COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 It was only a six-ounce chunk of vulcanized rubber that hit Nationwide Arena\u2019s ice on Oct. 7, 2000, but it landed like a meteor.<\/p>\n
The initial blast was at 7:56 p.m. At that moment, the Columbus Blue Jackets joined the NHL, and the city of Columbus stepped into a different cultural stratosphere after years of ignominy as the country\u2019s largest city without major-league sports.<\/p>\n
Most of the aftershocks are still being felt today.<\/p>\n
The Blue Jackets, despite only sporadic bursts of moderate success and no Stanley Cup playoff runs beyond the second round, have built one of the most loyal and passionate fan bases in the league. The neighborhood anchored by Nationwide Arena has become more than the architects ever imagined. Youth and recreational hockey in central Ohio is the envy of other U.S. regions.<\/p>\n
There has been professional hockey in Columbus since the 1960s. But the Blue Jackets have established a place in the local landscape that has, to many, transformed the city, and it began 25 years ago Tuesday, when Robert Kron moved slowly into the faceoff circle with 18,136-plus fans standing in anticipation.<\/p>\n
The Blue Jackets have had better seasons than their inaugural campaign, certainly, but the club that president and general manager Doug MacLean assembled played with a spirit, a ferocity and a togetherness that not only endeared them to fans immediately but sparked a love affair between hockey and a sprawling city that has never stopped growing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an amazing moment,\u201d inaugural Blue Jackets coach Dave King told The Athletic last week. \u201cI can remember it clear as a bell. Everybody was standing. You could hardly wait for the puck to hit the ice. I remember being on the bench there thinking, \u2018Let\u2019s get going.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cColumbus was happy to have us, but we were the lucky ones. A lot of our fans didn\u2019t have a background in hockey, but they could recognize effort, and that was a key to us getting really good support. The guys worked their tails off.\u201d<\/p>\n
The buildup<\/p>\n
MacLean and his staff \u2014 assistant GM Jim Clark, pro scout Bob Strumm, and amateur scout Don Boyd \u2014 spent the previous season scouring the world, literally, for players.<\/p>\n
This was the third wave of expansion<\/a> in three seasons, so NHL rosters were fairly picked over, and the rules of expansion<\/a> back then made it dramatically more difficult to build competitive teams than, say, Vegas or Seattle faced in recent years.<\/p>\n The Jackets spent on two free agents: defenseman Lyle Odelein, who was named captain, and goaltender Ron Tugnutt, who became the franchise\u2019s first folk hero. They mined the expansion draft for players who became significant pieces, such as Geoff Sanderson, Tyler Wright, Steve Heinze, Mattias Timander and Kron. And they lured players back from Europe who hadn\u2019t found success in their first North American attempts. They spent the organization\u2019s first draft pick on Rostislav Klesla, an 18-year-old from Czechia.<\/p>\n They had a whopping 72 players at training camp, and on the first day, morning practice stopped several times to either break up fights or let them play out. At one point, MacLean marched down from his seat in the stands, grabbed a stick on the bench and began banging it on the boards until the fight stopped.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of energy in that rink,\u201d said right wing Kevin Dineen.<\/p>\n King, the coach, was professorial in every way. He may have been more of a teacher than a motivator, but the Blue Jackets didn\u2019t need a push.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these guys had been in pro hockey for eight or nine years and had never had a shot,\u201d King said. \u201cSome of them had a cup of coffee. But this was their chance. They knew it and we (as coaches) knew it, so we really didn\u2019t have to play those cards too much. These guys were driven.\u201d<\/p>\n Blue Jackets players had been in town a few weeks ahead of training camp, but they really didn\u2019t know Columbus as a city or a hockey market. Training camp was like most others in the NHL, but as the night of the franchise opener drew near, the mood changed among the players.<\/p>\n Strangely, it felt like pressure, Tugnutt said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was excitement, but there was also a little bit of \u2026 \u2018How\u2019s this going to go?’\u201d Tugnutt said. \u201cWhat\u2019s it going to be like that first time you walk out in front of the fans? We really didn\u2019t know what to expect, but that went away pretty fast that first night.<\/p>\n \u201cThe crowd was so excited. We could tell it in warmups, and then we got back into the room before the game and that\u2019s how we were talking. This was our first impression. Let\u2019s show them what they\u2019re going to see all year, and hopefully they\u2019re going to like it.\u201d<\/p>\n King said telling the healthy scratches they weren\u2019t going to play was especially difficult. That included defenseman Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, now a broadcaster with the club. Meanwhile, Espen Knutsen, who became their top center, was out with a fractured finger.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s never easy,\u201d King said. \u201cEverybody wanted in on this game, right?\u201d<\/p>\n What a night<\/p>\n Puck drop between the Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks was set for 7:30 p.m., a half hour later than typical. The pregame ceremonies, hosted by legendary broadcaster Mike \u201cDoc\u201d Emrick, went long, too. It was nearly 8 p.m. when the centers lined up.