By Joe Coopersmith

Sean Monahan Blue Jackets Center 2024-25 Training Camp September 2024.mp3

OCT. 10, 2024 II XCEL ENERGY CENTER II AT MINNESOTA WILD

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV:  Bally Sports Ohio Steve Mears (play-by-play), Jody Shelley (analyst), Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (analyst),
Dave Maetzold  (reporter)

Radio:  97.1 The Fan    Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)

PR Twitter                         @BlueJacketsPR

Websites/Links              BlueJackets.com/PressBox; BlueJackets.com/MediaGuide

Game Notes                   Game Notes are available at Media.NHL.com

Wild to Watch

• D Brock Faber finished second in voting for the 2023-24 Calder Trophy (best first-year player) after leading league rookies in assists (tied) and TOI/GP and ranking second-T in points with 8-39-47 and 24:58 TOI in 82 games.
• C Kirill Kaprizov led the Wild in goals and points, while finishing eighth-T in the NHL in goals and 11^th in points with 46-50-96 in 75 outings during the 2023-24 season.

All-Time Series

• The Blue Jackets have gone 32-26-1-7 in 66 all-time games against the Wild, including 13-16-0-5 on the road.
• Columbus has recorded points in three-straight meetings (1-0-2) and five of the last six since Mar. 11, 2022 (2-1-3).
• CBJ are 1-0-2 in the last three games at Xcel Energy Center and have recorded points in 11 of the last 16 played in Minnesota (9-5-2).
• Ten of the last 13 games in the series have been decided by a single goal (seven after regulation) dating back to Mar. 2, 2017.
• The Blue Jackets have posted seven of the 12 shutouts in the all-time series with Sergei Bobrovsky (38 saves in 1-0 win at CBJ on Mar. 2, 2017) posting the most recent one for Columbus.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Oct. 10, 2024 – at Minnesota (8 p.m. ET)
• Oct. 19, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Wild

• D Jack Johnson – 4-14-18 in 45 career GP, including an assist in his last game played at Minnesota.
• G Elvis Merzlikins – 2-0-2 with 2.85 GAA and .919 SV% in 4 career GP, including a 1-0-2 mark with a .909 SV% in three contests at Xcel Energy Center.
• C Sean Monahan – 6-8-14 in 29 career GP, including 2-2-4 in his last five outings against the team.
• RW Mathieu Olivier – 1-1-2 in 4 career GP with points in each of his two contests at Xcel Energy Center.
• D Damon Severson – 0-7-7 in 17 career GP, including assists in each of his past two games at Minnesota (0-3-3).
• C Cole Sillinger – 3-1–4 in 5 career GP with all of his points recorded in the two meetings in 2023-24, including his second career hat trick in the teams’ most recent meeting on Jan. 6, 2024.
• D Zach Werenski – 3-2-5 in 11 career GP, including points in two of his last three games against the Wild overall and on the road (1-1-2).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 8-3-11 in 20 career GP, including 7-2-9 in his last nine outings against Minnesota.

BLUE JACKETS KICK OFF 2024-25 SEASON

• Columbus begins the 2024-25 season with a two-game road trip to Minnesota on Oct. 10 and Colorado on Oct. 12.
• It marks the ninth time in 24 campaigns the club will open play on the road (excluding two games in Sweden in 2010).
• CBJ have gone 4-4-0 in the previous eight games with wins at Detroit (2018), Buffalo (2014), Nashville (2012) and Dallas (2008) as well as losses at Carolina (2022), Nashville (2020), Washington (2005) and Atlanta (2003).
• The Blue Jackets have gone 9-12-2 in season-opening games and 11-11-1 in their first road contest of the campaign.  CBJ opened their 2023-24 road campaign with a 5-4 overtime victory at Minnesota on Oct. 21.

HONORING JOHNNY & MATTHEW GAUDREAU

• The Blue Jackets will honor the memory of LW Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, during the 2024-25 season with a special “13 & 21” helmet sticker and “13” patch on their jerseys.

