trade, we don’t have another player in Syracuse to take his position.

But, who would we give up? Who could we even get? The Christmas freeze is on, so a trade right now is out of the question until December 27th.

There have been rumors going around that Spezza is available, I really don’t think he is, but if he is, is he a good fit for the Jackets?

I honestly think Hitchcock would be great for Spezza. BUT, what would we have to give up? Filatov? Voracek? Other draft picks?

But, I won’t get my hopes up just yet.

Whatever happens, happens. Trades make me nervous, you never know how they’re going to turn out, and you always hate to give up youth...especially, on a young team like ours, and giving up draft picks...I don’t know that it’s worth it.

Any other thoughts?

All I want for Christmas is a top line center.

Filed in: Columbus Blue Jackets, | Bethanys Hockey Rants | Permalink
Tags: Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Derick+Brassard, Jason+Spezza,

Comments

that’s a real shame. he was my pick to win the calder.

Posted by josh from tampa on 12/21/08 at 07:23 PM ET

Wow...that is too bad. I loved watching Brassard...he brought a lot of excitement to the team. I hope Hitch and Howson move soon though...we can’t afford to wait.

Posted by Jeannie from Cincinnati on 12/21/08 at 11:12 PM ET

That is too bad. Brassard was going to be no. 1 or no. 2 for rookie honours at the end of the year too. Spezza would be amazing, but the asking price is probably too high. A cheaper stop-gap would be Dougie Weight from Long Island, and Matt Stajan and Nik Antropov can both play center from Toronto. But you would have to think that both teams would want to wait to as near to the deadline as possible. Antropov would probably be the best bet for the Jackets, big body, 27 I think, lots of offensive upside, defensively strong; they wouldn’t have to give up more than just a pick you wouldn’t think. Voracek and Filatov would stay, and maybe trade just a first. If they get a center, the playoffs aren’t out of reach. Not only that, he plays the wings just as good for next year, so he’s a top six forward that can play all positions.

Posted by Andrew Mack on 12/21/08 at 11:39 PM ET

So much for the Calder. Poor kid must be crushed. At least with the season over there won’t be the pressure to rush his rehab - he can take his time and take proper care of himself, and come back strong for next season.

I would make the worst GM in the world because I would never trade anyone ever, no matter how much it was needed. As a fan I hate the trade deadline, and break out in hives whenever I read trade rumours involving a player I don’t want to leave.

Spezza would be tremendous, but I don’t know if he is actually available, or just the only piece that Ottawa could rationally get something for - and the fans seem to have focused their ire on him because he sometimes makes boneheaded plays (like anyone), but is so very, very talented. The team would be stupid to trade him away. Still, if they do get an attack of the stupids, why shouldn’t Columbus benefit from someone else’s stupidity?

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 12/21/08 at 11:42 PM ET

Now that Freddy’s gone, I guess we can’t trade LeClaire....

Posted by Tom from C'bus on 12/22/08 at 12:15 AM ET

Aww hell. He’s on my fantasy team. Him and Bergeron went down on the same day. Rough.

Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 12/22/08 at 03:17 AM ET

Dang, what a total bummer! He’s on several of my fantasy teams and he was good for it. I was really rooting for him for calder honors…

i guess now it’s mason vs. versteeg for calder? i can’t think of any other hot rookies right now…

Posted by pam from Lafayette, IN area on 12/22/08 at 09:32 AM ET

Official release from the Blue Jackets:

COLUMBUS, OHIO – Columbus Blue Jackets center Derick Brassard, who suffered a dislocated shoulder on December 18 at Dallas, will undergo surgery and miss the rest of the 2008-09 season, club General Manager Scott Howson announced today. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Anthony Miniaci, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Center, in early-January.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 12/22/08 at 11:42 AM ET