NHL
Jackets to be host to NHL’s All-Stars
Columbus likely to be named today as site of next year’s game
Most-recent members
Recent Videos
-
Puck Rakers
A blog about the Blue Jackets and the NHL
Vermette Traded To Phoenix
The Blue Jackets have traded forward Antoine Vermette to the Phoenix Coyotes for two draft picks and goaltender Curtis McElhinney.
The Jackets get a second-round pick in 2012 (previously owned by Ottawa) and a fifth-round pick in 2013. McElhinney, who had abdominal surgery in January is not expected to play the rest of this season.
"This is moving forward," Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson said. "We have to move forward. It wasn't working this season as we expected. We're going to move forward and this is part of the process of reshaping the team.
"Antoine was very professional, just as I expected he would be. I thanked him and his wife Karen, who did a lot of work in our comminity, for being such a good player and such a good person for our organization."
Vermette, 29, played his 600th NHL game on Tuesday. In 241 games with Columbus, Vermette had 61 goals, 91 assists and 112 penalty minutes. His best season was in 2009-10 when he had 27 goals, 38 assists and 65 points, all career highs.
McElhinney, who is in the final year of his contract, had abdominal surgery in January and is not expected to play this season. However, in order to facilitate the trade, the Coyotes needed to move a player off their roster as they were nearing the roster maximum of 50 players.
Vermette was in the first year of a four-year, $14 million contract. He is signed through the 2014-15 season with a $3.75 million cap hit.
"This gives us more flexibility," Howson said. "It's never fun trading anybody. I don't think any GM enjoys that. But this is about us moving the team forward."
More to follow.
-- Aaron Portzline
twitter: @aportzline
The Blue Jackets could learn as soon as today that they will host the 2013 NHL All-Star Game in Nationwide Arena, two sources told The Dispatch last night.
An official announcement is expected today after a meeting of the NHL’s Board of Governors in Ottawa, the site of this season’s game on Sunday.
Blue Jackets spokesman Todd Sharrock said the club would not comment. Neither club President Mike Priest nor General Manager Scott Howson responded to messages left last night by The Dispatch seeking confirmation.
The game could generate $15 million to $25 million in revenue for Columbus, based on economic-impact studies by cities that have hosted the game. Officials from the Greater Columbus Sports Commission are in Ottawa, perhaps in anticipation of an announcement.
The Blue Jackets applied to host the game in 2013, 2014 or 2015, although the 2014 game might not be played if NHL players are sent to compete in the Olympics. The 2013 game is contingent on the league and its players union agreeing to a new contract after this season.
One source told The Dispatch last night that the Blue Jackets — in the midst of the worst season in franchise history and in need of good news — were informed yesterday by the league that they will be the host next season.
The game is one of the NHL’s marquee events and probably would be the biggest pro sports event in Columbus history.
In the past, the NHL would not approve Columbus as a host of an All-Star Game because the area around Nationwide Arena lacked a sufficient number of high-end hotel rooms needed to house sponsors, celebrities and players. But a 500-room Hilton, being built just blocks from Nationwide Arena, is planned for completion by September, a month before the 2012-13 season opens.
Also, the league informed Columbus two years ago that it would not be considered as a host city until it achieved financial stability in the form of a new lease agreement.
That agreement was struck last month, when Franklin County commissioners approved a plan in which money from the still-under-construction West Side casino will be used by Franklin County to buy Nationwide Arena. In return, Nationwide has assumed a 30 percent ownership stake in the franchise.
On Thursday, Blue Jackets majority owner John P. McConnell told The Dispatch that although the deal isn’t complete, all that is left is paperwork. “I know of no issues that are going to prevent it from getting done,” he said.
The Blue Jackets and Columbus proved themselves to the NHL in 2007 when they hosted the NHL draft.
aportzline@dispatch.com
