Ah, a brisk Monday morning in Central Ohio in early February.  Snow blankets the ground, the Super Bowl is history, the Olympics looming just ahead, and the airways are filled with trade rumors ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.  Here are some ramblings to crowd your brain pan as we shake off the cobwebs, restore circulation to those snow shovel wearied shoulders, and contemplate the upcoming week.

• The early leader in the “LSD for Breakfast is Not a Good Idea” category:  Twitter member Jagrmeister (likely named appropriately) posted at NHLDigest that Pittsburgh was proposing Nash, Umberger and Filatov to the Penguins for Staal, Orpik, Letang and 1st Round pick.  A mind is a terrible thing to waste . . .
• The annoying persistent rumor that has the CBJ interested in the Bruins’ Tim Thomas is likely also the product of excessive consumption of non-standard pharmaceuticals.  The latest incarnation of this one has Raffi Torres and Kristian Huselius going to Boston for Thomas.  Thomas is having a lousy year, so we are going to take a $5 million cap hit for a goalie who can’t keep his job, and surrender 71 points of production thus far???   Mason has not had a good year, but is showing a resurgence and has a cap hit of < $1 million.  No brainer here folks . . .
• Rumor of the Day (non-trade related):  Lots of buzz that Bob Gainey will be stepping down as GM of the Canadiens.  No confirmation, but a 4 PM Presser has been set in Montreal.  (UPDATE:  Bob McKenzie of TSN confirms the rumor and reports that Pierre Gauthier will be the new GM)
• Eric Smith of HockeyBuzz.com reports that the Penguins have serious interest in Raffi Torres, and are talking about center Dustin Jeffrey and a conditional draft pick in exchange.  Jeffrey is supposedly a good prospect, but has only 14 games of NHL experience.  This year, he has 47 points in 47 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  Just my opinion, but this is not enough.  Torres brings energy and goal scoring ability, and I think has considerable up side potential.  I would prefer that we keep him, but if not, we need a solid NHL contributor in return.  We need to beef up our experience level a bit, as we are heavy with prospects.
• With three days of practice, the Jackets and Claude Noel can work on refining things a bit and ironing out some wrinkles.  Almost a shame that this break comes now, with the team playing so well in its last two outings.  Only unexpected player missing at practice this morning was Stralman, but he is slated to go on Wednesday against the Sharks.
• Seeing the smiles on faces, the constant flow on the ice and the performance of Mason, is there any doubt that the intangibles of trust, confidence and consistency play a HUGE role in hockey, particularly with a young club?
• The home stretch before the Olympic break is going to be hectic on all fronts.  I’ll do my best to stay on top of things.

Please post your comments and provide ideas of things you would like to see.  Thanks.  Go Jackets!