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The Blue Jackets started off the first half of a back-to-back with a 2-1 shootout win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. Zach Werenski tied the game with his first of the season with just under 5 minutes left in the game. Cam Talbot made 27 saves.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline preview the Blue Jackets game, in Buffalo, tonight.

The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Dallas Stars 2-1, in a shoot-out. Bob McElligott answers your questions and reacts to your comments, in the postgame show.

Longtime Ohio State football insider Tim May joins Bob McElligott to break down a Buckeyes season on the edge. Ohio State is 6-2 and No. 12 in the first College Football Playoff rankings, the first team on the outside looking in. Julian Sayin is out, true freshman Luke Fahey is under center, and Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan are still ahead. Can the Buckeyes run the table, and would a three-loss Ohio State ever get in? Plus: does ESPN have an SEC bias?

Also on the show:
🏈 TURF VS. GRASS: The players’ union says turf leads to more non-contact injuries. The NFL says the gap is gone. Who’s right, and why doesn’t every team just play on grass?
⚖️ COMMISSIONER FOR A DAY: Bob gets one day in charge of any league. What’s the one rule he changes?

And Bob takes your questions from Patreon members and the live chat, including old Cooper Stadium memories and the salary cap vs. salary floor debate.

Leave us a 5-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It’s the best way to help new fans find the show, and yours might get read on the air.

Get your questions answered first and vote on the weekly topic: patreon.com/clearbreakaway
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Watch live Wednesdays at 7 p.m. ET on the Clear Breakaway YouTube channel.
Follow Bob: @BobbyMacSports

What a night at Nationwide Arena as the Columbus Blue Jackets, rocking their gr ... silver jerseys put together their most complete game of the season. Bob McElligott breaks down the game and answers fan questions there were a lot of them).

McElligott breaks down the reunited Coyle-Olivier-Sillinger line (nine points while shutting down MacKinnon), four goals in 8:23 in the second period, Conor Garland's first point, Cam Talbot's case for more starts, and the silver jersey. Plus postgame sound from Coyle and Olivier, a pregame sit-down with Jake Christiansen, and your Patreon and YouTube questions.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline get you ready for tonight's game.

The Blue Jackets return to practice, after a 1-2 road trip. Bob McElligott answers your questions, on today's Monday Mailbag.

Bob McElligott recaps the Blue Jackets loss, in Dallas, while answering your questions.

On today's Bobby Mac and Porty Show, the guys talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets' performance, during this road trip. Also, when will Denton Mateychuk get paid and where will Dylan Larking wind up?

Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek joins Bob McElligott for a wide-ranging conversation about the Columbus Blue Jackets, including whether the Zach Werenski trade to Dallas is really dead.

Marek doesn’t think Dallas’s interest has gone anywhere. He calls the deal “just on pause” and breaks down what a package built around Thomas Harley could look like for Columbus. He also looks back at a rough summer in Columbus: the Werenski saga, Kirill Marchenko’s exit and the trade that brought Matthew Knies and a second-round pick to the Blue Jackets.

Plus: Doug MacLean stories from their Sportsnet days, why Columbus is Marek’s “team number two,” what Johnny Gaudreau choosing Columbus meant, why rebuilding teams still need the right veterans, and how Adam Fantilli is learning to play a smarter, more pro game.

The Blue Jackets nearly erased a 3 goal deficit against Carolina in the 3rd period., but fell just short. Still, a lot of good takeaways from this game.

Bob McElligott breaks down the games and answers your questions.

The Browns are in first place, the Rays are still breathing, and our Patreon members want to know if coaches trust the numbers too much. Bob McElligott, after 17 years as an NHL broadcaster, takes on three of the week’s biggest debates live from Columbus.

🏈 ARE THE BROWNS FOR REAL?
Cleveland is 5-2 and leads the AFC North, but every win has come down to the final possession. All five wins were by 4 points or fewer, Deshaun Watson has led a game-winning drive in each one, and Andre Szmyt has three game-winning field goals. The catch: the Browns are the only team in the NFL with 5+ wins and a negative point differential (−13). Real contender or living on borrowed time? Next up: at Pittsburgh Sunday with first place on the line.

