Consider Brendan Shanahan’s actions as the new NHL Dean of Discipline as shots across the bow. This week’s shot may have actually hit the bow of the SS Blue Jacket. With James Wisniewski’s eight regular season game suspension for a late hit on Minnesota’s Cal Clutterbuck, the Blue Jackets will now have to patchwork together their defense following training camp.
I will openly admit that I have not watched the video of the hit. To me, it doesn’t matter. I have read the description of the play from various media outlets and well-respected journalists on Twitter. The facts are simple in this case. It was a late hit with an accompanying headshot on an unsuspecting player. The Blue Jackets and Wisniewski can spin this story any way that they want to and it’s perfectly within their right to do so. Wisniewski is a two-time previous offender, including another eight-game suspension. The stigma attached to these players will not be ignored.
Some familiar faces are still around in the state capital, but it is the new faces that will have to carry the flag for the team this season if they wish to make the playoffs. The Columbus Blue Jackets enter the 2011-12 campaign with a lot of optimism and with good reason. Offseason acquisitions of Jeff Carter, James Wisniewski, Vaclav Prospal, and Radek Martinek have made this the strongest group the Blue Jackets have had in the franchise’s history. One new face whose fate has yet to be determined is that of Ryan Johansen and he could be the key to the season for the team.
Don’t dismiss the fact that the Browns went on the road and beat a wounded Indianapolis team for their first win of the season. When you’re the average-looking skinny kid at the dance, you dance with whoever asks and you enjoy it. 
