Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Preceded in Ohio’s capital by the Columbus Chill of the ECHL, the Blue Jackets were founded as an expansion team in 2000. The team qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 2009.

The Blue Jackets’ name and logos are rooted in Ohio’s rich Civil War history. Rick Nash, David Vyborny, Ray Whitney, Fredrik Modin, Steve Mason, Geoff Sanderson, R. J. Umberger and Sergei Fedorov are some of the prominent NHL figures to have donned a Columbus sweater. Ken Hitchcock has been their coach since late 2006, and current general manager Scott Howson started in 2007. The Blue Jackets play their home games in downtown Columbus at Nationwide Arena, which opened in 2000.

Team name
See also: Ohio in the American Civil War

The name “Blue Jackets” was chosen to celebrate “patriotism, pride, and the rich Civil War history in the state of Ohio and city of Columbus.” When President Abraham Lincoln requested that Ohio raise ten regiments at the outbreak of the Civil War, the state responded by raising a total of 23 volunteer infantry regiments for three months of service. Ohio also produced a number of great Civil War figures, including William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, Philip Sheridan, and George Custer. Columbus itself was host to large military bases, Camp Chase and Camp Thomas, which saw hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers and thousands of Confederate prisoners during the Civil War.

Jerseys

The team logo is a stylized version of the flag of Ohio. Previously used as an alternate logo, it became the primary logo as part of a Reebok-sponsored redesign for the 2007–08 season. The team’s sweaters feature an alternate logo, a Civil War cap with crossed hockey sticks, on the shoulders.

“The Cannon”

Prior to the start of the 2007–08 season, at the behest of fans, the Blue Jackets organization brought a hand-made replica 1857 Napoleon cannon into Nationwide Arena. The cannon is “fired” at home games whenever:

* the Jackets take the ice at the start of the game
* the Jackets score a goal
* the Jackets win the game

The cannon itself is loaded with smoke flash charges; the loud “boom” accompanying is done with a .75oz concussion explosive above the rink. It was fired 164 times in its inaugural season (41 home games, 20 home victories, 103 goals scored at home).

Broadcasters

On FSN Ohio, Jeff Rimer serves as the television play-by-play announcer alongside analyst Danny Gare, a former NHL player who had his number retired by the Buffalo Sabres. On radio stations WWCD, WBNS, and 29 other affiliates in Ohio, George Matthews and Bill Davidge provide audio coverage. Matthews has been calling Blue Jackets games since the team’s inception in 2000. Rimer started calling games on television in 2005, and Gare joined him in 2006.

FSN Ohio, which broadcasts 75 games per season, airs pre-game and post-game shows for each game, hosted by Jim Day, Bill Davidge, and Jeff Hogan. The host of the radio pre- and post-game shows is Mark Wyant. Fans can interact by e-mail and phone with the radio personalties during and after the game.