Sure there were flashes of success … a playoff berth in 2009. We watched almost every franchise have success – fall to the bottom – then have success again, all while our Blue Jackets waited for the next draft pick to be made. I’m sure that fed into us feeling left out. In fact, years of mismanagement caused this team to struggle heavily. We don’t have a handful of other major sports teams to fall back on like Seattle or Minneapolis does. The Blue Jackets didn’t dominate the league in their first year like the Vegas Golden Knights did. That hasn’t ever happened, and it never will. Many of us have felt the need to belong, to be included, and welcomed by the league. The reason I bring all of this up is because, it seems like we have always sought out approval from opposing fanbases. The Knights went on to a 6-4 victory before 3,130 fans at Municipal Auditorium Jan. Nashville Knights’ Gary Lebsack, center left, and Columbus Chill’s Craig Binns (5) battle it out near the end of the first period as officials wait for a moment to break it up. But there was a growing hockey market in Columbus, well before the NHL announced it was coming to Columbus. There are even Central Ohio kids playing for the Blue Jackets now, who weren’t even born until after the Blue Jackets were playing NHL games.
Those of us who remember going to Chill (ECHL) games have now seen an entire generation of kids grow up watching the Blue Jackets. Hockey is a big deal in Columbus now, far more popular than even I could have ever imagined. I remember going to tryouts when there were only enough kids signed up for an entire league, that we needed just one ice surface for two hours to divvy up the teams. I know that will probably cause some jaws to drop (especially if any out of market fans are reading this). Actually, since well before its inception … I was one of the few kids in Columbus who played hockey BEFORE there was an NHL franchise there. I’ve followed this team since its inception. We should be proud of it, even if history suggests otherwise.
I chose my wording carefully here because it’s important – it is OUR team. Anyone who has been around the social media feeds of the Columbus Blue Jackets over the last month or so, can likely tell you a story about fans from other markets dumping on our team, our fanbase or our city.
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