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As many of you know, each year I attempt to visit a hockey city to which I have never been and take in the scene. It is always fascinating to see the little sub-cultures that surround a hockey team and its fans. This week I headed to Columbus to take in the excitement that is surrounding what appears to be the first Blue Jackets team to compete in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Many of you, quite rightfully so, say that I am Eastern Conference biased on Hockeybuzz. Living in Philadelphia, there are 12 Eastern Conference teams that are situated within a seven hour car drive, so if I am going to travel economically in the regular season, chances are I am staying East. Also, as an official member of the Flyers media I see far more Eastern Conference teams.
So I was excited to see in person a team from the West. Columbus is only a 1 hour and 15 minute trip by plane, and still in the Eastern time zone. Not many people realize how much traveling this team has to do. We always talk about the West Coast teams, but the Jackets have the opposite problem, shared by Detroit, of being Eastern time zone teams playing in the West. In Columbus travel has definitely had an affect on their ability to attract free agents.
Columbus has the distinction of being the Biggest College Town in America. This is the home of Ohio State University and College football will likely always be king here. This is Buckeye country, and in the summer, with the students gone, the town takes on a completely different feel. The Jackets have reached out to the students by incorporating two ticket policies. The first, which I believe was originated by the Penguins, is the policy of selling single unsold tickets to students just before game time at a big discount. Students can sometimes end up a few rows from the ice for under $25. The other cool ticketing tactic that was chosen by the Jackets is that 2500 tickets go on sale the day on the game for $10 apiece. Now, before those of you who feel this is a sign that the Jackets are struggling pipe up, this is by choice. They could sell these tickets as season tickets, but in a really smart move they don't want the Jackets to play to the same people each and every night. They want as many different people to see hockey live and fall in love with it as possible. I was amazed at the excitement that these lines create as people wait for shot at these tickets. It is a great idea, because all the people in line are fired up and talking hockey with each other.
Now since the Jackets were playing a team with whom I have a great history, the Nashville Predators, after the morning skate I met up with my old (er) friend Pete Weber and Tom Callahan from the Nashville Predators Broadcast team and was taken to lunch across the street from Nationwide Arena at Boston's. We were joined by the owner of Boston's Joe Maggard who was a friend's of Pete's from Pete's days in Buffalo. And as we all know anyone who was once from Buffalo is ALWAYS from Buffalo. Buffalo and Pittsburgh share that strong home quality. It is a great thing!
Joe is a fantastic hockey guy, a definite hockey dad whose son Kyle Maggard is a freshman college hockey player at Army. Joe talked to Julie and Pete Weber (who is also a big college hockey guy, especially when it comes to Notre Dame....So sorry Pete) about college hockey and we debated whether or not a player should leave school early to make the jump to the NHL. Obviously a tough call. Joe owns a few Boston's but this one is a favorite of Jackets players due to the fact that it is literally the first structure you see when you walk out of the VIP entrance. Joe is friendly with all of the Jackets but the one player who Joe talked the most about was Nik Filatov who eats probably 10-15 times a week at Boston's when he is up with the Jackets. I can tell you this, I'm sure he loves the food. The food is awesome at Boston's.
"Nik is one of the most down to earth, kindest people I have met." Joe says, "He simply isn't pretentious. He is nice to everyone here. He brings things in for the staff if they mention something."
I agree on Filatov, having met him at the draft. Nik is so real. He has that "it" factor that certain people in life just have. You are born with it. In my opinion there is no one person that has a better chance at elevating the Blue Jackets status in the rest of the hockey world than he does. He is such a vibrant hockey player. The kind that you want to route for even the Jackets aren't your first team. He is also great in interviews and in many ways his style, work ethic, along with the way he portrays himself resonates with Ohio. I never get from Filatov that he is owed anything from anyone. I get that he is here to make you try and take his job away. He shows up and earns his spot. That plays well in Columbus. I was glad to see him get called up the day after I returned.
After lunch and quick podcast, Julie and I met our Blue Jackets writer, Eric Smith and some other Hockeybuzz fans at the "R" Bar...Another great pre-game hang out. The "R" Bar, along with Boston's, is in this group of restaurants that sprung up as a part of a development by the folks who opened Nationwide Arena. Probably half a dozen top shelf bars and restaurants made of Brick, in a mini "village" of sorts with Brick walkways and a little bridge. It is really great and a fun place to go before or after a Jackets game.
And GO they do. Thousands of people in their jerseys crowd into these joints, most of them wearing their Blue Jackets jerseys. This is a 'jersey wearing' town for sure. It is amazing. I saw 95% of the home blues, very few whites. The other key that I always look for in new hockey towns are what names people are wearing. I would have expected to see far more 61 Nash jerseys, but in actuality I saw many more obscure jerseys, Maholtras, Richardsons,etc. Quite a few Masons, a few Umbergers, and way more Vermette jerseys than I ever saw in Ottawa considering Antoine hasn't even been in town a month. This city LOVES Antoine Vermette.
The crowd was much younger in general than I am used to in Philadelphia. This town shares a very similar crowd to Pittsburgh. In fact, the real shame of it is Pittsburgh is close by and a perfect natural rival, but in the other Conference. The Penguins came to town this year and smashed all attendance records at Nationwide Arena.
So as tempting as it was to just hang out in the R Bar and drink and watch hockey, we had work to do, so we settled up said goodbye to friends and headed to the Arena.
The Nationwide Arena is a very clean arena that feels a lot like a mixture of the Washington and Ottawa arenas. It has a high press box, but it isn't too high that you feel like you are watching an event that you aren't really feeling a part of. The crowd in front is not far from you at all. Many of the newer arenas like Philly, Boston, Phoenix and Chicago put us more into suites at the top of the world.
The Jackets are young but they are truly starting to develop some great traditions. The Anthem singer cam out and was outstanding. His name is Leo, and right before he sings the whole crowd shouts,"LEO!" Then comes the firing of the Cannon. I didn't now about this until this year, but the Jackets fire off a cannon at the onset of the game and after every goal, and in the press box the canon can really make you jump! Jackets fans are knowledgable and what I like to see is how many families are at the games. I have always said a family of four attending a game is always the same everywhere, be it Columbus, Toronto, Edmonton, or LA...At this particular game, for the first two periods, there was a definite nervous tension in the crowd. That being said, as the game headed into the third the fans were willing to let loose. And they really did let loose. They can get very loud when they want to. The playoffs will be insane and it is very tempting to return to Columbus for their first playoff game.
Other notes about Columbus is that they have been outstanding to Eric Smith and Hockeybuzz. The media relations people have been amazing in granting Eric anyone to interview. I am also very impressed watching our writer in action in Columbus. Eric is the epitome of professionalism and therefore is highly respected in the organization.
After the game it was down to Hitchcock's Presser and man can I tell you, I really miss Hitch! His press conferences are often amazingly entertaining and always leave writers with a place to go from there. Hitch even quipped by ending in response to a question "How nervous would you have been waiting for Saturday?" Hitch became classic Hitch.
We would have been fine, but that for you writer, bloggers, and twitterers to figure out."
In conclusion, Columbus is not just a better hockey town than I have ever heard it given credit for, it is such a strong hockey town that I truly cat wait to see this team in the playoffs.
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