⚾ CAN THE RAYS SAVE THEIR SEASON?
Down 3-0 to the Brewers and three outs from elimination, the Rays walked off in the 12th inning to force Game 5. History says it’s a long shot: only one team out of 44 has come back from 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series (the 2004 Red Sox). But the three teams before them that escaped World Series elimination in extra innings all went on to win the title.

📊 PATREON MEMBERS’ PICK: ANALYTICS, MORE OR LESS?
Fourth-down gambles, three-point barrages, the shift ban, robot umpires. Should coaches build their game plans around the numbers, or trust their gut?

Then Bob takes your questions from Patreon members and the live chat.

⭐ Get your questions answered first and vote on the weekly topic: patreon.com/clearbreakaway
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🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Leave a 5-star review and it might get read on the air.
🔴 Sports Attack is live every Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.
Follow Bob: @BobbyMacSports

#SportsAttack #ClearBreakaway #Browns #DawgPound #NFL #WorldSeries #Rays #Brewers #MLB #Analytics #BobbyMac

The Blue Jackets beat the Flyers 4-3 in overtime, and it was not easy. Columbus jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, then went quiet as Philly took over the second and third. The Jackets were outshot 31-15, and the Flyers tied it late.

Kent Johnson won it in OT, finishing with two goals and an assist for his third straight multi-point night. He got all of that in just 14:10 of ice time. Cam Talbot got the start and made 28 saves to hold it together. Adam Fantilli had a goal and an assist, and Denton Mateychuk scored as well.

Bob breaks down what happened after the first intermission, why Columbus keeps sitting on leads, and whether a win this ugly still counts as a good night.

Then Bob takes your questions from Patreon, YouTube and X: Talbot getting the start, KJ’s ice time, who was on the ice in the final minute, Garland and Voronkov, Werenski’s workload until Provorov returns, the great Stinger mascot debate, and how many wins in a row it takes to get a Bob shoey.

Every show on our schedule is free. Leave us a 5-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It’s the best way to help new fans find the show.

Get your questions answered first: patreon.com/clearbreakaway
The Rush ($5) · Top Shelf ($10) · Luxury Suite ($25)

Next up: Blue Jackets at Hurricanes, Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.
Follow Bob: @BobbyMacSports

#CBJ #BlueJackets #Flyers #NHL #ClearBreakaway #SportsPodcast #Columbus

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets, who open a three-game road trip tonight.

As we move into the final week of October, Bob McElligott takes your questions and comments about the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Bob McElligott takes your questions and comments after the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1, in overtime.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline talk about the state of the Columbus Blue Jackets, as they prepare to face the Vegas Golden Knights.

Cleveland’s season ends one series short. The Guardians fall to the Rays in six games in the ALCS, and the offense goes quiet after Game 1. Bob breaks down what went wrong, what’s next for a young Cleveland core, and why baseball needs a salary floor more than a salary cap.

Then: are pro sports pricing fans out of the stands? Bob runs the numbers on what a family of four really pays for tickets, parking, hot dogs and beer, and asks where your ceiling is.

Plus the topic Patreon members voted for: streaming. Too many apps, too many subscriptions, and too many hoops just to follow your team.

In the second half, Bob takes your questions: Luxury Suite member Duncan’s $1,200 night at a Canucks game, the 80-inch TV vs. the stadium seat, whether corporate buyers are driving up prices, the Brewers and the “Timeless Ticket,” $10 walk-up Penguins tickets in 1985, and whether last year’s Stanley Cup ratings were about the matchup or about free TV.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome to Sports Attack
00:57 5-star review from DeusJes
02:26 Tonight’s three topics
03:17 Topic 1: Guardians lose the ALCS
16:59 Salary cap or salary floor?
17:50 Topic 2: Are fans being priced out?
29:55 Topic 3: Too many streaming apps?
38:03 Patreon perks and our Luxury Suite members
40:08 Duncan’s $1,200 night at the rink
42:12 Couch vs. stadium: the 80-inch TV question
45:15 Are corporate buyers driving up prices?
51:40 The Brewers and the Timeless Ticket
57:36 $10 Penguins tickets in 1985
59:37 Stanley Cup ratings and free TV
61:41 What’s coming up on Clear Breakaway

Leave us a 5-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It’s the best way to help new fans find the show, and yours might get read on the air.

