Meanwhile, majority owner Charlie Pompea has called a press conference for 6 p.m. Friday at the MassMutual Center. Fans and media are welcome.
Nick Holden, in white, was called to Columbus Monday.
SPRINGFIELD – After placing two of their defensemen on injured reserve, the Columbus Blue Jackets replaced them by recalling Nick Holden and Cody Goloubef from their top farm club, the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League.
Holden was recalled Sunday, Goloubef Monday.
With those moves, the Blue Jackets have promoted nine Springfield players to their National Hockey League roster.
The Falcons first lost top goal-scorer Cam Atkinson and No. 1 defenseman John Moore Jan. 11. The next day, the Jackets promoted forwards Ryan Johansen and Matt Calvert, and defensemen Tim Erixon and David Savard, putting all those Falcons into their training-camp mix.
At the end of camp, Erixon was returned to Springfield but recalled again Wednesday, along with winger Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, the team’s leading point producer. His promotion came the day before he was selected AHL Player of the Month for January.
Despite the many moves, coach Brad Larsen’s Falcons have managed to maintain their status as one of the leading teams in the league. They hold a 13-point bulge over Bridgeport in the Northeast Division, and after sweeping two games over the weekend, top the Eastern Conference with 60 points.
Since the callups began, the Falcons have gone 8-2-1-0 to put their record at 27-11-3-3. Their winning percentage of .682 leads the AHL.
Meanwhile, majority owner Charlie Pompea of the Falcons has called a press conference for 6 p.m. Friday in Meeting Room 1 of the MassMutual Center’s convention wing. He has invited fans to attend, along with members of the media.
The conference will take place prior to Springfield’s game with Albany.
Bruce Landon, president/general manager of the Falcons, chose not to elaborate on the subject of Pompea’s press conference. Pompea, who lives in Jupiter, Fla., did not return a telephone message from The Republican.
As for the latest roster moves by the Blue Jackets, they were forced when they had to disable defensemen Adrian Aucoin and Nikita Nikitin, both injured in a 3-2 loss to Minnesota Tuesday.
Injuries also have hit two of the Springfield callups. Calvert had to be placed on injured reserve after playing in six of Columbus’ nine games. Atkinson has played only three games because of an injury incurred in training camp.
Meanwhile, Audy-Marchessault and Johansen have been skating together on a line with Vinny Prospal. They played Saturday night when the Jackets defeated Detroit 4-3. Johansen and Moore have played in all nine games. Moore had an assist in the Saturday night victory on what the Columbus Dispatch described as “a great pass.”
The need for manpower has become acute in the NHL because of a compressed 48-game schedule as a result of a 113-day lockout which finally ended Jan. 6 with a new collective bargaining agreement.
This week, Columbus will play four games in six days.
ICE CHIPS: Since returning from a long-term injury, Goloubef has been a very productive defenseman, with 10 points in 21 games. He had a goal in each of the victories over the weekend ... Holden has four goals and 18 assists for 22 points, along with a plus-13 rating. He is the only defenseman to play all 44 games for the Falcons. Forwards Ryan Craig and Nick Drazenovic also have played the full 44 ... To offset the recall of Goloubef, the Falcons promoted defenseman Pat Cullity from Idaho of the ECHL ... The Falcons have Saturday off, then will host Portland in a 3 p.m. start Sunday ... Springfield plays six of its next seven games at home.
Garry Brown can be reached at geeman1918@yahoo.com