The Dispatch is reporting that Klesla will now be out a minimum of 6 weeks. Along with the torn groin muscle, he's got a torn stomach muscle that could require surgery. As we know, the Olympics are causing teams to compress their schedules and this is going to leave us without one of our top D-men for a long time.

Howson has been quoted as saying he's not currently active in the trade market but its not out of the realm of possibility. So what could he be asking for? Does he want a defensive defenseman who can shut down the top guys in the league, or an offensive minded guy who can push the puck with Russell and put pucks in the net?

The Jackets currently have 9.545 million in cap space. This is plenty of wiggle room to pick up a solid top 4 defenseman. Money shouldn't be an issue, even with a number of players eligible for free agency. RFAs include Boll, Blunden, Picard, Sestito, Stralman, and Roy; UFAs are Modin, Torres, MacKenzie. Of these players, I really only see 5 maybe six given new deals.

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Has anyone else looked at the upcoming schedule lately? Looks to me like a real cake walk.

Of our next six opponents, only one has a winning record, and barely winning at that (Chicago - 6-4).

4 of the next six opponents have at least twice as many losses than wins:

• Golden State (3-8)
• Minnesota (1-11)
• New Jersey (0-12)
• Memphis (3-8)

Needless to say, they're bad. Two road games bookend 4 at the Garden.

For my fellow stat nerds out there, Portland is allowing 87.5 PPG which is the lowest in the league. Some other numbers to look at...

• Portland is outscoring their opponents by 7.2 PPG which is 3rd in the league
• 6th in the league in blocks
• 4th in opponent 3PT%
• 2nd in the league in REB allowed, including 1st in defensive rebounds allowed.

None of our opponents rank higher than the Blazers in any of the above categories. This just shows how dominant our big men are, and how important they are to the team.

I really like our odds to finish November strong and go 14-2 in the month. The next 6 games are coming against teams that are either desperate, or fighting to stay afloat in their divisions. Losing Outlaw sucks, but look at November as a extra practice for whoever gets his minutes. It will be a real testament to the depth, and ability of this team if they finish November 6-0. I think its possible. Do you?

I'm hoping this will be a monthly thing that I can share with everyone. I want to take a look at some Blue Jackets alums and how they're performing this season.

Lets do this.

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I feel that this organization has always had something to prove; having to show they were as good as anyone else in the league. But, suffering from inconsistant play, and bad...awful coaching and managing, held the Blue Jackets back for years. Last year a statement was made when we finally got the playoff monkey off our backs. Their message: We're not going to let you push us around anymore.

By far the most successful season in club history, a number of team records were broken. One of most impressive feats, in my eyes was going undefeated against Colorado who we all know has a very distinct win/loss record against Columbus (8-22-2).

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This is simple. If you had the option to create your own All-time Blue Jackets team, who would be on it? Pick a starting goalie, blue liners, and forwards. The only catch, you can't use anyone on the current roster. Use any criteria you want like...career stats, speed, strength, toughness, finesse, fan favoritism, or just make it up. Most importantly, have fun with it.

You can find everyone who has called themselves a Blue Jacket here.