Get your questions answered first and vote on the third topic each week: patreon.com/clearbreakaway
The Rush ($5) · Top Shelf ($10) · Luxury Suite ($25)

Watch live Wednesdays at 7 p.m. ET on YouTube.
Follow Bob: @BobbyMacSports

#SportsAttack #ClearBreakaway #Guardians #ALCS #MLB #NHL #SportsPodcast #Columbus

The Columbus Blue Jackets lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2, at Nationwide Arena, Bob McElligott answers your questions and comments.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline preview tonight's match-up between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kirill Marchenko returns to Nationwide Arena while Matthew Knies and Emil Andrae go up against the Leafs.

Bob McElligott brings you a Monday Mailbag, answering your questions about the Columbus Blue Jackets. The biggest concern is who's going to score goals.

The Columbus Blue Jackets lost to the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 tonight. Bob McElligott has your postgame reactions on the Clear Breakaway Postgame Show.

Kent Johnson is the hero tonight, scoring the games lone goal in overtime to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 win over the visiting New York Rangers. Charlie Coyle and Zach Werenski set KJ up for the game-winning goal, and Jet Greaves gets the shutout, stopping 29 shots.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline catch you up a few days after Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness had harsh words for his team following a 7-3 pummeling at the hands of the Florida Panthers.

Bob McElligott’s new weekly show goes beyond hockey. Bob picks two topics and Clear Breakaway Patreon members pick the third.

In the premiere, Bob breaks down the Guardians and Rays in the ALCS, with ties to both dugouts from his years calling Triple-A baseball. He defends Ryan Day as the Ohio State coach hits 100 games, then names his all-time Columbus Blue Jackets team.

Join on Patreon to vote on next week’s third topic: patreon.com/clearbreakaway

Sports Attack with Bobby Mac streams live Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on the Clear Breakaway YouTube channel.

Brady Tkachuck and the Florida Panthers came in to Nationwide and embarrassed the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bob McElligott reacts and takes viewer questions.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline preview the CBJ matchup against the Florida Panthers, and then Bob takes viewer questions.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have started the season 2-2 with a loss following each win. Bob McElligott takes your questions and comments on today's BobbyMac Mailbag.

Bob McElligott takes your questions and comments, after the Columbus Blue Jackets lose to the St. Louis Blues 5-3.

Bob McElligott takes your questions following the Blue Jackets big win over the Pittsburg Penguins!

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline get you ready for the CBJ's first division match-up of the season as they get set to host the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In celebration of National Coaches Day, Bob McElligott and his son, Matthew, talk about coaches who have had a great effect on them. From hockey to baseball, how coaches have set great examples and taught life lesson.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-1 start to the season. Also, the impact of Damon Severson returning to the lineup. They also talk about what's going on in Hockeytown, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Alex Ovechkin's retirement and the demise of Hot for Hockey.

Bob McElligott answers your questions from X, YouTube and more following the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-1 start on the season.

Also, Aaron Portzline and Jody Shelley stop by to honor the memory of Lyle Odelein.

*Video coming late Monday evening for eligible platforms.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets opening night win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Norris Trophy. Vetoed trade. Camp holdout. Retiring president. A six-player blockbuster two days before the opener. And it might not be over.

Bob McElligott opens the 2026-27 season with a roundtable: Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, Michael Arace of The Disrespected, and Jeff Svoboda, formerly the Jackets Insider and now a free agent.