<\/p>\n Kron took the draw, flanked by Sanderson on his left and Heinze to his right. The top defensive pair was Odelein and Timander, with Tugnutt the backstop. Kron won the puck back to Odelein, who swatted it over Timander. The Blue Jackets were born.<\/p>\n Many in the arena that night never expected to see major-league sports in Columbus. Cell phones were fairly rare back then, but the building sparkled with flashes going off as play got started.<\/p>\n \u201cThe volume in that building leading up to the faceoff \u2026 I mean, it was every bit like a playoff game,\u201d Tugnutt said. \u201cWe were all excited, but the crowd, the sound of it, just had this different feel to it, like this was something more than a hockey game to a lot of people.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember taking a second to look up and look around and go, \u2018Well, geez. This is going to be something, isn\u2019t it? What a building.’\u201d<\/p>\n It got louder at 7:34 of the first period.<\/p>\n Kevyn Adams carried the puck high around the right circle, then sent a backhand pass across to Krzysztof Oliwa in the left circle. Oliwa shoveled the puck on net and Bruce Gardiner \u2014 forever the answer to a Columbus trivia question \u2014 put it behind Blackhawks goaltender Jocelyn Thibault.<\/p>\n The place went delirious when the Jackets scored two more goals in less than two minutes to make it 3-0. David Vyborny scored with helpers from Serge Aubin and Wright, while Heinze made it 3-0 at 9:20 with assists from Sanderson and Odelein.<\/p>\n One fan in the upper reaches of the arena stood backward on his chair to bark at members of the media who had predicted a long year of struggles and droughts for the first-year Blue Jackets. There was no cannon then in Nationwide Arena, but you couldn\u2019t have heard it anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was something,\u201d Tugnutt said. \u201cCan only imagine what Chicago was thinking, but they got it together, right?\u201d<\/p>\n The Blackhawks, who had lost their season opener two days earlier, did manage to rally. They tied the score with three goals in the second period and won going away with two goals in the third. Reto Von Arx, another trivia answer, scored the first goal against the Blue Jackets at 6:10 of the second period.<\/p>\n Tugnutt stopped 20 of 25 shots. Jamie Pushor and Oliwa had fighting majors, while Wright \u2014 on his way to being the Blue Jackets\u2019 first crowd favorite \u2014 had a minor for roughing.<\/p>\n The Blue Jackets fan who was chirping the press box earlier in the night? He turned around at the final buzzer for a handshake and an apology. He was carried away by the moment, which was entirely understandable.<\/p>\n \u201cTo see a town embrace a team like that, and to be on the ground floor with it, was a pretty cool thing,\u201d Dineen said.<\/p>\n A rousing campaign<\/p>\n The Blue Jackets sold more than 12,000 season tickets before their first season, but they sold thousands of fans on their game that night and for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n They finished 28-39-15, a 71-point season that at the time was the second-highest point total for an expansion club in league history. They finished tied with Chicago and ahead of Minnesota and Anaheim in the Western Conference, and ahead of Montreal, Florida, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders in the overall standings.<\/p>\n And they got better as the season moved along and an identity formed, as they went 21-21-8-5 in the final 45 games, including a 4-0-2-2 stretch in January and February. Tellingly, they sold out 26 of their 41 home games, including the final 14.<\/p>\n \u201cWe realized what we were,\u201d Tugnutt said. \u201cWe had to change our mindset \u2014 it\u2019s all about winning and it has to be low-scoring for us to have success. We tried to win games 2-1, and it was a complete turnaround.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were games where I\u2019d say, \u2018We\u2019re going to be outmatched tonight, and I have to be at my best to give us a chance. But I also knew these guys had my back. We got a lot closer as a team as we went along, and Kinger \u2026 he was the perfect coach for that team.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanderson became the club\u2019s top scorer and just the third player in the modern wave of expansion (since 1991-92) to score 30 goals. Knutsen, a sublime playmaker, finished with 42 assists. Wright became the embodiment of the Blue Jackets\u2019 playing style: scrappy, fearless, indefatigable.<\/p>\n King could talk about those players and that Blue Jackets\u2019 season for hours. Columbus had a payroll of just $18.6 million that first season. This was before the NHL adopted a salary cap, so big-market teams such as Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles were routinely close to $100 million or more.<\/p>\n But the Blue Jackets held their own.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a tendency to always remember the teams that won championships or went a long way in the playoffs,\u201d King said. \u201cBut I have to be honest with you, working with those players \u2026 to watch them play so hard, every night, taking really good teams to the brink\u2026 As a coach, you remember the teams that gave you the most. And that team \u2026 I\u2019ve had a lot of teams, but that one gave an awful lot.\u201d<\/p>\n It was distinct in another way, too.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery season there\u2019s a point where you have to bottom-line it with guys,\u201d King said. \u201cYou have to ask for more, you have to scold them a bit because they\u2019re not giving you as much as they can.