Afternoon Scrum 11/17/09

Hockey headlines for the CBJ and from around the league. Mmmmm... hockey

• It appears that F Nikita Fiilatov's days as a Blue Jacket are over, at least for this season. While nothing is confirmed by either side, the Dispatch is reporting that in addition to the rumors that an agreement is in the works to send the Russian born winger to the KHL, his lockeroom stall has been cleared out and his name plate removed. Oh, and mom is in town. Being the good journalists that they are, the boys at the Dispatch didn't do much speculating, but I will. I am a fan of the kid and want him to succeed in this league, and specifically for this team. That being said, if he is incapable at this point of his career of not being a defensive liability to his teammates than he shouldn't be playing. This goes for any player, not just young Europeans. Some will say Hitchcock hasn't given the kid the chance he needs to prove himself. Horse puckies! Between last season, training camp, practices and games this season, he has had more than enough time to show that he can be a reliable teammate. Apparently he hasn't done that. We will know shortly if Filatov is headed back to Russia, as the rumors say, or if there is something here on this continent that will appease both sides. My question is did the Jackets just let a 1st round pick walk out the door without any kind of compensation? I doubt it will be that lopsided, and there will certainly be caveats that will determine the final outcome of this. For the foreseeable future it looks like we just helped relieve our "glut of forwards" problem. TSN has an article about kids in the NHL which features Filatov prominently. Porty even gets mentioned!
• Jackets take 2 against the Oilers. For the second game in a row, the CBJ have won in a shootout. This time it was against Edmonton. G Mathieu Garon was in net for both wins. Read all about it here... here... and here.
• Is Ovie back? Speculation is that Washington F Alex Ovechkin will make his return to the lineup tonight against the Rangers.
• POWER RANKINGS: Even my fellow bloggers here at JR were surprised to hear about the fan feedback for this item. Let's not waste time. ESPN, TSN, Dispatch, The Hockey News.