In this episode:

• Why Arace calls the Marchenko trade a coup, and why the team that gets the best player doesn't always win the deal• Jeff on Marchenko's heel turn, and the press conference that made it easier for fans and teammates to let go• Should fans boo on October 20? Rick Nash got booed. So did Sergei Fedorov.• Merzlikins gets a timeline within 24 hours of leaving• Why Toronto moved Matthew Knies, and why getting out of that pressure cooker might be the best thing for him• Emil Andrae: 5-foot-9, 195 pounds and headed for the third pair• Fantilli's six-year deal and a September that may be a watershed moment in team history• A cycling team now: size, Lomberg's mouth, and who drives play without Marchenko• Kent Johnson, Connor Garland, Cole Sillinger and the bets this team is making• "First ballot" Denton Mateychuk, and why Waddell should be walking an extension down the hall• Jet Greaves, Cam Talbot and a drama-free goalie corner• Why picking Columbus last in the Metro is insane• Opening night against Buffalo, a shootout lineup, and Knies vs. Cutter Gauthier• Valeri Nichushkin, maybe the most underrated move of the NHL offseason• A 71-year-old coach on a one-year deal, and whether there will be a captain at all• The lightning round: points, playoffs, leading scorer, Greaves' save percentage and bold predictions

The Blue Jackets open Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres. Bobby Mac & Porty are back Friday.

Bob McElligott heard the Blue Jackets might be making a deal with Toronto, so he did the only reasonable thing: drove to Canada. (He was already driving home from Watertown, N.Y., and his son wanted to see Niagara Falls. It counts.)

Hours before the 5 p.m. roster deadline, Don Waddell pulled off the biggest swing this franchise has taken in years. Kirill Marchenko, Elvis Merzlikins and Miles Wood go to the Maple Leafs. Matthew Knies, Steven Lorentz, Emil Andrae and a second-round pick originally belonging to Seattle come to Columbus. Marchenko signs a six-year extension in Toronto at $12.5 million a year.

In this special edition:

• Why Bob loves the deal, and why a player who became a distraction had to go• Marchenko's 208 points against Knies' size and toughness, and why the numbers don't tell the whole story• Merzlikins: the rocky start, the Korpisalo contrast, the loss of Matiss Kivlenieks, and a genuine send-off from Bob• Getting it done without long-term injured reserve, with Columbus reportedly retaining part of Merzlikins' salary• Your chat questions: "does he like Columbus," will Mathieu Olivier hit him on Oct. 20, and can Marchenko survive the Toronto media?• Porty on how Waddell worked the phones, why Toronto got "a Ferrari" and Columbus got "a Range Rover," and a frank read on how Marchenko had checked out in camp• How Jody Shelley's career started, and why the old grudge games are gone• What Knies means for Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson• Marchenko's WWE heel turn, and why Panarin and Bobrovsky never hated Columbus• Jack Williams to Cleveland, and Luca Del Bel Belluz's chance to stick

Toronto visits Nationwide Arena on October 20. The Blue Jackets open Thursday against Buffalo.

Join us tomorrow night at 7 for the preseason predictions roundtable.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline react to the Columbus Jackets win over Pittsburgh in their third preseason game as well as Adam Fantilli's presser announcing his contract signing.

The Jacket got some Mo!

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline of The Athletic react to the big news out of Columbus that Adam Fantilli signed a contract extension.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline talk about the first Columbus Blue Jackets preseason game, Dante Fabbro's injury, possible trade scenarios and NHL expansion

Bob McElligott returns with the Monday Mailbag, a weekly show where he focuses on the audience's questions.

Tune in live on Mondays to ask questions in the chat on the Clear Breakaway YouTube Channel.

Bob McElligott and Aaron Portzline discuss the first day of training camp for the Columbus Blue Jackets, including the latest on Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli, and Denton Mateychuk.

Mike Priest is retiring as president of the Columbus Blue Jackets, effective September 30, staying on as a consultant through the end of the calendar year. John H. McConnell II takes over the role on an interim basis. The news landed after media luncheon day, and Bob McElligott got Aaron Portzline of The Athletic on the line to make sense of it.

