Steve Armitage or Mark Lee?" Armitage joined CBC in 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Nathan Horton just kept on smiling. He grinned during warmups, beamed after his first shift and screamed with joy following his first goal. Horton sure is happy to be playing hockey again. And the Columbus Blue Jackets are thrilled their big investment made an immediate impact. Horton scored in his Columbus debut, Curtis McElhinney made 34 saves for his second shutout of the season, and the Blue Jackets beat the sluggish Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 on Thursday night. R.J. Umberger also scored for the Blue Jackets, who snapped a two-game losing streak amid a burst of energy provided by Horton, Columbus $37 million off-season free-agent acquisition. "I had so much fun out there," said Horton, unable to contain his smirk even after the game in dressing room. "Its so exciting to be back." Horton, the ex-Boston Bruins winger who missed the first 40 games following shoulder surgery, poked in a rebound late in the second period for his 199th career goal. Umberger added a second power-play goal midway through the final period and the Blue Jackets shored up their struggling penalty kill in a performance they hope helps them climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. "You can tell were a good team when we play hard," Horton said. "I really enjoyed being out there with the guys." Mike Smith stopped 29 shots for the Coyotes, who lost defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to injury early in the first period and they were shut out for the first time this season. It also ended a streak of six straight overtime games for the Coyotes. "We didnt compete hard enough," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. Horton, who helped Boston win the Stanley Cup in 2011 and then had 19 points in 22 playoff games for the Bruins last season, signed a seven-year, $37.1 million free-agent deal with the Blue Jackets last summer. In his first game since last seasons Stanley Cup final, Horton was matched with Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov. They had two solid opening shifts before Hortons first shot was kicked away by Smith midway through the first period. Late in the second period after Smith took a penalty for playing the puck outside the trapezoid, James Wisniewski took a shot that Smith poked away. But the 6-foot-2, 229-pound Horton was in front of the net and tapped in the rebound at 15:51. "Sometimes I felt good, sometimes I felt bad," Horton said. "Its been a long time since Ive played." How much did the Blue Jackets need Horton? His goal snapped an 0-for-18 power-play drought. His presence even seemed to inspire the defence, which had allowed six power-play goals in the previous two games. Columbus killed all five Phoenix power plays. "We had a big talk about it (Tuesday)," Umberger said of the penalty kill. The Blue Jackets also activated goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (groin), who had been out 12 games, and defenceman Dalton Prout (upper body), who had missed six games. Bobrovsky served as the backup to McElhinney. He made several difficult saves, including on Keith Yandles point-blank shot early in the third period. "I think he was disappointed after last game," Columbus coach Todd Richards said of McElhinney, who allowed five goals in Colorado Tuesday. "You could tell after the game he wasnt happy. Even (Wednesday) he wasnt happy. And its a great response." Ekman-Larsson suffered an upper-body injury early in the first period on a hit into the boards by Derek MacKenzie. No boarding was called on the play and Tippett said they kept him out as a precaution, leaving Phoenix with only five defencemen. A day after being passed over by the U.S. Olympic team, Yandle soon went after MacKenzie. The two served fighting majors in a sloppy first period that saw only six shots apiece. But the Blue Jackets dominated the second period and Phoenix had little energy as it failed to earn a point for only the third time in 12 games. "We didnt manage the puck very well tonight," Smith said. "You lose Ekman-Larsson early in the game like that and you turn pucks over, it puts a lot of stress on five (defencemen). It wears on them." NOTES: Blue Jackets D Jack Skille (abdominal injury) returned to Columbus after being injured Tuesday vs. Colorado. ... The Blue Jackets sent F Jonathan Marchessault, D Tim Erixon and G Mike McKenna to Springfield (AHL). ... The NHL record for consecutive OT games is seven, set by Edmonton (2003) and Toronto (2008). ... Former Columbus first-round pick Rusty Klesla (illness) returned for Phoenix after missing three games. Alex Avila Jersey .Y. - Geno Smith shouted a couple of mighty expensive expletives. Rob Refsnyder Diamondbacks Jersey . Cornet won six straight games to rally from a 2-0 deficit and take the first set. The 25th-ranked Frenchwoman broke back twice in the second set before Bacsinszky saved a match point at 5-4. http://www.diamondbackssale.com/diamondbacks-adam-jones-jersey/ . Marek Hamsik, who had earlier missed a penalty, headed Napoli in front in the 23rd minute and Pandev added a second goal five minutes from halftime. Alessandro Matri got Juventus back into the game just after the break but Pandev was on hand to score again in the 68th. Robbie Ray Jersey . Wrights first stint with Milwaukee was on a 10-day contract from March 14-23. He played in two games, averaging six points and two rebounds in 16. David Peralta Jersey . Anor had not scored since getting his first two goals of the season vs. Philadelphia on March 22 but struck with laser precision from distance in the 56th and 75th minutes. Montreal (3-10-5) lost its third straight and Impact coach Frank Klopas said it literally was a case of his players not stepping up.TORONTO -- Veteran sportscasters Steve Armitage and Mark Lee are the latest high-profile casualties of budget cuts at the CBC. Armitage, 70, lent his booming voice to CBC sports events for some 49 years -- handling play-by-play on 29 seasons of "Hockey Night in Canada," 27 Grey Cups and 15 Olympic Games. "I loved my job," he said. "I felt like I had been dodging the bullet. I really thought if the sports department was going to take a major hit, Id be high on their target list because of the years I had worked. "I was probably due to go. I didnt want to go because I liked my job, but when you gotta go, you gotta go." The majority of CBC sportscasters are hired on contract. Of four prominent sportscasters the network had on staff, Scott Russell is keeping his job. Armitage and Lee were let go, while Brenda Irving is moving to another department. The CBC lost NHL hockey rights last November to Rogers Media in a whopping $5.2-billion deal, leading to a dramatic loss of advertising revenue for a network already struggling with federal budget cuts. In April, CBC president Hubert Lacroix announced that 657 jobs would be slashed to meet a $130-million budget shortfall. Lacroix said at the time that 42 per cent of the sports department would be laid off, trimming 38 sports jobs from 90 current positions. He also announced in April that the broadcaster would no longer compete for professional sports rights and would cover fewer sports events, including amateur sports. Armitage and Lee learned they were being laid off in early May and recently wrapped up their final days at CBC. Both were given the opportunity to bump newer employees out of their positions but chose not to displace younger workers. Lee said hes struggling to adjust to his new life after spending 34 years with the public broadcaster. At 58, he is not ready to retire and hopes to find work in the industry. "Im still feeling a little bit lost. Its only been about 10 days since my last day there," he said. "It becomes a real big part of your life. You have a second family at work -- people you get to know really well and you travel with and spend large amounts of time on the road with at major events like the Olympics, Hockey Night in Canada, the CFL on CBC." The Gemini Award-winning sportscaster fondly recalled some of his proudest moments at CBC, including calling Usain Bolts world record-setting Olympic gold medal race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and producing a documentary on Muhammad Ali. Lee said CBC simply cannot compete at this point with Rogers and Bell Media for professional sports rights due to federal budget cuts. He said CBC has been ddoing all it can to keep certain types of programming on the air, but it is becoming impossible.dddddddddddd "I hope that Canadians take notice. I hope that Canadians really cherish their CBC and lobby the government to maybe fund it the way it should be funded. Its one of the poorest funded public broadcasters in the western world," he said. Jeffrey Orridge, executive director of sports properties and general manager of the Olympics at CBC, said it was "extraordinarily sad" to see Armitage and Lee go. "They are consummate professionals, veterans in the industry and theyre both iconic. Frankly, their talent and their personalities are irreplaceable," he said. However, he said that CBC was in "very challenging times" and significant cuts had to be made to the sports department. "I think this is part of an overall strategic decision to respond to the changing landscape in sports at CBC and really, in response to the overall picture at CBC/Radio-Canada. Resources have been significantly diminished and decisions have to be made," he said. Carmel Smyth, national president of the Canadian Media Guild, which represents most CBC workers, called it "appalling" the Conservative government has cut CBC so deeply. "Who will cover amateur sports and give our athletes the exposure they need?" she asked. "We are losing exceptional talent that takes decades to develop. Will kids today ever have a chance to become the next Steve Armitage or Mark Lee?" Armitage joined CBC in 1965 as a late-night sports reporter in Halifax -- "There was one criteria: you needed to know how to type," he said with a laugh -- and went on to win three Gemini Awards, the Foster Hewitt Award and was inducted into the B.C. Hall of Fame during his nearly 50-year career. In the past two weeks, hes been enjoying his countryside home near Halifax but misses sportscasting. He said he doesnt have "sour grapes" about being forced into retirement but made clear he disagrees with the direction CBC is taking on sports. "The CBC has decided to put its priorities and what little money it has left into other areas," he said, adding that remaining sports staff are "dedicated, hard-working and will do their level best to preserve whats left." "But what worries me is if you keep taking people away, you take away the experience and the depth that CBC Sports had, and the ability to mount major projects and continue to do the high level of work and keep up the standards that the CBC had for many years. That becomes more and more difficult because the people just arent there." ' ' '