EVASON MAKES CBJ DEBUT

• Dean Evason will make his Blue Jackets coaching debut on Thursday at Minnesota, where he compiled a 147-77-27 record in 251 games from Feb. 14, 2020 through Nov. 27, 2023.
• His .639 points percentage ranks fifth among active NHL coaches with 250 or more contests behind the bench, while the Wild ranked eighth in the league in points percentage, seventh in goals-per-game (3.28) and 10th in wins during his tenure.
• Will try to become the fourth head coach in club history to win his debut, joining Doug MacLean (2-1 at Minnesota on Jan. 8, 2003), Gerar Gallant (2-0 at Tampa Bay on Jan. 2, 2004) and Brad Larsen (8-2 vs. Arizona on Oct. 14, 2021).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• After the season-opening two-game road trip, the Jackets will play seven of their next eight at Nationwide Arena from Oct. 15-Nov. 1, including a four-game homestand from Oct. 15-22 (Florida, Buffalo, Minnesota, Toronto).
• The team has rotated between starting at home and on the road dating back to the 2017 campaign.
• Columbus and Minnesota, who both started play in the 2000-01 season, meet twice in the first five contests of the 2024-25 campaign.
• CBJ play five of their first eight games of the season against the Western Conference.  The club went 14-14-4 against the West in 2023-24, finishing 6-9-1 against the Central Division and 8-5-3 against the Pacific Division.
• The team plays 19 Thursday games during the 2024-25 season with six contests played away from Nationwide Arena.
• Columbus scored the first goal of the game 45 times in 2023-24, tied for the ninth-most in the NHL and finishing with the fourth-most in a season in franchise history.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• The Blue Jackets’ average age of their opening-day roster is 27.3, the seventh-youngest team in the NHL.  Columbus was tied for the third-youngest team to begin the 2023-24 campaign at 25.9.
• CBJ saw 11 players make their team debuts in 2023-24, including six make their NHL debuts.
• The club had 42 different players (skaters/goaltenders) and five different goaltenders play a game in 2023-24.
• Six players on the club’s season-opening roster will make their CBJ debut with their first game; forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Dylan Gambrell, Kevin Labanc, Sean Monahan and James van Riemsdyk and defenseman Jordan Harris.
• RW Kirill Marchenko led the Blue Jackets in goals and power play goals in 2023-24 with 23-19-42 and nine PPG in 78 appearances and with another 20-goal campaign in 2024-25 can become the first player in club history to hit the 20-goal mark in each of his first three NHL seasons.
• C Sean Monahan, who was signed as a free agent on July 1, 2024, has notched double-digit goals in nine of his 11 campaigns has recorded 20-plus goals eight times, including 26-33-59 in 83 contests split between Montreal and Winnipeg in 2023-24.
• D Zach Werenski is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman with 90-212-302 in 486 games.  He sits 15 points shy of tying David Vyborny (317) for fifth on the all-time points list.  He set club records for most assists and points (tied) in a single season in 2023-24 with 11-46-57 in 70 outings.
• LW James van Riemsdyk, who was signed to a one-year contract on Sept. 15, has notched double-digit goals in each of his first 15 NHL campaigns and has recorded 20-plus goals seven times.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Erik Gudbranson is one assist from 100 and 11 games from 800 for his NHL career (34-99-133, 789 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals away from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career goal (192-172-364, 715 GP).
• D Jack Johnson is 13 games from 1,200 for his NHL career (77-259-336, 1,187 GP).
• C Sean Kuraly is 20 games from 500 for his NHL career (58-78-136, 480 GP).
• RW Kevin Labanc is 22 games from 500 for his NHL career (82-143-225, 478 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is nine games from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career (68-79-30, 191 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is six assists from 300 for his NHL career (244-294-538, 764 GP).
• D Damon Severson is nine points from 300 for his NHL career (67-224-291, 714 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is 10 goals from 100 and 14 games from 500 for his CBJ/NHL career (90-212-302, 486 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Justin Danforth (wrist) is on the Injured/Non-Roster List on Oct. 7
• F Jordan Dumais (lower body) is on Injured/Non-Roster List on Oct. 7
• F Max McCue (lower body) is on Injured/Non-Roster List on Oct. 7
• F Boone Jenner (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7
• LW Dmitri Voronkov (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 4
• C Gavin Brindley (broken finger) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 3

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 0

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