In this episode:

• Who Mike Priest was to this franchise — the day-one employee who helped John H. McConnell land the team and wrote the $75 million expansion check• Whether this connects to the summer of turmoil, and why Porty won't pile the franchise's struggles on one man• Why the grandson stepping forward may be the most consequential thing here, and what a McConnell II era could look like• The open question of who becomes president next, and whether Don Waddell is a candidate to move up• Waddell at media day: another offer to Adam Fantilli "in the next 24 hours," and why a GM wouldn't telegraph that• Cutter Gauthier's 41 goals and new deal in Anaheim, and what it does to the Fantilli negotiation• Camp holdout history in Columbus: Kovalchuk in Atlanta, Josh Anderson in 2017, and the Ryan Johansen fallout nobody ever got over• Waddell setting the expectation at "make the playoffs" — and sounding tired of talking about it• Kirill Marchenko's sit-down with the GM, and why Porty wants to ask him the hard questions himself• Rick Bowness, no fitness testing allowed, and a first day of camp that's going to be nasty

Plus two great ones from the road: the night the team plane turned around over Carolina, and the time Porty talked his way into a stranger's Ohio basement at 11 p.m. to file a story by flashlight.

Camp opens tomorrow at Nationwide Arena. First preseason game is Monday against Detroit.

Welcome to the maiden voyage of Clear Breakaway.

Bob McElligott kicks off the 2026-27 season with a guy who has been covering this team as long as he's been around it: Aaron Portzline, senior writer for The Athletic and a Blue Jackets beat writer since the franchise's first puck drop in 2000.

First, Bob handles the elephant in the room, the end of his 17-year run calling games, the decision to eliminate the radio broadcast position in favor of a TV/radio simulcast, and why he didn't see it coming.

Then it's hockey, with camp physicals hours away:

• Kirill Marchenko's trade request — "one of the least effective trade requests I've ever seen" — and why Porty thinks a 30-to-40-goal scorer doesn't get moved right before the season• Adam Fantilli unsigned, and what the Leo Carlsson and Connor Bedard deals do to his number• Why the RFAs, not the GMs, are holding the hammer this summer — plus lost regional TV money, a new team plane, and Don Waddell's internal budget• The Ryan Johansen 2014 cautionary tale, and what a compacted camp and 84-game schedule mean for a late signing• Cam Talbot's incentive-laden deal, and why Elvis Merzlikins' shoulder may be more serious than anyone is saying• A prospect pipeline that now runs through college campuses instead of Cleveland• Carson Soucy's PTO and whether he's already better than Columbus' seventh defenseman• Kent Johnson on the top line, Cole Sillinger in the middle, and Rick Bowness' message: "We're not here to dick around."

New episodes twice a week. Hit like and follow on the Clear Breakaway YouTube page, and send us your questions for the next show.

(00:00) Open

(00:12) Welcome to Clear Breakaway

(01:31) The Elephant in the Room

(03:30) Syracuse, the Clippers, a Changing Biz

(04:59) Marchenko's Trade Request

(09:20) Leverage and the Deadline Scenario

(10:47) Fantilli Is Still Unsigned

(12:16) Carlsson at 18, Bedard at 15

(13:51) Who Really Has the Hammer?

(16:02) Lost TV Money and a New Team Plane

(18:19) The Ryan Johansen Lesson

(18:53) Short Camp, 84-Game Schedule

(20:12) Cam Talbot Signs

(22:58) The Pipeline Moved to College

(27:20) Soucy's PTO and the Third Pair

(30:19) Kent Johnson on the Top Line

(33:30) Bowness Sets the Tone

(36:03) A Tinderbox? The Mood Around the Team

(38:30) Like, Follow, See You Next Time

After 17 years as an NHL broadcaster, Bob McElligott's team decided not to renew his contract. In this first episode, he says thank you ... what's next.

Bob talks about the weeks since the news, the people who reached out, and the ones who told him they listened over the years driving an 18-wheeler, cleaning schools at night, working third shift at the plant, and tuning in to the Monday mailbag. Then he shares what he's been building: Clear Breakaway, an online platform that breaks from the way sports content usually gets made, usually with one announcer talking at the masses. He'll have opinions. He'd rather have a conversation. Hockey, baseball, football, basketball and sports in general are all on the table.

He also announces the first piece: a twice-weekly podcast with Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, starting this week. Training camp is open, there's a big question at the top of the roster, and Bob says there's no one he'd rather work through it with.

There's more coming in the next couple of weeks. For now what do you want to hear? Send your questions to clearbreakaway@gmail.com, we look forward to reading them.