<\/p>\n \u201cThat never happened with the Blue Jackets of 2000-01. Not once were we forced, as a coaching staff, to hold court and say, \u2018What\u2019s going on here?\u2019 It never happened. And that was a special situation for a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blue Jackets picked up their first victory on Oct. 12 in Calgary, against King\u2019s former club. The first home win didn\u2019t occur until Oct. 27 vs. Washington.<\/p>\n There were moments that changed the course of the franchise, too.<\/p>\n Tugnutt struggled in the first two months of the season before suffering a broken bone in one of his hands. He was out of the lineup for two weeks, and King put him to work while he was too injured to play. \u201cA two-week boot camp,\u201d Tugnutt called it. \u201cI hated it.\u201d<\/p>\n But when he came back\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI was on fire,\u201d Tugnutt said. \u201cI came out of that feeling like the fastest goalie in the world. I told myself, \u201cI have to stay on top of this.\u2019 My conditioning went through the roof after that.\u201d<\/p>\n By late January, Oliwa had fallen out of favor with the Blue Jackets and was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Needing a tough guy, the Jackets reached into their minor leagues to sign Jody Shelley to an NHL contract. Shelley became one of the most popular players in franchise history, and still works for the club as an ambassador and broadcaster.<\/p>\n Memories linger<\/p>\n Tugnutt\u2019s contract included three bonuses should he win 20 or more games, have a save percentage above .915 and a goals-against average below 2.50. When the regular-season finale arrived, he had achieved all three, and some wondered if he\u2019d risk the final two playing that last game.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the conversation. \u2018If we get blown out or if I get pulled early, those bonuses \u2026 ya know,’\u201d Tugnutt said. \u201cBut I definitely wanted to play in that game. For sure. It wasn\u2019t even a thought. And then (public relations VP) Todd Sharrock told me that I was one win away from the expansion record (22) for a goalie. Well, let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n Tugnutt finished 22-25-5 with a .917 and 2.44. MacLean came into the dressing room the day after the season to make a delivery to Tugnutt.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my bonuses check,\u201d Tugnutt said. \u201cHe was (like), \u2018I don\u2019t say this often, but you earned it.\u2019 Classic Doug, right? It felt like a great achievement for me, and for him to do that meant a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blue Jackets won the final game of the season 4-3 in overtime on Wright\u2019s goal. After starting the season with a loss to the Blackhawks, they ended it with a win over Chicago to tie them in the standings.<\/p>\n At the trade deadline, MacLean made a series of trades, as was always the plan. Adams was traded to Florida for Ray Whitney. Heinze was traded to Buffalo and Franti\u0161ek Ku\u010dera to Pittsburgh for draft picks. Already, the inaugural team was breaking up.<\/p>\n Adams is now the GM in Buffalo. Sanderson (New Jersey), Wright (Carolina), Kron (Seattle) and Pushor (Tampa Bay) are all working for NHL clubs, too. Heinze owns and operates a doggy daycare in Santa Barbara, Calif. Backup goaltender Marc Denis is a national broadcaster in Canada. Gardiner was a longtime police constable in Barrie, Ontario. Knutsen, Aubin and defenseman Petteri Nummelin have all had coaching careers in Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery once in a while something will pop up and I\u2019ll see one of those guys,\u201d Tugnutt said. \u201cAnd I smile, ya know. I just smile.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew the second year was going to be harder. Expectations were higher. There\u2019d be changes. The first year is always special. I felt like Columbus was more of a hockey town, and I loved it. It seemed like the right fit and the right place to be for hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blue Jackets are celebrating 25 years on the ice this season, and they\u2019ll be celebrating the inaugural team throughout the campaign. On Oct. 18, King, Tugnutt, Dineen, Klesla and Grand-Pierre will be honored before the Jackets play the Tampa Bay Lightning.<\/p>\n \u201cKinger\u2019s gonna be bossing us all around again, isn\u2019t he?\u201d said Dineen, who has been coach of two NHL clubs (Florida, Chicago) and three AHL clubs since he retired as a player. On the night he decided to retire after a game early in the 2002-03 season, he came back onto the ice, his daughter in his arms, to take one last lap around an empty rink.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody knew what to expect there in Columbus,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d done my homework, so I probably knew a little more than some of the guys. But \u2026 we were all blown away, right?<\/p>\n \u201cSpecial place. I still go back. There\u2019s been a lot of years now for all of us. But yeah, special year. A real bond was formed with the fans there, and I still get reminded of that today. It meant a lot to people. And that\u2019s why it meant a lot to us, too, as players. Great times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 It was only a six-ounce chunk of vulcanized rubber that hit Nationwide Arena\u2019s ice on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,3936,575,85,3276],"class_list":["post-195733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-columbus-blue-jackets","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}