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Blue Jackets begin season with defending-champion Ducks

Oct 5, 2007 - 1:57 PM Anaheim (1-2-1) at Columbus (0-0-0) 7:00 pm EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- The Columbus Blue Jackets open their 2007-08 season on Friday night against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks.

While the Blue Jackets are playing their first game of the new campaign, the Ducks' season is almost a week old. Anaheim opened the NHL season by splitting two games with the Los Angeles Kings in London last weekend.

More recently, the Ducks suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. All the travel may be wearing on the Ducks physically as several key players have missed games with injuries - including goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Giguere is day-to-day after having hernia surgery during the offseason. Giguere was outstanding last season during his team's championship run, posting a 36-10-8 record during the regular season with a 2.26 goals-against average.

The 30-year-old Giguere played even better in the playoffs, registering a 13-4 record with a 1.97 GAA and a .922 save percentage.

The Blue Jackets will open their season with hopes of making it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Columbus remains the only team in the NHL to never make it to the playoffs.

The Blue Jackets chances rest with Rick Nash, who was the first overall selection in the 2002 draft. After leading the NHL with 41 goals in 2003-04, Nash has yet to follow up on the tremendous campaign, scoring 31 and 27 goals, respectively, over his last two seasons.

Nash has become a more complete player, notching 30 assists for the first time in his career last season. However, if Columbus is to compete for a postseason berth, the 23-year-old left wing will have to step up.